Since the early 1990s, social and demographic changes in the Russian Federation, stemming from under the Soviet Union, led the country towards an aging population, often described in media as a "demographic crisis".
Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, tens of millions of people suffered political repression, which was an instrument of the state since the October Revolution. It culminated during the Stalin era, then declined, but it continued to exist during the "Khrushchev Thaw", followed by increased persecution of Soviet dissidents during the Brezhnev era, and it did not cease to exist until late in Mikhail Gorbachev's rule when it was ended in keeping with his policies of glasnost and perestroika.
The Catacomb Church as a collective name labels those representatives of the Russian Orthodox clergy, laity, communities, monasteries, brotherhoods, etc., who for various reasons, moved to an illegal position from the 1920s onwards. In a narrow sense, the term "catacomb church" means not just illegal communities, but communities that rejected subordination to the acting patriarchal locum tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) after 1927, and that adopted anti-Soviet positions. During the Cold War of 1947-1991 the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia popularized the term in the latter sense, first within the Russian diaspora, and then in the USSR. The expression "True Orthodox church" is synonymous with this latter, narrower sense of "catacomb church".
Alexander Leonidovich Dvorkin is a Russian anti-cult activist. From 1999 to 2012 he was professor and head of the department of the study of new religious movements (cults) at Saint Tikhon's Orthodox University. He is currently professor of department of missiology at that university.
Oleg Nikolayevich Trubachyov was a Russian linguist. A researcher of the etymology of Slavic languages and Slavic onomastics, he was considered a specialist in historical linguistics and lexicography. He was a Doctor of Sciences in Philological Sciences, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and served as the editor-in-chief of the Etimologiya yearbook. His works are on the etymology of Slavic languages and on East Slavic onomastics.
Nikita Vasilyevich Petrov is a Russian historian. He works at Memorial, a Russian organization dedicated to studying Soviet political repression. Petrov specializes in Soviet security services.
Metropolitan Nikodim, was the Russian Orthodox metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod from 1963 until his death.
Wrangel's fleet was the last remnant of the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy and existed from 1920 until 1924. This squadron was a White (anti-Bolshevik) unit during the Russian Civil War. It was known also as the Russian Squadron.
Freemasonry in Russia started in the 18th century and has continued to the present day. Russian Freemasonry pursue humanistic and educational purposes, but more attention is given to ethical issues. It was a spiritual community of people united in an effort to contribute to the prosperity of the Motherland and the enlightenment of the people living in it.
Konstantin Antonovich Petrzhak, D.Sc., was a Russian physicist of Polish origin, and a professor of physics at the Saint Petersburg State University.
Natalya Yevgenevna Semper was a translator, Egyptologist, artist and memoirist.
Yuriy Ivanovich Semenov was a Soviet and Russian historian, philosopher, ethnologist, anthropologist, expert on the history of philosophy, history of primitive society, and the theory of knowledge. He was also the original creator of the globally-formation (relay-stadial) concept of world history and is a Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Historical Sciences (1963), and Professor. He was Distinguished Professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Semyon Petrovich Uritsky was a Soviet general. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks. He was promoted to the rank of Komkor on November 11, 1935. He was a recipient of the Order of the Red Banner. He was head of the Soviet military intelligence from April 1935 to July 1937. During the Great Purge, he was arrested on November 1, 1937 and later executed at Kommunarka. He was rehabilitated in 1956. He was a nephew of Moisei Uritsky.
Max Taitz was a Soviet scientist, engineer, and one of the founders of Gromov Flight Research Institute (1941). He was a doctor of engineering, a professor, and a recipient of the Stalin Prize, and the honorary title of Honoured Scientist of the RSFSR (1961).
Elena Victorovna Zhosul is a Russian journalist, television presenter, political scientist and media expert.
The Center for Religious Studies in the name of Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons is a Russian non-profit nongovernmental anti-sectarian organization engaged in research and information and consulting work on the activities of new religious movements and sects of a destructive and totalitarian nature. The Center was established in 1993 with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and has been headed by Alexander Dvorkin since its founding. The Center is the nucleus of the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects (RACIRS).
Lev (Leo) Platonovich Karsavin was a Russian religious philosopher, historian-medievalist, and poet.
Yury Aleksandrovich Gorkov was a Soviet and Russian military leader, historian and colonel general. He was a student of professor Viktor Anfilov.
Yefrem Yosypovych Mukhin was a Russian physician, surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, hygienist of Ukrainian origin. One of the founders of the anatomical and physiological direction in Russian medicine. He is considered the founder of traumatology in Russia and Ukraine. Honourary Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Imperial Moscow University, Active State Councillor.
The First Snow is a painting by Russian Soviet artist Arkady Plastov. It was created in 1946 in the village of Prislonikha, Karsunsky District, Ulyanovsk Region. The canvas is part of the permanent exhibition and collection of the Tver Regional Art Gallery.
