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Gallery Package - Novosti Press Agency 1961-1990
Photo Archive 1900-1940 | Sovinformbureau 1941-1960 | RIA Novosti 1991-2007

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The construction of the Golovnaya Hydro-Electric Power Station in Tajikistan in 1963<br>© Steshanov / RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Gennady Shcherbakov<br>Baikonur Space center launching pad, 1960s.<br>Baikonur, formerly known as Leninsk, is a city in Qyzylorda Province of Kazakhstan rented and administered by Russia. It was constructed to service the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was officially renamed Baikonur by Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995.  The original Baikonur is a mining town a few hundred kilometres northeast, near Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan's Qaraghandy Province. The launch site was given this name to cause confusion and keep the location secret. The name Baikonur is Kazakh for &quotwealthy brown", i.e. &quotfertile land with many herbs". The railway station there, however, predates the base, and keeps the old name.  The fortunes of the city have varied according to those of the Soviet/Russian space program and its Baikonur Cosmodrome.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Igor Kostin<br>May the Cannons Be Silent! 1961<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

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Pavel Barashev<br>Yuri Gagarin, the world's first astronaut, 1963.<br>Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (March 9, 1934 - March 27, 1968), Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first human in space and the first human to orbit the Earth.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044573

Max Alpert<br>Van Cliburn, winner of the First Peter Tchaikovsky International Music Competition, Moscow, 1962.<br>Harvey Lavan Cliburn Jr. (known as Van Cliburn) (born July 12, 1934) is an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958 when, at the age of 23, he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War.  But it was his recognition in Moscow which propelled him to international fame.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044329

Alexander Rostovtsev<br>Oleg Popov, Known as the Sunny Clown, 1962.<br>Oleg Konstantinovich Popov is an extremely famous Russian clown and circus artist. Popov is also called the &quotSun of the clowns".  He was born on July 31, 1930 in Moscow as the son of a clock-maker. He has studied elements of acrobatia, juggling and other circus skills in his youth. In 1949 he finished the Russian circus school in Moscow and started his career in the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. Six years later, he became the first clown from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to perform in the Western world. In 1969 he was honored with the title of the &quotPeople's Artist of the USSR". He lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044565

Yevgeny Tikhanov<br>Ballerina Maya Plisetskaya rehearsing, 1963.<br>Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya ( born November 20, 1925) is a Russian ballet dancer, frequently cited as the greatest ballerina of modern times.  She was born in Moscow into a prominent family of Jewish artists. She went to school in Spitzbergen, where her father worked as an engineer. In 1938, he was executed during the Stalinist purges, while her mother, a silent-film actress, was deported to Kazakhstan. Thereupon Maya was adopted by her maternal aunt, the ballerina Sulamith Messerer.  Maya studied under the great ballerina of imperial school, Elizaveta Gerdt. She first performed at the Bolshoi Theatre when she had just turned 11 years of age. In 1943, she graduated from the choreographic school and joined the Bolshoi Ballet, where she would perform until 1990.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044568

Dmitry Donskoi<br>An Evening Pantomime: Leonid Yengibarov, 1964.<br>Leonid Georgievich Yengibarov ( March 15, 1935 - July 25, 1972) was a Soviet clown and actor.  Born in Moscow to an Armenian father and a Russian mother, he started his career as a boxer. In 1955 he joined the State School of Circus Art, Clownship department. After graduation in 1959 he moved to Yerevan and joined the Armenian state circus.  He was one of the first Soviet clowns to create the poetic, intellectual clownery, which made spectators think, not only laugh. After initial incomprehension, his popularity grew immensely. After that he was invited to work in cinema. His first film, A Path to the Arena, was in fact about himself.  By the end of 1960s he was known as one of the best clowns in the country and in the countries of the Eastern bloc, where he was permitted to travel. His circus career came to a halt in 1971: he left the State Circus when his partner was banned from international touring. He created a Pantomime Theatre instead. However officially he was forbidden to call his company &quottheatre", only allowed to use the term &quottroupe". He managed to stage only a single piece, &quotStar Rain" before his untimely death.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br><br>

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Vasily Malyshev<br>A Scenic Sketch, 1965.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044563

Marius Baranauskas<br>Eyes left! 1965<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044564

