This Soviet partisan terrorized the #Nazis with “coal mines.”

Right in front of the enemy's nose railroader Konstantin Zaslonov masterfully destroyed #German steam locomotives and cars.

🤓 Watch more videos about WWII here

Everyone who has been to St. Petersburg knows the architectural masterpieces of Carlo Rossi!

He was dubbed “the first in taste and talent” and this was no exaggeration. He thought globally: when taking on a new project, he didn’t just create a building, but also designed an entire block around it.

General Staff
He united the Corps of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Staff with a majestic triumphal arch in honor of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, thereby completing the ensemble of the palace square.

Mikhailovsky Palace
Emperor Alexander I commissioned the construction of a palace for his younger brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. Between the Moika River and Nevsky Prospekt, a magnificent mansion with a square, as well as two new streets – Inzhenernaya and Mikhailovskaya – and a garden overlooking the Field of Mars arose. The monarch personally accepted the work from Rossi and presented him a diamond ring and awarded him an order for his efforts. Later, the palace was transferred to the Russian Museum.

Alexandrinsky Theater
The architect decorated the building in the Russian Empire style with a deep loggia and a sculptural frieze with antique masks and statues of muses. He also chose an ultramodern solution for the time: the auditorium consisted of a parterre, an amphitheater and boxes arranged in five tiers. Rossi also designed the ornaments that decorate the royal box and the boxes near the stage. In addition, Rossi even thought out a system of corridors and staircases, thanks to which 1,700 spectators could move around inside without crowding.

Credit: Westend61/ Getty Images, Anna_Pakutina/ Getty Images, onfilm/ Getty Images

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Question time!
What is your favorite Russian painting or artist?

🎨 Ivan Shishkin

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Dining with a Caucasian view…! 🍖🥗🌤️

Video by: @A_s_i_y_a_a

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#FactsabouttheRussianlanguage

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The bell in the painting ‘Abolition of the Novgorod Veche’ is deprived of its “voice” and, like a criminal, is tied up in ropes.
What is it guilty of and what kind of scene did the artist depict?

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Beautiful folk dance ensemble from Kostroma! 💃💃💃💃

Video by: t.me/russiannationaldanceshowkostroma

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Karavay: Slavic bread to welcome guests

Ever seen how honored diplomats and foreign leaders are greeted in Russia with bread and salt? Well, it's an old tradition.
From very old times, it's been a custom in Russia to meet guests 'with bread and salt' (it has even become an aphorism).

And 'karavai' is a round shaped bread and a symbol for happiness and abundance. That's why it's also a must at every Slavic wedding and even modern Russians sometimes follow the tradition. The bride and groom should be the first to take a bite of the ‘karavay’ and then they share it with all the guests, as if sharing their happiness.

'Karavai' is traditionally decorated with ears molded from the bread (for prosperity), clusters of guelder rose (for kids) and two rings or a pair of swans (as a symbol of fidelity).

📷 Legion media

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Mars, Paris, Afrikanda – these places are all on the map of Russia.
Find out what other unusual and exotic names can be found on it.

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How a Russian prospector ‘conquered’ Australia

Ivan Fedorov (Fredericks) is little known in his homeland of Russia, but is deeply respected in Western Australia. This native of Arkhangelsk moved there in the second half of the 19th century, at the height of the gold rush.

The two-meter giant, who the Australians called ‘Russian Jack’, possessed remarkable strength. He carried large logs with ease and bent iron crowbars. He also designed and then carried an unusually large and heavy prospector’s wheelbarrow.

However, it was not at all because of his strength that Fedorov became popular in Australia. The secret was in his boundless kindness, sense of camaraderie and readiness to come to the rescue at any moment.

More than once, ‘Russian Jack’ saved the lives of fellow prospectors he would meet in the waterless desert. He would put exhausted and sweltering people into his wheelbarrow and, dropping his own work, would immediately take them into town.

Once, he took one dying prospector more than 160 km to the nearest doctor. It was this episode that formed the basis for the monument to ‘Russian Jack’ that was erected in 1979 in the town of Halls Creek, a place he often visited.

