Gateway to Russia

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Useful information

Basic facts Plan your trip Visa help

Plan your trip Why does a foreigner need a Russian ‘SNILS’ number & how to apply for one?

This insurance number of an individual personal account (SNILS) is issued once in a lifetime and required in various situations.

Culture Who did Russian classic writers consider the main graphomaniac?

Many will say that Tolstoy, Dostoevsky or Turgenev had an impressive literary legacy. However, Pyotr Dmitrievich Boborykin (1836-1921) left them far behind in terms of “productivity”.

Lifestyle Intense HEAT hits Moscow! (PHOTOS)

For about a week, the daytime temperature in the Russian capital has been exceeding the 30 degree Celsius mark (86°F)! After a cold June, residents and guests of the capital are finally enjoying summer, strolling and cooling off near fountains and water reservoirs! Feel the atmosphere in our photo collection!

Culture What’s going on in the painting ‘At the Fortress Wall. Let Them Enter’?

The painting is based on the heroic episode of the defense of Samarkand by Russian troops in 1868.

Plan your trip Why foreigners need to submit biometric data in Russia & how

Without submitting this data, foreigners may face restrictions – for example, they won’t be able to buy a Russian SIM card or use certain services. And, in some cases, they might even be denied entry at the border.

Education Why did people in China adopt Russian names?

When Chinese people study Russian at university in their home country, they adopt Russian names. Why do they do this and where did this tradition come from?

Culture 15 PAINTINGS by Russian artists about fairs (PICS)

This is not just a place where they traded everything that could be useful in the household, but also the center of social life. This is how Russian artists depicted life at fairs.

Russian Kitchen 10 MAIN dishes of Tatar cuisine (PHOTOS)

A rich blend of flavors, aromas and traditions – each of these dishes is worth trying!

Culture Who is a ‘wedding general’ & why is he needed?

What is a wedding without… a general? At the end of the 19th century, such a question could not even arise. An important guest gave the celebration a higher status.

Russian Language Playground

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

Education

How Russians embraced the word ‘cringe’

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: AnnaStills, Skyhobo/Getty Images)

Education

What does the expression “he ate the dog on this one” mean?

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images)

Education

5 MAIN difficulties of the Russian language, according to foreigners

Legion Media

Education

Russian kitchen ABCs: Smetannik

Alexandra Guzeva

Education

Garima from India: ‘I want to become a Russian language teacher’

Kira Polyudova

Education

Russian picture dictionary: Camping!

Russian Literature

Illustration by Sergei Kobuladze «Eclipse of the Sun» for the poem «The Tale of Igor's Campaign». - - - -Sverdlov/Sputnik / Sputnik

Why is the legendary epic ‘The Tale of Igor's Campaign’ a ‘Russian Shakespeare’?

Gateway to Russia / Legion Media

5 reasons to read Pushkin's poems in Russian

Gateway To Russia (Photo: Digr; Public domain)

Why did Leo Tolstoy run away from home?

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: A.Savin, Wikipedia; Public domain; Yuri Belinsky/TASS)

Pushkin House: A place where Russian literature lives

Gateway to Russia (Photo: State Historical Museum; Leo Tolstoy Museum)

15 MOST famous quotes by Russian writers

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Public domain; CSA Images/Getty Images; Tretyakov Gallery)

100 MAIN Russian books that everyone should read

Best of Russia

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Polinmr/Getty Images)

Lifestyle

Where to find 'Gateway to Russia' on social media

Igor Yudakov/Russia Discovery

Travel

10 best glamping sites in Russia

Anton Balashov / Sputnik

Travel

Where to see the blooming lotus in Russia (PHOTOS)

Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

Culture

30 masterpieces of the Pushkin Museum's Gallery of European & American Countries that you must see (PHOTOS)

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Russian Classes; TimKirbysTravel; Think Slavic)

Lifestyle

4 social media accounts recommended by ‘Gateway to Russia’

Getty Images

Basic facts

33 incredible UNESCO sites located in Russia (PHOTOS)

Russian Cinema

Ekaterina Chesnokova; Georgi Elin (CC BY-SA 4.0) / Sputnik

Yura Borisov to play a Russian poet (again!)

