Who was Rasputin, really?

The body of Joseph Stalin was removed from the mausoleum on Red Square on October 31, 1961. It may not be as spooky as Halloween, but the former leader still haunts Russia today.

On October 14, 1991, St. Basil’s Cathedral was reopened after six decades. Here are five fun facts in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Cathedral’s rebirth.

On September 29-30, 1941, Nazi troops shot over 33,000 Jews at the edge of the Babi Yar ravine near Kiev. Yevgeny Yevtushenko's poem memorializing the tragedy ensures it will never be forgotten. 

Dmitry Shostakovich created classical music that spoke to modern times. Read up on his life story and listen along to some of finest works along the way. 

Why are calendars so great? Give me a few minutes, and I will blow your mind.

A look back at the events and controversies that engaged Russia and the world in 1956, the year that Russian Life was founded.

Vladimir Arsenyev was a 28-year-old army officer when he set out to map and study Russia’s Ussuri Kray, bordering China and the Pacific. Thankfully, he also had an eloquent pen.

A century-old work of art by an avant-garde artist has become a symbol for the growing rift between Russia and Ukraine, just as more is being learned about its famous artist.

Sixty years ago, bureaucrats and journalists on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain came to a remarkable agreement that led to the founding of Russian Life...

Kefir is the most popular fermented milk in Russia. But it did not get there overnight. Kefir and Russia have a long history...

Twenty-five years later, we take a look back at the August 19 coup attempt in Russia. Led by the Gang of Eight, men who owed their political careers to Mikhail Gorbachev, the coup plotters were attempting to restore dictatorship in the ailing Soviet Union.