The first Chechen War began in the winter of 1994. Grozny was captured by the Russian army in February of 1995 after a battle. A lot of buildings and infrastructure objects of the city were damaged or destroyed because of the Russian Air Force and artillery strikes.

But the resistance to Russian troops was not ended, and numerous Chechen guerrilla raids continued to operate in the city from the nearby mountains. In August 1996, Grozny was recaptured by Chechen guerrilla in a surprise attack. The battle was ended after a ceasefire (in 1996) and peace treaty (in 1997) was signed between Russia and the Chechen Republic.

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Tags: Chechnya Republic · Grozny city

We are wishing you good luck and happiness in the coming year of 2012!

Tags: New Year

The year of 2011 is coming to an end and we are wishing you Happy New Year and great holidays!

Let’s look back at the posts of our blog that were of the greatest interest in 2011 (ranked by the number of pageviews).

1. Soviet space exploration program was definitely the most popular theme in 2011. It was the year of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into outer space. Propaganda posters of Soviet space program created in 1958-1963 still inspire and call people to explore the Universe.

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Tags: No tags

The rally “For Fair Elections” was held on Sakharov Avenue in Moscow. The participants protested against ballot rigging in the elections to the State Duma on December 4.

The officials of Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the meeting was attended by about 30 thousand people. According to the organizers of the rally about 120 thousand people came to protest. The symbols of protest were white chrysanthemums and white ribbons. Photos by Ilya Varlamov.

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Tags: Moscow city

Pyatigorsk (“the city of five mountains”) is the oldest balneological and mud resort of Russia and the largest cultural and tourist center of eco-resort region Caucasian Mineral Waters.

On January 19, 2010 Pyatigorsk received the status of the center of North Caucasus Federal District. It is the only center of the federal district not being the capital of the subject of the federation. Photos by timag82. Click the photos for high resolution versions.

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Tags: Pyatigorsk city

Vologda Kremlin is historical and architectural complex located in the central part of Vologda. It was founded as a fortress in 1567 by order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and played the role of defensive fortification in the 16th-17th centuries.

By the 1820s the Kremlin walls and towers were dismantled. Today the territory of the Kremlin is a historical and trade center of Vologda. Several architectural monuments built at the same time as the Kremlin were preserved. They are standing on the Kremlin Square. Photos by Ilya Pokrovsky.

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Tags: churches · Vologda city

There is an abandoned village Ostashevo in Chuhlomskoy district of Kostroma oblast and 100 meters to the east this wooden wonder is standing. The building is an old two-storey house with a tower, full of various carved decoration.

The house was probably built by industrialist Markov at the end of the 19th century. It was his suburban villa (dacha). According to the other version St. Petersburg contractor M.S. Sazonov built this house for his second wife E.A. Dobrovolskaya. Photos by Denis Frantsouzov.

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Tags: Abandoned · Kostroma oblast

Ekaterinburg (from 1942 till 1991 – Sverdlovsk) is the fourth largest city in Russia (after Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Novosibirsk), an administrative center of Sverdlovsk oblast.

The city is one of the largest financial and business centers in Russia, offices of transnational corporations are located here as well as representations of foreign companies, a great number of federal and regional financial institutions.

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Tags: bird's eye views · Ekaterinburg city

Yuriev-Polskiy is one of the oldest towns in Vladimir oblast. This small town with the population of about 19,000 is the part of the Golden Ring of Russia tourist route. Yuriev-Polskiy is located 68 km northwest of Vladimir and 180 km north-east of Moscow.

The town was founded in 1152 by Yuri Dolgoruky. He also ordered to build almost circular stone fort surrounded by an earthen rampart up to 7 meters height. In 1234 in the center of the fortress St. George’s Cathedral was built. It is one of the main attractions of present Yuriev-Polskiy.

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Tags: Vladimir oblast

Teriberka is a village located in the Kola district of Murmansk oblast. Kola Peninsula is a peninsula on the north-west of European Russia washed by the Barents and White Seas. The area of the peninsula is about 100 thousand sq. km.

The first mention of the encampment Teriberka was in 1523. At the end of the 19th century it was already a well-developed village with church, lighthouse, hydrometeostation (first on the Murman coast). In 1938 Teriberka received the status of urban settlement.

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Tags: Abandoned · Murmansk oblast