My Russia #12 - Winter in Belaya Gora in Perm Krai

In winter in Belaya Gora, Perm Krai.

Sent by Alexey from Vladimir Oblast, Russia.

Belaya Gora is a  village under the administrative jurisdiction of the town of krai significance of Chaykovsky in Perm Krai.

My Russia #11 - Countryside Autumn in Leningrad Oblast

Countryside autumn. Leningrad Oblast.

Sent by Nastya from Russia.

Leningrad Oblast (Russian: Ленинградская область, romanized: Leningradskaya oblastʹ, IPA: [lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ]; Veps: Leningradan agj; Finnish: Leningradin alue) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of 84,500 square kilometres (32,600 sq mi) and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Census. Leningrad Oblast is highly industrialized. Its administrative center and largest city is Gatchina.

The oblast was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position. The oblast was named after the city of Leningrad. In 1991, the city restored its original name, Saint Petersburg, but the oblast retains the name of Leningrad. It overlaps the historical region of Ingria, and is bordered by Finland (Kymenlaakso and South Karelia) in the northwest and Estonia (Ida-Viru County) in the west, as well as five federal subjects of Russia: the Republic of Karelia in the northeast, Vologda Oblast in the east, Novgorod Oblast in the south, Pskov Oblast in the southwest, and the federal city of Saint Petersburg in the west (read more).

My Russia #10 - Verkhosunye Village in Kirov Oblast

A warm June evening, Verkhosunye village, Kirov region.

Sent by Ekaterina from Lipetsk Oblast, Russia.

Verkhosunye (Верхосунье) is a village or localitywithin the KirovOblast (Region) in Russia, known for its rural landscapes, meadows (even dandelion-filled ones!), and connection to the broader Kirov area, named after Soviet leader Sergei Kirov, located on the Vyatka River, with Yandex Weather showing snow maps for the area. 

My Russia #9 - Brown Bear at Central Forest Reserve, Tver Region

Brown bear in Central Forest Reserve, Tver region.

Sent by Varya from Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Central Forest Nature Reserve (Russian: Центрально-Лесной заповедник) (also, Tsentralno-Lesnoi) is a zapovednik (strict ecological reserve) in the north-west of Russia, located in Andreapolsky and Nelidovsky Districts of Tver Oblast, in the upper course of the Mezha River. It was established on 4 May 1930. The nature reserve is created to protect the conifer forest in the upper course of the Western Dvina River. Since 1985, it is classified as UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (read more).

My Russia #8 - Arkhangelsk From The Train Window

From the train window. Arkhangelsk region.

Sent by Natalia from Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Arkhangelsk Oblast (Russian: Архангельская область, IPA: [ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ]) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea. Arkhangelsk Oblast also has administrative jurisdiction over the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO). Including the NAO, Arkhangelsk Oblast has an area of 587,400 square kilometres (226,800 sq mi), it is the largest of first-level administrative divisions in Europe. Its population (including the NAO) was 1,227,626 as of the 2010 Census.

The city of Arkhangelsk, with a population of 301,199 as of the 2021 Census, is the administrative center of the oblast. The second largest city is the nearby Severodvinsk, home to Sevmash, a major shipyard for the Russian Navy. Among the oldest populated places of the oblast are Kholmogory, Kargopol, and Solvychegodsk; there are a number of Russian Orthodox monasteries, including the Antoniev Siysky Monastery and the World Heritage Site of the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea.

Plesetsk Cosmodrome is one of three spaceports in Russia (the other two are Kapustin Yar in Astrakhan Oblast and Yasny in Orenburg Oblast) (read more).

My Russia #7 - Mikhail Lermontov Monument

On the Red Sun Mountain. The monument to the poet Mikhail Lermontov looks at Mount Elbrus. Kislovodsk, Stavropol Krai.

Sent by Nargul from Samara Oblast, Russia.

My Russia #6 - Mount Elbrus, Kabardino-Balkaria

View of Mount Elbrus. Kabardino-Balkaria.

Sent by Irina from Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Mount Elbrus is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant stratovolcano rising 5,642 m (18,510 ft) above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the tenth-most prominent peak in the world. It is situated in the southern Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria in the western extension of Ciscaucasia, and is the highest peak of the Caucasus Mountains.

Elbrus has two summits, both of which are dormant volcanic domes. The taller, western summit is 5,642 metres (18,510 ft); the eastern summit is 5,621 metres (18,442 ft). The earliest recorded ascent of the eastern summit was on 10 July 1829 by a Circassian man named Khillar Khashirov, and the western summit in 1874 by a British expedition led by F. Crauford Grove and including Frederick Gardiner, Horace Walker and the Swiss guide Peter Knubel (read more). 

My Russia #5 - Church of Elijah the Prophet

Church of Elijah the Prophet, Yaroslav.

Sent by Galina from Vladivostok, Russia.

One of the richest historic towns on the Volga River is Yaroslavl, located about 130 miles northeast of Moscow. Now an industrial center with some 650,000 inhabitants, Yaroslavl has a remarkable concentration of church art and architecture from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Each year thousands visit the city on river cruises or by land from Moscow. They all see at least one of the city’s magnificent 17th-century monuments—the Church of Elijah the Prophet, located at the very center of town. The Elijah Church is the consummate example of art sponsored by the city’s flourishing commercial environment (read more).

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).