Some archive footage here, to the accompaniment of the Red Army Choir.
In one of the earliest Victory Day parades, around 50,000 German prisoners of war were marched through the streets of Moscow. They weren’t allowed to break out of line and many soiled themselves.
On the whole, Russian citizens were not disrespectful - some even threw [...]

A Russian girl directing a Red Army convoy towards Berlin in 1944

‘Operation Barbarossa’ was Hitler’s plan to defeat Russia in 4 months flat. Yet it wasn’t until 4 years later, on May 9th., 1945, that the German Army surrendered in Berlin. During this time, at least 25 million former Soviet citizens lost their lives in [...]

By 1962, the Space Race between Russia and the US became more of a propaganda race. That’s when Kruschev personally intervened in the whole Russian Space programme. The idea of the ‘first woman in space’ was his personal dream.
Russia’s director of the Soviet Space Programme, Sergei Korolev, wanted techno advances: longer flights, space stations and [...]

It’s a triangular island in the Neva canal system and it isn’t the first time it’s had a prosperity purpose.

…Norman Foster also bagged the contract for Moscow’s Crystal Island, but the proposed world’s biggest building is also beset by the world’s biggest economic crisis.

This is the Wilhelm Gustloff, all set to sail on an exotic cruise from Hamburg. It was built during the golden age of luxury liners, a floating showcase of shining brass, polished mahogany, pampering cabin staff and Captain’s Table cuisine.
During wartime it was pressed into service as a hospital ship. On its last voyage it [...]

This is Kaliningrad cathedral, sometimes called Kant’s cathedral, since it houses both his tomb and a museum dedicated to the city’s most famous son. (There’s even been a lobby recently to change the name of Kaliningrad to Kantograd.)
When you want to get close, some buildings are just too big to fit in a regular [...]

Inbetween Novgorod and Kaliningrad I took time off from the net, so here are some pictures I never got around to posting.
Maybe Novgorod is more for history fans than funsters, but surely worth at least one of the regular excursions from St. Petersburg.

Sunday is the perfect day to visit the Kremlin. This babushka has [...]

According to De Telegraaf, the world is coming to an end at lunchtime. Since it’s already gone 12, maybe it will be tomorrow now.
If this is news to you, it’s a doomcast by the Chairman of one of Europe’s largest banks, Fortis. Fortis reckons it raised 8 billion in the nick of time, since the [...]

. Now Playing. Rosie Gaines.

It’s been 7 hours and 13 days since Boris took his love away - plus the time it’s taken me to finish reading all the obituaries.
It isn’t done to speak ill of the dead, though very many have made an exception in Boris’ case. What’s missing amongst the list of [...]

I really should get one of those birthday calendars. I missed a couple lately.

First of all, Valentina Tereshkova, the first Soviet woman in space, was 70 last month. There’s a little commemorative photo album at RIA Novosti. On her return to earth, Valentina married another famous Russian cosmonaut, Andriyan Nikolayev. Whether this was role model [...]