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Generation Gulag

I Was So Naive | Generation Gulag: Irina Verblovskaya

When Irina was sentenced to five years in a Gulag labor camp after Stalin's death, she still couldn’t believe she’d really serve the time.

Generation Gulag

The Dancer | Generation Gulag: Azari Plesetsky

Azari Plesetsky is one of the thousands who grew up fatherless after Stalin's repressions.

look back

Old Moscow and St. Petersburg Through an American Photographer's Lens

Colorized photos show a long-gone side of Soviet Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Returning home

Children of Stalin’s Terror Win Crucial Housing Case

They are now entitled to state housing in the cities their parents were deported from during the Stalinist repressions.

nothing gold can stay

Number of Russian Language Learners Worldwide Halved Since Soviet Collapse

“If nothing is done, the situation may become tragic by 2025,” researchers warned.

Paying respects

Kremlin Pays Tribute to Late Soviet Spy It Says May Have Changed History

Goar Vartanyan allegedly helped thwart a plan backed by Adolf Hitler to assassinate the allied leaders in 1943.

opinion

Leonid Bershidsky

I Just Translated ‘1984’ Into Russian. I’m Gasping for Air

Reading “1984” closely is both sickening and cathartic because so much is instantly recognizable.

Arms race

Historians Unmask Fourth Soviet Spy in U.S. Manhattan Nuclear Project

Oscar Seborer’s secret life showed “how widespread espionage was” in the U.S. atomic bomb program.

Fading away

1 in 4 Young Russians Haven’t Heard of the Fall of the Berlin Wall – Poll

A majority of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed said they “don’t care” about the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago.

atomic friends

German Role in Developing Soviet Nuclear Program Revealed in Newly Declassified Documents

“Their contributions certainly accelerated the Soviets’ push to become a nuclear weapon state.”

Come to brazil

Russian Message in a Bottle Washes Up on Brazilian Beach

Soviet sailors reportedly wrote the message around 1990 near Greenland.

'desecration of the memory'

Prague Will Remove Statue of Soviet Marshal Who Led Red Army Forces

It has been the subject of controversy since the 1989 fall of communism because of Konev's later endeavors.

Viktor Pelevin

Pelevin’s New Novel Plays With U.S.-Russian Culture Wars

The book is a riff on news from recent years, telling the story of a secret Russian unit whose mission is to avenge the collapse of the Soviet Union.

opinion

Boris Johnson: The Brezhnev Years

With their utopian market assumptions, contemporary neoliberal states share many of the pathologies of the Soviets.

restored classic

Dziga Vertov’s ‘Anniversary of a Revolution’ Has its Second Moscow Premiere

100 years after it was made and lost, a restored version of the documentary was shown at the Oktyabr Theater.

Molotov-Ribbentrop

Russia Declassifies WWII Docs Relating to Soviet-Nazi Pact

The Defense Ministry said it released the documents to “protect historical truth and counter the falsification of history.”

Anniversary

30 Years Ago, the 'Baltic Way' Protested Soviet Rule

Aug. 23 marks 30 years since 2 million people in Soviet Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined hands to create a 600-kilometer “human chain.”

Snail mail

Alaskan Finds Russian Message in a Bottle Written 50 Years Ago

The recipient had no trouble finding willing volunteers to help translate the message.

Reminiscing

Russians Say Soviet Rule Was ‘Closer to People’ Than Current Regime – Poll

When asked to characterize Russia's current leadership, 41% of respondents called it “criminal and corrupt.”

Retro rally

Vintage Soviet Cars Cruise Into Moscow

More than 100 refurbished Soviet cars raced past Moscow's iconic sights for the annual GUM AutoRally.

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