Culture & Customs

In honor of Maslenitsa, Russian health experts encourage citizens to limit their intake of one of the holiday's most beloved foods. 

The hoopla surrounding a new monument at a controversial location in central Moscow highlights the importance of history for Russia – and ourselves.

All charges against a group of snowmen, embroiled in a recent controversy, have been dropped.

In this week's Odder News, Russia's feathered friends are having their own pandemic, cats are going ice fishing, and the International Space Station is getting old.

Sredneuralsk Monastery becomes an action-packed place as police enter in search of a murder suspect.

Brought to Russia in the seventeenth century, eggplant caviar became wildly popular after a Soviet comedy movie. A Russian blogger shares her story.

With Russian teenagers in mind, plans are being made for "The First All-Russian Festival of Patriotic Rap." 

Leningrad Oblast's military commissioner has a solution to those pesky exes: send them to the army.

Leave it to Russia to come up with the absolutely most punk-rock way to remove snow. 

Tired of having to do Valentine's Day and Mother's Day separately? Try it the Russian way and combine them into International Women's Day! A closer look at this convenient holiday's socialist origins and not-so-socialist present form.

The Soviet satirical magazine Crocodile, which ran from 1922 until the 2000s, was both a government tool for propaganda as well as space for artists, comics, and writers to engage in hard social and political critique.

In this week's Odder News, report yourself to the police for easy snow removal, watch out for poison in your sofa, and don't forget to wipe your feet on the rug on the way in.