Culture & Customs

It can't be easy to make a mark in a sport where your grandfather long ago made your family name legendary, but Victor Tikhonov is giving it a snapshot.

Last fall, Russian Life editor Paul Richardson and photojournalist Mikhail Mordasov set off on a Kickstarter-funded, month-long, 6,000-kilometer road trip between Russia’s northern and southern borders.

In celebration of Tsar Alexander III’s coronation in May 1883, the renowned artist Viktor Vasnetsov designed menus for a series of festive dinners.

Russia’s law on foreign agents may be getting increasingly draconian. In its latest iteration, any charity could be deemed a political tool of international forces.

After you finish strolling St. Petersburg's Nevsky Prospect, you'll want to visit these five must-stroll streets in the Northern Palmyra, to get a feel for the rest of the city. 

2015 marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Revisit the history on this tour of St. Petersburg and Moscow's war sites – the ones you may not find in the guidebook.

On April 14, 1671, Cossacks captured rebel leader Stenka Razin and ended his rebellion against the tsar. Here’s some background on Razin’s uprising, and what it meant for the fate of Russia.

Yury Gagarin’s 108-minute space flight on April 12, 1961, propelled him to a level of celebrity never before known to any Soviet. His smiling face graced postal stamps, Palekh souvenir boxes, and fine porcelain, as he mingled with the beau monde of planet Earth.

Aleksei Malgavko, 30, lives in Omsk. This week he offers us a tour of his city and region.

This week in Russia saw a whole lot of beatdowns: on international corruption, candy stores, and even Buddha. 

In 1891, Russian Tsar Alexander III signed a document initiating the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. And not only is it the longest railway in the world; it's got some interesting stops along the line, too.

The Panama Papers shocked the world this week with tales of corruption among the cream of the world's political crop. Here's what the allegations mean for Russian politics, economics, and society.