Geography
History
Pop Culture
Literature
Potpourri
100

The Red Square and Kremlin are located in this major Russian city

Moscow

100

In 1861, Tsar Alexander II issued the Edict of Emancipation which abolished this system of peasant servitude

Serfdom

100

This popular Ukrainian soup consists of red beets in a meat stock and is typically garnished with sour cream

Borscht

100

This renowned Russian author and philosopher (b. 1928) wrote epic novels such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy

100

The theme song for this famous block-stacking video game is based on the Russian folk song, Korobeiniki

Tetris

200

The terrible Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in this former Soviet republic

Ukraine

200

This Imperial Russian emperor is known for leading a cultural revolution that replaced traditional Russian systems with Westernized beliefs based on the Enlightenment 

Peter the Great

200

This Russian composer born in 1840 wrote some of the most popular classical ballets, including The Nutcracker and Swan Lake

Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky

200

This Russian novelist (b. 1821) is famous for his complex psychological portrayals of human beings in works such as Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

200

This Russian chemist is known for creating the first version of the Periodic Table of Elements

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev

300

The Peterhof Palace, commissioned by Peter the Great in response to the French Palace of Versailles, is located in this major Russian city

Saint Petersburg

300

This system of forced labor camps established during Joseph Stalin’s dictatorship incarcerated about 18 million people throughout its history in notoriously brutal conditions

Gulag

300

This Belarussian post-punk band has made waves with their 2018 album Etazhi, featuring hit song "Судно (Борис Рыжий)" ("Bedpan (Boris Ryzhy)")

Molchat Doma

300

This Russian poet (b. 1799) is considered to be the greatest Russian poet as well as the founder of modern Russian literature

Alexander Pushkin

300

The launch of this Soviet satellite marked the beginning of the Space Age in 1957, sparking the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union 

Sputnik 1

400

With the capital city of Tashkent and the Som for currency, this post-Soviet country lies in central Asia and shares a border with Afghanistan

Uzbekistan

400

The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state in December of this year, marking the end of the Cold War and allowing for the establishment of 15 independent countries

1991

400

This famous rock band was co-founded in Leningrad 1981 by singer Viktor Tsoi and released hits such as Группа крови (Blood Type) and Перемен (Change)

Kino

400

This Russian-born novelist (b. 1899) is well-known for his novels Lolita, Pale Fire, and Speak, Memory

Vladimir Nabokov

400

This supernatural character in East Slavic folklore is an old woman/witch who lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs

Baba Yaga

500

This Russian mountain range runs from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to northwestern Kazakhstan, marking the physiographic boundary between Europe and Asia

Ural Mountains

500

The Russian Revolution occurred in this year when the Bolsheviks overthrew Imperial rule in favor of a new socialist republic

1917

500

This 1975 romantic comedy pokes fun at Brezhnev-era architecture and is typically watched by Russians on New Year's Eve

Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!

500

This Russian novelist (b. 1818) is well-known for his novel Fathers and Sons as well as his short story collection, A Sportsman's Sketches

Ivan Turgenev

500

This is the world's longest railway, built in Russia 1891-1916 and runs 5,700 miles from Moscow to Vladivostok

Trans-Siberian Railway