Yan Tikonov<br>School Break, 1964<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Mikhail Ozersky<br>The Memories of Summer are Still Fresh<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044554

Oleg Neyolov<br>Business of Vital Importance, 1961<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Isaac Tunkel<br>In the virgin lands, Altai Territory, 1955<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Isaac Tunkel<br>In the virgin lands, Altai Territory, 1955<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

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Yury Abramochkin<br>In the virgin lands, Kazakhstan, 1960<br>The wild ancestor of Malus domestica is Malus sieversii. It has no common name in English, but is known in Kazakhstan, where it is native, as 'alma'; in fact, the region where it is thought to originate is called Alma-Ata, or 'father of the apples'. This tree is still found wild in the mountains of Central Asia in southern Kazakhstan.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044548

Dmitri Donskoi<br>An old cab in Yerevan, 1968.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Valery Shustov<br>An abandoned church on the Volga, 1964<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044307

Eduard Vilchinsky<br>Leopard hunting, 1966.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044542

Gennady Bibik<br>Border guards<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044552

Viktor Chernov<br>The Tashkent earthquake, April 26, 1966.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044551

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Mother's Lot, Vietnam, 1969.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044536

Valery Shustov<br>The Nile is dammed!<br>On the Aswan dam construction site, Egypt, 1964.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044545

Valery Shustov<br>The Prague Spring: Czechoslovakia in 1968.<br>The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia starting January 5, 1968 when Alexander Dubcek came to power, and running until August 21 of that year when the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies (except for Romania) invaded the country.<br>The term Prague Spring was coined by Western media after the event became known worldwide, and was eventually adopted in Czechoslovakia itself. It made reference to the Springtime of Peoples, a lyrical title given to the Revolutions of 1848.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044537

Dmitry Sholomovich<br>Ernesto Che Guevara at a Soviet Cuban friendship rally at the Hall of Columns of the House of Trade Unions, Moscow, 1960.<br>Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14, 1928 - October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara or El Che, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. As a young man studying medicine, Guevara travelled rough throughout Latin America, bringing him into direct contact with the impoverished conditions in which many people lived. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to the conclusion that the region's socioeconomic inequalities could only be remedied by revolution, prompting him to intensify his study of Marxism and travel to Guatemala to learn about the reforms being implemented there by President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.  Some time later, Guevara joined Fidel Castro's revolutionary 26th of July Movement, which seized power in Cuba in 1959. After serving in various important posts in the new government and writing a number of articles and books on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 with the intention of fomenting revolutions first in Congo-Kinshasa, and then in Bolivia, where he was captured in a CIA/U.S. Army Special Forces-organized military operation. Guevara was summarily executed by the Bolivian Army in La Higuera near Vallegrande on October 9, 1967.  After his death, Guevara became an icon of socialist revolutionary movements worldwide.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044543

Vsevolod Taresevich<br>The Duel, 1962<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044525

Valentin Kauhanov<br>Nuclear Reactor Assembly, 1967.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044524

Vsevolod Tarasevich<br>The End of the White Silence<br>Nenets National Area, 1965<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044544

Yury Soov<br>The Vacation Season, Animal-tamer Stepan Isaakyan with Toshka the hippo, 1967.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044541

Gennady Shcherbakov<br>Three is company, 1969<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044325

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>The oldest man in Afghanistan, 1978.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044527

Vasily Malyshev<br>A street scene in Morocco, 1969<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044529

Yury Abramochkin<br>A bandura ensemble, 1969.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044532

Max Alpert<br>She lives in the Pamir, Tajikistan.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044533

Nikolai Maksimov<br>Konakovo power plant construction, 1964<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044522

Alexei Fedorov<br>One delivery to an iron and steel works in Ukraine, 1961.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044518

Vyacheslav Kruglikov<br>A Team Leader, Brotsk power plant, 1961.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044520

Gennady Shcherbakov<br>The toilers of the sea, 1967.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044521

Georgy Zelma<br>The Unforgettable, 1968<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044517

Dmitry Donskoi<br>Assembly works at the Razdan thermal power plant, Armenia, 1970.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044324

Lev Polikashin<br>Planes on the landing strip, 1970.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044509

