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 ...

“You get tired of the color white and the snow, which are everywhere and always, as far as the horizon. You have a constant feeling of hunger…” A soldier posted to the remote island off Russia’s Far ...

According to one theory, ‘Russian roulette’ emerged in the Tsarist army as a relatively “safe” trick that easily impressed onlookers. Wulich […] invited us to sit around in a sign. [We] silently ...

Had they been luckier or more skillful, they could have become Russia’s leaders in the 20th century, if they had defeated the Bolsheviks. But history turned out differently. Not all Russians welcomed ...

Smirnoff, Davidoff, Rachmaninoff - why do all these family names have a different spelling from the modern-day ‘Ivanov’? The roots lie deep in history. There are different types of surnames in Russia: ...

The most famous fictitious last name Vladimir Ulyanov ever used is, undoubtedly, Lenin. But it was one of about 150 monikers. Let’s take a closer look at the possible origins of the iconic pseudonym.

Mapping Russian literature Moscow culture russian literature urals literature Mapping novels Multimedia Infographics Nature People Culture Figures Mapping Russian novels Literature [POST]Industrial ...

After World War I, the German army, once the strongest in Europe, presented a pitiful sight. Under the Treaty of Versailles, it could not number more than 100,000 soldiers. The Germans were forbidden ...

From chaos and crime to freedom and opportunity - this period in Russian history was sort of a roller coaster ride - one we commonly refer to as the “wild 90s”. Do you remember a time before iPhones ...

Deportations are one of the most tragic pages in Soviet history, and continue to be a sensitive issue for many members of the repressed ethnic and social groups. So what was the goal of that policy?

Tretyakov Gallery In April 1797, 220 years ago, Emperor Paul I of Russia signed a decree limiting 'barshchina,' the obligatory work Russian serfs were forced to perform for their landowners, to three ...

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 ...