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A small correction, the material damage caused to Stalingrud was estimated at 9 billion Soviet rubles. In 1936, the exchange rate of the Soviet ruble was pegged first to the French franc and then to the US dollar (to the gold backing of these currencies) and amounted to 5 Soviet rubles per 1 USD. Thus, the damage was about 1.8 billion USD in 1943 (about 32.6 billion USD in 2024). Of course this is a rough estimate.

Here are several examples of prices in 1848-1850s in order to assess the purchasing power of a silver ruble. It is also worth noting that the value of a silver ruble was higher than a paper ruble (banknote), 1 silver ruble - about 3-4 rubles in banknotes.

• The price a fur coat made of black-brown fox - 1000 rubles,
• A sable fur coat - 2000 rubles,
• A village hut - 100 rubles,
• One peasant in the Yaroslavl Governorate - 24 rubles,
• Straw - 1 silver ruble for one cart,
• Sugar - 0.24 silver rubles per 1 pound (0.41 kg),
• Vodka - 1.13 silver rubles per 3 liters,
• Beef - 5.30 rubles in banknotes for 16.4 kg,
• Eggs - 1 silver ruble for 100 eggs.

You can compare this with today's prices to give a rough estimate of the value of the silver ruble of that time.

The current emblem of Belgorod repeats the historical emblem of this city, approved on July 21, 1893 on the basis of the banner emblem of 1712 of the Belgorod infantry regiment, which showed valor in the Battle of Poltava (1709), the main battle of the Northern War between the Russian army under the command of Peter I and the Swedish army under the command of Charles XII. The soaring eagle symbolizes Russia, and it soars above the fleeing lion, the symbol of Sweden. Quite an interesting story and a cool emblem that would look great on a T-shirt or as a custom enamel pin. You can Learn More at BPS.

I have checked the prices of some basic foodstuffs in 1850 (plus or minus several years), such as potatoes, buckwheat, meat, flour, and workers' wages. Based on this, compared with today's prices and wages, 500 rubles in 1850 roughly equals about 1 million rubles (13,000 USD) in 2023.

There were a lot of different labor camps in this region, check the following article with a lot of details about the Poles exiled to the Komi Republic, the article is auto-translated from Russian - The Pages of Polish tragedy.

It is difficult to find anything without the Russian spelling of this place. If you have a photo of any original document where this place is mentioned in Russian, that might help me find it. Send it here contact@russiatrek.org

Here are some examples of prices for various goods in the Russian Empire in 1909: coffee (1 kg) - 2 rubles, cheese - 1-2 rubles, meat - 0.8 rubles, boots - 5 rubles, a cow - 50-60 rubles, a riding horse - 70-150 rubles, a piano - 100-200 rubles, a Ford car - 2,000 rubles. The average salary was about 33-45 rubles per month. So the sum of 5,000 rubles was quite large.

Here are some examples of the prices of that time: an international passport - 1 ruble, sugar - 0.3 rubles per kg, a house in Moscow - 12,000 rubles, renting a room in a tavern - 0.2 rubles per day, a bottle of wine in a merchant's club - 5 rubles, the salary of a clerk at a railway station - 25.5 rubles per month.

After Germany attacked the USSR on June 22, 1941, six enterprises of Ulan-Ude (locomotive repair, glass, aviation factories, meat processing plant, etc.) were switched to military production. Ulan-Ude locomotive repair plant was engaged in repairing locomotives, freight and passenger cars, built new locomotives, produced ammunition. Ulan-Ude meat processing plant also produced up to 50 different medical products.

9 evacuation hospitals were located in Ulan-Ude. Kharkiv Russian Drama Theater was evacuated to this city. At the end of 1941, the 97th Rifle Division under the command of A. A. Schennikov was formed in Ulan-Ude. In 1942, it was sent to the Western Front, where it became part of the 16th Army.

Part of Karelia along with several other territories were ceded by the USSR as a result of this war. Here is the map of Finnish areas ceded in 1940.

The reenactment of the Borodino Battle will take place on September 7, 2012 - the day of the 200th anniversary of the battle.

I have found the following article about the history of the Russian flag.

I have found the following article about the history of the coat of arms of Stavropol. You can use this service to translate the page.

Most of the Moscow Kremlin that we can see today was constructed in the second half of the 15th century.

The bombardment was carried out on June 22, 1943 as a "gift" to the Germans on the anniversary of their attack on the USSR on June 22, 1941. The destruction in the city was minimal. Pskov was severely damaged because of the bombardments in 1944, the year when the city was liberated.

As it turned out this is a very interesting question! After a little investigation, I have found out that this music piece is part of the soundtrack from the movie "The Unforgettable Year of 1919" (1952, Shostakovich was the composer of the movie). The movie is about the Civil War in Russia and the defense of Petrograd (St. Petersburg).

In the list of music tracks this piece of music is called "The Assault on the Red Hill" and sometimes it is mentioned as "The Assault on Beautiful Gorky". It is the wrong translation of the original Russian name because the word "Krasniy" was translated not as Red but as Beautiful (there are some cases when it is correct but not in this one) and the second word "Gorka" meaning "hill" was not translated and remained almost the same like "Gorky". It looks like a very interesting story with all these wrong translations.

I think you can try to contact the non-government organization Memorial that helps people to find their relatives lost during wars, repressions.