The Soviet Union was many things at once: a superpower, a planned economy, a tightly controlled state, and a society of more than 280 million individuals spread across vast and varied territories. Between the 1950s and the 1980s, the USSR projected strength…
Television once held a special place in Soviet society, becoming a symbol of status and technological progress. Photographs from the post-World War II era through Perestroika capture people proudly posing with their first TV sets, reflecting the excitement …
In late December 1979, the Soviet Union launched an invasion of Afghanistan, deploying troops to support the Afghan communist government in its conflict against anti-communist Muslim guerrillas during the Afghan War (1978–1992). This intervention marked the…
During the Great Patriotic War, it was a tragic reality that many Soviet families lost sons, fathers, and brothers on the battlefield. Entire households often found themselves without a single male survivor after the brutal conflict. Amid this harsh rea…
The political "thaw" in the Soviet Union during the 1960s brought about a similar shift in photography. Official propaganda images took a backseat to vibrant, candid moments of real life. Vladimir Lagrange, who had a passion for photography from a young …
Believe it or not, even gas stations in the Soviet Union could be architectural marvels. In the 1970s, Kyiv saw the construction of at least two such stations, boasting a truly unique design. This concept, borrowed from Japan, resulted in locally nicknamed …
The history of the Soviet Union's automotive industry traces its origins back to the late 1920s and persisted until the nation's dissolution in 1991. It commenced with the establishment of significant car manufacturing plants and the restructuring of th…
Fashion in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and 1970s was influenced by the socio-political environment of the time. In an era characterized by political rigidity, the women of the Soviet Union found a remarkable way to infuse style with a distinct charm, …
What were the expectations of the Soviet Union's citizens regarding life in the year 2017? In 1960, the Soviet film studio "Diafilm" presented a filmstrip titled "In the Year 2017," crafted by V. Strukova and V. Shevchenko. This cinematic creation envis…
The Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarines stand as emblematic symbols of Cold War military might, leaving an indelible mark that few submarines of their era could match. As the largest submarines ever constructed, the Typhoons played a pivotal role in …
Back in the Cold War era, much like other Americans, we used to think that all Soviet women dressed plainly and had tough lives due to their challenging circumstances. We imagined them in simple, practical clothes. But these fashion pictures tell a diff…
During the tumultuous years of the Cold War, when political tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union reached their zenith, one man found himself at the center of this ideological battle in the heart of Moscow. Martin Manhoff, an American …
In 1935, Norwegian journalist Eirik Sundvor embarked on a journey to the Soviet Union, capturing striking photographs of everyday life in Moscow during a time of rapid industrialization and urbanization. Moscow in the 1930s was a city that was undergoing si…
In the early days of the Space Race, the Soviet Union sought to establish its dominance in space exploration. One of the most significant milestones in this pursuit was the launch of Sputnik 2, which carried aboard the first living creature to orbit the Earth:…
The Siege of Leningrad was a brutal and devastating military campaign that lasted for 872 days, from September 8, 1941, to January 27, 1944, during World War II. Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, was then the second-largest city in the Soviet Union …
Yuri Gagarin, Hero of the Soviet Union, was a cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Traveling in the Vostok 1 capsule, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961. By achieving this major milestone in the Space Race he bec…
These photographs were taken in 1988 by Bruno Barbie and Carl De Keyser and show the everyday life in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. By the end of the decade, the Soviet Union was a country descending into chaos, torn apart by natural and indu…
This collection presents the most interesting advertising posters which were shown not only in the Soviet Union but also in other parts of the world. These types of advertising posters and cards were hung in offices, shops, hotels, and published in various …
These posters were published in the Soviet anti-religious magazine, Bezbozhnik (“The Godless”) from 1922 to 1941. The main purpose of the magazine was to thwart any religious beliefs that were supposedly too distracting for the working class. The magazi…
The subcultures in the Soviet Union, a country cut off from the West by the infamous Iron Curtain, were a form of open youth rebellion against ideological and cultural stagnation. Stilyagi, goths, hippies, bikers, punks, rockers, and metalheads formed c…