Vladimir Perventsev<br>Fighter pilots, 1970.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044512

Boris Kavashkin<br>Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory radio telescope aerials, Armenia, 1970.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044511

Vladimir Saak<br>Astrakhan gas processing, industrial complex, 1975.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044539

Dmitry Donskoi<br>The Ice Hockey Whirlwind, 1976.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044528

Dmitry Donskoi<br>The Record's Broken, 1978.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044531

Yury Abramochkin<br>The Russian Troika, 1976.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044502

Igor Utkin<br>U.S.S.R. U.S.A. boxing match, 1974.<br>Soviet heavyweight Pyotr Zayev attacking Emory Chapman.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044514

Dmitri Donskoi<br>Lyudmila Turishcheva performing the balance beam exercise, 1970.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044513

V. Kravchenko<br>Mireille Mattieu in Moscow, 1976.<br>Mireille Mathieu (born July 22, 1946) is a French singer, who besides being very successful in her own country, became a star of international stature, recording in several languages.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044322

Aleksander Makarov<br>Pop singer Alla Pugacheva, 1976<br>Alla Borisovna Pugachyova (pronounced &quotPougachiova" and commonly anglicized as Pugacheva), born April 15, 1949 in Moscow, Russia, is perhaps the best known musical performer in Russia, her career having started in 1965 and continuing to this day.  Although hugely popular in Russia and other former Soviet republics among older generations, she is also widely disliked by many, not least for the amount of airtime given to her by the Federal channels and the continual gossip about her life in popular tabloids.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044500

Oleg Makarov<br>Pianist Svyatoslav Richter, 1978<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044499

Max Alpert<br>Academician Nikolai Amosov, renowned heart surgeon, 1973.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044498

Eduard Pesov<br>Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee, 1973.<br>Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev January 1 [O.S. December 19, 1906] 1907 - November 10, 1982) was the effective ruler of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, at first in partnership with others. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, and was twice Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state), from 1960 to 1964 and from 1977 to 1982.<br>Leonard Brechnev.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044526

Valery Shustov<br>To See Lenin, 1970.<br>Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by the alias Lenin (April 22, 1870 - January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, a communist politician, the main leader of the October Revolution, the first head of the Soviet Union, and the primary theorist of Leninism, a variant of Marxism.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044491

Baoris Prikhodko<br>Missile units in a May Day parade in Moscow, 1970.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044490

Baoris Prikhodko<br>Strategic missiles ready for a parade in Moscow, 7 November 1970.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044493

Valery Shustov<br>(Scenes from) An oil and gas fountain on fire in a Caspian oilfield.<br>From the Tamers of Fire series, Golden Eye award, World Press Photo 1979.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044506

Valery Shustov<br>(Scenes from) An oil and gas fountain on fire in a Caspian oilfield.<br>From the Tamers of Fire series, Golden Eye award, World Press Photo 1979.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044516

Valery Shustov<br>(Scenes from) An oil and gas fountain on fire in a Caspian oilfield.<br>From the Tamers of Fire series, Golden Eye award, World Press Photo 1979.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044507

Valery Shustov<br>(Scenes from) An oil and gas fountain on fire in a Caspian oilfield.<br>From the Tamers of Fire series, Golden Eye award, World Press Photo 1979.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044508

Valery Shustov<br>Learn to Swim before You Learn to Walk!  1979<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044495

Vsevolod Tarasevich<br>The Tea Party, 1970<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044494

Mikhail Kukhtarev<br>Fishing, 1977<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044497

Valery Shustov<br>The Future Lords, U.K., 1970.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044489

Boris Kaufman<br>10 Downing Street, London,<br>The British prime ministers' official residence, 1976.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044488

Vyacheslav Bobkov<br>The Heart of a Bird, 1976,<br>Gold medal, World Press Photo 1977.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044486

Vyacheslav Bobkov<br>Raven Fledglings, 1976<br>Zeiss-praktica award, 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044310

Titov<br>Guillemots in Tyulenly Island, 1974.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044484

Alexander Makarov<br>Nadezhda Pavlova, Bolshoi Ballet prima, 1975.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044482

Yury Abramochkin<br>A Moscow School Yard, 1972<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044487

A young glider pilot boy 1978<br>by Vladimir Vyatkin<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044304

