It took Stas Tolstnev over two years to film this beautiful video of Lake Baikal – a tectonic lake located on the border of Irkutsk Oblast and the Republic of Buryatia in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, covering an area of ​​31,722 square kilometers.

It is the deepest lake on the planet, the largest natural reservoir of fresh water, and the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia by area. The lake’s width ranges from 24 to 79 km. The bottom of Lake Baikal at its deepest point is 1,187 meters below sea level.

The origin of the name is usually explained by the Turkic “Baiköl”, meaning “rich lake,” as it is particularly rich in the rare salmon species caught here. Another theory says that the name derives from the Chinese “Běihǎi”, meaning “northern sea.” Baikal is especially beautiful in winter.

Tags: Buryat Republic · Irkutsk oblast

The Russian government plans to increase the tax burden on licensed bookmakers by 60 times, resulting in an annual revenue of 60 billion rubles. This budget plan includes a new 25% corporate profit tax and a 7% tax on the difference between accepted stakes and paid-out wins, referred to as Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). International casino non GamStop operators typically set a standard for comparing these high domestic rates to worldwide industry averages.

Licensed Russian businesses now face these record-high taxes, along with a 2% increase in the national VAT rate to 22%. Market analysts who work for casino sites non GamStop and platforms offering online gambling without GamStop interference keep an eye on how these changes in local laws affect the provision of competitive betting odds across Eurasia. The government needs to standardise these increased rates to plan for the future financially in 2026.

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Yamal is a peninsula located in the north of Western Siberia, on the territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. The landscapes of the peninsula are predominantly tundra with numerous lakes. The length of the peninsula is 700 km, the width is up to 240 km. The word “Yamal” is translated from Nenets as “edge of the earth”.

This part of Russia is underdeveloped in terms of population. The Nenets, the indigenous people of Yamal, engage in traditional activities such as large-scale reindeer herding, fishing, and hunting. According to the 2021 census, the total number of Nenets is approximately 35-36 thousand people. Yamal on Google Maps. Photos by: Andrei Kireev.

The northern lights and a typical Nenets tent made of untreated leather. The air temperature was minus 30 degrees Celsius.

the harsh life of reindeer herders

Tags: Tyumen oblast · Yamalo-Nenets okrug

Atlasov Island, located 70 km south of Kamchatka, is the northernmost island of the Kuril Islands of Sakhalin Oblast. It is the surface portion of the Alaid volcano, whose eruptions led to the formation of the highest island in Russia and the 50th highest in the world.

The island is nearly round, with a diameter in the range of 13-17 km. The volcano is located exactly in the center, and the cone rises to over 2,300 meters. Rain clouds form lower down, so the summit is often hidden by clouds. Atlasov Island on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Tags: Sakhalin oblast · Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk city

“Malye Korely” is an open-air museum-reserve of traditional Russian wooden buildings of Arkhangelsk Oblast located in a forested area near the village of Malye Karely in the Primorsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, 25 km south of central Arkhangelsk, near the right bank of the Northern Dvina River.

This museum covering an area of ​​139.8 hectares is a popular tourist destination in the region. It is one of the largest landscape exhibitions in Russia.

snow covered wooden architecture

Tags: Arkhangelsk oblast · museum

The monument to Vladimir Lenin on the grounds of the October Railway depot, known simply as “Lenin on Wheels,” is located near Leningradsky Station in Moscow (Komsomol’skaya Square, 3/36).

Mounted on a railway bogie, it is one of the first monuments to Lenin in Moscow and the only monument to Lenin on wheels in the world. Lenin on Wheels on Google Maps. Photos by: babs71.

very unusual and cool monument

Tags: Moscow city · Soviet past

The Sofia Waterfalls are waterfalls of glacial origin flowing from the Sofia Glacier of Mount Sofia (3,637 meters) – one of the main natural attractions of the Arkhyz ski resort, located in the southern part of the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia in the Western Caucasus.

These picturesque waterfalls are located approximately 15 km south of the village of Arkhyz. The Sofia Waterfalls reach their fullest flow in the height of summer (July and August), when the glacier is actively melting. The following photos were taken at the end of July by Fedor Lashkov. The Sofia Waterfalls on Google Maps.

fly over the Sofia Waterfalls

Tags: Cherkessk city · Karachay-Cherkessia Republic · landscapes · Stavropol krai

On the outskirts of Krasnoyarsk, you can find the longest stairway in Russia. It leads to the summit of the Torgashinsky Ridge. The stairway is 1.2 km long and consists of 1,683 steps.

The climb to the top of the ridge takes about 40 minutes, offering panoramic views of the city, the taiga, and the Krasnoyarsk Pillars. The Krasnoyarsk Stairway on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

The Longest Stairway in Russia

Tags: Krasnoyarsk city

The Russian coat of arms depicts a double-headed eagle. However, sometimes in Russia you can encounter unusual eagles with three heads, claws, and wings. They are especially common in the country’s former capital, St. Petersburg.

When a sculpted double-headed eagle crowns a tall spire and can be seen from various angles, a problem arises: from certain angles, the eagle can appear single-headed. To avoid this, such an eagle is sometimes made three-headed, with three wings and claws.

The eagle’s heads are positioned at a 120° angle to each other, and the wings are similarly positioned. In this case, from any angle, the eagle appears double-headed to the viewer, just like on the coat of arms. Photos by: Alexander Nikulin.

unique three-headed Russian eagles

Tags: Saint Petersburg city

A lot of people know about the picturesque remnant cliffs on the Manpupuner Plateau in the Northern Urals in the Republic of Komi.

However, in Russia, there is a number of similar places and one of them is the mountain range of the Ulakhan-Sis – a geological complex located in the polar part of Yakutia between the Indigirka and Alazeya rivers. The Ulakhan-Sis on Google Maps. Photos by: Sergei Karpukhin.

unique monument of nature

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city