Three cult movies about the Great Patriotic War that were almost ruined by Soviet censorship:

‘Only Old Men Go Into Battle’ (1974)
One of the best Soviet war movies might never have been made – officials didn't like this "unheroic" story with light-hearted songs. Famous ace, three-time ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ and Marshal of Aviation Alexander Pokryshkin came to the rescue.

He not only settled all issues with the bureaucracy, but also provided the director and Leonid Bykov, performer of the main role, with several authentic airplanes for filming. At the movie’s premiere, the glorified pilot could not hold back tears.

‘Come and See’ (1985)
Director Elem Klimov planned to shoot one of the most realistic movies about World War II in 1977, but, because of the censors, the project was postponed for years. In the script, they found "remorse", a "non-class approach" and even "propaganda of the aesthetics of filth”.

Officials did not like the excessive "realism" and the fact that the partisans "are shown dirty, extremely wretched, often deprived of human form”. Filming was only allowed in 1984, for the 40th anniversary of Victory Day.

‘Trial on the Road’ (1971, 1986)
This movie invariably tops the lists of the best movies about World War II. It was filmed in 1971, but it was only allowed to reach audiences 15 years later.

‘Road Test’ was criticized for "deheroizing" the partisan movement, distorting the "image of heroic times" and "the image of the Soviet people".

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This beautiful Buddhist datsan in Bargusin (Buryatia) is dedicated to the goddess Yanzhima

Video by: instagram.com/budaev_video

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Komsomolskaya. Probably Moscow's most beautiful metro station

Video by: @photo_surkhaev

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Sochi's most extreme roller coasters as seen from the inside!

Video by: instagram.com/sochi_day/

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Life is too short to deny oneself its pleasures.

Ivan Krylov, the writer of fables, could eat as many as 80 oysters at one sitting, and he devoured pies and pancakes by the dozen. Mayakovsky followed a "diet" of smoked sausage and baranki bread rolls, Lermontov couldn't live without salted cucumbers and Pushkin loved pink pancakes.

Find out in our article what other delicacies well-known Russian writers were partial to and without what foods lunch was unthinkable to them.

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There are many ‘terems’ (old Russian wooden houses) scattered all over Russia. For two years, photographer Maria Savina traveled all over the country, hunting for them and taking photos of such carved masterpieces. She reached the very Far East, visited remote areas of the Russian North and Baikal Region, traveled all over the Ural Mountains and even took a ride along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Rich merchants and manufacturers built such terems for themselves in the "Russian style", fashionable at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, sometimes engaging the best architects. Maria's most incredible finds are in our selection!

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Eating out in Russia in winter be like...

Video by: @lucky_pizza

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Russian Buddhists just celebrated their New Year according to the lunar calendar. It's called 'Sagaalgan' or the holiday of the 'White Month'. Check out some of the festivities in Irkutsk!

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Weekly Digest

In case you missed anything, this week we:

⛓️ Celebrated the Russian Buddhist New Year

⛓️ Visited the Tsar Bell

⛓️ Enjoyed the beauty of St.Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg

⛓️ Watched 10 Soviet movies about World War II

⛓️ Went down rollercoasters in Sochi

#weeklydigest

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By 1934, Joseph Stalin's regime had already been strengthened, the first five-year plan of strike industrialization was being summed up and the collectivization of the country's agriculture was in full swing.

The year is full of events. The first test subway train ran on the rails in the Moscow Metro, heroic pilots rescued more than 100 passengers from the ice floes of the Arctic after ‘Chelyuskin’ sank, while Moscow held the first Congress of Soviet writers.

Let's take a look at what was happening in the country exactly 90 years ago through the eyes of various photographers.

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This breathtaking footage dates back to 1912! 😍

Video by: РГАКФД; Russian State Documentary Film & Photo Archive

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In Russia, hundreds of lighthouses help ships navigate.

Getting to them seems like a daunting task, but there are exceptions for those who like to walk in nature and take photos against the towers.

There are beautiful lighthouses in the European part of the country, including those near Moscow, and each with its own unique history. We’ve compiled a list of those that everyone can visit!

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