Word origins

• KorolevA transliteration of the Russian surname Королёв (Koroljóv).
• TyumenA city, the administrative center of Tyumen Oblast, Russia.
• bolshevismThe strategy used by the Bolsheviks in attempting to gain power in Russia.
• LadogaA freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, near Saint Petersburg, and the largest lake in Europe.
• peledThe Coregonus peled, a whitefish of the Salmonidae family, endemic to Northern Europe and Russia.
• PenzaAn oblast of Russia.
• kaftanA long tunic worn in the Eastern Mediterranean.
• SemenovA surname from Russian
• banyaA type of steam bath, popular in Russia (and in some parts of Alaska as well).
• OrenburgAn oblast of Russia.
• BogdanovA transliteration of the Macedonian surname Богданов (Bogdanov).
• ZhukovA transliteration of the Russian surname Жу́ков (Žúkov).
• BichA surname.
• kefirA fermented milk drink from the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, similar to yogurt but more liquid.
• studenSynonym of kholodets.
• OkhotskAn urban locality, a work settlement, the administrative center of Okhotsky district, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia.
• pivoA type of Central and Eastern European pilsner.
• KubanA river in Russia in the North Caucasus. It flows through the Karachay-Cherkessia, Stavropol Krai Krasnodar Krai, and Adygea.
• MorozovA surname from Russian.
• CominternAn international association of Communist parties, established in 1919 by Vladimir Lenin and dissolved in 1943.
• SlutskyA transliteration of the Russian surname Слу́цкий (Slúckij).
• MorozA surname from Ukrainian.
• SorokinA surname from Russian.
• YashinA transliteration of the Russian surname Я́шин (Jášin).
• buranA Soviet spacecraft, modeled after the American Space Shuttle.
• ChernovA surname from Russian.
• KishinevThe capital city of Moldova, also known as Chisinau.
• sbornikA collection of manuscripts; an anthology.
• MogilevA city in Belarus.
• StepanovA transliteration of the Russian surname Степанов (Stepanov).
• apparatThe Soviet machinery of state bureaucratic administration, or a similar communistic structure.
• ZaporozhyeAn industrial city, the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia urban hromada, Zaporizhzhia Raion and Zaporizhzhia Oblast, in south-central Ukraine, on the River Dnipro.
• VologdaA river in Russia.
• MazinA male given name from Arabic.
• KuznetsA surname from Russian.
• UgricOf or pertaining to a group of languages that includes Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi.
• almascaviar from the albino beluga
• YakutiaA republic and federal subject of eastern Russia. Official name: Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Capital and largest city: Yakutsk.
• SpetsnazSpecial forces in Russia and other post-Soviet states.
• RyazanAn oblast of Russia.
• DubinskyA surname from Russian.
• LyudmilaA female given name.
• LebedA transliteration of the Russian surname Ле́бедь (Lébedʹ).
• DitkoA transliteration of the Carpathian Rusyn surname Дї́тко (Djítko).
• VelikovskyA surname
• saigaSaiga tatarica, an antelope which inhabits a vast area between Kalmykia, Kazakhstan, southern Siberia.
• ZariskiA surname.
• NKVDThe People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs — the Soviet interior ministry known for its secret police, forerunner of the KGB.
• VasilievA transliteration of the Russian surname Васильев (Vasilʹjev).
• TokarevA Soviet service pistol, the TT-33 and TT-30
• IngushA member of a Nakh people of the northeastern Caucasus, now mostly Sunni Muslim and resident in the Russian republic of Ingushetia.
• SokolowA surname.
• SafinaThe star 88 Aquarii.
• KalininTver, Russia (Тверь).
• TimoshenkoA surname from Russian
• UlyanovskAn oblast of Russia.
• AsyaA female given name from Russian, of modern usage.
• SakhaA person of Sakha ethnicity.
• VorontsovA transliteration of the Russian surname Воронцов (Voroncov).
• MaynA river in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Magadan Oblast, Russia, one of the major tributaries of the Anadyr.
• SalyutAny of the spacecraft involved in the Salyut programme, the first space station programme undertaken by the Soviet Union, from 1971 to 1986.
• Kostromaa river in Russia running from north to south into river Volga
• garmonA kind of smaller Russian button accordion.
• RodinaThe Soviet Union.
• kalugaHuso dauricus, a sturgeon of the Amur river basin in northeast China and southeast Russia.
• VsevolodA transliteration of the Russian male given name Все́волод (Vsévolod).
• RPKA Soviet 7.62×39mm cartridge light machine gun
• kolinskyThe Siberian weasel, Mustela sibirica
• NenetsA member of a people who live in the extreme northwest of Russia; a Samoyed.
• SchuppA surname.
• GerasimovA surname from Russian
• yusEither of two letters, little yus (Ѧ) and big yus (Ѫ), representing nasal vowel sounds in the Cyrillic alphabet. The only major Slavic language retaining these sounds is Polish, which is written in the Latin alphabet.
• GoncharovA surname from Russian, equivalent to English Potter
• YamalA male given name from Arabic.
• DmitrievA transliteration of the Russian surname Дмитриев (Dmitrijev).
• ParetskyA surname from Russian.
• IvanovoAn oblast of Russia.
• AnastasiA male given name from the Slavic languages.
• BelgorodAn oblast of Russia.
• matryoshkaOne of a set of wooden Russian dolls of different sizes, designed such that each fits inside the next.
• EserA Socialist Revolutionary.
• NinilchikA town in Alaska, United States.
• babushkaAn Eastern European old woman.
• WinokurA surname from Russian.
• ordaA political and military organizational structure used by Turkic and Mongol peoples, sometimes referred to as a horde.
• VarvaraA transliteration of the Belarusian, Macedonian, Russian, or Ukrainian female given name Варва́ра (Varvára).
• ChukotkaA peninsula in the northeastern extremity of Asia; Chukchi Peninsula
• GoncharA transliteration of the Ukrainian surname Гончар (Hončar).
• SlavikA surname.
• MendeleevA transliteration of the Russian surname Менделе́ев (Mendeléjev), usually applying to Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev.
• KuzminA surname from Russian.
• droogA violent young gang member or a hooligan.
• IzhevskA city, the capital of Udmurtia, Russia.
• Iskander9K720 Iskander (Russian ballistic missile)
• KaragandaA city in Kazakhstan.
• DomodedovoAn airport in Moscow, Russia.
• arcadyArcadia, an ancient region of Greece with a tradition of rural, bucolic innocence.
• LevitskyA surname from Russian.
• KhivaA small historical town in present-day Uzbekistan, former capital of Khwarazm, and a former khanate.
• kulakA prosperous peasant in the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union, who owned land and could hire workers.