The construction of the 5th unit of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant began in 1986. It was planned that the power unit would be put into operation in 1992.

However, in 1989, the construction was frozen because the 5th power unit was designed based on the use of the RBMK reactor (the type of reactor installed at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant).

explore the copy of the Chernobyl NPP

Tags: Abandoned · Kursk city

Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps located in St. Petersburg is one of the largest military museums in Russia. In total, the collection includes over 850 thousand exhibits.

The exposition was started by Peter I, who founded Zeughaus – a place for storing historical, unique and experimental artillery pieces. Today, the exposition covers the time from the 15th century to the present day. Photos by: deletant.

explore the museum

Tags: museum · Saint Petersburg city

Arsenal is a park pavilion built in 1819-1834, designed by the architects Adam Menelas and Alexander Ton. It was used as the Imperial Weapons Museum that became one of the first museums in the country.

This building in the “Gothic” style, crowned with crenellated towers, is located in the center of the Alexander Park in Tsarskoye Selo – a museum-preserve in the town of Pushkin in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. Photos by: Dmitriy Gazin.

explore the museum

Tags: museum · Saint Petersburg city

The Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery is one of the largest and most famous monasteries in Russia with a long history.

This is one of the most valuable and interesting historical and architectural complexes in the country. It is located on the south-eastern outskirts of the town of Pechora in the Pskov region, near the border with Estonia. Pskov-Caves Monastery on Google Maps. Photos by: Denis Spirin.

explore the fortress-monastery

Tags: Pskov oblast

Of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North, the Nenets are the most numerous. According to the 2010 census, the total number of the Nenets people living in Russia was 44,640, of which 29,772 were living in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, part of the Tyumen region.

Let’s look at some scenes from their life in winter, when the temperature ranges from minus 20 to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Photos by: Petr Ushanov.

visit the Nenets

Tags: Tyumen oblast · Yamalo-Nenets okrug

Staritsa, founded in 1297, is a small town with a population of about 8,000 people located in the Tver region, 65 km south-west of Tver. There are several churches and estates in the town and its surroundings.

One of the most interesting churches is the complex of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – unique in its appearance. Staritsa on Google Maps. Photos by: Dmitriy Gazin.

picturesque abandoned church

Tags: churches · Tver oblast

The peninsula of Kamchatka is a unique mountainous region in Russia. Ecologically pure wildlife attracts more and more tourists, despite the remoteness and inaccessibility of these places. You can get here only by air or by sea.

About one-third of the Kamchatka territory is occupied by specially protected natural sites (reserves, natural parks and monuments). Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Kamchatka

Tags: Kamchatka krai

Alexandrovsky Park is a park in the State Museum-Reserve “Tsarskoe Selo” located in the city of Pushkin in St. Petersburg, an architectural monument of the 18th-19th centuries.

One of the attractions of the park is the so-called “White Tower” – a pavilion built in the style of a medieval knight castle. Photos by: Dmitriy Gazin.

miniature castle

Tags: Saint Petersburg city

The second part of unique photos taken by Major Martin Manhoff, who spent more than two years in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s as an assistant to the military attache in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

The first part of the photos.

View of the Kremlin from Moskvoretskaya Embankment.

Moscow in the early 1950s

Tags: Moscow city · Soviet past

Soviet propaganda was diverse and influenced the minds of people all the time. Let’s see how the image of a woman was used and gradually changed on Soviet posters. Source: humus

Woman! Learn to read and write!
Oh, mother! If you were literate, you could help me! (1923)

Soviet propaganda posters

Tags: propaganda · Soviet past