Vyacheslav Bobkov<br>Elk Farm 1979

1044470

Vitaly Karpov<br>No Needs for Words 1979<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044469

Nina Sviridova and Dmitry Vozdvizhensky<br>Friends 1978<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044471

Valery Shustov<br>Roadworks in India<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044474

George Zelma<br>A Nigerian sketch, 1975.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044475

Georgy Zelma<br>Man in turban with sword<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044476

A Lobov<br>A family moving to a new flat 1975<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044472

Georgy Zelma<br>Nigerian women with shopping on head<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044473

Valery Shustov<br>Mountain Climber, 1977<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044467

Vsevolod Tarasevich<br>After School, 1972<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044463

Fred Grinberg<br>A Young Vertelishki village resident, 1974.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044464

Valery Shustov<br>The Black Cat, 1971<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044465

Dmitri Donskoi<br>Basketball Match, 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044504

Sergei Kivbrin<br>Sharp Turn, 1984<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044505

Moscow Olympic Games. The central stadium of Luzhniki, 1980. The 3,000-metre hurdle-race (steeplechase).<br>Credit: Sergei Guneyev / RIA Novosti / TopFoto

0064668

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Swimming contest, 1984<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044459

Vitaly Arutyunov<br>Ethiopia's Mirus Ifter, 10,000 meter race winner, 22nd Olympics, Moscow, 1980.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044460

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Windgliding world championships, Tallinn, 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044462

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>The Referee, 1989<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044456

Dmitry Donskoi<br>Finals, 1981<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044455

Dmitri Donskoi<br>False start., 1980<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044461

Dmitri Donskoi<br>Chess Grand Master<br>Mikhail Tal, 1982<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044457

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Ballet Behind the Scenes series, 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044448

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Ballet Behind the Scenes series<br>Honor certificate, World Press Photo, 1985.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044451

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Ballet Behind the Scenes series, 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044453

Boris Ushmaikin<br>Composer Alexei Rybnikov, 1983.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044443

Igor Utki <br>Gymnasts, 1983<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044444

Vladimir Rodionov<br>ABC lessons in Kabul, Afghanistan, 1983<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044434

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>The Bodyguard, Afghanistan, 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044435

Yury Somov<br>Soviet soldiers coming home from Afghanistan, 1986.<br>Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced that six regiments would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of the year. The withdrawal of troops began on October 15. Gorbachev's offer, made from Siberia, was part of a much wider Soviet initiative in Asia. The withdrawal brought sharp reactions: the U.S. dismissed it as &quotinadequate" and suggested it was no more than a normal rotation of troops; Afghan resistance groups rejected it as a &quotbluff," while Pakistan saw it as a small but positive move. Strategic analysts said the withdrawal had no military significance since three of the six units were air-defense regiments and the Afghan resistance had no air capability. The regiments constituted only a little over 6% of an estimated 120,000 Soviet troops in Afghanistan. <br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044438

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Public demonstration on the April Revolution 2nd anniversary, Kabul, Afghanistan, 1980.<br>The April Revolution, sometimes called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, was a popular uprising in April 1960, led by labour and student groups, which overthrew the autocratic First Republic of South Korea under Syngman Rhee. It led to the peaceful resignation of Rhee and the transition to the Second Republic. The events were touched off by the discovery of a body in Masan Harbour, that of a student killed by a tear-gas shell in demonstrations against the elections of March.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044436

Alexander Lyskin<br>Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044481

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>The Sandinista child, Nicaragua, 1986.<br>The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a Nicaraguan political party founded on the broad communist principles of the popular front. It led a revolution that in 1979 overthrew the Somoza political dynasty. Following their seizure of power, the Sandinistas ruled Nicaragua for roughly 12 years from 1979 to 1990, during which time they established democratic elections and a national constitution, among other sweeping reforms.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044477

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Mesquito Indian children, Nicaragua, 1986

1044478

Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Red Square, Moscow, 7 November 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044454

Yuri Abramochkin<br>Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee, 1989<br>Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov, commonly written as Mikhail Gorbachev; born March 2, 1931) was the last leader of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991. His attempts at reform helped to end the Cold War, and also ended the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and dissolved the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044445

