Tyumen was the first Russian city in Siberia. Being an administrative and business center of the largest oil- and gas-extracting region Tyumen is unofficial “oil and gas capital” of Russia.

The following pictures were captured from the tallest building in Tyumen, residential complex “Parusa” (25 floors, 78 meters). The building is located at the intersection of Melnikaite and Taimyr streets. Photos by Stepanov Slava.

(more…)

Tags: Tyumen city

Excursions in Saint Petersburg never get bored because the city is fraught with many secrets and stories.

You can see the city from the view of its founder Peter the Great if you take a river tour in St. Petersburg. After going aboard of boat you will dive into the atmosphere of the times of Peter the Great because the city was originally planned as Venice of the North or New Amsterdam.

(more…)

Tags: Saint Petersburg city

October 5 Grozny (capital city of Chechen Republic) with characteristic to local authorities fanfare celebrated the Day of the city. Noncircular date (193 years) has not prevented wide celebrations: such stars as Jean-Claude Van Dam, Kevin Costner and Vanessa Mae were invited to take part in the concert.

The concert was organized to celebrate the opening of Chechen financial center “Grozny-City,” but everyone knew perfectly well that in fact it was the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov. The concert was broadcasted on second federal TV channel.

(more…)

Tags: Chechnya Republic · Grozny city

“Nalychevo” is a nature park on the Kamchatka Peninsula (Kamchatka krai) created in 1995. The total area of the park is about 287 thousand hectares.

The park is located in the valley of Nalycheva River and is bounded by the chain of volcanoes. On the territory of the park there are a lot of hot and cold mineral springs with medicinal properties. Photos by Ilya Stepanov.

(more…)

Tags: Kamchatka krai · Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city

Podolsk is one of the largest industrial centers in Moscow region. There are over a dozen of large industrial plants on the territory of the city.

Besides, Podolsk is one of the centers of high-tech science: there are a lot of scientific institutions which are linked mainly with nuclear engineering and nuclear research.

Tags: No tags

Stavropol region is a land of natural contrasts. The vast plains and semi deserts lie in the eastern and north-eastern areas. Famous Stavropol fertile steppes are located in the west and north-west.

Stavropol krai has highly developed agriculture. High-quality wheat, grapes, fruits, vegetables and melons are grown there. Also the region produces meat, milk and wool.

(more…)

Tags: landscapes · Stavropol krai

Vasya Lozhkin is Russian artist living in a small town of Solnechnogorsk located in Moskovskaya oblast. In his paintings he portrays parallel world – the world of psychosis, madness, extreme forms of mental states, visions and hallucinations.

If sometimes there are intersections with reality they are very little. This is not a reflection of our lives in a distorting mirror but a frightening fantasy world and the lives of the ghosts. He also likes to paint cats and bunnies.

(more…)

Tags: Moskovskaya oblast

Seven tanks of water were poured on the track in a clay quarry by the organizers of “Autumn Marathon” – a trophy-sprint held annually in the village Assadulaevo, Astrakhan oblast.

September 17, 2011 the competition was attended by 17 crews from Volgograd and Astrakhan. There were almost no high-speed sections on the track. The key events unfolded in the artificially flooded pits.

(more…)

Tags: Astrakhan oblast

The source of the Volga is a monument of nature, unique natural object located in Ostashkov area of Tver oblast in the village Volgoverkhovye about 68 km from Ostashkov town.

The village itself is very small, most houses are abandoned. It is prohibited to drive the car on the territory of the village. Next to the Source you can buy souvenirs, though usually there are not a lot of vendors, as well as tourists. Photos by Alexander Lipilin.

(more…)

Tags: Tver oblast

The Valley of Geysers is one of the largest geyser fields in the world and the only one in Eurasia. It is located in Kamchatka on the territory of Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve. The Valley of Geysers is one of the seven wonders of Russia.

Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve is one of the oldest reserves in Russia established in 1934. The reserve covers an area of 1,142,134 hectares (11,421 sq. km.) including 135,000 hectares (1,350 sq. km.) of sea area of the eastern coast of Kamchatka.

(more…)

Tags: Kamchatka krai