Life beyond the Arctic Circle: Between reindeer and fish

­The Yamalo-Nenets region is bigger than France, and half of its territory lies within the Arctic Circle. The winter there lasts eight months a year, which means only few species can survive the harsh conditions. Reindeer and fish mean everything for the indigenous people in this unwelcoming land. The Nenets and other native northern peoples follow grazing reindeer wherever they go, their...

‘Road of death’: Grim history behind transport building riddle

­The debilitating cold of the Yamalo-Nenets region has for decades taught authorities that building a permanent transport infrastructure there is mission impossible. It is no coincidence that part of the region's name, Yamal, means “the end of the Earth” in the local language. The surface is blasted by blizzards in winter and melts into swamps in summer. The last attempt to conquer the area...

Russia’s Far North: Medical help from above

­Russia’s Arctic Far North, one of the country's most remote regions, is an area so hard to get to that medical help has taken to the skies. For the people living hours from the nearest village or hospital, a team of helicopter medics has become an emergency lifeline. Medical problems used to be treated in local tents, but now more professional help is at hand. RT joined Doctor Vladimir Brodsky...

King of bling: Kostroma’s jewel citizenship

Russia`s jewelry capital, the city of Kostroma, is home to both large jewelry factories and individual craftsmen, who produce the finest jewels in the country. Gold, diamonds, rubies and just about any other precious and semi-precious stone you can imagine go into work there. Locals say it is hard to get the exact figures, but with a degree of confidence they assert that every fourth jewelry...

Hidden treasure of the Urals

­Gemstones from Russia’s Ural Mountains have fueled many fairytales and legends. But now, beautiful tales are all that's left of the once-rich gemstone mines, with most precious stones now imported to the region from abroad. First accounts of rich precious stone deposits in the area are date back to late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. For several centuries, regional capital...

Lenin’s birthplace: City of high fliers

The birthplace of communist leader Vladimir Lenin, the city of Ulyanovsk, is now known as “Russia’s Aviation Capital”, making passenger planes and teaching the pilots of tomorrow. Originating back in the 1970s, Ulyanovsk’s passenger plane manufacturer Aviastar is due to become a modernizer of the unique Russian cargo planes, An-124 Ruslan, the world’s largest. A special line to build new Ruslans...

Past and future meet on Khabarovsk coast

The Khabarovsk Region in Russia’s Far East is the country’s main gateway to the Pacific. It is also a center for coal and wood exports to the heavily-populated and fuel-hungry Asian economies, including China, South Korea and Japan. ­As RT discovered, keeping industry alive there does not have to be at the expense of tradition. A coal stacker is a monstrous-looking machine which has become the...

With old ways forgotten, indigenous communities turn desperate

Khabarovsk Region, in the country's Far East, is home to Russians, Ukrainians, Tartars and even Koreans. The area's indigenous population is adapting to a shrinking world, where cultures and people increasingly mix. ­RT has been to Khabarovsk to explore how the ancient people of this land are attempting to keep their way of life alive and retain their identity in the global village. The Nanai...

Timber barons wreak devastation in Russia’s Far East

­Russia’s coastal region on the border with China, some 8,000 kilometres from Moscow, is the meeting point of two mighty rivers – the Amur and the Ussuri. It harbors some of the most incredible habitats for the country’s wildlife. But the march of the industrial moguls is putting its future on the line. Looty the tiger was found starving in the forest as a six-month-old cub. He is now 19 years...

Wrestling with football passion: Dagestan’s sporting salvation

Russia’s republic of Dagestan often makes headlines for violence. But there are other battles away from the front line that many hope the region will one day be remembered for. ­For centuries this area has been renowned for its strong and brave population. And for being the birthplace of many world champions in all types of wrestling, Now, as RT's Madina Kochenova reports, the republic is...