Peschanaya (Sandy) Bay is one of the most beautiful and well-known places on Baikal Lake. Unique taiga slopes with picturesque groups of rocks together with a clean sandy beach of semicircular form (length – 750 meters, width – 15-20 meters) are very picturesque.

The only way to reach this place is to go by water from Listvyanka or Irkutsk. In July and August, you can swim in the lake though the water is pretty cool (about plus 13 degrees Celsius). Peschanaya Bay on Google Maps. Photos by borh_84

a lovely place to stay

Tags: Irkutsk oblast · landscapes

Russia is rich in numerous places with incredibly beautiful and still pure nature. Zabaykalye – the natural and geographical region located to the east and south-east of Lake Baikal – is one of such places.

Just look at these ridges, the valley with a swift river, the sky before the storm and freely grazing horses! This place is located somewhere in Buryatia Republic. Photos by Sergey Anashkevitch

beauty of wild nature

Tags: Buryat Republic · landscapes

The cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God or simply Vladimirskiy Cathedral is an Orthodox church standing on Vladimir Square in St. Petersburg.

It is dedicated to one of the most revered icons in Russia. This five-domed church is a monument of architecture of the transitional style from baroque to classicism. Photo by Ilya Melikhov

Tags: Saint Petersburg city

Sunflower is a major oilseed crop in Russia. In 2013, the gross yield of sunflower seeds amounted to about 10.2 million. tons – 3 times more than in 1990 during the Soviet period, and by 27.7% more than in 2012.

Russia occupies a leading position in the world in this area, together with Ukraine (10.0 million tons of oilseeds in 2013). Blooming sunflower fields look very picturesque. The following wonderful pictures were taken in Lipetsk region by Petr Ushanov

beautiful field of sunflowers

Tags: landscapes · Lipetsk oblast

On the vast expanses of Russia you can find a lot of abandoned facilities. Most of them were built in remote and sometimes very picturesque areas for military purposes during the Soviet period and after the collapse of the USSR were abandoned.

For example, look at this abandoned storage of nuclear warheads built in the 1960s in the depths of the granite mountain and located somewhere in the northern part of Russia. Photos by Lana Sator

explore the base

Tags: Abandoned

In Soviet times, the myth that Russia (the Russian Empire) before 1917 was a backward peasant country without a strong industry and technology became widespread. However, the situation was not so straightforward, and here is one example.

March 19, 1906, by the decree of Emperor Nicholas II, the Navy of the Russian Empire received a new kind of force – military submarines. By 1916, the Russian Navy had 55 submarines.

Submarine of “AG” class on one of the stocks of the Baltic plant

unique photos of the first submarines

Tags: Russian Empire

Everyone knows that a bear’s den is the wintering shelter of bears in the wild. But have you ever seen the inside look of the lair? One student was not lazy, climbed inside and made some measurements. See for yourself!

let’s get into the den

Tags: No tags

Norilsk is a city located in the north of Krasnoyarsk region, south of the Taimyr Peninsula, about 90 km east of the Yenisei River. Norilsk is the second largest city in the world (after Murmansk) located within the Polar Circle.

It is one of the most environmentally polluted cities in the world. Environmental hazard for the population of Norilsk and its surrounding areas is determined by one of the world’s largest mining and, at the same time, metal-producing plants. Photos by Stepanov Slava

unique northern city

Tags: Norilsk city

In the fifties, Semyon Osipovich Friedland, Soviet photographer and journalist, made a lot of high-quality color photographs in all parts of the Soviet Union.

Thanks to his work, we can now see people’s life in the USSR after World War II. Of course these photos are staged but nevertheless quite interesting from a historical perspective.

Soviet historical photos

Tags: Soviet past

Cosmodrome “Vostochny” is being built in the Far East of Russia in Amur region, near the village of Uglegorsk. The total territory reserved to the needs of the cosmodrome is 1035 square km.

The first launch is scheduled for the end of 2015, the first launch of manned spacecraft – in 2018. The total cost of the project is about $ 9 billion. Several new photos from the construction site taken two days ago (June 1, 2014) by Dmitry Rogozin.

future of Russian space program

Tags: Amur oblast