X-Nico

78 unusual facts about Russia


Abraham of Rostov

Saint Abraham of Rostov was born in the tenth century, to a non-Christian family in Galich, Russia.

Alexander Afanasyev

He is said to have become acquainted with folktales from local women in his home town of Bobrov.

Alexander Krivoshein

He was one of several ministers to be dismissed for opposing Nicholas II's decision to take command of the Russian Army.

Andrew Alford

Born in Samara, Russia, Alford invented and developed antennas for radio navigation systems, now used for VHF omnidirectional range and instrument landing systems.

Antiseptic Dorogov's Stimulator

Since 90's produced in biochemical factory in Armavir and registered in Russia as official drug for animal-only usage and recommended for skin diseases in pigs and cows.

Antoni Grabowski

After graduation he worked as a practical chemical engineer in Zawiercie and in a few locations which now are part of the Czech Republic, and finally as manager of a textile factory in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, 250 km north-east of Moscow.

Artyomovsk

Artyomovsk Urban Settlement, a municipal formation which the district town of Artyomovsk in Kuraginsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai is incorporated as

Baltika Breweries

Today, Baltika is the largest Fast-moving consumer goods producer in Russia and has production facilities in 10 Russian cities (Saint Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Tula, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Khabarovsk).

Blagodarny

Blagodarny, Russia (Blagodarnaya, Blagodarnoye), several inhabited localities in Russia

Catharine, Kansas

A group of Volga German immigrants founded and settled Catharine in April 1876, naming it after Katharinestadt, the town they came from in Russia.

Catholic Mariavite Church

This was no doubt in part due to the pressures of Polish nationalism, which was very much caught up in the idea of Roman Catholicism as being an intrinsic part of the Polish national identity and was enjoying a resurgence as Poland had just reemerged as an independent nation-state after over two centuries of distribution among the "great powers" of Prussia, Austria and Russia.

Chelski

Chelsea F.C., called Chelski in the British media, a reference to Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

Clanton Park, Toronto

The neighbourhood is one of the largest Jewish areas of the city, but also contains a large number of residents of Italian, Filipino, and Russian origin.

Coal-water slurry fuel

CWS produced by milling the sludge and/or regular coal near the coal mine near Belovo (Siberia, Russia) was transported through the pipeline to Novosibirsk (Siberia, Russia), a distance of 262 km.

Communist Party of the Russian Federation

It is the second largest political party in the Russian Federation, after United Russia.

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The party's stated goal is to establish a new, modernised form of socialism in Russia.

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But since Roman Grebennikov has switched allegiances to United Russia, angering many communists who accuse him of using the CPRF as a tool to become elected.

Conquest of the Khanate of Sibir

In 1594 Tara was built on the middle Irtysh to guard the caravan route.

Douglas G. Hurley

More recently he served as the NASA director of operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

Dzerzhinsky District

Dzerzhinsky District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Elena Stasova

A boarding school for foreigners in Ivanovo, Russia called the Ivanovo International Boarding School ("Interdom"), established by MOPR in 1933, was named after Elena Stasova.

Etoko

Etoko, Russia, a village (selo) in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, Russia

Foton-M

It is produced by TsSKB-Progress in Samara.

Freidun Aghalyan

In 1903-1921 he constructed railroad bridges, gymnasium, the Treasury palace and Workers' House in Baku, and the Armenian church of Armavir, Russia.

Gvardeysky

Gvardeysky, Russia (Gvardeyskaya, Gvardeyskoye), several rural localities in Russia

Heinrich Sylvester Theodor Tiling

Tiling became a physician at the "Russian North American Co." in Ayan, Siberia from 1845 through 1851.

Ingria in World War II

55,773 Ingrians arrived and were scattered to the regions of Novgorod, Kalinin, Vologda, Sverdlovsk, and elsewhere.

Invasions of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a mountainous country in South Asia surrounded by several more powerful countries including Iran, Pakistan, China, and other "-stan" countries near Russia.

