Word origins

• tsarAn emperor of Russia (1547 to 1917) and of some South Slavic states.
• IlyaA male given name from Russian.
• LeningradFormer name of Saint Petersburg: a major city in Russia, from the time of Lenin's death in 1924 until 1991.
• NovosibirskA city, the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia.
• samaraThe winged indehiscent fruit of trees such as the ash, elm or maple.
• gulliverone's head.
• UralRelating to the Ural Mountains.
• nevaA river in Russia, on which the Saint Petersburg city is located.
• volgaAny of several automobiles of the same brand manufactured by GAZ in the Soviet Union and Russia.
• SoyuzAny of a series of Soviet/Russian space capsules
• kolaA tree, genus Cola, bearing large brown seeds ("nuts") that are the source of cola extract.
• tugrikThe Mongolian unit of currency; abbreviated MNT, ₮; formerly subdivided into 100 möngö.
• valerianA hardy perennial flowering plant, Valeriana officinalis, with heads of sweetly scented pink or white flowers.
• NovgorodAn oblast in northwestern Russia.
• sputnikAny of a series of Soviet robotic space satellites, especially the first one in 1957.
• TrotskyA surname.
• tassA heap, pile.
• vintTo make wine from fruit.
• ProkofievA transliteration of the Russian surname Прокофьев (Prokofʹjev).
• IliAn automonous prefecture in Northern Xinjiang autonomous region, China.
• YashaA diminutive Яша of the Russian/Ukrainian male given name Яков (Jákov)/Яків (Jákiv), equivalent to English Jake
• AleksandrA transliteration of the Russian male given name Алекса́ндр (Aleksándr)
• savinThe evergreen shrub Juniperus sabina, endemic to Europe, which yields a medicinal oil.
• KarabakhA geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia. It includes three regions: Highland Karabakh (present-day Nagorno-Karabakh), Lowland Karabakh (the southern Kura-steppes) and a part of Syunik.
• KaliningradAn oblast or federal subject of Russia; an exclave on the Baltic Sea, between Poland and Lithuania.
• innaIn the.
• bolshevikA Russian communist revolutionary, a member of the Bolshevik Party in the Communist Revolution of Russia in 1917.
• belugaA whale, Delphinapterus leucas, found in the Arctic Ocean.
• VladivostokA city and seaport in the Russian Far East, on the Sea of Japan, near North Korea; the administrative centre of Primorsky Krai.
• KasparovA Russified Armenian surname from Armenian.
• NIIA Soviet scientific research institute.
• ronaCOVID-19.
• KamchatkaA long peninsula forming part of Kamchatka Krai in the Far East of Russia, lying between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk.
• ChekhovA surname from Russian
• KurskA magnetic anomaly in Chernozemye, Russia, first discovered in 1773, the largest magnetic anomaly on Earth.
• okaA former Turkish, Egyptian, Hungarian, and Romanian unit of weight, usually of a little more than a kilogram.
• DostoevskyA transliteration of the Russian surname Достое́вский (Dostojévskij).
• rubleThe monetary unit of Russia, Belarus and Transnistria, equal to 100 kopeks. (Russian: копе́йка (kopéjka), Belarusian: капе́йка (kapjéjka)).
• gulagAlso GULAG: the system of all Soviet labour camps and prisons in use, especially during the Stalinist period (1930s–1950s).
• saloa type of fatback, or non-rendered underskin pig fat consumed in Central and Eastern Europe, usually seasoned
• nihilismThe view that all endeavours are devoid of objective meaning.
• vedraA municipality of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.
• troikaA Russian carriage drawn by a team of three horses abreast.
• UfaThe capital and largest city of Bashkortostan, Russia.
• KashA male given name of modern usage.
• SakhalinThe largest island of Russia, off its eastern coast.
• KharkovSynonym of Kharkiv (city).
• KirillA transliteration of the Russian male given name Кири́лл (Kiríll).
• BaikalA large freshwater lake in Siberia, Russia.
• SmirnoffA serving of the Smirnoff brand of vodka.
• taranA species of roach (Rutilus heckelii), a fish in the Cyprinidae family. It is native to the Black Sea basin: rivers Don, Kuban, Dnieper, Dniester, rarely Danube.
