Crimea
| Russia, Oct 2011 | |
| Novorossiysk Vladikavkaz Tskhinvali Grozny Astrakhan Volgograd Moscow |
Novorossiysk
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| Malaya Zemlya landing memorial |
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| Malaya Zemlya landing memorial |
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| Malaya Zemlya: Landing party |
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| Malaya Zemlya: Inside the memorial |
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| Lenin at Novorossiysk |
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| Leonid Brezhnev |
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| Leonid Brezhnev |
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| Soviet Cruiser Now a museum. |
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| 14 miles NE of Novorossiysk |
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| 33 miles NW of Beslan |
Vladikavkaz
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| Gimpses of the far Caucasuses |
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| Charming City Mosque |
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| Lenin in Vladikavkaz |
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| New Church |
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| Stalin Billboard "He was a Communist! Come join us!" |
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| Vladikavkaz WWII "Memorial to Glory" |
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| Catherine II grants a charter. To some rather suspicious looking Caucasians |
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| Mosaic: Off to War |
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| Stalin bust |
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| Triumphal Column |
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| Eternal Flame |
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| Beslan Memorial |
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| Beslan Memorial: closeup |
Tskhinvali
A short diversion South, through the Roki Tunnel, to Tskhinval (aka Tskhinvali) in the "Republic of South Ossetia".
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| 13 miles South of Roki Tunnel |
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| Tskhinvali Cathedral |
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| Monument to the War Victims |
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| Liakhvi River In Tskhinval |
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| War damaged buildings |
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| Parliament (?) |
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| Rebuilding |
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| Rather dilapidated Hotel Alan |
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| Central Tskhinvali |
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| Tskhinvali Bus Station |
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| Tskhinvali-Vladikavkaz bus |
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| North Tskhinvali |
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| 10 miles NW of Tskhinvali |
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| A passing Lenin head 12 miles North of Tskhinvali |
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| Into the Roki Tunnel |
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| View from Frontier Post |
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| Glimpses of the high peaks 6 miles NW of Roki Tunnel |
Grozny
Forget those old images from 2000: Grozny is now strikingly recovered from the destruction of the Second Chechnen War.
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| Central Grozny |
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| ... and new apartment blocks too |
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| Presidential Palace (?) |
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| New Mosque |
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| New Mosque After Friday prayers |
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| Central Market |
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| Ramzan Kadyrov |
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| Early morning check-out |
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| Gudermes 22 miles East of Grozny |
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| Distant Caucasus Range 20 miles East of Grozny |
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| 24 miles East of Grozny |
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| Many miles of flat scrubland 96 miles NE of Grozny |
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| 94 miles SW of Astrakhan |
Astrakhan
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| A cheerful silvery Lenin Greeting arrivals at the railway station. |
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| Kremlin: Bell Tower + Prechistinsky Gate |
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| Kremlin: Assumption Cathedral |
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| Assumption Cathedral interior |
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| Kremlin: Trinity Cathedral |
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| Kremlin Wall |
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| Corner Tower |
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| Main Astrakhan Lenin |
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| Heydar Aliyev What's he doing in Astrakhan!? |
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| The White Mosque |
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| The Red Mosque |
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| The Mighty Volga |
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| Grazing Camels 102 miles NW of Astrakhan |
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| 69 miles East of Volgograd |
Volgograd
The Hero City of Stalingrad.
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| Grand Soviet Train Station |
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| Giant Lenin in Volgograd |
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| Hero City |
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| A preserved WWII ruin. The bread factory. |
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| Across the mighty Volga |
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| Stalingrad Museum: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact An unusual historical acknowledgement. |
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| Stalingrad Museum: Stalin |
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| Obelisk + Eternal Flame |
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| Entry steps to Mamaev Kurgan complex "For our Soviet Motherland! USSR!" |
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| Memorial + Eternal Flame |
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| Today's industrial Volgograd |
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| 54 miles NW of Volgograd |
Moscow
A lazy day in Moscow, before my flight.
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| TASS Headquarters. A blast from the Soviet past! |
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| St Basil's Gorgeous as always. |
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Crimea
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