Credit: Public domain

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▫️ Бабушка надвое сказала

В рубрике #как_это_понимать объясняем значение пословицы и причем тут ведьмы

▫️ "Granny said in two ways”

In cards we explain the meaning of the proverb and what witches have to do with it

🅰 Read this news in different languages in comments 👇

▫️ Подписаться

Today we're reading our fortunes! 🔮

❓Have you ever used tarot cards? Has anything come true? :)

P.S. Catch more of my lessons on YouTube!

#russianclasses

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Ice caves, Arctic street food and northern berry moonshine: Murmansk citizens know how to party in any temperature! 🥶🍹🥳

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How to say 'hi' & 'goodbye' in Russian?

The Most Russian American Tim Kirby will teach you some basic Russian words and help you tell the difference between formal and informal greetings.

⛓️ Watch more videos here!

Why was ‘Saltychikha’ considered to be Russia’s CRUELEST woman?

When former noblewoman Darya Saltykova died in the prison of the John the Baptist Monastery in Moscow in the winter of 1801, no one cried. She spent 33 years in prison, but time could not erase the memory of all the cruelties that this woman had committed.

No one knows what caused her insanity. But, many agree that it all began after the death of her husband Gleb Saltykov, captain of the Life Guards Horse Regiment. She was left with two children in her arms, becoming the richest widow in Moscow. She owned more than 1,000 serfs, a huge estate in the city and numerous estates. But, Saltykova was in no hurry to marry again and, instead, began to abuse the serfs.

The victims were mostly women. Especially brides or newlyweds. There was always a reason for beatings – she stood the wrong way, looked the wrong way, did a bad job. And then, the logs or the heavy hand of the mistress came into play. She would pour boiling water on the serfs, force them to stand barefoot in the cold, burn and tear out their hair and torture the unfortunates for hours. On her orders, the grooms flogged the next victim to death and, ‘Saltychikha’, as she was nicknamed, only laughed ominously.

This went on for seven years. Of the twenty-odd complaints, not a single one reached the highest consideration. All of them returned to Saltychikha and she would deal with their authors. But, in 1762, two peasants were able to petition Catherine II personally. The facts that came to light during the investigation chilled the blood. It’s believed that Saltykova tortured as many as 139 people to death. However, it was only possible to prove her guilt in the death of 38 serfs.

The empress personally pronounced the sentence. The bloody lady was sentenced to be vilified – she had to stand on the Red Square at the infamous pillar with a sign that read: “Villain and murderer” for an hour. And then, she was sent to a monastery for life. She spent 11 years in an underground prison and then was transferred to a stone extension to the church with a small window.

Credit: V.N. Pchelin; Pavel Kurdyumov, Ivan Sytin

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On April 25, 1895, Nicholas II signed a decree on the establishment of the ‘Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III’ and provided the Mikhailovsky Palace in St. Petersburg for it. The museum opened three years later with a collection of 1,000 paintings. Now, it is one of the largest museums in the world with six buildings, where more than 400,000 works of art from the 12th century to the present day are kept.

To mark the 130th anniversary of the museum, we’ve put together a handy guide on how much tickets cost, how to get to the museum's buildings and branches and, most importantly, how not to miss the main masterpieces!

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After Stalin’s cult of personality was exposed, all the cities that bore the leader's name were subsequently renamed...
Only the Albanian city of Kuçova retained it until the collapse of the socialist bloc.

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Moscow's new ‘Air Tram’ - A cool, retro-futuristic cable car!

Video by: Anna Sorokina

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This Soviet pilot made four air rampages and survived!

Boris Kovzan crushed four enemy planes, miraculously survived, lost an eye, became a Hero of the #Soviet Union and fought until #victory.

🤓 Watch more videos about WWII here

Paragliding at #sunset: soaring into golden clouds

Video by: https://www.instagram.com/bekeeev

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7 dishes with Dubai chocolate, but made in Russia!

This exotic #chocolate with a creamy pistachio filling is now being added to literally everything – even pizza!

