A group of kids approach as we arrive on the main square of the legendary Soviet summer camp, Artek. Dressed in the same colorful uniform, they greet us with a chant, "Artekovtsi! Our beloved Artek!

Cossacks are not a race, nation, profession, nor a term for a particular location. They are all of those, combined. Let’s debunk the myths about what the Cossacks were and what they are now. They ...

Lines were a sign of the times - most goods were in short supply and their rare appearance on shelves in shops sometimes caused actual stampedes. In every Soviet food store one could almost always buy ...

A huge public celebration of the coronation of Nicholas II was planned at the Khodynskoe field in Moscow, but poor organizing caused a disaster. Peter the Great moved the Russian capital from Moscow ...

The “Battle on the Ice” where Alexander Nevsky, a Russian prince, defeated the knights of the Livonian Order, is considered a milestone in Russian history. We explain this, and other important facts ...

To see 4 out of Russia’s 5 main rivers, you need to travel to Siberia, while the famous Volga snakes through the European part of the country. President Putin's favorite band, LUBE, has a song with ...

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 ...

Georgy Zhukov fought back the Nazis and captured Berlin, but the great marshal fared worse in the dirty power struggle between communist bosses that came after the war. When Georgy Zhukov, the most ...

There was only one state that effectively subdued Russia, and it’s long gone now. When talking about enemies trying to invade and conquer Russia, we’re talking about a time span of roughly 1,000 years ...

Early February marks the 76th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, the largest military engagement in history. The Franco-American film, Enemy at the Gates, recreated those events and ...

Even Queen Elizabeth II has some old pieces of jewelry that once belonged to the Russian royal family. The diamond, emerald and sapphire tiaras of the Romanov dynasty were remarkable for their beauty ...

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 ...