Russian Studies Story Briefs

For about 70 years of its long history, Russia was part of the Soviet Union. Explore before-and-after stories about the country and its people, writers, artists, culture, rulers and worldwide influence.

Operation Uranus proved to be a brilliant rescue plan for the city of Stalingrad. It led to the defeat of Hitler's forces in the Russian city.

This image depicts members of the Uralsoveta (Ural Soviet) who were in power when the Romanov family was murdered.

In 1991, the first of two graves containing the suspected remains of Tsar Nicholas II and members of his family and household were officially opened f...

On the 17th of July, 1998, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, three of his children and four of the family's helpers were buried eighty years after they were...

Depicted in the film, Bitter Harvest, Ukraine (and its people) suffered a disastrous famine when government policies impacted food production and dist...

For eight years, Rudolf Abel (Willy Fisher) lives in Brooklyn while serving as a Soviet spy. After he is betrayed by a fellow Soviet spy, Abel is arre...

Rudolf Abel, who was born in England and called Willy Fisher, illegally entered the United States in 1948. Thereafter, he would add to his long list o...

Rudolf Abel left the States for a trip to Moscow during 1955. Not only did the trip give him a chance to rest, he was with his wife and daughter.

After he was exchanged in a spy swap with Francis Gary Powers, Rudolf Abel returned to Russia. He lived there until his death in 1971.

Rudolf Abel, whose real name was William Fisher, under arrest for espionage, is transferred by plane to/from Texas where he is questioned at the Deten...

Rudolf Abel was a Soviet spy, living in America for eight years, before an informer (his own assistant) blew Abel's cover when the informer defected i...

Rudolf Abel lived in a studio apartment at 252 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, New York. This image depicts an interior view of his home. Several of Abel�...

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