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The bell in the #painting ‘Abolition of the Novgorod Veche’ is deprived of its “voice” and, like a criminal, is tied up in ropes.
What is it guilty of and what kind of scene did the artist depict?

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Imagine you hit your pinky toe on a chair leg, but your boss is nearby, so you can't let your emotions out and express your pain with cursing and obscene language. Well, you’re in luck, because Russian is very rich with all kinds of euphemisms!

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🎨 Alyonushka, 1881
by Viktor Vasnetsov 🇷🇺
oil on canvas, 173 x 121 cm
Tretyakov Gallery, Russia

About the artwork:

The painting depicts Alyonushka, a character from Russian folklore, often portrayed as a figure of purity and innocence. In the story, Alyonushka's brother Ivanushka turns into a goat, and she is left alone and sorrowful. Vasnetsov captures Alyonushka in a moment of melancholy, sitting by a body of water, likely reflecting on her misfortune.

Not for the faint of heart: street races in Yakutia

Video by: https://www.instagram.com/bochkov.roman1

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Quiz time!

Here are a few words from the post about Easter! 🐣

How many did you find?

#russianclasses

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This is a page in history that shows not only the strength of the human spirit in overcoming great adversity but also the creation of a lasting friendship between two nations.

On February 6, 1975, Cyclone Gervaise left nine people dead, 59 injured, destroyed 1,320 homes, and left 1,500 people homeless on the distant island in the heart of the Indian Ocean.

Just days after the storm wreaked havoc, ships from the Soviet Pacific Fleet, including the famous Dmitry Pozharsky cruiser, covered 2,400 nautical miles to offer assistance. Together, they helped rebuild the lives of the locals.

Today, cooperation between Russia and Mauritius continues, and remains friendly and mutually beneficial.

Mauritius 1975: friendship beyond cyclones / 2025
#Mauritius

🎚️ DocuPlanet

➡️ Watch more documentaries like this on our platform en.arteldoc.tv

Captivating views of Dagestan

Video by: https://www.instagram.com/bekeeev

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How many Russian dishes starting with 'Ж' do you know?

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Everyone who has been to St. Petersburg knows the architectural masterpieces of Carlo Rossi!

He was dubbed “the first in taste and talent” and this was no exaggeration. He thought globally: when taking on a new project, he didn’t just create a building, but also designed an entire block around it.

General Staff
He united the Corps of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Staff with a majestic triumphal arch in honor of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, thereby completing the ensemble of the palace square.

Mikhailovsky Palace
Emperor Alexander I commissioned the construction of a palace for his younger brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. Between the Moika River and Nevsky Prospekt, a magnificent mansion with a square, as well as two new streets – Inzhenernaya and Mikhailovskaya – and a garden overlooking the Field of Mars arose. The monarch personally accepted the work from Rossi and presented him a diamond ring and awarded him an order for his efforts. Later, the palace was transferred to the Russian Museum.

Alexandrinsky Theater
The architect decorated the building in the Russian Empire style with a deep loggia and a sculptural frieze with antique masks and statues of muses. He also chose an ultramodern solution for the time: the auditorium consisted of a parterre, an amphitheater and boxes arranged in five tiers. Rossi also designed the ornaments that decorate the royal box and the boxes near the stage. In addition, Rossi even thought out a system of corridors and staircases, thanks to which 1,700 spectators could move around inside without crowding.

Credit: Westend61/ Getty Images, Anna_Pakutina/ Getty Images, onfilm/ Getty Images

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The Soviet adaptation of ‘Hamlet’ was once nominated for a Golden Globe

Director Grigory Kozintsev spent eight years preparing to film his version of ‘Hamlet’. He found the lead actor, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, two years before filming began and approved him without auditions.

The first Soviet adaptation of Shakespeare's play was an event. Foreign newspapers wrote that they had never seen such an impressive work with ‘Hamlet’ and called the movie “a work of art”. They also admired the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. Foreign critics noted that “landscape and architecture, climate and atmosphere play roles in this black-and-white picture that are almost as important as the roles of the actors”. And director Peter Brook said that the movie is criticized for being academic, but that's exactly what it is: “The Soviet ‘Hamlet’ is post-Eisenstein realistic, therefore super-romantic.”

