Region: Soviet Union

  • Moscow News Digital Archive

    Moscow News Digital Archive

    Russia’s oldest English-language newspaper.

    Moscow News (pub. 1930–2014) was the oldest English-language newspaper in Russia and, arguably, the newspaper with the longest democratic history. From a mouthpiece of the Communist party to an influential advocate for social and political change, the pages of Moscow News reflect the shifting ideological, political, social and economic currents that have swept through the Soviet Union and Russia in the last century.

    The Moscow News Digital Archive contains all obtainable published issues (1930–2014, approx. 60,000 pages), including issues of the newspaper’s short-lived sister publication Moscow Daily News (1932–1938). The archive offers scholars the most comprehensive collection available for this title, and features full page-level digitization, complete original graphics, and searchable text, and is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-MN
    • Year First Published: 1930
    • Archive: 1930–2014
    • Language: English
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: Weekly
    • Format: PDF, page-based
    • Producer: Infoteka
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    More About Moscow News

    In its early years, Moscow News largely served as yet another weapon in the Soviet Union’s propaganda arsenal, offering foreigners a window into the Soviet way of life. Initially committed to news reportage, Moscow News ultimately abandoned the format adopting a more formal Communist Party ideological worldview and language, operating under the auspices of the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.

    Despite striving to stay within the boundaries of Soviet guidelines, the newspaper’s founding editors and staff found themselves in the crosshairs. Starting in the late 1930s, multiple staff members were arrested and the newspaper’s status became tenuous. Moscow News was ultimately shut down by the Politburo in 1949.

    Moscow News was rehabilitated in 1956 during the Khrushchev Thaw, and the onset of Gorbachev-era perestroika and glasnost reforms brought about a slew of changes in the newspaper’s editorial direction. Strict ideological commitments of the previous decades were abandoned in favor of more reformist and even independent views, with traditionally taboo subjects like the repressions and show trials of the 1930s, or the Katyn massacre of Polish officers by Soviets, no longer being off limits. As a result of these changes Moscow News would soon become one of the most outstanding and most important Russian periodicals of the era.

    Like many newspapers, Moscow News faced financial challenges after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was forced to cease all foreign-language editions, leaving just the English and Russian (which ceased in 2008), and underwent several changes of ownership, including, for a time, the outspoken oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Throughout these transitions, the newspaper worked to maintain its reputation as an influential voice for critical, independent reporting.

    Ultimately, Moscow News was forced to cease publication in early 2014 when its owner, state-funded news agency RIA Novosti, was shut down by President Vladimir Putin. The newspaper’s reputation for critical, independent reporting – not to mention Its own tumultuous history – makes Moscow News an essential resource for understanding the various political and social shifts that occurred during the Soviet and post-Soviet eras and the new challenges facing Russia in the Putin era.

  • Muslims of the Soviet East Digital Archive

    Muslims of the Soviet East Digital Archive

    Soviet propaganda journal on the role of Muslims in the cultural and political life of the USSR.

    Established in 1968 by the Muslim Religious Board for Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Muslims of the Soviet East was the only Islamic periodical carrying the official seal of approval of the Soviet government. Published originally in Uzbek, the journal expanded its linguistic base in the following years, adding Arabic (1969), French and English (1974), Farsi (1980), and Dari (1984). A Russian version would come along surprisingly late, only in 1990, one year before its closure. The digital archive includes the English edition only.

    As with many foreign language publications in the Soviet Union, the target audience of the journal was not its citizens but readers abroad. Consequently, the original Uzbek language edition was exclusively in the traditional Arabic script known as the Yana Imla, a disappearing writing form in Soviet Central Asia, but in use in Uzbek communities in places like Afghanistan. If the publication of the journal in Arabic, Farsi, and Dari was meant to familiarize readers in those countries with the life of their coreligionists in the Soviet Union, the introduction of the journal in “Western” languages served an additional propaganda purpose, i.e., to counter the notion prevalent in the West that the USSR was thoroughly and intractably anti-religious.

    Consisting of multiple sections, Muslims of the Soviet East contains a mix of sermons exhorting Islamic piety from notable Central Asian clerics, discussions of regional Islamic history, and the role of Soviet Muslims in the cultural and political life of the USSR.

