Prince Feliks Yusupov entered history as the man who killed “the tsar’s monk”, Grigory Rasputin, but Hollywood still remembers him for a different reason - for almost bankrupting a major studio!

The fall of the Rurik dynasty of Russian tsardom shocked the nation, as it was Ruriks who founded the Russian state. The death of the only crown prince Tsarevich Dmitry resulted in the Time of Troubles, anarchy and Polish intervention into Russia. Here are the last treasures that belonged to the Rurik princes and tsars.

Pyotr Sokolov played for the Russian Empire national football team at the 1912 Olympic Games and planned to pursue a career in sport. But the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power forced the footballer to reconsider his views. As a result, he devoted his life entirely to fighting the hated regime.

Size matters when it comes to monuments. To prove that point, we’ve selected some of the capital’s most epic masterpieces of architecture that reach the sky and reflect the rich Russian history, culture and heritage.

Far from being suicide squads, it was quite possible to return from Red Army penal units with hero status.