The Moscow Regional Coronavirus Headquarters are using all the available weapons at their disposal to fight the spread of COVID-19, and they've pulled out their biggest gun yet: cat memes. 

In this week's Odder News, gig work gets some much-deserved attention, Muscovites "celebrate" the imminent lockdown by going nuts, and the wild comes to the streets of St. Petersburg.

"We did not have a fox in the monastery, definitely not ours, but it’s probably someone’s pet. They write that someone [at the monastery] was scared, but the fox was the most scared of all – a hundred people chased after her with their phones;  she is the main victim.”

– A resident of the Srtensky Monastery in Moscow denied that a young fox accused of terrorizing parishioners had come from the premises.

The third annual Corgi Ball took place outside Moscow, and yes, it was just as cute as it sounds like it would be. 

The journey between Moscow and St. Petersburg is about to get a lot faster.

After twenty years outside the public eye, celebrated author Viktor Pelevin comes to Moscow to greet fans and sign books. Or does he?

Archaeologists have just completed digging through layers of cultural strata in the middle of the Kremlin, unearthing some interesting finds they totally forgot were down there.

A new ranking shows that 4% of the world's best chefs come from Russia. 

“They are different projects, but they have the same goal: to create a high-quality urban environment and new opportunities for recreation and sports close to home.”

– Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, announcing plans to improve Moscow’s public spaces.

Sometimes the most incredible things can be hidden in plain sight. In this case, a main thoroughfare in the capital.

By mid-October of 1941, Moscow seemed on the verge of falling to the Nazis. German troops had reached the city’s edge, and there were rumors of fascist tanks closing in.

Thirty years ago this week, Russia became an independent country... again.