It was nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA (Smoktunovsky was also nominated for Best Actor) and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
In 2019, the Guardian newspaper listed the Soviet adaptation among the top three best movie adaptations of Shakespeare: “The best screen ‘Hamlet’ was Russian. Grigory Kozintsev turns the tragedy into a parable about power and impotence.”

Credit: Sputnik

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#wordoftheweek

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Tolyatti in 3 Russian words

This city in Samara Region has a completely non-Russian name. That’s because it was named after prominent Italian communist Palmiro Tolyatti. Here are its three of its main symbols.

1⃣ АВТОВАЗ (AvtoVAZ)

Tolyatti is home to ‘AvtoVAZ’, the largest manufacturer of passenger cars in Eastern Europe. Its ‘LADA’ cars are in great demand due to their low price, unpretentiousness and ease of operation.

2⃣ ВАСИЛИЙ ТАТИЩЕВ (Vasily Tatishchev)

Famous Russian historian, geographer, artillery engineer, and statesman Vasily Tatishchev founded the city in 1737. At that time, the city was named Stavropol. There is, however, a monument to Tatishchev and a boulevard named after him in Tolyatti.

3⃣ ВОСКРЕСЕНСКИЙ МОНАСТЫРЬ (Voskresensky Monastery)

Founded in 1997, the Voskresensky Monastery is the spiritual center of not only Tolyatti, but of the entire Samara region. It is often dubbed the ‘Volga Athos’, due to its architectural similarity to the monasteries on the Holy Mountain.

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On April 6, 2025, ice hockey player Alexander Ovechkin became the highest goalscorer in the NHL, finally catching up and surpassing legend Wayne Gretsky. What other sports records have Russian and Soviet athletes have set that remain unbroken?

Hammer thrower Yuri Sedykh
At the European Championships in Stuttgart on August 30, 1986, Soviet track and field athlete Yuri Sedykh threw the hammer 86.74 meters and set a record that no one has been able to break to this day.

Shot putter Natalia Lisovskaya
Yuri Sedykh's wife, Natalia Lisovskaya, also holds an unrivaled world record. On June 7, 1987, at a competition in Moscow, she pushed the shot 22.63 meters. Moreover, the previous two records also belonged to her.

Weightlifter Vasily Alekseyev
On April 15, 1972, at the USSR Championships in Tallinn, the Soviet weightlifter scored a total of 645 kg in the triathlon (bench press, snatch and clean and jerk). This record became "eternal", since the bench press was excluded from the program that same year.

Track & field athlete Elena Nikolaeva
On April 20, 1996, at a competition in Sochi, race walking specialist Elena Nikolaeva covered a distance of 10 km in 41 minutes 4 seconds. The previous achievement in this discipline also belonged to an athlete from Russia – Larisa Ramazanova with a result of 41 minutes 29 seconds.

Track & field athletes Yulia Gushchina, Olga Kotlyarova, Olga Zaitseva and Olesya Krasnomovets
Four Russian athletes at once became world record holders at the competition in Glasgow in 2006. The girls won the 400 meter relay in an indoor stadium, covering it in 3 minutes 23.37 seconds.

Credit: Igor Utkin/Pavel Kuznetsov/Valery Sharifullin/TASS; Bob Martin/Getty Images

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RIP Zurab Tsereteli 😢🪦

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Vladimir Ulyanov, who became known by his pen name Lenin, was born on April 22, 1870. And, although many things related to him were destroyed after the collapse of the USSR, monuments and his images can still be found all over Russia and the post-Soviet space.
And even in the Moscow subway.

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🧊Bathing in an ice hole is a popular tradition in Russia, symbolizing purification and renewal. The hero of our film, German Sven Beerweiler, decided to experience it for himself. Did he enjoy it? Watch our video and the new film about his adventures in Russia. You can look forward to winter Baikal, racing, and many interesting stories.

