Military in Russia

A former special storage facility for documents during the Cold War.

This memorial complex contains several mass graves for victims of the Siege of Leningrad.

A solemn, monumental, kitschy palace of worship honoring victory in the Great Patriotic War.

This monument commemorates the soldiers who fought for 16 hours straight to penetrate this concrete fort.

You'll find rocket launchers, not rollercoasters, at Russia's “military Disneyland.”

The Russians still use the transmitter Nazis built during World War II to communicate with submarines.

An abandoned 14th-century castle and prison complex on a small island in the Neva River.

This 15th-century cave complex is one of the very few monasteries to stay open throughout World War II and the Soviet regime.

Rare documents, old instruments, and gruesome specimens showcase the history of military medicine.

An unusual abandoned church damaged in World War II sits in a small village outside Moscow.

A former military outpost of Ivan the Terrible, the 16th-century church contains some of the rarest examples of Eastern Orthodox mural paintings.

The California secessionist movement has its own foreign embassy, in Russia of all places.

A small part of Russia that does not touch any other part of Russia.

Inside the world's largest seed bank, WWII botanists elected to starve to death rather than compromise their collection.

Thanks to this small string of islands World War II still hasn't officially ended between Russia and Japan.

Dr. Strangelove-esque tours reveal the inside a bunker once reserved for Stalin himself.