January/February 2014

We never seek out stories because they are sensational or controversial.

Readers write in with corrections and opinions.

A consideration of events in Kiev in the wake of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's flip flops on the EU AA treaty.

All the news that fit.

The giant trunk appeared out of nowhere, a huge box that looked like a Versace suitcase left behind by a giant alien. To this day, its appearance and disappearance are a mystery.

Everything of note on the travel front.

A look back at life a century ago, through the pages of one of the most popular papers of that time, New Times.

In January 1969, a lone gunman, Victor Ilyin, opened fire on Leonid Brezhnev's barricade just outside Borovitsky Gate. 

A look back at the amazing, and eccentric, Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleyev, inventor of the Periodic Table.

The Ukraine-Russia-EU fracas had this columnist thinking about banyas and banya language...

Olympic host countries typically garner many more medals than their average take at a games. We look at Russia's prospects and what their victory could "cost" Russia. The story includes a two-page guide to the games, with a schedule of events and maps of the venues.

The 1980 Moscow Olympics was marred by scandal, worried about security, and touted as a showpiece for the nation's development. The more things change...

Their 1964 Olympic win at Innsbruck started a winning streak in pairs skating that has not bee, and likely never will be, equaled. So why have Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov not been invited to Sochi?

After the games are over and the crowds have gone home, Sochi will still be Sochi. We look at what this Black Sea resort has to offer visitors beyond Olympic wonders.

Cod was once scorned in Russia. Now it is properly seen as a delicacy. Start the New Year off right with this version of the fish with an egg and butter sauce.

This issue's review section considers Ben Judah's "Fragile Empire," Victor Martinovich's "Paranoia," C.P. Lesley's "The Golden Lynx," and Olga Fedina's "What Every Russian Knows (And You Don't)."

A somewhat nostalgic look back at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.