The secret transcript (in Russian) of Joseph Brodsky's show trial in a St. Petersburg court, at which he was sentenced to 5 years (later reduced to 18 months) of hard labor in the North. Short portions of the transcript are often cited, but this full transcript offers a vivid look at the Kafkaesque Soviet system of justice.

So what exactly do we know about Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, other than that he is a loyal Putinista going back nearly two decades?

As Russia readies for its first, post-Yeltsin presidential election, Yeltsin biographer Leon Aron offers thoughts on the Russian leader's legacy.

Joseph Stalin was born December 21, 1879, in Gori, which is now in the Republic of Georgia. His birth name was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. Around 1910, he took on the name Stalin which means man of steel. Iosif is a common Eastern European and Russian spelling for Joseph. Stalin's parents were peasants who, hoping for a better life for their son, sent him to the Gori church run school {1888-1894}.

In February 1582, the Catholic Church, in the person of Pope Gregory the thirteenth, decreed a new, more accurate calendar to replace the Julian calendar, which had been in use since 45 BC. The revision meant dropping 10 days off the year...

Notes on the 1972 ABM Treaty.

In a previous post and VPR commentary, I related how my friend Boris in Moscow speculated that, after the December Duma election, Russia would hold a national referendum and appoint Putin Tsar. Apparently TIME magazine beat Russia to the punch.

The Church's celebration of the Nativity is on January 7th; information about the Feasts of Christ's coming into the world and Scripture readings for the services and Liturgies.

For 18 years, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - writer, Nobel laureate and political dissident - lived with his family in Cavendish, Vermont. Exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974 for cataloguing the crimes of the Gulag, he spent long days at the family's Vermont home, writing and researching...

Where we reveal where to buy everything from Russian cologne to Russian videos.

Brief history of Russian prianiki (gingerbread) and a traditional recipe to enjoy during the holidays or anytime throughout the year; especially with a nice hot pot of tea!