Soviet leader Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev would have been 110 on December 19. There are plenty of fun facts and surprising jokes behind the eyebrows.

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.

It's been over two decades since the coup of August 1991, and only half of Russians remember it. But that's not all...

Ballet great Rudolf Nureyev leapt out of Soviet jurisdiction and into the wider world of Western ballet on June 16, 1961. His leap was as much a political move as a dance move.

St. Petersburg is now 25: citizens voted to rename Leningrad as St. Petersburg on June 12, 1991. Lenin’s legacy was at the center of the change, and remains a hot topic 25 years later.

30 years ago today, the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant had a meltdown: "Flames, sparks, and chunks of burning material went flying... These were red-hot pieces of nuclear fuel and graphite..."

Russia’s law on foreign agents may be getting increasingly draconian. In its latest iteration, any charity could be deemed a political tool of international forces.

On April 14, 1671, Cossacks captured rebel leader Stenka Razin and ended his rebellion against the tsar. Here’s some background on Razin’s uprising, and what it meant for the fate of Russia.

This week in Russia saw a whole lot of beatdowns: on international corruption, candy stores, and even Buddha. 

The Panama Papers shocked the world this week with tales of corruption among the cream of the world's political crop. Here's what the allegations mean for Russian politics, economics, and society.

We're seeing a growth spurt in literature for kids and teens set in Russia. That means magic, time travel, and Stalinism all rolled up in one.

In The Weekly Russia File for March 31: some terrible chess puns, and how to stop traffic.