Russia is a country with deep-rooted traditions and customs, some of which can be quite unexpected to Westerners. Everyone knows about the locals’ weird quirk of not smiling at strangers, but do you know that wearing your shoes inside is very disrespectful towards the homeowner, almost as much as visiting someone’s home emptyhanded. If you’re planning a Russia trip for business or pleasure, here are some things that you should better avoid.

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The Polar Urals is the northernmost part of the Ural Mountains. As well as throughout the Ural watershed, it is a geographical border between Asia and Europe, as well as an administrative border between the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic.

These are harsh and sparsely populated places, but due to the fact that the Vorkuta-Labytnangi Railway crosses the Polar Urals, it is relatively easy to get here. In winter, the Nenets come to the mountains of the Polar Urals with their herds of deer. Photos by: Sergey Karpukhin.

the life of nomadic herders

Tags: Salekhard city · Yamalo-Nenets okrug

The following filmstrip titled “Shelters, Covers and the Rules for Using Them” was released as a civil defense lessons workbook for pupils of the 5th grade of primary schools (10-11 years old) on request of the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) Ministry of Education in 1970. Source: humus. Copyright: Russian State Children’s Library (RGDB).

be ready for a nuclear war

Tags: Soviet past

Vasilyevo is an urban-type settlement with a population of about 17 thousand people located on the bank of the Volga River, about 25 km west of the center of Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The following photos taken in January 2019 give an idea of how winter looks in a large village of today’s Russia. And here are Proven Ways to Keep Warm During Russian Winter. Vasilyevo on Google Maps. Photos by: Anatoly Shcherbak.

snowy winter in the village

Tags: Kazan city · Tatarstan Republic

Ivan Alekseevich Vladimirov (1869-1947), a Russian painter and draftsman, became known as the artist of the realistic school of painting.

In 1917-1918, he worked in the Petrograd militia. This experience helped him to create a unique cycle of documentary sketches of the events of these years. Source: humus.

1. 1917. Dismantling of imperial coats of arms (Down with the eagles!). The signs on the building – Drugstore. February.

turning point in the history of Russia

Tags: Saint Petersburg city · Soviet past

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 represented mainly by tundra with numerous lakes.

The peninsula is poorly developed by people. Nenets, the indigenous inhabitants of Yamal, are engaged in such traditional activities as large-scale reindeer herding, fishing, hunting. Yamal on Google Maps. Photos by: Andrei Kireev.

Polar lights and a typical Nenets raw-hide tent. Air temperature – minus 30 degrees Celsius.

harsh life of reindeer herders

Tags: Tyumen oblast · Yamalo-Nenets okrug

Norilsk, with a population of more than 175,000 people, is located in the Arctic Circle. It is ranked seventh in the list of the most polluted cities in the world. About 60 percent of its population is employed in the metallurgical industry.

Elena Chernyshova, a Russian documentary photographer based in France, lived in Norilsk for a few months photographing the life of the city.

pretty harsh place for life

Tags: Norilsk city

This news is from the series “This is possible only in Russia.”

October 22, at 03:32 in the morning, an unknown person entered the territory of the train depot Lobnya (about 15 km from Moscow), climbed into the cabin of one of the trains, started the engine and escaped.

but something went wrong

Tags: Moscow city · Moskovskaya oblast

According to the words of Maxim Ksenzov, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Mass Media, Twitter and Facebook can be blocked in minutes in the country and his agency “does not see big risks” in this. This news caused a great public outcry yesterday.

Today, after the words of Prime Minister that such statements are unacceptable, he was reprimanded. However, this does not negate the fact that he told the truth – to block these social networks in Russia only an order from the top is needed. Caricature by zhgun

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While people are celebrating Christmas in many countries around the world, we continue to share with you interesting and sometimes very unusual news and photos from Russia.

This scene could be seen in the city of Samara yesterday, December 24. Chief Russian Father Frost (Santa Claus) came to Samara from Veliki Ustyug town (his official residence). Special metal barriers were installed for “safety” reasons.

Safety first?

Tags: Samara city