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Football has had a bumpy ride in Russia and the Soviet Union. Sometimes the game got players an award, and sometimes – a prison sentence.

Since the beginning of the World Cup, football fans have gobbled up some 21,000 echpochmaks — traditional Tatarstan pastries — in Kazan alone.

Russia’s match against Spain last Sunday became one of the three most-watched sporting events of the past 20 years.

A British fan who was fined for defacing a football statue in Moscow has issued an apology to Russian fans following widespread outrage in the local footballing community.

If you’re in the city center this weekend, take a short detour to Apulia, Italy through a portal in the Hermitage Garden.

The names of Moscow’s most important landmarks might not mean what you think.

Russia’s second largest city is home to many religions, and each has left a mark on its architectural landscape.

“Nothing about their play said: ‘Hey, this team is growing towards becoming a competitive tournament team.’”

A Jewish Museum multimedia exhibit explores the life of the Soviet poet.

Meet the composer of the World Cup theme song for U.S. television network Fox Sports.

Have some fun playing pinball machines at the latest Moscow Times Clubs event this Saturday.

The Pharaohs are used to strongmen seeking to profit from their glory.

Whether you feel like a shot of whiskey or a bite of shepherd’s pie, head to one of these 10 Irish and British pubs.

Oyub Titiev has helped people again and again asking for nothing in return, and it is our duty to get him out of prison.

This Friday see a spectacular new ballet at the ZIL Cultural Center.

While America-Russia relations remain in the ditch, the Russian and American affinity may be stronger than it seems.

Need a fry fix? Craving a cupcake? We’ve got eight creative Moscow joints to transport you straight to America – gastronomically speaking.

An exhibition about student and subculture fashion trends during perestroika at the Museum of Moscow.

Lurid reports of hooligan violence are not the only reason Russia has an image problem.

Learn how to eat and drink the Russian way (hint: without getting totally drunk) at the Russian Pub this Wednesday.

The most private and mysterious of St. Petersburg’s former imperial residences, the playful and unusual estate now hosts a series of summer festivals.

Opposition forces are competing for the spotlight.

Meet a Russian artist who goes to work dressed up – in a fire-retardant robe, helmet and visor.

Populists, nationalists and separatists used to receive a warm welcome in Moscow.

A new documentary about Anatoly Sobchak shines light on the past and the present that might have been.

You can still see them if you look closely, but officials have tried to hide them from view.

It’s a summer Saturday afternoon in Moscow – and the city is empty. Where did everyone go? Where you should be – at the dacha!

Head over to Gostiny Dvor for some real Mexican fun.

Head over to Red Square right now for some real Mexican fun.

12 bars and clubs to check out while you’re in Moscow.

Old faves, new waves, a dress rehearsal for a new museum and much, much more in Russian, English and the language of art on the last weekend of June in Moscow.

“I was hustled into a detention center underneath the stadium.”

What was the very first World Cup championship like? Find out at the Multi-Media Museum.

Tamara Pletnyova’s comments highlight Russia’s systematic problem with sexism.

Once an abandoned Soviet building transformed, Garage celebrates its tenth anniversary this year as the hub of Russia’s contemporary art scene.

Explore Russia’s Jewish legacy in Moscow.

The country’s national team, like its Politics, is proving to be unpredictable.

Geopolitics takes a backseat as Russia and Saudi Arabia push to increase oil production.

Russia gains from a United States weakened by Trump’s disruptive rhetoric.

On match days, host cities are restricting sales of alcohol.

Do not believe Russian phrasebooks. They lie. Believe me instead.

It is victory at any cost, because victory has political significance.

A ruble for every kopeck?

What do Russians do at the dacha all weekend? They make a feast. Here’s a primer on shashlyk, aka kabobs, Russian style.

Thousands of foreign football fans are making long-distance journeys across Russia this month.

The first major exhibition of Soviet non-conformist art in Europe opened in Florence, Italy.

Over the past decade, Muscovites’ perceptions of graffiti have changed

Travel guides offer imaginative packages and fresh ways to see Russia

Russia is determined to use the World Cup to polish its tarnished international image.

The Moscow Times Club toured the Bakhrushin Theater Museum, where everyone was awed by the exhibits and the extraordinary building that houses them.

Works by the enigmatic street artist Bansky are on display at the Central House of Artists.

Russia has ramped up security measures for the World Cup, but the costs involved may be unsustainable.

The tournament’s host almost certainly will be eliminated

This year the Pushkin House Prize was awarded to books that are witnesses to Russian history, past and present.

Butterflies, roses, mouse-traps… say what? In honor of the World Cup, I unlock some of the mysteries of Russian football fan slang.

Russia today is at its most repressive since the Soviet era.

Why Russia is safe for World Cup fans — and why the West thinks it isn’t.

Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Summer” (“Leto”) is more than a biopic about Victor Tsoi and the Leningrad rock scene.

The World Cup is another chance for Putin to shore up ties with regimes in the Middle East at the West’s expense.

A lot has changed for Russia since it bid to host the World Cup.