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When battling the White Army in 1919, Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev had no idea he would one day become the hero of one of Soviet film's greatest works.

It is a common trope that Russians never smile. Which of course is interpreted to mean they are unfriendly, gloomy, sullen – positively Dostoyevskian. This, of course, is a complete misreading of body language and cultural norms.

Start with an Armenian base, drop in some Tbilisi, some Moscow, some Kiev, stir in amazing cinematography and strong political convictions, season with a Siberian labor camp – and voila! You're getting close to the legendary filmmaker Sergei Parajanov.

As the United States struggled with the trauma of seeing a fellow state succumb to Communism, a pattern of familiar stages started to emerge in - of all places - its agricultural exports.

Readers write in with corrections and opinions.

We never seek out stories because they are sensational or controversial.

A look back at the amazing, and eccentric, Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleyev, inventor of the Periodic Table.

A somewhat nostalgic look back at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

All the news that fit.

This issue's review section considers Ben Judah's "Fragile Empire," Victor Martinovich's "Paranoia," C.P. Lesley's "The Golden Lynx," and Olga Fedina's "What Every Russian Knows (And You Don't)."

Cod was once scorned in Russia. Now it is properly seen as a delicacy. Start the New Year off right with this version of the fish with an egg and butter sauce.

After the games are over and the crowds have gone home, Sochi will still be Sochi. We look at what this Black Sea resort has to offer visitors beyond Olympic wonders.