During the 70 years of the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the number of constituent parts changed, but most of the time there were 15 of them. Here is the list. In the beginning ...

Everything you wanted to know about the USSR’s notorious security apparatus. From its inception and until the end of the Soviet Union, the KGB was a prominent force in Soviet politics and society. Its ...

We have traced how the architecture of Russian churches changed from ancient times to present day, in line with “fashion trends” and technological progress. Historically, church architecture always ...

Despite its location deep within the former imperial Chinese province of Manchuria, Harbin has a peculiar Russian feel to it. The secret, we found out, lies in its history. Go back 150 years and the ...

Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II who was shot dead by the Bolsheviks together with his family, could have escaped this grim fate and left Russia after the abdication in March 1917. His cousin King ...

The USSR was known for its many brilliant scientists, outstanding athletes and creative intellectuals. The reason was not just a good gene pool but also Soviet principles for bringing up children.

From the Arctic Circle to Kazakhstan, from the western borders to the Far East — the Gulag system in Stalin's time encompassed the entire USSR. “Gulag” is often used to describe any Soviet prison or ...

Victor Pelevin, author of the 1999 novel ‘Generation P’, is often referred to as one of the most important writers in modern Russian literature. But, while his wildly imaginative books are a fusion of ...

Why is its color red? What does the ‘hammer and sickle’ emblem represent? And what about the five-pointed star? Red flags and banners have been used by rioters, protesters and insurgents since ancient ...

The expression ‘Potemkin villages’ means anything made for the sole purpose of concealing the truth. The legend goes that during Catherine the Great’s journey to Crimea in 1787, Grigoriy Potemkin, the ...

Some movies are like vintage Polaroid images. They perfectly capture the fleeting moment while it’s there. We’ve picked up several Soviet masterpieces that were filmed in the late 1980s and captured ...

Lifelong skier Anastasia used to live in Tyumen (2,100 km from Moscow). She was spotted by an agent at a sports camp and invited to a casting. But the then 13-year-old Nastia stood 164 cm tall, not ...