July 01, 2021 A Century Ago By The Editors On August 7, 1921, Alexander Blok, died in St. Petersburg. Widely considered the greatest poet of the Silver Age of Russian poetry. History Literature
May 01, 2021 Spring Cleaning April 12 was the 60th anniversary of human space flight, coinciding with the date in 1961 when Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin first orbited the Earth aboard a Vostok 1 spacecraft. Moscow
March 01, 2021 Can't Bear to Watch By The Editors A nurse injects a performer in a bear costume with Russia’s Gam- COVID-Vac vaccine (under the brand name of Sputnik V) at a temporary COVID-19 vaccination site in Moscow’s Shchyolkovsky shopping centre. Government Health
January 01, 2021 In Memoriam By Paul E. Richardson In a year filled with death and mourning, we remember an individual who was, for this magazine, profoundly influential and truly remarkable. History
November 01, 2020 Another Victim of Sandarmokh By Paul E. Richardson There are so many things wrong in the case of historian Yuri Dmitriev, it is hard to know where to start. History Law Politics
September 01, 2020 United Across 9000 Kilometers By The Editors What unites Khabarovsk and Minsk? Politics Social Issues
March 01, 2020 Winter Ferry Tale By The Editors If a vessel is unlucky enough to be berthed as a river ferry in Yakutsk, it will spend most of its life frozen into the surface of the Lena River. Regions
January 01, 2020 The Mayor Departs By The Editors Yury Luzhkov, who died in December from complications during routine heart surgery, is difficult to pin to a particular pantheon of Russian political figures. Biographies Government Politics
November 01, 2019 RIP Alexei Leonov By The Editors Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space passed away at the age of 85.
September 01, 2019 Parting Shot By Kristina Brazhnikova A telling photo from Voronezh's Central Market. Food & Drink Photography Regions
May 01, 2019 Parting Shot By Nikolai Maslennikov A photograph captured in 2018 in Red Square captures the moment with beauty and finesse. Photography Sports
September 01, 2021 to October 17, 2021 Communism Through the Lens: Everyday Life Captured by Women Photographers in the Dodge Collection Dodge Wing Lower Level | New Brunswick, NJ Spanning almost the entirety of the Soviet Union's history from the 1920s through the 1990s, this exhibition of rarely seen images explores themes of political art, documentary photography, and gender, offering a historical look at how women photographers interpreted life in the communist state. Art Exhibit
November 01, 2021 to November 30, 2021 Yuri Gorbachev's 18th Annual Exhibition at the Byrne Gallery in Middleburg, Virginia The Byrne Gallery | Middleburg, VA Susan Byrne and Bill Byrne are celebrating their Gallery's 26th anniversary this year in Middleburg with a celebration and exhibition of the vivid oil and enamel paintings of internationally-acclaimed artist Yuri Gorbachev. Art Exhibit
October 15, 2021 to April 03, 2022 Icons for Our Time: Orthodox Art from Around the World Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA Fifteen contemporary icons from fifteen countries explore iconography today. Presented in celebration of the museum's 15th Anniversary. Art Exhibit
October 01, 2021 to October 09, 2021 Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orleans Town Hall Theater | Middlebury, VT Opera Company of Middlebury (VT) will present an operatic rarity – Tchaikovsky's version of the Joan of Arc story, Orleanskaya deva or The Maid of Orleans. It will be sung in Russian with English subtitles. A sweeping tale in the style of French grand opera, it offers stunning orchestral passages, vibrant choruses, and a heroic role for the young mezzo-soprano playing Joan, sung here by Annie Rosen. Opera
October 01, 2021 to October 01, 2021 Virtual Lecture: Dr. Erika Wolf on Soviet Photography Zimmerli Art Museum | New Brunswick, NJ The Zimmerli welcomes Erika Wolf, presenting a lecture about Soviet photography in print, focusing on the work of women photographers and artists. This event is held in conjunction with the Zimmerli's exhibition "Communism Through the Lens: Everyday Life Captured by Women Photographers in the Dodge Collection." Please register. Lecture
Murder at the Dacha Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
White Magic The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Driving Down Russia's Spine The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia.
301 Things Everyone Should Know About Russia How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started...
22 Russian Crosswords Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Fish: A History of One Migration This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
The Best of Russian Life We culled through 15 years of Russian Life to select readers’ and editors’ favorite stories and biographies for inclusion in a special two-volume collection. Totalling over 1100 pages, these two volumes encompass some of the best writing we have published over the last two decades, and include the most timeless stories and biographies – those that can be read again and again.
Murder and the Muse KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Moscow and Muscovites Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin.
Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
February 03, 2018 12 Myths/Truths About Russians and Vodka By The Editors Think you know your vodka? Take this True/False quiz (just 12 items) about Russians and their vodka and see if you are right about that... Food & Drink
May 09, 2020 Russian/Soviet War Movies You Can Stream By Yuliya Ballou Some of the best Russian and Soviet films about World War II that you can stream online. Film & TV Reference War CVSG
April 23, 2014 Peace, Land, Bread By Eugenia Sokolskaya Peace! Land! Bread! This was the battle cry of the 1917 October Revolution (old calendar) that changed the history of Russia and indeed the entire world. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the tsars concentrated on centralization of their power and control. The most common way of doing this was to take power away from the nobility, appeasing them by giving them dominion over their land and workers. This soon developed into the oppressive, slave-style condition known as serfdom. History
July 01, 2013 The Russian Bees Will Save Us By Paul E. Richardson American bees are dying from mysterious causes, putting our agriculture at risk for lack of pollinators. Russian bees might be part of a solution. Agriculture Environment Science
October 31, 2016 Why Stalin's Corpse Was Exhumed on Halloween By Alice E.M. Underwood The body of Joseph Stalin was removed from the mausoleum on Red Square on October 31, 1961. It may not be as spooky as Halloween, but the former leader still haunts Russia today. History Politics Social Issues
September 01, 2013 Why Russians Don't Run By Paul E. Richardson A tale of two long distance road races – Russia’s oldest and its most prestigious – and what they tell us about the state of running and fitness in Russia. Sports
