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.

Russia before the 20th century was mostly an agricultural country, and the decisive majority of its exports were raw materials. Hemp, a plant of the genus cannabis sativa, was one of the biggest ...

Throughout the filming of Come and See, real bullets were used. At times, they flew just above the heads of actors, making their terrified looks genuine. And the scene where machine gun fire takes ...

Bliny are known as one of the main traditional Russian dishes. There are many variations: sweet, salty, with topping, crepe cakes or pies, crepe-rolls. All can be served with all kinds of ...

The sad story that happened to one of the first batches of those deportees became known as the Nazino tragedy. In May 1933, over 6,000 people were deposited from barges on a small deserted island ...

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 ...

Raisa Semenovna, 89, former employee of the USSR Ministry of the Chemical Industry At the Ministry of the Chemical Industry I was in charge of the oversight of the state technical standards (known ...

1. ‘The Forties’ by David Samoilov (1920-1990) Samoilov (born Kaufman) is regarded as one of the leading Soviet poets of WWII. His poems depicted the horrors of war and the struggle for peace ...

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?

One of the first works that Tretyakov bought for his gallery. It depicts the historical subject of Princess Tarakanova, who claimed to be the daughter of Empress Elizabeth and was imprisoned in ...

Theater was a source of palpable joy and jubilation to the tall, handsome and charismatic Konstantin Stanislavsky. A foremost actor, director and theater practitioner, he devoted his entire life ...

Starting in the 1960s, the USSR was a net grain importer. For example, in 1963, it bought 10.4 million tons of grain and 2.1 million tons of flour from the U.S. Furthermore, the amount of imports ...