    The Muslims of the Soviet East Digital Archive offers scholars the most comprehensive collection available for this title, comprising 57 issues, 860 articles, and nearly 2,000 pages. The archive features full page-level digitization and complete original graphics. The archive has searchable text, and is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-MUS
    • Year First Published: 1974
    • Archive: 1974–1990
    • Language: English
    • Country: Uzbekistan
    • City: Tashkent
    • Frequency: Quarterly
    • Format: PDF, page-based
    • Producer: Infoteka
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  • Moskva Digital Archive

    Moskva Digital Archive

    Key publication chronicling nearly 70 years of Russian literary and cultural development.

    Moskva (Москва, Moscow) has shaped the cultural life of Soviet and Russian society since 1957. Moskva stands among the prestigious “thick journals” of Russia and the USSR that defined the intellectual landscape of their time.

    The journal has consistently published works by contemporary writers, including prose, poetry, journalism, and criticism. Moskva holds particular historical significance as the first publisher of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece The Master and Margarita and Nikolai Karamzin’s monumental work History of the Russian State. Its pages have featured outstanding works of Russian literature by authors such as Bunin, Sholokhov, and Yulian Semyonov, alongside acclaimed international writers including Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner.

    Uniquely among thick journals, Moskva maintains a section called “Home Church,” which introduces readers to religious values. The journal has served as an intellectual anchor for the intelligentsia, helping to bridge the spiritual divide between past and future. Today, Moskva continues to articulate the ideological doctrine of modernity, uphold Russian ideas, explore traditions of Russian thought, and carefully preserve the excellence of the Russian literary language.

    The Moskva Digital Archive offers scholars the most comprehensive collection available for this title, with an additional year’s worth of content available for purchase on an annual basis. Featuring full page-level digitization and complete original graphics, each issue has been carefully digitized and split into individual articles with permanent URLs, making it easier for researchers to create accurate citations in their work. Featuring full page-level digitization, complete original graphics, and a user-friendly bilingual interface in Russian and English, the searchable database enables efficient exploration of key literary works, critical essays, and editorial content that shaped Russian intellectual discourse throughout the 20th century. The archive is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-MOSK
    • Year First Published: 1957
    • Archive: 1957–2025
    • Language: Russian
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: Monthly
    • Format: PDF, article-based
    • Producer: Infoteka
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    More about the Soviet “Thick Journals”

    The famed Soviet tolstye zhurnaly, or “thick journals,” were significant platforms for literary and intellectual discourse. Tolstye zhurnaly such as Moskva played a complex and multifaceted role in Soviet intellectual and literary life. They were not merely publications but institutions that shaped and were shaped by the cultural, intellectual, and political currents of their time. These journals served multiple roles:

    They acted as repositories of high culture, preserving the intellectual and literary achievements of the era. Given the limited avenues for independent publishing, these journals were the primary platforms where established and emerging writers could reach an audience.

    State-Controlled Outlets. While they were crucial platforms for intellectual and artistic expression, it’s important to remember that these journals were often used to propagate official ideologies, and the works published in them usually underwent rigorous censorship.

    Academic Importance. For academics studying the Soviet period, tolstye zhurnaly offer a valuable glimpse into the state-sanctioned intellectual climate of the time. They provide context for how literature and intellectual thought evolved under different political and social conditions.

    Catalysts for Change. During more liberal periods, such as the Khrushchev Thaw and the perestroika years, tolstye zhurnaly could act as catalysts for change, pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable to discuss and publish.

    Explore all Thick Journals
  • Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive

    Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive

    Russia’s most popular newspaper among the intelligentsia.

    Established on April 22, 1929 with the support of the “father of Soviet literature,” writer Maxim Gorky, Literaturnaia gazeta (Литературная газета, Literary Newspaper) is a landmark publication in Russia’s cultural heritage. With its focus on literary and intellectual life, Literaturnaia gazeta allowed Soviet Russia’s preeminent authors, poets, and cultural figures a particular podium for commentary, affording perhaps fewer restrictions than might be possible in other publications. Literaturnaia gazeta was considered the most open among newspapers of the Soviet era, and it remains popular among the intelligentsia in today’s Russia.

    The Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive contains all obtainable published issues from 1929 on (over 65,000 pages), with an additional year’s worth of content available for purchase on an annual basis. The archive offers scholars the most comprehensive collection available for this title, and features full page-level digitization, complete original graphics, and searchable text, and is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-LG
    • Year First Published: 1929
    • Archive: 1929–2025
    • Language: Russian
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: Weekly
    • Format: PDF, page-based
    • Producer: Infoteka
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    More About Literaturnaia Gazeta

    In 1932 Literaturnaia gazeta became the official organ of the Union of Soviet Writers, the government-controlled organization which controlled most literary publications and the employment of writers in the USSR. In the post-World War II period, the scope of Literaturnaia gazeta expanded from an exclusively literary newspaper to more of a literary, social and political publication, becoming one of the most authoritative and influential publications in the country. As the press-run grew to 6.5 million copies in the 1970s and 1980s, it became the most popular newspaper with intelligentsia, who fondly dubbed it “Literaturka.”

