Former Soviet Union

Polar bears take over abandoned research station in Russian Arctic

Scientists left the research station, which is in an abandoned village, soon after the Soviet Union's collapse over three decades ago.

A polar bear reacts at the abandoned Soviet-era research station on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea, in Russia's far northeast, September 14, 2025, in this still image taken from a drone video.
A woman votes as members of a local electoral commission visit her home during Moldova's parliamentary elections in the town of Durlesti, Moldova September 28, 2025.

Moldovans vote in high-stakes parliamentary election, authorities warn of Russian interference

Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova.

In Moldova, Jewish life is fueled by descendants of those who fled - and refugees from Ukraine

Israeli-born Or Cohen stands with his Ukrainian wife, Anya, and their 3-year-old son Adam, in the backyard of their farmhouse in Novokatovsk, a Transnistrian village right on the border with Ukraine, June 2025.

Transnistria’s Jews find themselves caught in a Soviet time warp as Ukraine war rages next door


Her Jewish grandfather’s shame inspired a prize-winning novel

Sasha Vasilyuk's debut novel, “Your Presence Is Mandatory,” won the $100,000 prize for a story inspired by her father’s father, a Jewish soldier in the Red Army.

Sasha Vasilyuk’s novel, "Your Presence Is Mandatory," was inspired by the story of her grand­fa­ther, right, a Sovi­et World War II sol­dier who nev­er talked about the war.

After decades of conflict, Armenia-Azerbaijan peace plan gives Caucasus Jews new hope

Jews in both countries could benefit after countries signed documents to end 35-year-long hostilities which have defined relations between the two nations.

Armenian girls study Jewish religious texts under the direction of Rabbi Gershon Meir Burshtein in Yerevan.

Olim from former Soviet Union harmed by systemic failures despite high retention rate

Alex Reif: "It is a national waste that Israel is losing immigrants who wish to integrate due to basic failures in absorption."

 Ukrainian refugees are seen arriving in Israel as part of Operation Israeli Guarantee, on March 6, 2022.

At least 50 feared dead as Soviet-era passenger plane crashes in Russia's far east

The burning fuselage of the plane, which was from the Soviet era and was nearly 50 years old, was spotted on the ground by a helicopter, and rescue crews were rushing to the scene.

(illustrative) A Russian An-24 airplane.

'The Illegals': Soviet infiltration, observation, and subversion into the West - review

Shortly after the 1917 October Revolution, Meir Abramovich Trilisser, the forerunner of the KGB, introduced the “illegals” as a weapon into an anti-Communist West

 ELENA VAVILOVA, photographed in the 1980s, was a colonel in the KGB First Chief Directorate Foreign Intelligence Service until 2010.

Novel set in a war-torn Ukraine wins Sami Rohr prize for Jewish literature

Sasha Vasilyuk's novel is the second book by an immigrant from the former Soviet Union to win the 2025 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.

 Books (illustrative)

A memoir of courage and love: British-Israeli pioneer living on the Gaza border - review

Interviews with released hostages and families of victims illustrate how many of them were pioneers who made the Western Negev bloom.

 A barbed wire fence is seen on Zikim beach, in southern Israel near the border with Northern Gaza Strip, on April 5, 2016

The growing need for Holocaust education, as Trump's actions won't be enough - opinion

A 2020 Claims Conference survey found that 63% of US millennials and Gen Z did not know that six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

PROTESTERS CALL for the release of Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil in New York City, last month. On campuses like Columbia and in all levels of education, better Holocaust education is needed, says the writer.

Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson must allow access to information on Wallenberg case - opinion

After eight decades, the central questions in the Wallenberg case remain unanswered: What exactly happened to him after his trail broke off in Moscow in the spring of 1947?

 RAOUL WALLENBERG’S parents, Maj and Fredrik von Dardel, are pictured with Wallenberg’s brother, Guy von Dardel (left), the father of the two authors of this open letter, in a rare private moment during the 1970s.

Alleged KGB report detailing encounter between Soviet soldiers ans a UFO resurfaces

Experts refute the authenticity of a report claiming extraterrestrial beings 'petrified' 23 soldiers in Ukraine.

 Column of the Red army infantry. Reenactment of the winter defensive battles of the Red Army in WWII. Image: Maria Moskvitsova.

Wars on two fronts: Russian-speaking olim on making aliyah during wartime - opinion

I am privileged to have gotten to know hundreds of Russian-speaking olim in their 20s and 30s through my work over the past 15 years.

 NEW RUSSIAN-SPEAKING olim celebrate Independence Day in the Jerusalem Hills this past year.