Russia

The trident, also known as the tryzub, is ubiquitous in modern Ukraine, but its origins lie in the medieval period.

How Medieval Money Shaped Ukraine’s Modern Identity

The country's distinct history is revealed in banknotes, coins and other monetary objects, says the Smithsonian’s curator of numismatics

Communist revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg speaking at a conference in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1907

The 20th-Century History of Anti-Semitic Attacks on Jewish Politicians

Russian rhetoric against Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoes the language directed toward Jewish leaders in post-WWI Europe

Unable to return home, dancers from the Kyiv City Ballet rehearse for a fundraising performance; ticket sales will go toward relief efforts in Ukraine.

Stranded Abroad, Kyiv City Ballet Announces Its First American Tour

The dance company has been staying in Paris since the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Vassily Maximov, A Sorcerer Comes to a Peasant Wedding, circa 1875

In Early Modern Russia, the Majority of Accused 'Witches' Were Men

Orthodox Russians deployed magic for practical purposes, like inflicting illness, harming business competitors and attracting lovers

The U.S.S.R. sent legions of “liquidators” to clean up in the aftermath of the meltdown. 

Footage Shows How Daily Life Didn't Change After Chernobyl—and the Cover-Up's Toxic Aftermath

A new documentary shows how the disaster transformed—and endangered—those who lived near the nuclear plant

Adorned in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, Victoria Franco takes part in a protest near Los Angeles City Hall on March 19, weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine.

How Ukrainian and Russian Immigrants View the War From Afar

To residents of Southern California with ties to the Eastern European nations, the conflict feels close to home

Soldiers transported the amphorae, which were in excellent condition, to a local museum for safekeeping.

Ukrainian Soldiers Uncover Fourth-Century Urns While Digging Defense Trenches

The amphorae are the latest archaeological find in a country whose cultural treasures are threatened by war

Visitors lay wreaths at the “Square of Nations,” a memorial site at the former Flossenbürg concentration camp’s crematorium, on April 24, 2022.

At a Former Concentration Camp, Holocaust Survivors Draw Parallels Between Nazi and Russian Rhetoric

Speakers at a ceremony marking the liberation of Flossenbürg condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims of demilitarizing and de-Nazifying Ukraine

NATO troops from a battalion based in Fort Hood, Texas, train in Germany in September 1983, two months before the Able Archer 83 drill.

The 1983 Military Drill That Nearly Sparked Nuclear War With the Soviets

Fearful that the Able Archer 83 exercise was a cover for a NATO nuclear strike, the U.S.S.R. readied its own weapons for launch

A Long Island family sits in a "Kidde Kokoon" underground bomb shelter in 1955.

Digging Up the History of the Nuclear Fallout Shelter

For 75 years, images of bunker life have reflected the shifting optimism, anxieties and cynicism of the Atomic Age

A zoomed-in view of Edgar Degas' Ukrainian Dancers, previously known as Russian Dancers

Museum Renames Degas' 'Russian Dancers' in Nod to Ukraine

The change arrives amid a push for cultural institutions to recognize distinctions between Russian and Ukrainian culture

A protester holds a sunflower during a London rally in support of Ukraine on March 26, 2022.

Why Sunflowers Are Ukraine's National Flower

People around the world are embracing the bright bloom as a symbol of solidarity with the beleaguered country

Sandbags are piled high around a statue of the Duc de Richelieu in Odessa, Ukraine, on March 14, 2022.

Inside the Efforts to Preserve Ukraine's Cultural Heritage

Here's how experts and civilians alike are working to protect the country's art, artifacts and scientific specimens

Russia has dismissed the idea that their cosmonauts’ bold wardrobe colors have anything to do with Ukraine.

Russian Cosmonauts Board Space Station Wearing Blue and Yellow

Roscosmos denies color choice was a show of support for Ukraine

A collage of Vladimir Putin placing his hand on Joseph Stalin's shoulder. Richard Cohen's new book Making History details the links between the two Russian leaders.

Vladimir Putin's Rewriting of History Draws on a Long Tradition of Soviet Myth-Making

Much like Joseph Stalin, the Russian president has used propaganda, the media and government-sanctioned books to present an ahistorical narrative

Artists in Ukraine are assisting defense groups in welding tank traps called "hedgehogs," to push back against the Russian invasion. 

These Ukrainian Artists Are Making Traps for Russian Tanks

Berlin-based artists Volo Bevza and Victoria Pidust have joined with defense groups in Lviv to help fight back against Russian forces

Last Call at the Hotel Imperial centers on journalists Dorothy Thompson, John Gunther, H.R. Knickerbocker and Jimmy Vincent Sheean.

A Century Ago, American Reporters Foresaw the Rise of Authoritarianism in Europe

A new book tells the stories of four interwar writers who laid the groundwork for modern journalism

A Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-27 lifts off at a 2017 airshow in the U.K. The Su-27 is Ukraine’s long arm, an offensive fighter with great range and the capacity to carry nearly 10,000 pounds of bombs, rockets, and missiles.

The Russian Jet That Fights for Both Sides

What Ukrainian air force pilots had to say about their aging Su-27s.

A view of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial in Kyiv. A Russian missile struck the building last Tuesday, killing five people nearby.

Unesco Sounds the Alarm Over Threats to Ukrainian Cultural Heritage

The agency is "gravely concerned" about the risk to historic sites amid intensifying violence

A view of the Babyn (Babi) Yar Holocaust Memorial Center in Kyiv on March 2, 2022

What Happened at Babi Yar, the Ukrainian Holocaust Site Reportedly Struck by a Russian Missile?

During WWII, the Nazis murdered 33,000 Jews at the ravine over just two days. Last week, a strike near the massacre site drew widespread condemnation

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