Kemsky

Kemskoye Urban Settlement, a municipal formation which the town of Kem and three rural localities in Kemsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia are incorporated as

Korovin pistol

Sergey Korovin designed the first 7.65 mm calibre military pistol around 1922, while working at the famous Tula arms factory TOZ.

Krasnoarmeysky District

Krasnoarmeysky District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Kratovo

Kratovo, Russia, an urban-type settlement in Moscow Oblast, Russia

Kuchum

In 1594 the fort at Tara was built in part to control Kuchum who was in the area.

Lavrenty Zagoskin

Even though Nikolayevka was not near the ocean, Zagoskin would eventually train for the Russian Navy and served as a naval officer in the Baltic and Caspian seas.

Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive

The retreat would be carried out in stages, using intermediate defensive positions, the most important of which was the Rollbahn Line formed on the October Railway running through Tosno, Lyuban and Chudovo.

Mikhalki

Mikhalki, Russia, a village in Velikoluksky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia

Modest Ivanovitch Bogdanovich

Modest Ivanovitch Bogdanovich (russ. Модест Иванович Богданович; 26 August / 7 September 1805 – 25 July / 6 August 1882, Oranienbaum, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian lieutenant-general and military historian.

Monument to Chocolate

The Monument to Chocolate or Chocolate Fairy is a monument in the City of Pokrov, Vladimir Region, Russia.

Mordehai Dubin

He lived under arrest and exile in Siberia, first in Samara, and later in Tula, where he died in 1956 in a labor camp and is buried.

Moskovsky District

Moskovsky District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Nikolai Blagoveshchensky

Loris-Melikov gave Blagoveshchensky the post of Secretary of the Terek Statistical Committee.

Nyugdi

Nyugdi, Russia, a rural locality (a selo) in Derbentsky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia

Oktyabrsky District

Oktyabrsky District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Ordzhonikidzevsky District

Ordzhonikidzevsky District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Party of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat

The Party of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat (Partiya Diktaturi Proletariata) is a communist political party in Russia.

Philip James Woods

Operating out of Kem on the White Sea, he established a Karelian Regiment, supplied and officered by the British.

Proletarsky District

Proletarsky District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Pyra

Pyra, Russia, an urban-type settlement in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia

Ralph Winston Fox

In the summer following graduation, Fox returned to Soviet Russia, this time as a worker with the Friends Relief Mission in Samara.

Resurs-P No.1

The Resurs-P spacecraft was built by the Russian space company TsSKB Progress in Samara, Russia.

Russia's role in the Syrian Civil War

In addition to reportedly providing the refurbished MI-25 helicopter gunships, Russia has also transferred to Syria the Buk-M2 air defense system, the Bastion coastal defence missile system, and Yak-130 combat jet trainer.

Russian All-Military Union

This organization united all veterans of the Russian White movement, soldiers and officers alike, who were living abroad and desired to stay united for the purpose of purging Russia of the Bolshevik regime.

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The OGPU set up a fake anti-communist monarchist organization, the Monarchist Union of Central Russia, which was successfully used to confuse and later demoralize the ROVS.

Sagra

Sagra, Russia, a rural locality (a settlement) in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia

Sampur

Sampur, Russia, a rural locality (a selo) in Tambov Oblast, Russia

Shamkhal

Shamkhal, Russia, an urban-type settlement in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia

Siberia

Towns such as Mangazeya, Tara, Yeniseysk and Tobolsk were developed, the last being declared the capital of Siberia.

Snezhny

Snezhny, Russia (Snezhnaya, Snezhnoye), name of several rural localities in Russia

Sovetsky District

Sovetsky District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Staritsky

Staritsky, Russia (Staritskaya, Staritskoye), several rural localities in Russia

Studeny

Studeny, Russia (Studenaya, Studenoye), name of several rural localities in Russia

The Ways of Freedom

The Ways of Freedom is an early album by the Russian jazz musician Sergey Kuryokhin.

Tokarevka

Tokarevka, Russia (Tokaryovka), name of several inhabited localities in Russia

Tsentralny District

Tsentralny District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Uglovsky District

Uglovsky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia.

Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia

The Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (In Russian: Soyuz' Bor'bi za Osvobozhdeniye Narodov Rossii, Союз Борьбы за Освобождение Народов России, abbreviated as SBONR, СБОНР) was an organization of anti-communist Russians, regardless of ethnic origin, which emerged from the youth organization of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia.

Vargashi

Vargashi (rural locality), a selo in Vargashinsky Selsoviet of Vargashinsky District

Vasilko Konstantinovich

Vasilko Konstantinovich (7 December 1209, Rostov – 4 March 1238, Sherensky forest) was the first Prince of Rostov, Russia.

Vilovo

Vilovo, Russia, a rural locality (a village) in Tver Oblast, Russia

Vissarion

He founded and heads a religious or sect movement known as the Church of the Last Testament with its head church in the Siberian Taiga in the Minusinsk Depression east of Abakan, in the southern Siberia Kuraginsk district of Krasnoyarsk territory, in the small settlement of Petropavlovka.

Vladimir Tikhonov

As a leading member of the Communist Party Tikhonov rose to the position of Chairman of the Central Committee, as well as becoming the governor of Ivanovo.

Volodarsky District

Volodarsky District, Russia, name of several districts and city districts in Russia

Volodymyr Oskilko

After the February Revolution in 1917 Oskilko was appointed a Governorate Commissar of the Russian Provisional Government in Tula.

Yubileyny

Yubileyny, Russia (Yubileynaya, Yubileynoye), name of several inhabited localities in Russia

Yuri Sipko

Sipko was born on 28 February 1952 in the town of Tara in the Omsk Oblast.

Zheleznodorozhny

Zheleznodorozhny, Russia (Zheleznodorozhnaya, Zheleznodorozhnoye), several inhabited localities in Russia

ZiU-5

The group of city electric transport enthusiasts from many cities in Russia, with guests from Estonia and United States, hired the Nizhny Novgorod Museum ZiU-5 for their meeting in 2004 (see photo above).

Zvyozdny gorodok

Star City, Russia, a military research and space training facility in that urban-type settlement


Ahron Soloveichik

The youngest of five children, Soloveichik was born to Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik in Khislavichi, Russia, at which time his father was the rabbi of that town.

Alexander Bourganov

His recent works include a monument to Alexander Pushkin located at George Washington University in Washington DC (2000); a statue of John Quincy Adams, the first U.S. Ambassador to Russia and later President of the United States, located in front of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow (2008); and a statue of poet Walt Whitman located on the campus of Moscow State University (2009).

Avgust Černigoj

Later on, he attended the Bauhaus school of crafts and fine arts in Weimar, which had a profound impact on his development as an artist, having come into contact with Abstraction, the Russian avant-garde and particularly Constructivism through the works and teachings of Wassily Kandinsky, who brought it from Russia.

Barbara Schlick

She has since appeared at major concert halls, performance venues, and music festivals throughout Europe, Israel, Japan, Canada, the United States and Russia, singing under the batons of people like Frans Brüggen, William Christie, Michel Corboz, Reinhard Goebel, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Sigiswald Kuijken, and Karl-Friedrich Beringer.

Beloyarsky

Beloyarsky Urban Settlement, a municipal formation in Beloyarsky Municipal District which the town of okrug significance of Beloyarsky in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia is incorporated as

Beriev Be-12

Other examples exist at the Ukraine State Aviation Museum at Kiev, Ukraine and that the Taganrog Air Museum, in southern Russia.

Bungee jumping

Several major movies have featured bungee jumps, most famously the opening sequence of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye in which Bond makes a jump over the edge of a dam in Russia (in reality the dam is in Switzerland: Verzasca Dam, and the jump was genuine, not an animated special effect).

Buryat

Republic of Buryatia, also known as the "Buryat Republic", a federal subject of Russia

CEES

Common European Economic Space or Common Economic Space (CES), one of four projected spheres of cooperation between the European Union and Russia

Coastal Monastery of St. Sergius

Some of the noblest and richest families of Imperial Russia, including the Galitzines, the Stroganovs and the Yusupovs, patronised the monastery and had their burial vaults on the grounds.

