Military & Defense
The Great Patriotic War, the Cold War and the defence industry.
The Soviet-Afghan War: nine years that broke the USSR's back
A decision made by a narrow circle of Politburo old men, a palace stormed in 43 minutes — and nine years of a war the country waged without calling it a war. The story of the "bleeding wound" that hastened the Union's end.
The Cuban Missile Crisis: thirteen days on the edge of nuclear war
In October 1962, Soviet missiles in Cuba brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. Thirteen days, a secret deal, and a man aboard a submarine who may have saved the planet.
The Berlin Wall: 28 years of the Cold War's greatest symbol
In a single August night in 1961, a city was cut in half. Twenty-eight years, at least 140 dead, over 5,000 successful escapes — and one botched press conference that brought it all down in an evening.
The Suez Crisis of 1956: causes, the war, and the Soviet role
In 1956 Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt over the Suez Canal — and won the fighting, but were forced to retreat under pressure from the United States and the USSR. How it changed the world.
The Warsaw Pact: the alliance that fought only its own members
Moscow's answer to NATO: eight countries, a unified command and 36 years of standoff. The bloc's paradox is that in its entire history its armies fought together only once — against one of its own members.
The AK-47: the most mass-produced weapon in history
The son of dispossessed peasants conceived it on a hospital bed, and the world replicated it a hundred million times. The story of the AK-47 — from a secret design contest to the flag of Mozambique and its creator's letter to the Patriarch.
The Cold War: half a century of superpower confrontation
For almost half a century the US and the USSR teetered on the edge of war without ever fighting each other directly. The arms race, space, the Berlin Wall, proxy wars and nuclear fear — a full account of the Cold War.
The Battle of Kursk: the largest tank battle in history
Six thousand tanks, two million men, four thousand aircraft. Germany's last great offensive in the East — one the Red Army knew by heart before it began, and met with three hundred kilometers of defenses.
The Battle of Stalingrad: 200 days that turned the war
The largest and bloodiest urban battle in history: fighting for every house, the encirclement of an entire army, and nearly two million human fates. How a city on the Volga turned the tide of the Second World War.
The Siege of Leningrad: 872 days of a city under blockade
The deadliest siege in human history: 125 grams of bread a day, the Road of Life across frozen Lake Ladoga, Tanya Savicheva's diary — and a city that never surrendered.
The Great Patriotic War: the 1,418 days that changed the world
The bloodiest war in human history: from the catastrophe of June 22, 1941, through Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk — to Berlin. The people's feat and the price of victory, told honestly.
The T-34 tank: a legend of the Great Patriotic War
The T-34 is a symbol of victory and one of the most influential tanks in history. What made it good, where it fell short of German machines, and why its mass production decided everything.