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.

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 ...

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 ...

Flour – 400 g Kefir – 320 ml Butter – 40 g Salt – ½ tsp Dry yeast - 4 g Sugar - 1 tbsp Stuffing: Potatoes – 200 - 250 g Cheese - 300 g Butter - 30 g Salt, pepper - to taste Preparation ...

The Grand Duchess was one of the few Romanovs who managed both to escape abroad after the 1917 Revolution and also to take her jewelry with her. Some of the treasures were taken out of the country ...

Internal politics, however, would come in the way of a promising career as a swimmer. He eventually turned to finswimming and started to gain worldwide attention in this non-Olympic sport. His ...

On the streets of the post-war USSR, it was often possible to meet disabled people on “gurneys”. They were simple boards on four wheels made of bearings. Legless invalids rode them, starting ...

The scion of big business Pavel Tretyakov came from an old merchant family. In the second half of the 18th century, his great grandfather had moved to Moscow from the town of Maloyaroslavets in ...

The Russian president has declared his love for classical music on more than one occasion. In particular, he has mentioned Pyotr Tchaikovsky - according to Putin, the composer’s First Piano ...

R504 Kolyma Highway isn’t a popular destination on Russia’s map, which attracts mostly only thrill-seeking tourists. The highway is covered with a mix of dirt and gravel, so traveling here is ...

The KGB was known for its highly creative methods for eavesdropping on the U.S. embassy personnel in Moscow. Once, Soviet agents modified typewriters used by the embassy staff. “Inside that ...

Since the Middle Ages, (with the exception of the years 1712 to 1917), the Moscow Kremlin was the main official residence of Russian leaders. The President’s office is located in the Kremlin ...