Gateway to Russia

🪂🌎 Russian skydiver Sergei Boytsov ascended into the stratosphere in a hot-air balloon before making a record-breaking jump from 11,551 meters above the Altai Region. 🔔 Gateway to Russia

Before the region gets covered in snow, it's the perfect time to head to the Tobolsk Kremlin. The only white-stone fortress beyond the Urals impresses not just with its architecture, but also with the surrounding nature. From the high hill, you get a breathtaking view of the Irtysh and Tobol rivers merging. Credit: t.me/visittyumenn 🔔 Gateway to Russia

In the historic center of Kolomna, not far from the Kolomna Kremlin, archaeologists have discovered a hoard of 15th-century silver coins in a small painted clay jug. 🔔 Gateway to Russia

What does the expression “put your five kopeks in” mean? The roots of this expression can be found in the Bible. In the New Testament, there is a story about a poor widow who donated as much as she could to the church – two copper coins or ‘lepta’. In Soviet times, five kopecks – or a ‘pyatachok’ – was small change: that was how much a subway ride cost. By analogy, people began to use this phrase to refer to a small contribution to a common cause or discussion. And not always in a positive way. A person who wants to join a conversation without even knowing the topic, simply for the sake of participating, might also be criticized with the phrase: “Вставил свои пять копеек!” (”Vstavil svoi pyat kopeek!” or “Put his five kopeks in!”). An English equivalent would be: “Put one’s two cents in.” Credit: Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: The Good Brigade, Burke/Triolo Productions, Karuntana Chaiwatcharanun, PM Images/Getty Images) 🔔 Gateway to Russia

Quiz time! 🦒 Choose the correct letter! 🦁В or Ф? #russianclasses 💥 Gateway to Russia

You are welcome! 🔔 Gateway to Russia

Traveling by train in Russia? Here’s your cheat sheet to all carriage types: from luxury suites with showers to classic platzkart open‑sleepers. Save this before booking your ticket! 🔔 Gateway to Russia

️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️⭐️ Everyday life in Russia Spider-Man fan meeting 🔔 Gateway to Russia

The most unusual journeys of foreign politicians in the USSR 1. US President Richard Nixon visited Crimea in 1974. His stay in Oreanda and conversation with Leonid Brezhnev were informal, more reminiscent of a getaway between two friends. The formal meeting room gave way to a grotto on the seashore, and the gala banquet to lunch on a boat. 2. In 1971, Leonid Brezhnev also offered West German Chancellor Willy Brandt a dacha in Oreanda. They spent the next two days talking, taking boat trips, and swimming in the pool. The German guest didn't have any swimming trunks with him, so Brezhnev offered him the use of his wardrobe. 3. In the summer of 1969, Finnish President Urho Kekkonen and Council of Ministers Chairman Alexei Kosygin set out on a hike across the Caucasus Mountains. They covered two hundred kilometers together, climbing the Klukhor Pass and descending to the Black Sea coast. Kekkonen was 69 years old, and Kosygin was 65. 4. Fidel Castro's first visit to the USSR lasted forty days! He flew to Murmansk and from there set out on a voyage across the country. In Moscow, he saw "Swan Lake" and chatted with Maya Plisetskaya, vacationed on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, visited Mamayev Kurgan, and received a teddy bear as a gift on Lake Baikal. Credit: Vladimir Musaelyan, Valentin Sobolev/TASS; Evgeny Umniv/MAMM/MDF/russiainphoto.ru (гиперссылка https://russiainphoto.ru/); Irakly Chohonelidze/TASS; Yuri Abramochkin/Sputnik 🔔 Gateway to Russia

Legends about Ranevskaya began to take shape even during her lifetime – and now it's difficult to separate fact from fiction. 🔔 Gateway to Russia