We’re excited to announce the relaunch of Russia Beyond under the new brand ‘Gateway to Russia’! We are no longer just a media platform about Russian culture and history. Now, we are a ...

Did you know that, at the beginning of the 20th century, foreigners filmed alternative movie endings for Russian audiences? It's true: movie fans in the Russian Empire appreciated dramatic ...

Founded in 1255 by the Teutonic Knights, Königsberg became part of the USSR after World War II. In 1946, it changed its name to Kaliningrad. Here are three of its main symbols. The famous German ...

Before 1918, distances in Russia were measured not in kilometers, but in versts. Incidentally, they differ slightly from each other: one verst is 500 sazhens or 1066.8 meters. Verst posts were ...

Founded in the 12th century, Veliky Ustyug is the same age as Moscow. Today, it is home to 28,000 people and even a real Father Frost. Here are three of its main symbols. Veliky Ustyug is the ...

During the ‘Battle of the Dnieper’ in the Fall of 1943, Junior Lieutenant Bakhtin and a group of soldiers captured a bridgehead on the right bank of the river and held it for two days until ...

A group of kids approach as we arrive on the main square of the legendary Soviet summer camp, Artek. Dressed in the same colorful uniform, they greet us with a chant, "Artekovtsi! Our beloved Artek!

When it comes to jewelers of the Russian Imperial court, the first name to be mentioned is of course Faberge, which produced gem-encrusted Easter eggs, cigarette cases made of precious metals, and ...

Peter the Great brought the European tradition of formal dances to Russia. These balls left their mark not only on history, but on Russian literature, too. The glitter of jewels and the shining ...

In the space of just nine months in 1917 Russia underwent two revolutions, changing the country's destiny forever. In February the Russian monarchy collapsed. In October, squeezing out the ...

Russian scientists have contained an outbreak of the Siberian plague, a bacterial infection known in the West as anthrax, but they believe global warming will bring back even more pathogens, such ...

The famous Ballets Russes took Europe and the U.S. by storm during the early 20th century. It was the brainchild of one man, Sergei Diaghilev, who surprisingly wasn't a talented artist, composer ...