    Literaturnaia gazeta was truly significant in the cultural life of the Soviet Union. While all officially published works were restricted in Soviet times, compared to the party-run Pravda and the government-run Izvestiia, Literaturnaia gazeta was more likely to push the limits of censorship in expressing views on social life and culture. Unlike many other Soviet newspapers, Literaturnaia gazeta refrained from simply re-publishing official party statements and resolutions. For those studying Russian, Russian literature, and comparative literature, Literaturnaia gazeta is undoubtedly an important resource: its pages carry literary criticism; excerpts from works of literature; articles on economics, sociology, ethics, daily life, scientific progress, etc. Contributors to Literaturnaia gazeta included the best prose writers of the era: Isaak Babel’, Mikhail Bulgakov, Veniamin Kaverin, Leonid Leonov, Yuriy Olesha, Boris Pil’nyak, Yevgeniy Zamyatin, and Mikhail Zoshchenko.

  • Krokodil Digital Archive

    Krokodil Digital Archive

    The leading satirical publication of the Soviet Era.

    Krokodil (Крокодил, Crocodile) was a satirical magazine published in the Soviet Union. It was first published as an illustrated Sunday supplement to Rabochaia gazeta (Рабочая газета, Workers’ Newspaper; formerly Rabochii [Pабочий, The Worker]). The increasing popularity and circulation of Rabochaia gazeta, combined with the fact that many satirical voices were present in the widening pool of talented journalists, led the editors of Rabochii to establish a separate satirical issue to be circulated free of charge to the subscribers of the newspaper.

    The newly established supplementary issue satirized a host of issues and holdovers from pre-revolutionary Russia, including White Russian emigres, the Orthodox Church, bourgeois intellectuals, as well as diverse groups of social outcasts (moonshiners, black marketeers, etc.). After a three-month period of largely haphazard satirical writing, the supplement found its stride and honed its method of bringing its readers incisive satirical commentary. The success of the experiment among its growing readership would directly lead to the establishment of Krokodil as a separate publication on August 27, 1922. Bursting from its front cover was a snarling red crocodile, an avatar that has symbolized the journal and its brand of political satire ever since.

    Published continuously until 2008, Krokodil was at one time the most popular magazine for humorous stories and satire, with a circulation reaching 6.5 million copies. Krokodil lampooned religion, alcoholism, foreign political figures and events. It ridiculed bureaucracy and excessive centralized control. The caricatures found in Krokodil can be studied as a gauge of the ‘correct party line’ of the time. During the height of the Cold War, cartoons criticizing Uncle Sam, Pentagon, Western colonialism and German militarism were common in the pages of Krokodil.

    • Product Code: DA-KRO
    • Year First Published: 1922
    • Archive: 1922–2008
    • Language: Russian
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: As published (varies)
    • Format: PDF, page-based
    • Producer: Infoteka
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    About the Archive

    Featuring the most complete set of the journal available (more than 2,740 issues), the Krokodil Digital Archive has been designed specifically to show the rich images found in these pages and provide the convenience of browsing full pages, similar to working with print originals. Full-text searchable tags have been carefully added to identify individuals and organizations within the artwork, where full-text searching would not normally find results. Thanks to this added value, users are able to search for people and organizations and find them not only within the articles, but also wherever they are represented in caricatures and drawings. The Krokodil Digital Archive is also cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka resources.

  • LEF Digital Archive

    LEF Digital Archive

    Iconic Soviet art journal that defined an era.

    In the wake of the Russian Revolution, the group “Left Front of the Arts” was formed in Moscow, bringing together creative people of the era—avant-garde poets, writers, photographers, and filmmakers, including Vladimir Mayakovsky, Osip Brik, and others. The group’s philosophy was to re-examine the ideology of so-called leftist art, abandon individualism, and increase art’s role in building communism. The group considered itself as the only representative of revolutionary art. In 1923 they founded the journal LEF (ЛЕФ [Левый фронт искусств], Left Front of the Arts), which was published until 1925. In 1927, it was succeeded by Novyi LEF (Новый ЛЕФ, New LEF) and published until 1928. Despite its short run of only 33 issues, LEF inspired entire movements and artists not only in Russia, but throughout the world.

