A country is larger than any one narrative.
Understand Russia
After this page you will know which common claims about Russia hold up against numbers, and where to read further.
Most of what you know about Russia arrived through headlines about politics. This path goes the other way round: what a Tuesday costs, how people talk about their own country, which common claims hold up against numbers and which do not. Sources and dates are given for each. You draw the conclusions.
The path
- 01Ten claims, checkedStart with the claims you have already heard, each next to a source.
- 02The Russian mindsetWhere habits of thought come from, without generalising about people.
- 03The Slavic vibeAesthetics, music and mood as they actually circulate.
- 04Russian memes explainedHumour is the fastest way into a culture's assumptions.
- 05Why coverage splitsHow the same week reads differently in two press systems.
- 06How Russians see WesternersThe mirror image of the question you came with.
- 07See it on cameraForeign visitors and residents filming streets themselves.