My Russia #4 - Leningrad Oblast - Vyborg

Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast.

Sent by Elizabeth from Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Vyborg (/ˈviːbɔːrɡ, ˈviːbərk/; Russian: Выборг, IPA: [ˈvɨbərk]; Finnish: Viipuri, IPA: [ˈʋiːpuri]; Swedish: Viborg, IPA: [ˈvǐːbɔrj]) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, 130 km (81 miles) northwest of St. Petersburg, 245 km (152 miles) east of the Finnish capital Helsinki, and 38 km (24 miles) south of Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland. The most recent census population of Vyborg is 72,530 (2021 Census).

Vyborg was founded as a medieval fortress in Finland under Swedish rule during the Third Swedish Crusade. After numerous wars between the Russians and Swedes, the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 defined the border of eastern Finland, and would separate the two cultures. Vyborg remained under Swedish rule until it was captured by the Russians during the Great Northern War. Under Russian rule, Vyborg was the seat of Vyborg Governorate until it was incorporated into the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. Finland declared its independence from Russia in 1917, and Vyborg kept its status, and represented internationally as its most multicultural city. During World War II, Vyborg's population was evacuated and the town was ceded to the Soviet Union. In 2010, Vyborg was conferred the status of "City of Military Glory" by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

The city hosts the Russian end of the 1,222 km (759 mi) Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, laid in 2011 and operated by a consortium led by Russia's Gazprom state hydrocarbons enterprise to pump 55 billion cubic meters (1.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas a year under the Baltic Sea to Lubmin, Germany (read more).

My Russia - #3 - Gorokhovets

View of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, in the courtyards of Gorokhovets, Vladimir oblast.

Sent by Alina from Tobolsk in Tyuemen oblast, Russia.

Gorokhovets (Russian: Горохове́ц) is a town and the administrative center of Gorokhovetsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the highway from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod. It also serves as a river port on the Klyazma River.

Population: 12,666 (2021 Census) 14,016 (2010 Census); 14,524 (2002 Census);15,783 (1989 Soviet census).

The name of the town originates from the Russian word "горох" (gorokh, "peas").

Gorokhovets was first mentioned in a 1239 chronicle, when it was sacked by the Mongols. It is believed that a minor fortress had existed there for several preceding decades.

In 1539, the Tatars of Kazan were about to burn it but retreated upon allegedly seeing a ghost in a shape of a gigantic knight with a sword. After that, the mount where the apparition was seen came to be known as Puzhalovo ("frightening one") (read more).

My Russia - #2 - Spring in Smolensk

Spring in a village, Smolensk region.

Sent by Olga from Orel in Oryol Oblast, Russia.

Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, 360 kilometers (220 mi) west-southwest of Moscow.

First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of the past millennium, beginning as the capital of an eponymous principality in the 11th-15th centuries, then the Smolensk Voivodeship of Lithuania and Poland, and Smolensk Governorate and Oblast within Russia. It was the main stronghold of the Smolensk Gate, a geostrategically significant pass between the Daugava and Dnieper rivers, and as such was an important point of contention in the struggle for dominance in Eastern Europe, passing at various times between Lithuania, Poland and Russia. In more recent history, it was captured by Napoleon's Franco–Polish forces and Hitler's Germany during their marches towards Moscow, and was the place of the Smolensk air disaster of 2010.

It has a population of 316,570 (2021 Census).(read more)

My Russia - #1 - Larga Seal Rookery

Larga Seal Rookery near Kekura Column, Sea of Japan.

Sent by Elvira from Tyumen, Russia.

The spotted seal (Phoca largha), also known as the larga seal or largha seal, is a member of the family Phocidae, and is considered a "true seal". It inhabits ice floes and waters of the north Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. It is primarily found along the continental shelf of the Beaufort, Chukchi, Bering and Okhotsk Seas and south to the northern Yellow Sea and it migrates south as far as northern Huanghai and the western Sea of Japan. It is also found in Alaska from the southeastern Bristol Bay to Demarcation Point during the ice-free seasons of summer and autumn when spotted seals mate and have pups. Smaller numbers are found in the Beaufort Sea. It is sometimes mistaken for the harbor seal to which it is closely related and spotted seals and harbor seals often mingle together in areas where their habitats overlap (read more).