Bestsellers of Moscow

Post-Soviet Russia's first bestseller lists, compiled by the weekly industry newspaper "Knizhnoe obozrenie" and published from late 1993 through 1998.

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Pro Eto. "The Sexual Lives of the Disabled"

Clip from "Pro Eto," a talk show hosted by Yelena Khanga, which brings together 1990s-era interest in sex with the increasing visibility of disabled people—and the disintegration of state institutions previously entrusted with their care.

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The Russian Booker—Scandals

A series of five articles scandalously decrying the Russian Booker, the new literary prize imported from England.

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The Triumph Prize

Launched at the same time as the Russian Booker and funded by the newly minted oligarch Boris Berezovsky (1946-2013), the Triumph Prize promised an even broader program of cultural guardianship and philanthropy.

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The Miracle of Evgeny

A Russian soldier during the first Chechen War (1994-1996), Evgeny Rodionov was captured outside of the Chechen capital, Grozny, and reportedly executed for refusing to renounce his Orthodox faith. His image has since served as the inspiration for several new icons created in the post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church.

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OMON Uniform

Although the police special forces unit known as OMON (Otriad militsii osobogo naznacheniia) was established before the fall of the Soviet Union, their now-ubiquitous light blue camouflage was only introduced in 1994, when OMON was deployed as part of the first Chechen War. OMON and its uniform have since been associated with street intimidation, market clearings, and protest-quashing, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

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