Купание в проруби — популярная традиция в России, символизирующая очищение и обновление. Герой нашего фильма, немец Свен Beerweiler, решил ощутить ее на себе. Понравилось ли ему? Смотрите наше видео и новый фильм о его приключениях в России. Вас ждет зимний Байкал, гонки и много интересных историй.

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What passions did the great empress have?

We’ve already talked about Peter the Great’s hobbies, so let’s continue!🙂

❓Do you have the same passions?

📸: Heritage Images, Westend61, Arvydas Lakacauskas, towfiqu ahamed, Nikolay_Donetsk/Getty Images

#russianclasses

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Why literary scholars still explore Pushkin manuscripts 🤓

It seems that Russia’s main poet has been studied from top to bottom. However, his manuscripts still contain insights that not only clarify details, but also change our understanding of the meaning of his works.
“Pushkin's notebooks reflect a creative laboratory of the writer. Poetry and prose, drawings and notes for memory or calculations harmoniously neighbor on the pages. Materials for the same creative idea can be scattered not only on different pages within one notebook, but even on different notebooks,” says Vladimir Turchanenko, one of the curators of Pushkin's manuscript collection at the Pushkin House. 📝

Today's Pushkinists turn to the original manuscripts and literally reconstruct the history of the text's creation. Sometimes, even the shade of the ink can help determine when a particular edit was made.
“Svetlana Fedotova, editor of fiction prose in the new academic Full Collection of Pushkin's Works, has convincingly shown that, in accordance with the writer's artistic intent, the protagonist of the story ‘The Station Master’ (from ‘The Belkin Tales’) is named not Samson Vyrin, as is commonly believed, but Simeon Vyrin. And this is a colossal interpretative difference. How many works have been written about the “small”, “humiliated” hero with such a rich heroic name as Samson! But, the name Simeon opens up a completely different field of interpretation, a different depth of Pushkin's image,” explains Turchanenko.

📷 Gateway to Russia (Photo: Orest Kiprensky/Tretyakov Gallery; Archive photo; Sergey Soloviev/Mosfilm, 1972)

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5 facts about the painting ‘Religious procession in Kursk Province’

1. This painting by Ilya Repin has more than seventy characters! The artist depicted people of all classes – peasants, clergymen, nobles, military, police and even beggars.

2. The author worked on it for seven years. He created several versions, traveled to the Kursk province in search of inspiration and to see the procession with his own eyes.

3. The religious procession took place in the ninth week after Easter and was considered the most massive in Russia. It gathered up to 60,000 people. Believers accompanied the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God ‘Znamenie’ (‘Sign’) from the Znamensky Monastery in Kursk, where it was kept, to the Korennaya Pustyn Monastery, the place of its discovery. And, on September 12, the icon was brought back with the same honors.

4. In 1883, the painting was presented at the exhibition of the ‘Peredvizhniki’ – there, it was immediately bought by philanthropist Pavel Tretyakov and placed in the Tretyakov Gallery.

5. Repin was very fond of making changes to his paintings, even after they were sold. ‘The Religious Procession’ was no exception: the artist decided to add dust swirling over the road and, at the same time, to make it less red. The collector responded to this with restraint: “I really noticed the changes in your paintings; it seems they haven’t spoiled it.”

Credit: Tretyakov gallery

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This Soviet director knew how to turn an ordinary crowd into a crowd of thousands and transport the audience to the underground kingdom of the Ural Mountains and the domain of the Sea Tsar.
On April 19, he would have turned 125 years old. We recall his main movies.

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This architect was not afraid to argue with the emperor himself! Carlo Rossi disliked unsolicited advisers so much that he did not make exceptions even for Nicholas I. The author of the Mikhailovsky Palace and General Staff created entire blocks, which even today amaze with their elegance and scale.

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Why did Russian Tsar Peter I forbid nobles to marry without knowing how to count?

In 1714, the tsar obliged the offspring of noble families to undergo a mandatory course of study in arithmetic and geometry in the so-called “numerical schools”. Without it, they were forbidden to marry. Why?

The reign of Peter became an era of large-scale changes in all spheres of state life. To implement his bold reforms, the monarch needed a huge number of engineers, shipwrights, artillerymen and various other specialists.

