This week, Lukashenko turns action hero; chocolate is serious business; and a classic Russian author is proven to be right all along.

A new series has taken Russia by storm this summer. Set in a provincial Caucasian town, Chiki (Chicks) is about four girlfriends trying to escape their lives as sex workers and launch a fitness club – the first in the area.

A hospital in Kursk is under investigation after a woman awoke post-surgery in the morgue.

How the work of one of Soviet Russia's greatest poets found new life through modern music.

This week, mammoths are ripe for the picking; fishy business practices turn violent; and a TV show is labelled a bad influence on Russian families.

Food-writer Anna Kharzeeva brings best Soviet recipes, spiced with hints and memories from her Jewish Grandmother. 

The life of Rasputin's daughter, Maria, was full of twists and turns almost as dramatic as her father's, and took her deep into the American heartland.

A lovely short film on Brighton Beach's Your Highness Babushka Beauty Contest.

This week arts and crafts flourish under quarantine; a heatwave hits an unlikely place, and coronavirus fashion hits a new high (or low?).

The little-known fates of the wives of Ivan the Terrible's son.

When the daughter of one of Europe’s most respected kings married the tsar’s son, it seemed like a match made in Heaven. And then the Kremlin court rivalries began.

In this week's Odder News, the Moscow Zoo tries a new marketing tactic; a consumer protection agency gives its condom recommendations; and high winds call for desperate measures.