Soviet kisses: From innocent pioneers to political heavyweights (PHOTOS)

Юрий Абрамочкин; TASS
In the USSR, the tradition of kissing (and kissing on the lips) was incredibly widespread. Here are some photos proving it.

A kiss against your will.

Sisters’ kiss posing for a photo.

A cute pioneer kiss.

A mother kisses her son goodbye before he departs for a partisan unit.

A soldier happily kisses his wife and daughter after reuniting with them after World War II.

A masculine kiss in front of Stalin.

Children’s author Samuil Marshak gives a kiss to pioneers.

Kissing an icon is also an important part of Russian Orthodox life.

A romantic goodbye kiss. You still think there was no sex in the USSR? Then click here to find out more!

A passionate wedding kiss under the egging on of “Bitter!” (“Gorko!”) from the guests. 

A discreet kiss after a civil marriage registration.

And a kiss celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary. 

Not a very enthusiastic kiss.

And a very enthusiastic kiss with a good friend.

Friends can be different.

Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s wedding kiss with Yury Gagarin happily watching.

Farewell kiss before heading off to the army.

A kiss of freedom during perestroika. 

Stalin kissing his fellow, Vyacheslav Molotov.

Everyone’s kissing. What’s going on? The cosmonauts are back on Earth.

The legendary kiss Leonid Brezhnev gave to East Germany leader, Erich Honecker.

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