Russia travel blog

Karelia – the land of winter tales

Karelia Republic is a remarkably beautiful land of white nights, boundless forests, and blue lakes. Karelia is located on the border of Western and Eastern Europe, on the border of cultures and religions. Severe beauty of Karelia Republic nature, the climate, not too favorable in these latitudes, the coexistence and intermingling of various peoples inhabiting [...]

Beautiful still life paintings of Marina Zakharova

Marina Zakharova was born in Kostroma and graduated from the Yaroslavl Art School in 1987. She takes part in Russian and foreign art exhibitions. In 1998, she received an award from the President of Russia for achievements in art. The paintings of the artist can be found in the collection of Kostroma Art Museum and [...]

Abandoned base of Soviet military equipment

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union produced a huge amount of various military equipment. The country was preparing for the Third World War, but it did not happen. With each passing year more and more of the machinery and equipment became obsolete. A lot of the machines were dismantled or conserved at special bases. [...]

Grozny city at night time

Today, after the war, Grozny is once again the administrative center of the Chechnya Republic of Russia. The reconstruction works are in process. In 2005 the railway connection with other parts of Russia was restored and the Grozny city airport, Severny, began to offer flights to Moscow. Also, after several years of reconstruction, the beautiful [...]

The convicts of main prison in Eastern Siberia

Nerchinsk state prison was a part of penitentiary system of the Russian Empire, the main place in Eastern Siberia for state convicts sentenced to hard labor. It was located on the territory of present Zabaikalsky krai. The prison system in Eastern Siberia appeared in the beginning of the 18th century as a place of serving [...]

Museum of Christmas toys in Klin

The museum can be found in the exhibition complex “Klinskoe podvorye” in a small town of Klin located near Moscow. The collection mainly includes glass toys produced by local factory “Yolochka”, although there are toys of other factories. I personally still have some toys you can see at the pictures below. The museum runs a [...]

Chirkeyskaya hydropower plant – the highest arch dam in Russia

Chirkeyskaya hydropower plant is located on the river Sulak in Dagestan Republic. It is the largest hydropower plant in the North Caucasus and the highest arch dam in Russia. It is built in a narrow Chirkeyskiy gorge. The capacity of the station is 1000 MW; average annual output 2.47 billion kilowatt hours. Photos by Stepanov [...]

The deepest metro station in Russia was opened in St. Petersburg

December 28, 2011, just before the New Year celebrations, a new metro station “Admiralteyskaya” was opened in Saint Petersburg. The station is located on the 5th purple line between the stations “Sadovaya” and “Sportivnaya”. For about 15 years it was in fact ghost-station, the trains passed it without stopping. Active work was resumed several years [...]

Great New Year 2012 fireworks in Krasnodar

Krasnodar is known as the southern capital of Russia and the homeland of Kuban Cossacks.

The views of Grozny city rebuilt after the war

The first Chechen War began in the winter of 1994. Grozny was captured by the Russian army in February of 1995 after a battle. A lot of buildings and infrastructure objects of the city were damaged or destroyed because of the Russian Air Force and artillery strikes. But the resistance to Russian troops was not [...]