The Russian state received a huge territory stretching to the upper Oka and Dnepr rivers with 19 border towns, including Chernihiv, Gomel, Novgorod-Siversky, and Bryansk. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

Although Russian citizens require a visa to travel to countries in North America and Europe, there are plenty of places a Russian tourist may enter visa-free. Generally, there are plenty of visa-free ...

During Napoleon’s winter campaign of 1812, the Russians and the French experienced the same freezing cold. However, it wasn’t the low temperatures that destroyed Napoleon’s Grande Armee as it is often ...

These so-called vory v zakone - or zakonniki (‘Thieves in Law’) are the kings of the criminal underworld. This group of respected bigshots, who control the majority of the criminal world, both in ...

Some sang odes to his “greatness and courage” for self-promotion. Others – out of fear for the lives of their loved ones. And there were those who thought they could be literally on the same page with ...

For two centuries in a row the country has been ruled by men. However, that was not always the case, and Russia remembers the glory (and turbulent) days of women in power. The 10th century's Olga is ...

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 ...

Soviet Union, the Congress of Soviets, Soviet of Federation – the word has been and is still widely used in Russia, but what does it exactly mean? During the Soviet times, the USSR was often called ...

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 ...

A successful merchant, collector, art connoisseur and honorary citizen of the city. How a private individual, using his own money, opened a painting gallery destined to become the most important one ...

Both paternal and maternal ancestors of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have something to do with Russia and its Imperial family. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and ...

The Bolsheviks were in at the beginning of the Communist movement in China. However, it wasn’t the followers of Mao Zedong who became the USSR’s main allies in the country. In 1949, the Communists won ...