July/August 2014

On the serendipitous mixture of fire and ice in this summer's issue.

Readers write in with corrections and opinions.

As the New Cold War between the US and Russia heats up, joint space ventures, some 40 years in the making, are in the crosshairs.

All the news that fit.

A look at the recent prohibitions on smoking and foul language.

Everything of note on the travel front.

Ilya Repin was one of Russia's most famous, prolific and talented artists. So why was he dismissed by some in the Soviet era?

For Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Revolution began in August 1914.

Two hundred years ago, in the wake of the Napoleonic war, Russia established a committee to take care of soldiers wounded in war.

There was a time when Smolensk, now so close to Moscow, was a world unto itself.

Summer means it is time to head to the dacha. Here are some linguistic items to pack before heading out.

This issue's language learning insert is on the issue's story on a popular Crimean street artist.

A century ago this summer, the War to End All Wars began. What were Russians concerned about in 1914? Not war.

Healing baths and springs have a long history in Russian literature and culture, and those traditions are being revived.

A renowned Ukrainian artist uses street art to pay tribute to those who fell in his country’s recent uprising.

For six years, a street artist nicknamed Sharik has been leaving his mark on Crimean streets.

What is the deal with Russian men locking lips in greeting? Is it a thing? Or was it just a Brezhnev thing?

Outside the Siberian city of Novosibirsk a spring commemorates victims of a Gulag crime. Or does it?

On the Russian art of food preservation, and a refreshing summer recipe for melon preserves.

Three books make our cut this issue, and all are about spies and infiltrators.

On how the new smoking ban will play out.