A trip for rugged vehicles of many types and stripes, Russia’s “Silk Way” Rally began on July 1 in Omsk.

A century-old wrecked icebreaker was just found north of Russia.

In this week's Odder News, a city mayor uses TikTok and Grand Theft Auto to communicate with his constituents, the Teletubbies show up in Norilsk, and a Perm barn is sacrificed to TikTok.

Russia is a land of many mysteries. The greatest of all, of course, is this: What's the deal with Russians and their hovercraft?

It is just over six minutes long, but "In Russia" is the finest film on Russia we have seen all year. It will have you itching for travel again.

This week is full of surprises: Moscow schools train future journalists; cars branch out into new materials; and vodka exports decline, which is maybe less surprising than you'd think.

This week, officials make outrageous demands, maps cost a man his job, and science meets geopolitics.

"McDonald's is expanding its geographic presence and plans to open the first factories in the Far Eastern Federal District in December 2020."

– Press announcement by McDonald’s, which plans to open its first restaurants in Russia’s Far East

Two hundred years ago, the first sighting of Antarctica was recorded – by a Russian expedition. The author retraces the expedition’s steps, and not without hiccups.

The Mari People * Life in Isolation * Russia's Discovery of Antarctica * Raspberry Picking * Semyonovsky Revolt * Battle on the Ugra * Sergei Bondarchuk * Table Russian * Bird Language * Apple Fritters * Chicks the TV Series * Kamchatka and Belarus

We have all had to experience some unplanned isolation during the pandemic. So we decided to visit some Russians who have long been living isolated lives.

The smallest ethnos in the Russian Federation is an Avar sub-culture in the Caucasus.