Things from Russia
Run by Finny.
View of the Red Square from St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow, 1939. Photo by Walter Frentz.
The “Night Witches” was the all female Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces that bombed German lines in WWII. They were equipped with the worst, oldest, noisest, crappest planes in the entire world. The engines used to conk out halfaway through missions and they had to climb on the wings mid flight to restart the props. To stop germans from hearing their noisy planes and firing at them, they’d climb up to a certain height, coast down to German positions, drop their bombs, restart their engines in midair, and get out as quickly as possible. Their leader flew over 200 missions and was never captured.
Silhouette of the Moscow during the German bombing raid, 1941. Taken by Margaret Bourke-White.
Bourke-White was the first female war correspondent and the first woman to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II. In 1941, she traveled to the Soviet Union just as Germany broke its pact of non-aggression. She was the only foreign photographer in Moscow when German forces invaded. Taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy, she then captured the ensuing firestorms on camera.
Oleg of Novgorod was a Varangian prince (or konung) who ruled all or part of the Rus’ people during the early 10th century.
He is credited with moving the capital of Rus’ from Novgorod the Great to Kiev and, in doing so, he laid the foundation of the powerful state of Kievan Rus’. He also launched at least one attack on Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. According to East Slavic chronicles, Oleg was supreme ruler of the Rus’ from 882 to 912. This traditional dating has been challenged by some historians, who point out that it is inconsistent with such other sources as the Schechter Letter, which mentions the activities of certain khagan HLGW of Rus’ as late the 940s, during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Romanus I. The nature of Oleg’s relationship with the Rurikid ruling family of the Rus’, and specifically with his successor Igor of Kiev, is a matter of much controversy among historians.
(со страницы collectivehistory)