Cryptocephalus virens

These beetles can be found in Southern and Central Europe from Italian Alps and Bavaria to Southern Poland, Russia, Turkey, East Palearctic ecozone and the Near East.

Daniel Yergin

His next book was Russia 2010 and What It Means for the World, written with Thane Gustafson, which provided scenarios for the development of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Demetrio Albertini

Arrigo Sacchi's team selection for the second group game against Czech Republic was based on the presumption that after the victory over Russia and in the light of the upcoming German clash, Italy could afford playing without a series of key players including Albertini.

Elvir Rahimić

Before the start of a unified league of FSBIH and Croat League, Rahimić moved to Slovenia for Interblock Ljubljana, then Austrian side SK Vorwärts Steyr before he moved to Russia.

Emma Harbor

a bay in Chukotka, Russia, now Komsomolskaya Bay, a branch of Provideniya Bay, see Providence Bay, Siberia,

Gocha Vetriakov

A native of Tbilisi and of Russian ethnic descent, Gocha Vetriakov graduated from the Vladivostok maritime college in Russia and then joined the ranks of the Coast Guard of Georgia.

Gryazovetsky

Gryazovetskoye Urban Settlement, a municipal formation which the town of district significance of Gryazovets and two rural localities in Gryazovetsky District of Vologda Oblast, Russia are incorporated as

Guandong

Kwantung Leased Territory, a small section of the above region controlled by Russia and, then, Japan from 1898 to 1945

International Radio of Serbia

In November, 1941, during the occupation of Belgrade in the Second World War, a Free Yugoslavia radio station started its work and it broadcast its program until 1945, from the city of Ufa on the Ural River (Russia).

Intervision Song Contest

In 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed restart of competition but this time between Russia, China and Central Asian countries which are mostly members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Kryukovo

Staroye Kryukovo District, a district in Zelenograd Administrative Okrug of Moscow, Russia

La Belle Alliance

Blücher, the Prussian commander, suggested that the battle should be remembered as la Belle Alliance, to commemorate the European Seventh Coalition of Britain, Russia, Prussia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, and a number of German States which had all joined the coalition to defeat the French Emperor.

Malaysia–Russia relations

Since Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, relations between Russia and Malaysia have improved significantly.

Margarita Starkevičiūtė

Margarita Starkevičiūtė (born March 15, 1956 in Yeniseysk, Russia) is a Lithuanian politician and Member of the European Parliament (2004-2009) for the Liberal and Centre Union; part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Martti Välikangas

After qualifying Välikangas worked in Yuzovka in Russia (present-day Donetsk in the Ukraine), but had to leave in a hurry with the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Mieczysław Weinberg

Besides the admiration which Shostakovich frequently expressed for Weinberg's works, they were taken up by some of Russia's foremost performers and conductors, including Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, Kirill Kondrashin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Kurt Sanderling, and Thomas Sanderling.

Nikolas Metaxas

Nikolas Metaxas participated as the songwriter and composer of the Cypriot entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia as his sister Christina Metaxa won the national final on 7 February 2009.

Nobuyoshi Mutō

He returned to administrative positions in Japan from 1919–1921, before being appointed commander of the IJA 3rd Division in 1921 and being dispatched to Russia during the Siberian Expedition against the Bolshevik Red Army.

Novo-Ryazanskaya Street Garage

Novoryazanskaya Street Garage, also spelled Novo-Ryazanskaya Street Garage, and known as "Horseshoe garage", was designed by Konstantin Melnikov and Vladimir Shukhov (structural engineering) in 1926 and completed in 1929 at 27, Novoryazanskaya Street in Krasnoselsky District, Moscow, Russia, near Kazansky Rail Terminal.

Pascal Mendy

Lithuanian-Russian businessman Vladimir Romanov finances both clubs and a number of Kaunas players have already moved to Hearts in this manner.

