Articles tagged as Russia | Smithsonian Magazine

U.S. Ambassador to Russia, George F. Kennan, chats with a newsman after the Russian government told the U.S. State Department that Kennan must be recalled immediately. The Russians charged that the ambassador made completely false statements hostile to the Soviet Union. At the time, Russia demanded his recall (three days ago) Kennan was in Geneva, where he'd been visiting his daughter who is a student at the International School. U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson called the Russian charges, outrageous.

George Kennan’s Love of Russia Inspired His Legendary “Containment” Strategy

It’s impossible to overstate the impact the American diplomat had on the United States’ Cold War policy

September 30, 2016

Outside the Winter Palace stands a column honoring Alexander I, who took kindly to the presence of the Adamses when they lived in St. Petersburg.

The Russian-U.S. Relationship Goes Way Back to John Quincy Adams

Before he became president, Adams was the nascent country’s first ambassador to Russia

September 27, 2016

The Evpatoria radio telescope RT-70 and the Long Range Space Communications Center, which were used for one of the most ambitious efforts at extraterrestrial communication.

How a Couple of Guys Built the Most Ambitious Alien Outreach Project Ever

You might think it takes vast governmental resources to launch an extraterrestrial communication effort. Nope

September 26, 2016

The statue of Lenin where it formerly stood on the roof of the Red Square building on E Houston Street.

Cool Finds

A Statue of Lenin Has Finally Come Down from Red Square…in New York City

One of Manhattan’s strangest buildings has lost its mascot

September 26, 2016

Cool Finds

Summer Heat Turns This Siberian Lake Bright Pink

And it’s not the only one

August 22, 2016

Cool Finds

The KGB’s Favorite Restaurant Reopens in Moscow

Aragvi, the haunt of Soviet-era celebrities and spies opens after a 13-year absence and $20 million renovation

July 11, 2016

Russian Orthodox crosses in the time-and-weather-worn cemetery of Ninilchik’s Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Chapel are a testament to the heritage of the village.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

Tracing Alaska’s Russian Heritage

From onion domes to tsarist-era Russian dialects, evidence of the Russian colonialism remains

July 7, 2016

Trending Today

British Barber Proposes Beard Tax

Inspired by historical examples, Antony Kent wants men to pay a 100-pound fee to rock a bushy beard

May 17, 2016

Artist's rendering of the Alpha Centauri system

Yuri Milner is investing 100 million dollars in research to develop a swarm of tiny probes for a mission to Alpha Centauri

April 12, 2016

Dissident artist Pyotr Pavlensky appears at Moscow's Tagansky District Court on suspicion of vandalism.

Judges walk out in support of the provocative performance artist

February 18, 2016

One of the world’s deadliest missiles could become a planetary life-saver

February 18, 2016

Cool Finds

This Cabin Could be the World’s Smallest Palace

Be it ever so humble, Peter the Great once briefly called it home

January 26, 2016

The details of the last days and the circumstances of Raoul Wallenberg's tragic death have long been mired in mystery and intrigue.

Raoul Wallenberg’s Biographer Uncovers Important Clues To What Happened in His Final Days

Swedish writer Ingrid Carlberg investigates the tragedy that befell the heroic humanitarian

January 15, 2016

A Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft lifts off from a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 23, 2015.

Russia’s federal space agency will soon be no more

December 28, 2015

A spread of Russian zakuski or small dishes

Cool Finds

Dine Behind the Iron Curtain With Soviet Era Recipes

A new cookbook explores a time of food shortages and standardization, colored with some nostalgia

December 16, 2015

For the First Time Ever, a Rehabilitated Tiger Has Birthed Cubs in the Wild

In an update from our February cover story, Zolushka found a mate in Siberia and now has two baby tiger cubs

December 14, 2015

It took Leo Tolstoy six years to write War and Peace.

It will take 1,300 readers four days and 60 hours to read the book out loud

December 10, 2015

Cool Finds

X-Rays Unveil Hidden Paintings Beneath an Avant-Garde Classic

The brightly-colored cubist work below “Black Square” adds new dimensions to a masterpiece

November 16, 2015

Cool Finds

Watch ‘Swan Lake’ Transform Into a Spectacular Light Show

The classic ballet has never looked so stunning

November 13, 2015

The Russian Imperial Family, as photographed in 1911. The Russian Orthodox Church has not recognized the remains of Maria (second from left) and Alexei (second from right), despite DNA analysis.

A new DNA analysis aims to end speculation about the last Romanovs—but hasn’t the mystery already been solved?

November 6, 2015