Vladimir Rodionov<br>Fidel Castro, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party Central Committee, 1989.<br>Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba. On July 31, 2006, Castro, after undergoing intestinal surgery for diverticulitis, transferred his responsibilities to the First Vice-President, his younger brother Raúl.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044446

Yuri Abramochkin<br>George Bush<br>U.S. Vice President in 1988<br>George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) was the 41st President of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993. Prior to his presidency, Bush was the 43rd Vice President of the United States under President Ronald Reagan. <br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044450

Igor Kostin<br>The Chernobyl Tragedy series, 1986.<br>Golden Eye award, World Press Photo 1987<br>Chernobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in the Kiev Oblast (province) near the border with Belarus. The city was abandoned in 1986 due to the Chernobyl disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which is located 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) north-northwest. The power plant had been named after the city, and was located in Chernobyl Raion (district), but the city and the plant were not directly connected.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044430

Igor Kostin<br>The Chernobyl Tragedy series, 1968.<br>Golden Eye Award<br>World Press Photo 1987<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044447

Igor Kostin<br>The Chernobyl Tragedy series, 1986.<br>Golden Eye award, World Press Photo 1987<br>Chernobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in the Kiev Oblast (province) near the border with Belarus. The city was abandoned in 1986 due to the Chernobyl disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which is located 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) north-northwest. The power plant had been named after the city, and was located in Chernobyl Raion (district), but the city and the plant were not directly connected.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044431

Alexander Makarov<br>The Spitak Tragedy, Earthquake in Armenia, 1988.  Gold medal.  INTERPRESSPHOTO 1989.<br>Spitak is a city in northern Armenia located in the Lori region with a population of 21,700. It was mostly destroyed by the devastating Spitak Earthquake in 1988.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044440

Alexander Makarov<br>The Spitak Tragedy, Earthquake in Armenia, 1988. <br>Spitak is a city in northern Armenia located in the Lori region with a population of 21,700. It was mostly destroyed by the devastating Spitak Earthquake in 1988.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

1044441

Oleg Makarov<br>Vespers, matins and liturgy at St. Vladimir's Cathedral for 1000 years of Christianity in Russia, Kiev, 1988.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044412

Stanislav Korytnikov<br>An Akhal-Tekin Horse, 1988<br>The Akhal Tekin oasis has long been famous for breeding horses. Experts say that nowhere in the world has man's efforts succeeded in breeding such a beautiful, tireless, intelligent and noble animal as the Akhal Tekin horse. This breed was developed over more than three thousand years and influenced the development of horse breeding throughout the world. This ancient breed served as a genetic fund for other breeds.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044427

Vitaly Arutyunov<br>The Mamayev Hill series, First prize, World Press Photo 1987.<br>The 52-meter-tall monument &quotThe Motherland Calls" - the tallest statue in the world when erected in 1967.<br>Mamayev Kurgan is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volograd (formerly Stalingrad) in southern Russia.  The name in Russian means tumulus of Mamai.  Today, Mamayev Kurgan features a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044421

Vitaly Arutyunov<br>The Mamayev Hill series, First prize, World Press Photo 1987.<br>The 52-meter-tall monument &quotThe Motherland Calls" - the tallest statue in the world when erected in 1967.<br>Mamayev Kurgan is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volograd (formerly Stalingrad) in southern Russia.  The name in Russian means tumulus of Mamai.  Today, Mamayev Kurgan features a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044422

Vitaly Arutyunov<br>The Mamayev Hill series, First prize, World Press Photo 1987.<br>The 52-meter-tall monument &quotThe Motherland Calls" - the tallest statue in the world when erected in 1967.<br>Mamayev Kurgan is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volograd (formerly Stalingrad) in southern Russia.  The name in Russian means tumulus of Mamai.  Today, Mamayev Kurgan features a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044423

Vitaly Arutyunov<br>The Mamayev Hill series, First prize, World Press Photo 1987.<br>The 52-meter-tall monument &quotThe Motherland Calls" - the tallest statue in the world when erected in 1967.<br>Mamayev Kurgan is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volograd (formerly Stalingrad) in southern Russia.  The name in Russian means tumulus of Mamai.  Today, Mamayev Kurgan features a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044424