But, finding specialists was not easy. Most children from noble families did learn to read and write and some form of basic arithmetic at home, but only a small part sought to study further.

According to the tsar’s decree, it was not enough to enroll in school; it was necessary to graduate with excellent marks. Only the most hard-working nobleman received a document from the teacher with a note that the student “had learned the science perfectly”.

With this document, he could freely go to a priest to get married.

Credit: Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Carel de Moor; Mikhail Shibanov/The State Tretyakov Gallery; tomograf/Getty Images; Freepik.com)

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Soviet Russia was like in 1975 💫

Brezhnev's stability, big communist construction and the romance of hiking and literary meetings. What else was the country living through 50 years ago?

📷 Vladimir Musaelian / TASS; Russia in photo

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Easter 2025 in Moscow! 🌸

On April 20, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates this major religious holiday, which, this year, falls on the same day as Catholics and other Christians. And, here's how the capital was decorated for Easter.

📷 Yevgeny Biyatov; Kristina Kormiltsyna/Sputnik; Yaroslav Chingayev/Moskva Agency

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#FactsabouttheRussianlanguage

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How the Red Army ‘congratulated’ Hitler on his birthday

On April 20, 1945, the Soviet long-range artillery presented the Fuhrer with a “gift”: At 11:30 am, it opened fire on Berlin for the first time.

It was the artillery division of the 47th Army under the command of Major Ardalion Zyukin that fired. In the morning, the artillerymen, having overtaken tanks and infantry, occupied the village of Bayendorf, several dozen kilometers from the German capital.

“I saw that there was no one ahead – neither ours nor the Germans,” Zyukin recalled. “Two years ago, we would have been scared: it was quite difficult to fight off machine gunners with our clumsy guns. But, it was Spring 1945 and we weren’t afraid of anything!”

The soldiers rolled out twelve 122-mm long-range A-19 guns to their positions and wrote on the shells: “From the guardsmen of Stalingrad to Hitler personally!” And opened fire.

A couple of days later, tens of thousands of Soviet guns were already firing at Berlin.

On May 30, 1945, Major Zyukin was awarded the ‘Order of Lenin’.

Credit: Sputnik; Public domain

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On April 20, 2025, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Easter. Colored eggs and baked ‘kulich’ cakes are the main symbols of the holiday. ⛪

Video by: t.me/ceramicsaksinia

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How Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral is decorated for Easter 2025

Video by Ruptly

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‘Paskha’ is not only the name for Easter in Russian, but also a dessert! ☦

This sweet cottage cheese dish is formed in the shape of a pyramid and is, predictably, served on the Easter table.

The main edible symbols of Easter in Russia are 'kulich' bread and painted eggs. However, there is also another dish that is frequently cooked and often appears on supermarket shelves ahead of Easter.
The Resurrection of the Christ, or Easter, is considered to be the main holiday of the Russian Orthodox Church (and celebrated even more than Christmas). And Easter is called 'Пасха' ('Paskha') in Russian. A dessert made from sweetened cottage cheese with raisins and nuts (optionally) also bears this name.

The main thing that differs this dish from regular cottage cheese is its form. It's made in the shape of a truncated pyramid, which symbolizes the Holy Sepulcher. Crosses and the letters 'ХВ' (abbreviation for ‘Христос Воскресе’, which translates as 'Christ has risen') are written into its sides.

📷 Yulia Bogdanova/ Getty Images

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Guess the Soviet historical figure only by their mustache!

There have been several figures in Soviet history with such famous mustaches that perhaps they can be recognized by just them! Can you tell who is who?

Click to see the answers:
1) Maxim Gorky
2) Joseph Stalin
3) Semyon Budenny

📷 Ivan Shagin/Sputnik; Russia in photo

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Temperature at 18 degrees Celsius, humidity 55%, in a windowless room, so that no sunlight can penetrate and folder covers made of cardboard with neutral pH acidity.