• PavlovTo condition a person or animal to react to a stimulus, without consideration to the meaning of it.
• RostovA city in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia.
• IrkutskAn oblast and federal subject of Russia in Siberia.
• StepanA transliteration of the Russian or Ukrainian male given name Степа́н (Stepán).
• taigaA subarctic zone of evergreen coniferous forests situated south of the tundras and north of the steppes in the Northern Hemisphere.
• ChitaA city, the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai, Siberia, Russia.
• TulaA city in Hidalgo, Mexico, near the remains of the Toltec city Tollan.
• StalingradFormer name of Volgograd: a city, the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia, and site of a famous World War II battle; used from 1925–1961.
• AbkhaziaA geographic region and de-facto independent but largely unrecognized country on the coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus on the border of Europe and Asia, which considers itself an independent state called the Republic of Abkhazia; considered part of Georgia's territory by the Georgian government and the vast majority of the international community.
• SmirnovA transliteration of the Russian surname Смирнов (Smirnov).
• KirovA transliteration of the Russian surname Киров (Kirov).
• RasputinAny influential political advisor who is considered a poor influence due to being a quack or charlatan.
• VolgogradAn oblast and federal subject in southwestern Russia.
• glasnost1980s and early 1990s policy of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev to allow more government transparency; often paired with perestroika
• khaThe name of the Cyrillic script letter Х / х.
• GRUThe Main Intelligence Directorate — the Soviet and then the Russian military intelligence agency.
• timecodeTo mark with time codes.
• bayanA type of chromatic button accordion developed in Russia in the early 20th century.
• RachmaninoffA transliteration of the Russian surname Рахма́нинов (Raxmáninov).
• laikaA type of hunting dog from Russia.
• AntonovA transliteration of the Bulgarian surname Антонов (Antonov).
• intelligentsiaThe intellectual elite of a society, particularly in Marxist doctrine.
• GubaA woreda in Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia.
• DimaA transliteration of the Russian male given name diminutive Ди́ма (Díma).
• PalatkaA city, the county seat of Putnam County, Florida.
• gogolA Russian and Ukrainian surname.
• balaclavaA type of warm headgear covering the neck, head, and often part of the face, with apertures left as necessary, often made out of wool.
• sevaSelfless service that is performed without any expectation of reward for performing it.
• tokamakA torus-shaped chamber used in nuclear fusion research in which plasma is magnetically confined.
• KhrushchevEnglish transliteration of the Russian surname Хрущёв (Xruščóv); usually refers to the Russian revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Nikita Khrushchev.
• SaratovA city, the administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Volga Region, Volga Federal District, European Russia, Russia.
• MurmanskAn oblast in far northern Russia.
• kabA guided bomb (GBU), in a Soviet or post-Soviet (especially Russian or Ukrainian) military context.
• NoveAlexander Nove (né Алекса́ндр Я́ковлевич Новако́вский [Aleksandr Yakovlevich Novakovsky]; 1915–1994), non-Marxist socialist, Professor of Economics at the University of Glasgow, and noted authority on Russian and Soviet economic history; father of Perry Richard Nove and Charles Alexis Nove
• samoyedA member of the Samoyedic peoples of the Siberian Urals, who speak Samoyedic languages.
• lapinRabbit fur.
• OvechkinA masculine-form surname from Russian.
• privetAny of various shrubs and small trees in the genus Ligustrum.
• AeroflotThe largest airline in Russia.
• FedorovA surname from Russian.
• borzoiA dog of a particular breed, similar in shape to a greyhound but with longer silkier hair.
• NilaA vanara, brother of Nala and son of Agni in Ramayana.
• blatTo cry, as a calf, sheep, or goat.
• OssetiaAn ethnolinguistic region on the border of Europe and Asia, located on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. The northern part of the region forms North Ossetia-Alania federal subject of Russia. The southern part is South Ossetia.
• CCCPUSSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
• cosmonautAn astronaut, especially a Russian or Soviet one.
• amurAny of various hybrids of the white amur that were bred for aquatic weed control.
• SamarkandThe regional capital of the Samarkand region, Uzbekistan. Official name: Samarqand.
• PetrovaA female surname from the Slavic languages, masculine equivalent Petrov.