    LEF served as a forum for intense debate, including manifestos, polemics and critical articles on photography, film, theater, architecture, and design. The journal encouraged experimentation with writing and promoted the idea of “factography,” or the use of language or art to describe or depict the realities of everyday life in the Soviet Union. The journal also championed photography and film as the most suitable forms for postrevolutionary art. The journal’s striking illustrations and covers, many of which were designed by the renowned artist and photographer Alexander Rodchenko, served as an alternative model for realism, challenging the grand, monumental style that was quickly dominating official Soviet art.

    The LEF Digital Archive comprises the entire collection of the 33 published issues, completely digitized for the first time (over 450 articles). The archive offers scholars the most comprehensive collection available for this title, and features full-text articles with full page-level digitization and complete original graphics. The archive has searchable text, and is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-LEF
    • Year First Published: 1923
    • Archive: 1923–1928
    • Language: Russian
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: Quarterly and monthly (Novyi LEF)
    • Format: Full text and full image
    • Producer: Infoteka
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  • Krasnyi Arkhiv Digital Archive

    Krasnyi Arkhiv Digital Archive

    The most important historical journal in Soviet Russia.

    Krasnyi arkhiv (Красный Архив, Red Archive) was published in Moscow from 1922 until June 1941, first by the Central Archives of the USSR and later by the Central Archival Administration. The proclaimed goal of this journal was to reveal the secrets of diplomatic documents hidden in the archives of Tsarist Russia and to regularly publish important archival papers “for the education of the proletariat.” These included official documents of the political police department, diaries and personal correspondence of the highest political figures (members of the royal family, top officials of the Tsarist Russia, etc.).

    The complete set of Krasnyi arkhiv contains more than 900 unique archival documents on the history of Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries, development of the Bolshevik movement and the Russian communist party, the Russian civil war, Russia’s foreign policy, and the history of Russian endeavors in Siberia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The journal also includes literary-historical materials, such as 16 publications on Alexander Pushkin, 12 publications on Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 14 publications on Leo Tolstoy and numerous other materials on famous Russian classical writers and literary critics.

    The Krasnyi Arkhiv Digital Archive comprises the entire collection of 106 published issues, completely digitized for the first time, totaling over 1,180 articles and more than 23,000 pages. The archive offers scholars the most comprehensive collection available for this title, and features full-text articles, with full page-level digitization and complete original graphics. The archive has searchable text, and is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-KAR
    • Year First Published: 1922
    • Archive: 1922–1941
    • Language: Russian
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: Bi-monthly (6 issues per year)
    • Format: Full text and full image
    • Producer: Infoteka
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  • Kino-Zhurnal A.R.K. Digital Archive

    Kino-Zhurnal A.R.K. Digital Archive

    Critical journal from the early years of Russian cinema.

    The beginning of 1920s in the Soviet Russia is known for fresh creative cinematographic forces. It was in this era that world-renowned directors such as Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Trauberg, Ermler, Ardov, Kozintsev and other artists of the first generation of Soviet directors made their debut. Kino-zhurnal A.R.K. (Кино-журнал А.Р.К., Cinema-Journal A.R.K.), published by the Association of Revolutionary Cinematography, is where these groundbreaking directors expounded on their art, reflecting the dynamic era of 1920s Soviet Russia. New theories simultaneously pushed the limits on and aligned with Soviet thought on film montage, and debate in the pages of the journal led to novel methods of movie editing and directing. The painter Kazimir Malevich also contributed to the journal, describing his views towards cinema as an art form.

    Kino-zhurnal A.R.K. also covered Soviet, European, American and Asian film news, film technology, international cinema industry exhibitions like the 1925 Berlin Film Exhibition. The US film industry was booming at that time, with some pages dedicated to American actors and new film out of Hollywood. The magazine also published sociological data on Soviet viewers and film statistics.

    The constructivist design of the magazine covers was created by Piotr Galadzhiev (1900-1971), a well-known Soviet artist and illustrator for several early Soviet film publications (Kino-Glaz, Kinopechat, etc.).

    An extremely rare Soviet film magazine, only twelve issues of this monthly magazine were published. The magazine ceased publishing in 1926 when its editor Nikolay Lebedev wrote an article blaming Maxim Gorky for disliking cinema as a genre. Although Lebedev later apologized, he was nevertheless fired soon after and the magazine was transformed into a different journal, Kino-front.