In such special conditions the greatest literary treasures of Russia have been carefully preserved. For 120 years of its existence, the Pushkin House in St. Petersburg has accepted into its collection more than 700,000 original manuscripts and funds of more than 950 writers, critics, literary critics, as well as the archives of journals from the 19th and 20th centuries, collections of individual autographs and archival materials of artists, musicians, artists, teachers, as well as Church figures.

“The main mission of the Pushkin House is to collect, store, study and publish monuments of Russian literature, from its oral forms (folklore) and Old Russian literature to the present day,” says Lyubov Gerashko, Scientific Secretary of the Manuscript Department.
“In particular, the Pushkin House is widely known for publishing complete academic collections of works by Russian classical writers: Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Goncharov, Dostoevsky, Nekrasov, Turgenev and others,” she adds.
Read more about the Pushkin House in our article.

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Sakari Linden (43) is Finnish, but now lives in Belgium. He worked as an assistant deputy in the Finnish Parliament and as a political advisor in the European Parliament. And one of his main goals was to promote Finnish culture abroad.

But, when he went on a work trip in Russia, he fell in love with it. Especially the Russian North and the Karelia Republic became close to his Finnish heart. So, he decided to learn Russian.
He finds that the Russian language is both elegant and strong. However, he did face some difficulties while learning it: “Sometimes, I think that Russian, with all its verb prefixes, is an engineering construct. I still can't understand why you need two different verb forms to express a current or ongoing action!”

Apart from the language, Sakari is also interested in Russian history and culture. And he has read Russian classics like, for example, Mikhail Bulgakov's ‘The Master and Margarita’, only in Finnish. The first book he read fully in Russian was Lev Gumilev's ‘From Rus to Russia’.

📷 Personal archive; rogkov/Getty Images

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Russian picture dictionary: ТЕАТР – THEATER

Learning a language is always easier when you can visualize the words. Here’s a picture that will help you memorize words devoted to a very cultural topic – going to the theater!

Декорации – decorations
Актриса – actress
Актёр – actor
Сцена – stage
Занавес – curtains
Билет – ticket
Бинокль – binoculars
Зритель – spectator
Ложа – theater box
Кресло – chair
Место – seat

📷 Alexandra Koroleva

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Oh, these socks.. 🧦

🤡And what daily problems around the house do you face?!

P.S. Catch more of my lessons on YouTube!

#russianclasses

🔔 Gateway to Russia

Russian wordlists: Easter

The main holiday of the Russian Orthodox Church falls on April 20 this year. Here’s a list of words and phrases associated with the celebration!

Easter – Пасха (paskha)
Resurrection – Воскресение (voskreseniye)
Easter service – Пасхальная служба (paskhalnaya sluzhba)
Religious procession – Крестный ход (krestny khod)
Confession – Исповедь (ispoved’)
Fast breaking – Разговение (razgoveniye)
Church rite – Церковный обряд (tserkovny obryad)
Joy – Радость (radost’)
Easter meal – Пасхальная трапеза (paskhalnaya trapeza)
Easter bread – Кулич (kulich)
Sweet cheese ‘paskha’ – Творожная пасха (tvorozhnaya paskha)
Eggs – Яйца (yaytsa)
To bless food – Освящать еду (osvyashchat’ yedu)
To paint eggs – Красить яйца (krasit’ yaytsa)
“Christ is risen!” – “Христос воскрес!” (Khristos voskres)
“He is risen indeed” – “Воистину воскрес!” (Voistinu voskres)
“Happy Easter” – ”Светлой Пасхи” (svetloy paskhi)

📷 freepik.com

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Soviet screen adaptations of Shakespeare's plays impressed not only Soviet audiences. ‘Othello’ won the Cannes Film Festival's prize for directing, while ‘Hamlet’ was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.

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Russian has 2 words for 'where'. What's the difference?
The 'Most Russian American' Tim Kirby gives you a peak at a little Russian "cheat sheet". Learn Russian correctly with him!

Moscow confectioners are preparing Dubai ‘kuliches’, chocolate eggs filled with exotic fruits and cheese ‘paskha’ with pistachios and raspberries. What else will surprise us at Easter in 2025?

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