X-Nico

77 unusual facts about Russia


2013 FINA Men's Water Polo World League

The Super Final will be held from 11-16 June 2013 in Chelyabinsk, 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 Kasyanov

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Kasyanov (Александр Александрович Касьянов; 17 August 1891 - Gorki 13 February 1982) was a Soviet Russian composer, conductor, pianist and professor.

Alexander Krivoshein

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

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.

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).

Battle of Vystavka

In early March, after heavy bombardment by Bolsheviks, the Allies fell baback 5 more mi downstream to Kitsa.

Bely

Bely, Russia (Belaya, Beloye), name of several inhabited localities in Russia

Berezovsky v Michaels

Berezovsky v Michaels is an English libel decision in which the House of Lords allowed Boris Berezovsky and Nikolai Glushkov to sue Forbes for libel in UK courts, despite the allegedly libelous material relating to their activities in Russia.

Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride

Over the course of a year, film follows Vancouver Pride Society president Ken Coolen to various international Pride events, including Poland, Hungary, Russia, Sri Lanka and others where there is great opposition to pride parades.

Blagodarny

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

Blagoveshchensky

Blagoveshchensky, Russia (Blagoveshchenskaya, Blagoveshchenskoye), name of several rural localities in Russia

Borsky District

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

Butka

Butka, Russia, a rural locality (a selo) in Sverdlovsk Oblast; birthplace of Boris Yeltsin

Chelski

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

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

In February 2005 the CPRF managed to beat the ruling pro-Kremlin party, United Russia, in elections to the regional legislature of Nenets Autonomous Okrug, obtaining 27% of the popular vote.

On 7 April 2011, the CPRF candidate Ilya Potapov won the mayoral election in the town of Berdsk with a landslide victory over the United Russia candidate.

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

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.

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.

Frunzensky District

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

Gymnasium of Dimitrovgrad

The Gymnasium of Dimitrovgrad is a gymnasium secondary school in Dimitrovgrad, Russia.

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.

Kalininsky District

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

Kharkhul

The string of victories emboldened Khara Khula to take control of the salt mines near the Russian outpost at Tara in 1610 and demand a fee in exchange for the salt from the neighboring Cossacks and Siberian nomads.

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

Kuchum

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

Lagansky

Laganskoye Urban Settlement, a municipal formation which the Town of Lagan in Lagansky District of the Republic of Kalmykia, Russia is incorporated as

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.

Mikhail Ulyanov

Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov spent his childhood and youth in the town of Tara, Omsk Oblast.

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

Nemansky

Nemanskoye Urban Settlement, a municipal formation, which the town of district significance of Neman in Nemansky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, is incorporated as

Nikolay Tsukanov

Nikolay Tsukanov was born in 1965 in the village of Lipovo, in the Gusev area of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.

Novosyolovsky

Novosyolovskoye, a village under the administrative jurisdiction of the urban-type settlement of Ponazyrevo, Kostroma Oblast

Nyugdi

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

O. F. Snelling

In 1965, Snelling went to Russia to meet Lonsdale again and negotiated the writing and publication of his memoirs, Spy (1965).

Oktyabrsky District

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

Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR

The main principles of the programme were tested on a large scale in Severodonetsk and Salavat.

Rudnichny

Rudnichny, Russia (Rudnichnaya, Rudnichnoye), name of several inhabited localities in 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.

Rybachy

Rybachy, Russia (Rybachya, Rybachye), name of several rural localities in Russia

Sampur

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

Sergej Ognew

Sergej Ivanovich Ognew (1886–1951) was a Russian zoologist and naturalist, remembered for his work on mammalogy.

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.

Slavsky

Slavskoye, Russia, a rural locality (a settlement) in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia

Snezhny

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

Soyuz-2-1v

It is built by TsSKB Progress, at Samara in the Russian Federation.

Sretensky

Sretensky, Russia (Sretenskaya, Sretenskoye), name of several rural localities in Russia

Staritsky

Staritsky, Russia (Staritskaya, Staritskoye), 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

Ulchsky District

A number of interesting Yuan and Ming Dynasty archaeological monuments have been found on the Tyr Cliff near the village of Tyr in this district.

Umba

Umba, Russia, an urban-type settlement in Murmansk Oblast, 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

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.

Volovsky District

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

William F. Readdy

He served in numerous support roles including: Training Officer; Safety Officer; Operations Development Branch Chief; NASA Director of Operations, Star City, Russia; Stafford Task Force; and the first manager of Space Shuttle Program Development charged with upgrading the Space Shuttle.

Yedynomu

The album was released in 2003 in Ukraine and Russia with 16 tracks with consequent worldwide release.

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).

Zelman Passov

Zelman Isaevich Passov Зельман Исаевич Пассов (1905, Staraya Russa, Russia - 15 February 1940) headed the Soviet foreign intelligence service, then part of the NKVD from June to November 1938, when he was arrested.

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


2003 Rugby World Cup – Repechage qualification

However, Russia was ejected from the competition for using ineligible South African players and was replaced by Spain.

Andrei Shleifer

During the early 1990s, Andrei Shleifer was an advisor to Anatoly Chubais, the then vice-premier of Russia, handling the portfolio of Rosimushchestvo (the Committee for the Management of State Property), and was one of the engineers of Russian privatization.