    The Kino-Zhurnal A.R.K. Digital Archive contains all published issues of the journal (1925-1926) for a total of 12 issues and 444 articles. The archive features full page-level digitization, complete original graphics, and searchable text, and is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-KIN
    • Year First Published: 1925
    • Archive: 1925–1926
    • Language: Russian
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: Monthly
    • Format: Full text and full image (PDF, article-based)
    • Producer: Infoteka
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  • Knizhnaia Letopis’ Digital Archive

    Knizhnaia Letopis’ Digital Archive

    Russia’s definitive bibliographic book index.

    Knizhnaia letopis’ (Книжная летопись, The Book Index) is the most definitive reference guide available for published books in Russia. For decades, libraries and researchers have turned to this weekly publication to follow book publishing trends in the USSR and Russia. As the main Soviet/Russian bibliographic publication for books, Knizhnaia letopis’ represents the most comprehensive bibliographic resource available on printed books in Russia. For scholars of Russian history, literature, and print culture, the digital archive of Knizhnaia Letopis represents an invaluable resource, offering a unique window into the evolution of publishing and intellectual life in Russia from the late Imperial period through the Soviet era.

    Covering the period of 1907–1979, the Knizhnaia Letopis’ Digital Archive comprises over 105,000 articles, and features full page-level digitization, searchable text, and complete original graphics. This searchable format allows users to explore trends in publishing, track specific authors or topics, and gain insights into the intellectual and cultural landscape of Russia and the Soviet Union throughout much of the 20th century.

    The archive is organized at the chapter level, with each issue divided into thematic chapters (articles). Issues of Knizhnaia letopis’ feature entries detailing new book publications across all fields of knowledge and practical activities, providing primary bibliographic registrations of new books published within the Russian Federation, as well as books published abroad on behalf of Russian publishers. Each bibliographic entry typically contains a sequential record number, a full bibliographic description, the state registration number assigned by the Russian Book Chamber and the UDC (Universal Decimal Classification) indices. The archive also preserves additional features of the original publication, such as author indexes, language indicators for non-Russian publications, and listings of ISBN errors.

    The Knizhnaia Letopis’ Digital Archive also includes a number of important supplements, such as Knizhnaia Letopis’. Dopolnitelnyi vypusk (Supplement, includes dissertation abstracts), Knizhnaia Letopis’. Vspomogatelnye ukazateli (Name, Subject and Geographic Indexes), Dopolnitelnyi vypusk. Vspomogatelnye ukazateli (Name and Geographic Indexes), and Ukazatel seriinykh izdanii (annual Index to Book Series).

    The Knizhnaia Letopis’ Digital Archive is an ideal complement to the Russian National Bibliography (UDB-BIB-RUS) database, which includes the archive of Knizhnaia letopis’ from 1980–2014 and its successor title Knigi Rossii (Books of Russia) from 2015–current. The Knizhnaia Letopis’ Digital Archive is not cross-searchable with UDB-BIB-RUS, which is on a different platform, but is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-KLET
    • Year First Published: 1907
    • Archive: 1907–1979
    • Language: Russian
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: Weekly
    • Format: PDF, article-based
    • Producer: Infoteka
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  • Kommersant Digital Archive

    Kommersant Digital Archive

    One of Russia’s main business dailies.

    Founded in 1989 by Russian businessman and journalist Vladimir Yakovlev on the eve of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kommersant (Коммерсантъ, The Businessman) is one of the most influential and important newspapers to have emerged in post-Soviet Russia. The economic liberalization of the Gorbachev-era perestroika and glasnost reforms had created a need for media outlets dedicated to reporting on the new economic situation in the country and the emergence of the new entrepreneurial class. The establishment of Kommersant, modeled largely after The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, was meant to meet just such a need.

    Published initially as a weekly, its proven quality and growing popularity occasioned the expansion of the publication and the changing of its format from a weekly to a daily. Soon it would also change ownership, being owned at various times by Russian oligarchs Roman Berezovsky, Badri Patarkatsishvili, and its current owner Alisher Usmanov. Despite the slew of controversial ownerships, and several instances of editorial interference by its owners, Kommersant remains one of the most trustworthy Russian newspapers.

    The Kommersant Digital Archive includes all obtainable issues published since 1992, with an additional year’s worth of content available for purchase on an annual basis. The archive features full page-level digitization, complete original graphics, and searchable text, and is cross-searchable with numerous other Infoteka digital resources.

    • Product Code: DA-KOMM
    • Year First Published: 1989
    • Archive: 1992–2025
    • Language: Russian
    • Country: Russia
    • City: Moscow
    • Frequency: Daily (240 issues per year)
    • Format: PDF, page-based
    • Producer: Infoteka
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