Ekaterina Сhesnokova / Sputnik

Meet ‘White Lotus’ star Yuri Kolokolnikov

Dia Dipasupil/WireImage/ / Getty Images

Meet actor Mark Eidelstein, the Russian star of the TV show ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ (PHOTOS)

TOP 10 Soviet detective movies you can watch free ONLINE

Legion Media

10 underrated Soviet movies to watch ONLINE FOR FREE!

Russia 101

Ilya Pitalev / Sputnik

Plan your trip

Who needs to register in the ‘ruID’ app for trips to Russia & how?

Alexander Kryazhev / Sputnik

Plan your trip

How to register on the ‘Gosuslugi’ website as a foreigner

beast01 / Getty Images

Plan your trip

When & where does a foreigner need to present their passport in Russia?

ampueroleonardo / Getty Images

Plan your trip

How to travel across Russia: A guide for foreign tourists

Gateway to Russia (Photo: JulPo/Getty Images; Yandex)

Plan your trip

10 useful APPS for travelling across Russia in 2025

AnnaStills

Plan your trip

How & why should a foreigner register in Russia?

History

How a Soviet girl built a TANK! (VIDEO)

Public domain

4 Russian cities lost forever! (VIDEO)

‘The Billion Dollar Spy’ by David E. Hoffman/Corpus, 2017

This Soviet traitor cost the country BILLIONS in leaked secrets! (VIDEO)

Sputnik

Why was this Bolshevik nicknamed the ‘Black Devil’?

Israel Ozersky/Sputnik

This Soviet general was killed by Ukrainian nationalists

The Most Russian American

Legion Media / Legion Media

Trying okroshka, the strangest Russian soup (VIDEO)

The sacred site of the first McDonald's in Russia (VIDEO)

The healing voice of Peruquois Frances: the Australian singer who conquered Russia!

Life in the USA or the Russian soul: the way home (VIDEO)

More stories

Public Domain

Who did Russian classic writers consider the main graphomaniac?

vk.com/visit_norilsk

Norilsk's giant snow tunnels! (VIDEO)

Artyom Geodakyan / TASS

Why does a foreigner need a Russian ‘SNILS’ number & how to apply for one?

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

How Russians embraced the word ‘cringe’

Vasily Vereshchagin/Tretyakov Gallery

What’s going on in the painting ‘At the Fortress Wall. Let Them Enter’?

Are Pushkin & Dumas really the same person? (VIDEO)

Yaroslav Chingayev / Moskva Agency

Intense HEAT hits Moscow! (PHOTOS)

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: AnnaStills, Skyhobo/Getty Images)

What does the expression “he ate the dog on this one” mean?

t.me/ppplatki

Russia’s most famous & beautiful shawls! (VIDEO)

Vadim Akhmetov/URA.RU / Global Look Press

Why foreigners need to submit biometric data in Russia & how

A place full of mystery (VIDEO)

Natural landscapes of Dagestan (VIDEO)

This Russian woman became a heroine of two world wars (VIDEO)

Legion Media / Legion Media

Trying okroshka, the strangest Russian soup (VIDEO)

The sacred site of the first McDonald's in Russia (VIDEO)

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images)

5 MAIN difficulties of the Russian language, according to foreigners

Vitaly Ankov / Sputnik

Why did people in China adopt Russian names?

Legion Media

Russian kitchen ABCs: Smetannik

Дети Арктики

Ysyakh — Festival of the sun and life (VIDEO)

Public domain

15 PAINTINGS by Russian artists about fairs (PICS)

About the project Terms of Use

"Gateway to Russia” - a project by ANO “TV-Novosti,” 2025. © All rights reserved.
Created with the financial support of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media of the Russian Federation.

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