Historian and architecture expert William Brumfield discovers the connections between the Russian monarchy and this monument to the Orthodox faith.

Muzhiki are the most widespread caste in the Russian penal colony system. Unlike the blatniyeh, these guys are not professional criminals or regular prison guests. Members of this caste end up in ...

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 ...

Emperor Paul I tried to change Russia in one go and forcibly. Although he only wanted the best for the country, his chaotic actions led to disastrous treason, and Paul was murdered. Here are the ...

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 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.

A successful merchant, collector, art connoisseur and honorary citizen of the city. How a private individual, using his own money, opened a painting ...

In the summer of 1942, Seryozha [short for Sergei], from the village of Gryn in the Kaluga Region, found himself completely orphaned: His father had died before the war and the Germans executed ...

Queen Elizabeth II, along with various British duchesses and princesses, can regularly be seen wearing sapphires and pearls that once came from the ...

This is one of the most terrifying pages in Soviet history, devoted to the forced industrialization and remote lands’ development at the expense of ...

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 ...

The first of the Bolsheviks that Molotov got to know was Stalin. And so naturally, after Lenin's death, he supported the moustachioed one in the internal party power struggle that ensued. In turn ...