Curated playlist
Russian people of Ukrainian descent
- Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Gorbachev refused to declare a state of emergency during the August 1991 coup.
- Leonid BrezhnevIn a 2013 Levada Center poll, Russians named Leonid Brezhnev their favorite 20th-century leader.
- Konstantin ChernenkoSoviet leader Konstantin Chernenko's obituary ran on page two. Page one celebrated his successor, Gorbachev.
- Aleksandr SolzhenitsynAleksandr Solzhenitsyn watched Moscow's victory fireworks from a prison cell. He was a decorated Red Army captain.
- Vladimir MayakovskyPoet Vladimir Mayakovsky once threw tea at his audiences. He later wrote propaganda posters for the Communist Party.
- Alexei NavalnyAlexei Navalny was screaming on a plane because he knew he was dying. He was poisoned with Novichok in 2020.
- Dmitry MedvedevIn March 2023, Dmitry Medvedev posted that a missile could hit The Hague courthouse.
- Sergei KorolevSergei Korolev stepped out of a black ZIS 110 limousine with his coat collar turned up and his hat brim pulled low. The cosmonaut Alexei Leonov watched from a window and could not make out the visitor's face. He saw only a man a little…
- Leonid AndreyevLeonid Andreyev sold a quarter-million copies of his first book in 1901. The Russian writer died poor in Finland at 48.
- Ukrainians in RussiaThe first Ukrainians to move to Russia after a 1654 treaty were scholars, priests and artists.
- Oleg SalenkoOleg Salenko scored five goals in one World Cup match, at Stanford Stadium in the United States on the 28th of June 1994. No player before him had done it in the finals. Russia beat Cameroon 6-1 that day. Yet Salenko played only three…
- Leonid GaidaiLeonid Gaidai finished school two days before the Great Patriotic War began.
- Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher)Philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, a famous historian's son, died homeless and poor. He sought to reunite divided faiths.