Patrick McKeown

In 1997, shortly after graduating from Trinity College in Dublin with a Master Degree in Economics, Political Science and Social Studies, came across a publication in The Irish Independent, which was describing experimental breathing technique discovered in Russia by a Moscow physiologist Konstantin Buteyko.

Pitirim Sorokin

Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin (Russian Питири́м Алекса́ндрович Соро́кин; January 21, 1889, Turja north of Syktyvkar, Yarensk uyezd, Vologda Governorate (now Knyazhpogostsky District, Komi), Russian Empire – February 11, 1968, Winchester, Massachusetts) was a Russian American sociologist born in modern-day Komi (Finno-Ugric region of Russia).

Pro Moves Soccer

Fictional players player for each team (nations range from Argentina to Jamaica and Russia).

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children

In addition, the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg has passed judgments involving trafficking in human beings which violated obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights: Siliadin v. France, judgment of 26 July 2005, and Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, judgment of 7 January 2010.

Samarsky

Samara Oblast (Samarskaya oblast), a federal subject of Russia

Scott Rauland

From 2003 through 2005, he served as Consul General in Yekaterinburg, Russia, before returning to Germany to work in Frankfurt as Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Consulate General.

Shuvalov

Igor Shuvalov (born 1967) - First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia

Skafferhullet

The border crossing site was located on the old road between Elvenes in Sør-Varanger Municipality, Finnmark county, Norway and Borisoglebsky in Murmansk Oblast, Russia.

Stratos Boats

Stratos began building boats in 1984, and sells throughout a network of dealers throughout the United States, Australia, France, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Italy and Venezuela.

Third Partition of Poland

These Polish nationalists participated in uprisings against Austria, Prussia, and Russia in former Polish lands, and many would serve France as part of Napoleon’s armies.

Tolib Shakhidi

The musical pieces of the composer have been performed by such orchestras as Philadelphia & Boston Symphony Orchestra, State Symphonic Orchestra of USSR, Orchestra of Valery Gergiev, Bolshoy Symphonic Orchestra of Russia n.a. Tchaikovsky, Orchestra of Cinematography conducted by Sergei Skripka, Saint Petersburg State Philharmonic Orchestra n.a Dmitri Shostakovich.

Toyama Shogyo High School

The school has been in operation for more than a century and, with only brief interruptions in operation, has survived war with China, Russia, and the United States of America, and has seen the reign of the Meiji, Taisho, Showa, and Heisei Emperors.

Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca

Article XII-The Sublime Porte promises to use its power and influence to assist the Court of Russia when the court has the intention of making any commercial treaty with the regencies of Africa (Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, etc.).

Twins of Evil Tour

Marilyn Manson continued on their Hey Cruel World... tour at the conclusion of the Twins of Evil tour, playing in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on December 15, 2012 and December 16, 2012.

Ufimsky

Ufimsky District, a district of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia

UK Wolf Conservation Trust

Projects supported by the UKWCT include helping to buy livestock guardian dogs for Bulgarian shepherds, as well as supporting wolf research and education in the Tver region of Russia and also in Croatia.

Vasilisa Davankova

At their second event, in Zagreb, Croatia, they took the bronze and qualified for the JGP Final in Sochi, Russia, where they won the silver medal behind Lina Fedorova / Maxim Miroshkin.

Wasta

Roughly equivalent words in other languages include Sociolismo in Cuba; Blat in Russia; Guanxi in Chinese and Vetternwirtschaft in German, protektzia in Israeli slang; in Brazilian-Portuguese it is called "Pistolão", or in the slang "peixada".

Yegor Yakovlev

Yegor Vladimirovich Yakovlev (14 March 1930 - 18 September 2005) was one of the founders of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin's policy of glasnost, and one of the most respected Russian journalists.

Young Engineers' Satellite 2

The centres were: Samara State Aerospace University, Russia (mission analysis, GPS); University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy (re-entry capsule); Hochschule Niederrhein in Krefeld, Germany (tether); University of Patras, Greece (mechanical and thermal).