Impressive official events but also emotional marches by people carrying portraits of loved ones who served in WW2.
Three cities east of the Urals are in the top ten for a new survey of national contentment.
Thousands of years ago woolly mammoths came here to die: but why? The macabre ancient remains haunt local residents to this day.
Winter comes to summer including freak hailstorms, mega-flooding but also wild fires.
Special train - the Eurasian Star - will reopen exotic and historic trail linking China, Mogolia and Russia.
Russia's coldest region is up to 20C milder than average this month, say meteorologists.