Learn Russian with us. Red Kalinka is the largest Russian school in the world.

VIDEO LESSONS + TUTOR ONE-to-ONE LESSONS BOOKS EXERCISE ONLINE

Learn Russian with us. Red Kalinka is the largest school of Russian in the world. We have all you need to learn.Here you’ll find ONE-to-ONE LESSONS   VIDEO LESSONS   BOOKS , educational applications for your telephone, downloadable learning materials...

Online Russian lessons

Online Russian lessons

Choose how you want to learn Russian with us: one-to-one lessons or video lessons. In either case, you will be learning from home with the best Russian school in the world.

One-to-One Lessons



Video Lessons + Tutor

Russian history: 1st week of May

Friday 2, May 2014, 7:35 pm Red

Do you want to know what happened in the first week of May in Russian history? For example, we will read about the first advertising campaign for a Western company in the USSR, or the story of a football match during a war. It was also in the first week of May when the city of Smolensk received an important icon or when Russia officially changed its flag. Other historical events of these days were when Lenin inaugurated the statue of a revolutionary, the day of the musical premiere of "Peter and the Wolf" or when the first electricity generator in the USSR started running.

End of WWII

The Great Patriotic War officially ended on May 8, 1945, when the German forces surrendered unconditionally to the Russian general Zhukov on the outskirts of Berlin. A day earlier, the Germans had surrendered in Reims (France) to British and American officials. When that happened, the Soviets also demanded that they also surrender to the Red Army.


Signing of the German capitulation before Zhukov

Stenka Razin

May 1, 1919: Lenin unveils in Moscow's Red Square a monument to Stenka Razin, a Cossack of the Don from the seventeenth century who fought against the power of the Tsar and nobles for a more just society. Besides being a hero to those fighting in 1917’s October Revolution, he is still present in Russian folk songs. Also, his story became the script for the first Russian film in history.

A new Russian flag

The Russian Emperor Alexander III ordered the use of the tricolor flag (white, blue and red) in the solemn ceremonies of May 7, 1883. Nevertheless, the official Russian flag would remain the imperial one (white, black and yellow) for some years more. The blue, white and red flag did not become official until 1896.

Football in Leningrad

We go back to World War II. During the siege of Leningrad, the Dynamo football team and one made out of amateur players from a local steel factory played a game in the middle of the war on May 6th 1942. The match lasted only half an hour, since the Germans took time out to throw leaflets from a plane warning of an upcoming attack. The game finished 6-0 to Dynamo.

Smolensk icon

May 3, 1101: Prince Vladimir Monomakh takes to Smolensk Cathedral, an icon of the Virgin Mary, who became the city’s patron saint. This icon was a wedding gift from the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh and, according to legend, was painted by St. Luke. It is the first icon of the Virgin Mary that was taken to Russia.

First Soviet hydroelectric generator

On May 5, 1927 the first hydroelectric generator of the USSR starts running in the Volkhov hydroelectric plant, 120 km from St. Petersburg. This station is the oldest in Russia and is still running. It was built along with 29 other power plants to modernize the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Nowadays, it has been declared a historical monument of science and technology.


Volkhov hydroelectric plant

Peter and the Wolf

The Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev premieres on May 2, 1936 his symphony for children "Peter and the Wolf". This is one of the best known children compositions in history. Apart from its musical quality, this work became world famous due to Disney's adaptation for one of its musical films in 1946.

First Western advertiser

May 4, 1988: Pepsi becomes the first Western company to have advertising space on Russian state television. Pepsi had become the first Western company to sell its products in Russia and today it is the number one in the country by profits.

Russian language and culture - Red Kalinka and Facebook

Discover with us the wonderful Russian culture and its language. Click the buttons on the right to share this article or to follow us on Facebook.

Did you like this article? Leave us a comment:

Online Russian lessons

Online Russian lessons

Choose how you want to learn Russian with us: one-to-one lessons or video lessons. In either case, you will be learning from home with the best Russian school in the world.

One-to-One Lessons



Video Lessons + Tutor

RED KALINKA© | Spain