This series of eight futuristic postcards from 1914 was created by an unknown artist for the Moscow confectionery factory “Einem.” The illustrations on the cards depict what the artist envisioned Moscow to look like in the 22nd and 23rd centuries. The postcards were included in a package of candies entitled “Moscow of the Future” and were distributed as a supplement to the confectionery.

They depict such famous landmarks as Red Square, Teatralnaya Square, Lubyanka Square, and Petrovsky Park. Notably, one of the cards featured an image of Moscow’s Central Station, which was proposed for construction in the early 20th century but subsequently lost its relevance.

Moscow of the Future

Tags: Moscow city · Russian Empire

It seems you can find everything in Russia. For example, this unusual concrete ship found its final resting place in the lower reaches of the Volga in (Astrakhan Oblast), a few kilometers from the Caspian Sea.

The ship’s hull is made of reinforced concrete. Those parts of the hull where concrete was unsuitable were made of iron. This ship is not unique. Several countries designed and built various reinforced concrete ships during periods of severe metal shortages. Photos by zhgalin_photo.

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Tags: Abandoned · Astrakhan oblast · Soviet past

During the Soviet era, a widespread myth circulated that Russia (the Russian Empire) before 1917 was a backward peasant country without developed industry or technology. However, the situation was not so clear-cut, and here is one example.

Russia was one of the first in the world to begin developing a submarine fleet. On March 19, 1906, by decree of Emperor Nicholas II, the Russian Navy received a new type of weapon – military submarines. By August 1914, the fleet had approximately 15-22 combat-ready submarines. By 1916-1917, the total number reached about 50-60 units (including those under construction).

An AG-class submarine on one of the Baltic Shipyard’s piers.

unique photos of the first Russian submarines

Tags: Russian Empire

Today, if you ask Russians what a “belyana” is, it’s unlikely anyone would be able to answer. But these giant ships plied the Volga and Vetluga rivers just about a hundred years ago.

Belyana is a wooden, unpainted, flat-bottomed barge used for rafting timber along the Volga and Kama rivers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These ships were perhaps the most unique river vessels in the world.

unique giant Russian wooden ships

Tags: Astrakhan city · Volgograd city

As of 2025, Russia is the only country in the world that has a nuclear icebreaker fleet. Nuclear icebreakers ensure safe navigation in the Arctic and are a key link in the work on the Northern Sea Route.

Today’s Russian universal nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220 can operate without refueling for up to 7 years, and their food supplies last for more than half a year. Even the crew changes at sea when the icebreakers meet in the ice. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

clearing paths through the ice

Tags: Murmansk city · Vladivostok city

This railway is located on the Yamal Peninsula in northern Western Siberia, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia. Some of the world’s largest natural gas deposits are found here.

It consists of 5 stations and 70 bridges starting from Obskaya Station (Labytnangi) and going to Karskaya Station (the Bovanenkovo natural gas ​​deposit). The length of the railway is 572 km, and it is located entirely beyond the Arctic Circle. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

the railway at the edge of the world

Tags: Salekhard city · Yamalo-Nenets okrug

On December 30, 2021, a Project #903 Lun missile ekranoplan was towed ashore near the city of Derbent, in the Republic of Dagestan. This is the first exhibit of the future Patriot Park, which is planned to open here in 2023. Built in 1986, it became the only fully completed vehicle of this project out of eight planned due to financial problems and dubious military expediency.

An ekranoplan is a cross between a ship and an airplane. The principle of movement is similar to an air cushion, only it is created not by forcing air, but by an oncoming flow. When the flaps are lowered, the engines force air onto the wing and the ekranoplan rises out of the water. Ekranoplan “Lun” on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

picturesque military vehicle

Tags: Dagestan Republic · Derbent city

In the USSR, a personal car was a luxury, and for only a few, it was a common means of transportation. Even if you had enough money, you still could not freely buy it at a car dealership like today.

To do this, you had to wait your turn for several years, since the number of cars produced at the factories was significantly lower than the potential demand. Until the early 1970s, the main priority was given to trucks, in particular, army multi-axle tractors and four-wheel drive dual-use trucks.

1961. ZAZ-965 “Zaporozhets”.

Soviet advertising in all its glory

Tags: Soviet past · Tolyatti city

More often than not, there are websites and online content which can only be accessed in certain geographical locations. For instance, Netflix programs which are available in the USA may not be available in other countries such as in Russia, and vice versa.

Nevertheless, there is a way for anyone to be able to access the same Netflix programs from US in Russia, and there are several means out there that will allow you to do so.

watching American Netflix in Russia

Tags: No tags

Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko is the 102nd cosmonaut of Russia and the 473rd cosmonaut of the world. As of April 2019, he is on the International Space Station and during the three previous flights he already spent 533 days in space.

From the ISS, he took a lot of photographs of various regions of the Earth. Let’s see how the cities of Russia look at night from orbit. Source: Roscosmos.

Moscow – the capital of Russia.

Russian cities from space

Tags: Angarsk city · Astrakhan city · Grozny city · Irkutsk city · Krasnodar city · Moscow city · Novorossiysk city · Orenburg city · Saint Petersburg city · Samara city · Saratov city · Tolyatti city · Tver city · Vladivostok city · Volgograd city