During the Soviet era, it wasn’t uncommon for people in big cities to share a single apartment with up to 20 other people — often sharing just one bathroom and kitchen. Half a century later, with rents in central Moscow and St. Petersburg soaring, some people still live in these kommunalka apartments out of necessity. We took a look at everyday life inside one of them.
The musk deer — a small species of deer native to the republic of Altai in Russia — is an unassuming source of what locals call “Siberian gold.” But his musk, which is believed to have healing properties in Chinese medicine, can sell for as much as $200 per gram. Although the musk deer is listed as an endangered species, poachers have run rampant since the fall of the U.S.S.R., trafficking this precious substance as a way of life. This cute and small animal equipped with two fangs on the end of this muzzle is more and more the prey of poachers since the end of the USSR. We took a journey into the Siberian forest with a nature reserve inspector who is hunting these poachers and fighting to save this species.
In the past few years, tourism to Murmansk, a remote Russian city north of the Arctic Circle, has increased dramatically.
According to official estimates, 450,000 tourists visited the region in 2019 — and 40% of these were Chinese.
In Chinese tradition, conceiving a child under the Northern Lights is believed to bring good luck to the baby. We went north to Murmansk to see if this belief is true and see how much the growing tourism industry has transformed the city.
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has been named Person of the Year by Time magazine — and her influence has crossed over Russia’s borders. Russians have staged climate rallies as part of Thunberg’s Fridays For Future movement in cities across the country, including in Siberia, where the thermometer can easily fall below minus 20 degrees Celsius. We spoke with Siberia’s eco-activists about their choices, their concerns and the challenges they face. The Moscow Times is Russia’s leading independent English-language media outlet. From our Moscow newsroom, we provide readers across the world with breaking news, engaging stories and balanced journalism about the largest country on Earth.
While tuberculosis is seen in many countries as an illness from a long-gone era, it remains an acute problem in Russia. According to World Health Organization statistics, 79,000 people in Russia contracted tuberculosis, or TB, in 2018. Paulina Siniatkina, a visual artist in Moscow, is a survivor of TB. She contracted it when she was 25 years old and saw several of her friends die of TB while she was hospitalized for six months. Outraged by the situation, Paulina took her brushes to denounce the stigmas surrounding people with TB, and who she says are responsible for the disease’s continued existence in Russia. After a first exhibition dedicated to the subject in 2016, she is preparing a new exhibition entitled “You don’t want to know this” to show people what living with TB is truly like.
Alina is a young Muscovite who has been collecting food thrown away by Moscow’s cafes and grocery stores for the past several months. While dumpster-diving is a well-known phenomenon throughout Western countries, in Russia this unusual activity comes with its own unique challenges. Hold your breath and dive into Moscow’s trash.
An estimated 8% of Russians have disabilities, but they are rarely seen on Moscow’s streets. Activists say it’s because the city lacks accessibility for people in wheelchairs. We spent a day with Diana, a young joyful woman who is disabled, to see what it’s like to travel by metro in Moscow.
One year after the start of the yellow vest protests in France, many locals are dismissing traditional French media as “fake news” and are tuning in to a new favorite channel—RT (formerly Russia Today). How did a media that is financed by the Kremlin and accused of being an arm of Russian propaganda become so popular in rural France?
Elisha Fox is the first burlesque male dancer in Russia. Unlike many drag queens, his aim is not to parody the femininity of women but to blur the borders of gender in a country where LGBTQ rights are often violated.
Welcome to a St. Petersburg family for a traditional celebration of the New Year. As Russians do not celebrate Christmas on December 25, New Year’s Eve is the main festival. Young people tend to have dinner with their parents before going out to party with their friends after midnight.
Moscow hosted a new dance party last week featuring a line-up composed exclusively of refugees who are DJs. The Civic Assistance Committee, a Russian NGO that helps migrants in Moscow, hosted the event. Meet Simba, a DJ from Zimbabwe, as he shares the difficulties and hopes of life in Russia’s capital.
While rural flight increases in Russia, some young families are moving in the opposite direction to live in eco-villages. Meet Yulia and Vladimir who left St. Petersburg seven years ago to build their own place in an abandoned village.
Russian beauty pageants are dominated by skinny girls, but now some models are calling for a chance to show their curves on stage. Meet Eva Ross, a proud new model, who is part of the body positivity movement and who aims to conquer the global fashion scene from Russia.
More than 22,000 protesters gathered in Moscow on Saturday against the exclusion of opposition candidates from the ballot for city elections in September. This is the largest demonstration in Russia in recent years.
At the dacha, a traditional Russian summer house, home appliances are pretty basic. You can cook on the woodstove, draw water from a well or even cross the garden to go to the toilet… But the dacha is also a safe haven for Russians who live in cities — they rush here after work every Friday for some peace and relaxation. Spend one evening with three generations of women at a traditional Russian dacha north of Moscow. Their main occupation? Doing nothing!
Over 400 people were detained by police at a protest march in Moscow on June 12. The protesters called for the punishment of police officers who were involved in the detention of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov on what they say were fabricated drug charges.
Like in most Western cities, young people in Moscow go to parks on Friday evening to drink, dance and have fun. But a vigilante group calling itself “Lev Protiv” is trying to put an end to the phenomenon. Every Friday night, dozens of young men patrol public places and report people who drink to the police. Last Friday, they filled more than two police vans with “offenders”.
Doctors and medical professionals across Russia are organizing to demand fair pay and better working conditions. Since fall 2018, three demonstrations have taken place that have gathered a total of 650 medical workers. Meet Irina Volhonova, who is a neurologist at a public hospital in Yaroslavl, a city north of Moscow. She earns approximately $350, less than half of what she should be earning according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin.
For most Muslims in the world, the month of Ramadan requires abstaining from all food and drink for around 12 consecutive hours, between sunrise and sunset. But what about for those Muslims who live in Russia’s northern city of St. Petersburg, where the sun dips below the horizon at 10:00 pm and already rises at 3:00 am? Zubair Dibirov, 23, is one such believer. He is fasting for the fifth time in his life this year, while completing an intensive sports university program and training as a wrestler.
This year, the annual bike parade advocating for better conditions for bike riders in Moscow was not allowed by the authorities. Instead, the city government organized a festival that was more of a party than a demonstration for bike rights. We took a ride with Valery Larionov, a bike activist, to see how safe and comfortable it is to ride around Moscow’s city center. Put on your helmet and enjoy the ride.
On April 16, 21-year-old Yandex Food courier Artyk Orozaliyev died after a 10-hour shift. His death has been linked to exhaustion stemming from overwork. We followed a Yandex Food courier for a day to have a closer look at a typical shift.
Every Friday, 24-year-old student Arshak Makichyan stands in Moscow with a poster warning locals about the dangers of global warming. He started his protest in mid-March, inspired by the #Climatestrike movement led by young activists around the world. But since then, he’s been protesting alone.
Héloïse Bargain 