Mitrokhin's handwritten copy of the KGB First Chief Directorate Lexicon

Mitrokhin’s KGB archive opens to public

07 July 2014

KGB files from the famous Mitrokhin Archive – described by the FBI as ‘the most complete and extensive intelligence ever received from any source’ – will today open to the public for the first time.

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Russia: Up close

18 May 2013

A new book prize aimed at furthering our understanding of the Russian-speaking world will help the West to come to terms with the complexity of post-Soviet Russian culture and overcome media stereotypes, according to a University of Cambridge lecturer.

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Part of the fuselage of the aircraft which crashed near Smolensk in April 2010.

Massacre and metaphor: remembering Katyn

28 September 2012

Swathed in conspiracy and suppressed by the Soviet establishment, the historical truth about the Katyn murders remained obscure for more than half a century. Yet at the same time, the memory of the massacre evolved. A new book shows how this memory defines Eastern Europe even today.

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Detail from 'How many millions are starving? Ten' by Vladimir Maiakovskii

A Soviet Design for Life

03 July 2012

A unique tour through the Soviet century – via one woman’s extraordinary collection of books, propaganda posters, ration coupons and even cigarette packets – is the focus of a new exhibition opening to the public on July 4.

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Slovak privatisation voucher.

A policy of mass destruction

29 March 2012

A new study reveals how a radical economic policy devised by western economists put former Soviet states on a road to bankruptcy and corruption.

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A bird's eye view of the Kremlin, Moscow

A Russian Odyssey

05 June 2011

In 1998, Rachel Polonsky began a 10-year exploration of Russia which culminated in the publication of her book, "Molotov's Magic Lantern". She told the Hay Festival the extraordinary story behind her research.

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