Arkhangelsk is a city with a population of about 350 thousand people located in the north of the European part of Russia, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River, 30-35 kilometers from its confluence with the White Sea. It is the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast and the largest city of the Russian North.

Founded in 1584, this city is traditionally considered the capital of Pomor’e – an original region located on the southern coast of the White Sea, distinguished by its culture and even a special dialect of the Russian language. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Volgograd is a city with a population of more than 1 million people located on the bank of the Volga River in the southeast of the European part of Russia, the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast. Until 1925, it was called Tsaritsyn, from 1925 to 1961 – Stalingrad.

This city is known in Russia and abroad as the site of one of the main battles of the Second World War – the Battle of Stalingrad. Several matches of the 2018 World Cup were held here. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Nizhnevartovsk is a city with a population of about 276 thousand people located in the east of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra in the central part of the West Siberian Plain.

The city stands on the bank of the Ob River in the immediate vicinity of the Samotlor oil field. Today, it is one of the largest centers of the Russian oil industry. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Tags: Khanty-Mansi okrug · Nizhnevartovsk city

Astrakhan, the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast, is one of the largest and oldest cities in southern Russia included in the list of historical cities of the country.

This city with a population of about half a million people is located in the upper part of the delta of the Volga River, on 11 islands of the Caspian Lowland, about 80 km from the Caspian Sea. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Syzran is a city with a population of about 173 thousand people located in the west of Samara Oblast, the third largest city in the region after Samara and Tolyatti.

The city is located on the right bank of the Volga River (Saratov Reservoir), at the mouth of the Syzranka River. In its central part, Syzran retained the appearance of a merchant Volga town of the 19th century. In total, there are 143 monuments of history, culture, and architecture on its territory. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

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Rybinsk, first mentioned in 1071, is the second largest city in Yaroslavl Oblast located on the banks of the Volga River, about 87 km northwest of Yaroslavl and 313 km north of Moscow.

During the time of the Russian Empire, it was the country’s largest grain trading center. After the construction of the Rybinsk Hydroelectric Power Station in the 1930s, the Rybinsk Reservoir located to the north-west of the city, became the largest artificial reservoir in the world of its time. Photos by: Roman Smirnov.

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Yoshkar-Ola, one of the cultural centers of the Finno-Ugric peoples, is a city with a population of about 283 thousand people located about 50 km north of the Volga River and 862 km east of Moscow, the capital of the Republic of Mari El.

The Malaya Kokshaga River flows through the city and divides it into two almost equal parts. Yoshkar-Ola is traditionally considered one of the greenest cities in Russia. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

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“Tsvetnik” (meaning “flower garden” in Russian) is the oldest park in the resort-city of Pyatigorsk. It was laid out on the site of a swamp formed by water from hydrogen sulfide sources in the 1820s. By 1850, this place became the recognized center of the resort life of Pyatigorsk. In June 2019, it was reopened after restoration.

In the background you can see the metal-glass building of the Lermontov Gallery (1901) – one of the main historical monuments and symbols of Pyatigorsk, as well as a concert and exhibition complex. The photos were taken by Fedor Lashkov at the end of October.

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Tomsk is a city with a population of about 575 thousand people located in the east of Western Siberia on the banks of the Tom River, the capital of Tomsk Oblast.

This city is the oldest educational and scientific center in Siberia. There are a lot of preserved monuments of wooden and stone architecture of the 18th-20th centuries here. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

The House of Merchant Kukhterin (1900). Lenin Avenue, 73.

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Anadyr, the administrative center of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, is a port city with a population of about 15 thousand people located in the extreme north-east of Russia in the permafrost zone.

Today, a fish processing plant and energy enterprises are operating in the city. Gold and coal are being mined in its vicinity. Reindeer husbandry, fishing, and hunting are also developed. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

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Tags: Anadyr city · Chukotka okrug