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Culture 'Ponies': How realistic is Moscow & USSR in the new ‘Peacock’ spy series?

Actress Emilia Clarke, famous for playing Daenerys Targaryen in the ‘Game of Thrones’ TV show, takes the lead role in the new series, set in the USSR during the Cold War. And, yes, you'll hear her swear in Russian. Well, kinda…

Culture What Russian classic writers thought about SNOW

“Not snow, but utter filth,” complained Korney Chukovsky, while a snowstorm inspired Alexander Blok to write his poem ‘The Twelve’.

Education Gelendzhik in 3 Russian words

This is one of Russia's most popular Black Sea resorts. It's home to the country's largest open-air water park. Here are three more symbols of this city.

History Where in Russia did monarchs LOVE to travel?

Distances are never an obstacle. Especially, if you're speeding nonstop. Or traveling in the company of ministers and kings of other countries.

History Why did every peasant woman dream of working as a WET NURSE in Tsarist Russia?

With the milk, prattle, songs and nursery rhymes of peasant wet nurses, elements of the Russian character were instilled in noblemen, grand dukes and even future emperors.

History What should Russians avoid doing between Christmas & Epiphany to avoid trouble?

From January 6th to 19th, Russia celebrates its own Halloween – ‘Svyatki’. It's a special, borderline time, when the boundary between the world of the living and the other world was considered particularly thin and permeable and evil spirits were active.

Science & Tech 5 facts about the most publicly known Russian cosmonaut (PHOTOS)

Over three expeditions, Oleg Artemyev spent more than 560 days on the International Space Station, successfully completed eight spacewalks and kept an ongoing blog about life aboard the ISS.

Travel 10 of Russia’s most BEAUTIFUL streets (PHOTOS)

Almost every city has a main tourist street (both pedestrian and regular) for strolling. We've selected some of the most atmospheric ones below!

Russian Language Playground

Puerta a Rusia

Education

Why is a Dominican student learning Russian? (VIDEO)

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Created by OpenAI/ chatgpt)

Education

Russian wordlists: Folk weather calendar

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Valentin Sobolev, Alexey Stuzhin/TASS, Klipartz, microstocker/Getty Images, Elena Pimukova/Getty Images)

Education

Spelled as it sounds? How a Russian language reform failed in the USSR

Education

'Ё' - The most discriminated letter of the Russian alphabet! (VIDEO)

Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: SuperStock, Klaus Wagenhäuser, photorevolution/imageBROKER.com/Global Look Press; freepik.com)

Education

What does the expression «to put things on their shelves» mean?

Natalya Nosova

Education

‘Gateway to Russia’ launches FREE online Russian language course for beginners

Russian Literature

House-Museum of Mikhail Prishvin

How writer Mikhail Prishvin built the first Soviet motorhome (PHOTOS)

Culture Club / Getty Images

How Vladimir Mayakovsky once wrote a script for a French film

Yuri Kushevsky (CC BY-SA 4.0)

5 most QUOTED works of Russian literature

10 reasons why Pushkin is so great

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

100 MAIN Russian books that everyone should read

Best of Russia

Alexander Melekhov / TASS

Travel

How Russian cities decorated for the 2026 New Year (PHOTOS)

yulenochekk / Getty Images

Travel

Solovetsky Islands: A journey into Russian history (PHOTOS)

Anna Sorokina

Travel

What's inside the most BEAUTIFUL house in old Moscow?

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Polinmr/Getty Images)

Lifestyle

Where to find 'Gateway to Russia' on social media

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

Lifestyle

4 social media accounts recommended by ‘Gateway to Russia’

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Basic facts

34 incredible UNESCO sites located in Russia (PHOTOS)

Russian Cinema

Gateway to Russia (Photo: nekonome/Getty Images, Mosfilm/Legion Media)

5 movies in which FALL is one of the main ‘characters’

P. Arsenov/The film studio named after Gorky, 1985

10 BEST Soviet & Russian movies about school

Studios ProLine Film/TASS

7 screen adaptations of Soviet science fiction writers Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

Sputnik

8 UNDERRATED Soviet movies

KEYSTONE-FRANCE/Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images

10 Russian movies that won awards at Cannes

Russia 101

Legion Media

Plan your trip

Q&A: What to do if your foreign SIM card doesn't work in Russia?

Alexander Kislov (Photo: Freepik.com)

Plan your trip

The MOST important phone numbers, addresses & websites for your trip to Russia

Legion Media

Visa help

How to get a Russian visa in Canada

Shatokhina Natalia/news.ru / Global Look Press

Plan your trip

Why foreigners need to submit biometric data in Russia & how

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

History

Gateway to Russia (Created by OpenAI)

How was New Year's Eve celebrated under the Russian empresses?

Mikhail Ozersky / Sputnik

How the first Moscow Kremlin New Year’s tree was staged (PHOTOS)

Public domain

What was going on in Russia during the fall of Constantinople in 1453?

Vyacheslav Runov / Sputnik

How Canada's Prime Minister once visited Soviet Norilsk

Alexandra Koroleva; Public domain

How tall were Russian rulers? (INFOGRAPHIC)

The Most Russian American

Checking out New Year’s decorations in a Russian store (VIDEO)

What you should know about New Year's in Russia (VIDEO)

Why visit the VDNKh Park in Moscow? (VIDEO)

There's a whole airplane in the Moscow metro! (VIDEO)

More stories

Where tradition lives on (VIDEO)

Ilja Rasin / Getty Images

What Russian classic writers thought about SNOW

Susanna Fogel, Viet Nguyen, Ally Pankiw/NBCUniversal Media, 2026

'Ponies': How realistic is Moscow & USSR in the new ‘Peacock’ spy series?

Дина Сетдикова

4 of Russia's most UNUSUAL museums! (VIDEO)

Vitaly Timkiv/Sputnik

Gelendzhik in 3 Russian words

Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Where in Russia did monarchs LOVE to travel?

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Created by OpenAI/ chatgpt)

Russian wordlists: Folk weather calendar

Puerta a Rusia

Why is a Dominican student learning Russian? (VIDEO)

When winter meets Russian heritage (VIDEO)

How the Czechs RENAMED the capital of the Russian Empire (VIDEO)

The State Tretyakov Gallery

Why did every peasant woman dream of working as a WET NURSE in Tsarist Russia?

Gateway to Russia (Photo: Valentin Sobolev, Alexey Stuzhin/TASS, Klipartz, microstocker/Getty Images, Elena Pimukova/Getty Images)

Spelled as it sounds? How a Russian language reform failed in the USSR

Alexander Kislov, Natalya Nosova

In Russian, only a few words are spelled with 'цы' instead of 'ци'

Public domain

What should Russians avoid doing between Christmas & Epiphany to avoid trouble?

Anna Sorokina

Where in Russia can you catch the Northern Lights? (VIDEO)

Vladimir Gerdo / TASS

5 facts about Timofey, the Moscow Zoo’s famous manul (PHOTOS)

@a.elikov

Old Kolyma tract in winter (VIDEO)

Cosmonautics Museum

5 facts about the most publicly known Russian cosmonaut (PHOTOS)

freepik (juicy_fish, kjpargeter), Chat GPT (OpenAI)

Learning how to be polite in Russian (VIDEO)

'Ё' - The most discriminated letter of the Russian alphabet! (VIDEO)

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