The US secretly sent communist-friendly Coca-Cola to a Soviet general in a bid to maintain good ties across the Iron Curtain

Tech Insider
Dwight Eisenhower talks into Georgy Zhukov's ear while a third general, Bernard Montgomery, looks on. All three are holding glasses before a toast.
British Gen. Bernard Montgomery, left, US Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, center, and Soviet Gen. Georgy Zhukov, before a toast on June 10, 1945.

Bettmann/Getty Images

Vintage photos show what life looked like behind the Iron Curtain

Tech Insider : Travel
beach day ussr
Children admire a painting on a sunny beach day in Russia.

Vladimir Bogdanov/FotoSoyuz/Getty Images

Russia again had only one tank in its big Victory Day military parade, and it was a World War II relic

Tech Insider
Victory Day military parade in Moscow
Ceremonial soldiers parade during 79th anniversary of the Victory Day in Red Square in Moscow, Russia on May 09, 2024.

ALEXANDER NEMENOV/Getty Images

Russia's war spending and labor exodus are bringing back a Soviet Union economy, IMF official says

Tech Insider : Economy
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin.

GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Russia's worker shortage is so bad the economy is leaning on the Soviet-era practice of using prison labor, think tank says

Tech Insider : Economy
Russian penal colony
Security worker walks by the gate of a penal colony in Vladimir, Russia.

Kirill Zarubin/AP Photo

Tank battles in Ukraine are putting several generations of 'crappy Russian armored vehicles' and their flaws on display

Tech Insider
Two destroyed Russian tanks on a city road.
Destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv in August.

Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

China is eroding Russia's influence over old allies as the alliance it leads crumbles over Ukraine, expert says

Tech Insider : Politics
chinese President Xi Jinping and Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev shake hands in front of the two countries' flags
Chinese leader Xi Jinping (right) and Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev shake hands during a signing ceremony, ahead of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, China in May 2023.

REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool

Top US Air Force general was surprised that Russia 'gave up' trying to destroy Ukraine's Russian-designed air defenses so quickly

Tech Insider
Russian Su-35 fighter jet wreck
The remains of a Russian Su-35 fighter jet downed in the Kharkiv region in April 2022.

Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff/Handout via REUTERS

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