Culture & Customs

Find out what the deal is with Russia's stone belt – the Ural Mountains.

Dancing noses, we have dancing noses, people! This week's video of the week is courtesy of Gogol, Shostakovich, and The Royal Opera.

The reboot of a classic Russian cartoon features some modern updates.

This week's we feature a smattering of things that are somewhere they shouldn't be, including drugs, tanks, mammoths, kids, and (of course) Lenin.

“It's nice to receive such news from Europe!”

- Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak on winning the revote for Eurovision 2008

June 22, 2020, marks the 79th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Russia that changed the course of WWII and, perhaps, history itself.

VKontakte has partnered with a modern art museum to allow amateur artists to submit items for a virtual exhibit.

This week we have grants for bride-stealing, anthropomorphic cakes, prisoners (and guards) walking on glass, and important advice for your next trip to Chelyabinsk.

“This is a good deed, one of the great opportunities to pay attention to people who need special support and attention, and, if necessary, help, especially in the current difficult epidemiological situation.”

– Advisor to the Governor of the Rostov region Anton Alekseyev on the online project “Smotri pesni” (“Watch Songs”)

Russia-watchers sometimes encounter the idea that Moscow is the "Third Rome." But where does this idea come from, and what does it mean?

The newly-released 2020 Global Peace Index has some surprising findings.

Russian pop experimentalist Kate NV had her video voted the #1 best music video of May by Pitchfork.