Vitaly Arutyunov<br>The Mamayev Hill series, First prize, World Press Photo 1987.<br>The 52-meter-tall monument &quotThe Motherland Calls" - the tallest statue in the world when erected in 1967.<br>Mamayev Kurgan is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volograd (formerly Stalingrad) in southern Russia.  The name in Russian means tumulus of Mamai.  Today, Mamayev Kurgan features a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

1044698

Vladimir Christyakov<br>Flight preparations, Antarctica, 1989.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Marina Yurchenko<br>The Peleng stallion, pride of the Tersky stud farm, Stavropol Territory, 1986.<br>The Tersk was first developed in the 1920s and 1940s at the Tersk and Stavropol Studs in the Northern Caucasus mountains in Russia. Marshal S. M. Budyonny (who the Budyonny breed is named after) had great input on the breed.<br>The Tersk was formed mainly from the Strelets Arabians, bred at the Strelets stud in Ukraine and virtually extinct by the 1920s. <br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Yuri Kave<br>In a Tent, Yamato-Nenets, Autonomous Area, 1989.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Yury Kaver<br>Together Forever, 1987<br>UNESCO award, 1990<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

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Valery Shustov<br>The Hermitage Museum atlantes, St. Petersburg, 1980.<br>The State Hermitage Museum (Russian: Gosudarstvenniy Ermitaz) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of the largest, oldest, most important and famous art galleries and museums of human history and culture in the world. The vast Hermitage collections are displayed in six buildings, the main one being the Winter Palace which used to be the official residence of the Russian Tsars.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Nikolai Bolotin<br>In the Summer Garden, St. Petersburg, 1980.<br>The Summer Garden (Russian: Letniy Sad) occupies an island between the Fontanka, Moika, and the Swan Canal in Saint Petersburg and shares its name with the adjacent Summer Palace of Peter the Great.<br>The park, first conceived by Peter in 1704, was laid out by foreign garden planners between 1712 and 1725 in a Dutch Baroque style. Three years later, the walks were lined with a hundred allegorical marble sculptures, executed by Pietro Baratta, Marino Gropelli, Alvise Tagliapietra, and other Venetian sculptors. In the late 20th century, 90 surviving statues were moved indoors, while modern replicas took their place in the park.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Vyacheslav Bobkov<br>In the Altai state nature preserve, 1981<br>The Federal Altay State Natural Reserve is a unique ecosystem with rich flora and fauna.<br>Officially the Katun State Nature Preserve was registered on July 25, 1991 for the purpose of unique natural complexes of Central Altai protection.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Vladimir Perventsev<br>At the Kaliningrad Zoo, 1982.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Alexander Makarov<br>Bolshoi Theater performers during the interval, 1988.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Valery Shustov<br>Dragonfly<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto<br>

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Valery Shustov<br>On a Walk, Cherkessk, Stavropol Territory, 1980.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Igor Mikhaley -<br>Shikotan Island - 1989<br>Shikotan, both in Russian and Japanese, and one of the bigger islands of the Kuril Islands, is located in the Sakhalin Oblast of Russia. Although this island is a part of Russia, Japan maintains a claim to it along with the other three southermost Kuril islands. The name of &quotShikotan" derives from the Ainu language word for &quotbest place."<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Yury Kaver<br>Winter, 1983.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Yevgeny Arbuzov<br>The Wrangle Island Nature Reserve, 1981<br>Wrangel Island is an island in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi and East Siberian seas.  It is claimed by both the United States and Russia.  The rocky island is a breeding ground for polar bears (having the highest density of dens in the world).<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Vladimir Vyatkin<br>Good Morning, 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Vladimir Chistyakov<br>Friends<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Vyacheslav Bobkov<br>Flamingo, The Legend of a Bird, 1985<br>Silver Medal, INTERPRESSPHOTO 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Yury Somov<br>The Russian Troika, 1985.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Igor Kostin<br>At the Odessa theological seminary, 1985<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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Yury Kaver<br>Vocalization Exercise, Altai Mountains, 1991.<br>The Altay Mountains (alternative spelling Altai) is a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the great rivers Irtysh, Ob and Yenisei have their sources. Altay Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples birthplace.<br>©RIA Novosti / TopFoto

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