While the cruel reign of Josef Stalin marked a grim period in Russian and Soviet history, the story of his daughter Svetlana is, in many ways, no less fascinating. In cold war Russia, she caused a major furore when in...
Category - Soviet Union
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Russian invasion of Afghanistan
Anyone who lived through the Cold War will doubtless recall the shocking events surrounding the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the political ramifications that followed for many years. With the conflict...
Lost Cosmonauts
The Soviet Union being a secretive place, it’s not surprising that many conspiracy theories have formed about the Soviet space programme. In particular, there are many claims that Soviet space accidents were covered up...
Cosmonaut Makarov
Oleg Makarov was a Soviet cosmonaut. He flew three missions into space, plus one aborted mission. Makarov was born on 6 January 1933 in Udomlya. After initial work as an engineer on the Soviet space programme, he began...
Battle of Kursk Facts
The battle of Kursk, which took place in July 1943, was one of the most significant battles of the Eastern Front. German forces attempted to encircle the Soviet armies around Kursk and crush them, in much the same...
Yuri Gagarin Facts
Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space on April 12, 1961, when his Vostok rocket completed a single orbit of the earth. This article, written on the 50th anniversary of his historic flight, contains a number of...
Sputnik Facts
This article contains information and facts about Sputnik, the Soviet satellite that first orbited the earth on 4 October 1957. Three Sputniks were launched into space In all, three Sputniks were launched into space...
Joseph Stalin Facts
Joseph Stalin was leader of the Soviet Union between 1922 and 1953. He followed Vladimir Lenin as Soviet leader, and was the first General Secretary of the USSR’s Central Committee. This article contains a number of...
Leon Trotsky Facts
Leon Trotsky was one of the most important figures of the Russian Revolution, and of the early years of the Soviet Union. Although he fell out of favour within the Soviet elite, and was eventually assassinated, his role...
Leon Trotsky Biography
Leon Trotsky, born 7 November 1879, died 21 August 1940, was one of the key figures of the Russian revolution, and of the early days of the Soviet Union. He was renowned for his organisational abilities, and his...