Archi people

The Archi (аршишттиб in Archi, арчинцы in Russian) are an ethnic group who live in eight villages in Southern Dagestan, Russia.

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.

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

Book peddler

After various restrictions put forth by the infamous Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod Konstantin Pobedonostsev, the activity of the society dwindled.

Chukotsky

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (Chukotsky avtonomny okrug), a federal subject of 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.

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.

Daria Dmitrieva

The head coach of Russia, President of the Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics, Irina Viner said the question of participation in the Olympics remained open and would be resolved only after the June Grand Prix in Austria and the World Cup in Belarus in July.

Ernesto Cortázar II

Ernesto traveled to more than 25 countries and performed his original compositions for political figures such as President of Argentina Carlos Menem, Nikita Khrushchev leader of the USSR and entertained at various prestigious venues including The Kremlin (Russia) and The Mexican Presidential House.

Guandong

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

Igor Klyuchnikov

He gained his 50th cap in Russia's World Cup opener against USA on 15 September 2011.

Imperial Glory

Imperial Glory is set in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era, between 1789 and 1815, and allows the player to choose one of the great empires of the age–Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia or Prussia–on their quest of conquering Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Jan Breydel

Kuzma Minin, the Russian leader of a popular militia that drove the Poles out of Russia at the end of the Time of Troubles in 1612, also happened to be a butcher.

Javad Khan

And the other thing that when we get under the rule of the Russian king, the Iranian king were to Khorasan and we could not reach him, and due to that fact the king of Russia is also great, we accepted his obedience, but now, thanks to god, the Iranian king is near and his servant general has come to us and also his army, and more of them will come to help us.

Jelep La

With the growing Russian influence in Tibet, a British expedition was sent via Jelep La to Lhasa in 1904 led by Colonel Francis Younghusband.

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.

Lyudmila Narusova

Lyudmila Narusova is the widow of Anatoly Sobchak (1937—2000), who was a prominent Russian politician, mentor and teacher of both Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, and the mother of Kseniya Sobchak (born 1981), who is a celebrity widely known in Russia as a presenter on the reality show Dom-2 and other TV-shows.

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.

Mike Botha

Mike Botha is a master diamond cutter, with close to four decades in the profession, his training and subsequent career began in South Africa and has led him to Mauritius, Russia and Canada – from Vancouver to the Northwest Territories to Saskatchewan.

Mikhail Stakhurskii

After the war, from 1945 to 1961, he served as the First Secretary of four regional party committees, including three in Ukraine (Vinnytsia Oblast from 1945–1951, Poltava Oblast from 1951–1955, and Zhytomyr Oblast from 1957–1961) and one in Russia (Khabarovsk Krai from 1955–1957).

Naum Senyavin

Currently it is an urban-type settlement in Kirovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia.

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.

Olga Uvarov

The American Red Cross located the children for him, but such was the cost of getting people out of Russia at that time that he could afford only to pay the costs for one child.

Pascal Mendy

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

Patricia Harrison

Under Harrison's direction, the State Department initiated the CultureCommect program in which American celebrities such as YoYo Ma, Denyce Graves, Doris Roberts and Frank McCourt acted as "cultural ambassadors" in trips to Pakistan, Russia, Israel and other countries.

Periclase

In addition to its type locality, it is reported from Predazzo, Tyrol, Austria; Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland; Broadford, Skye and the island of Muck, Scotland; León, Spain; the Bellerberg volcano, Eifel district, Germany; Nordmark and Långban, Varmland, Sweden; and Kopeysk, southern Ural Mountains, Russia.

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).

Project 119

This marked the first time since the 1936 Summer Olympics that neither the United States, nor the Soviet Union/Russia, had won the most gold medals at a Summer Olympics.

Rise of nationalism in Europe

The Polish attempts to win independence from Russia had previously proved to be unsuccessful, with Poland being the only country in Europe whose autonomy was gradually limited rather than expanded throughout the 19th century, as a punishment for the failed uprisings; in 1831 Poland lost its status as a formally independent state and was merged into Russia as a real union country and in 1867 she became nothing more than just another Russian province.

Samarsky

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

Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology

The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology is a private research university located near Skolkovo, Moscow Oblast, in the close vicinity of the capital city of Moscow, Russia.

Sokuluk

According to historians, Sokuluk started its existence in the early 1880s, as a place of settlement of many of the Dungan people who moved to the Russian Empire from the Kulja (Yining) area between 1881 and 1883, after Russia agreed to withdraw its troops from Kulja pursuant to the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881).

Spotted wolffish

The bottom-dwelling spotted wolffish is found across the North Atlantic from north of Russia to the Scotian Shelf, off Nova Scotia.

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.

Tiberiu Dolniceanu

In the European Championships in Zagreb, he defeated 15–11 the three-time incumbent Aleksey Yakimenko of Russia to win the individual gold medal.

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.

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.).

Tsaritsyno

Tsaritsyno District, a district in Southern Administrative Okrug of Moscow, 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.

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".

Yanina Batyrchina

At 9 years of age, Batyrchina moved to Russia with Irina Viner who became the Russian National Team Head coach.

Yuryuzan

Yuryuzan River, a river in Russia, left tributary of the Ufa River