Alexander Solo is documenting "monotowns" in Russia. He shows us a couple in Leningrad Region, where he lives.

The destruction of 97 kiosks around Moscow opens up the controversies of architectural preservation, the plight of small businesses, and the rebuilding of history itself. 

Alexei Stakhanov mined 102 tons of coal in under 6 hours, sparking the Stakhanovite movement. But did he really do it all by himself, by his own initiative? The son of a miner from Blagoveshchensk recalls evidence of unnamed assistants and fishy bureaucratic orders.
 

As oil prices drop, the Russian economy finds itself facing an ever bleaker future. Is someone targeting Russia? Russian bloggers weigh in.

World oil prices are plummeting, the ruble is in free fall, the Russian economy is on the brink of a recession, inflation is climbing, and the Russian Central Bank’s benchmark interest rate has jumped to 17 percent. Meanwhile, President Putin still has popularity ratings in the 80 percent range and there is, seemingly, no panic in the streets of Moscow. What is going on? What is Putin’s game? 

Today I stumbled across an interesting article online. At first I thought it should be filed in the "someone is trying to stir the Cold War pot again" but then I read on...

A look at the fall and rise of the ruble from April to June 1995.

The opening of Patio Pizza in Moscow.

Bits of data that offer insights into trends and events in Russia.

The string of islands that is the Kurils – perched between Sakhalin and Japan – had a not insignificant role in the history of the past century. Long closed to outsiders, its future in this century may depend on tourism.

Russia versus India