‘The northernmost African' blogs from Russia’s Far East

Svetlana Pavlova/TASS

He raises three children, teaches Chinese, and blogs – all in record-breaking low temperatures.

Mark Babatunde from Nigeria never thought he would one day be living in a Russian town of fewer than 10,000 people. He dreaded how the locals eat raw meat, and temperatures falling to -50C. Yet, he settled there, found a teaching job, and launched his YouTube channel about life in Yakutia.

Why do some Russians look Asian?

There are more than 190 ethnic groups among the 142 million inhabitants of Russia, from ethnic Russians who form 78 percent of the population to the Ket people of Siberia who number just over a thousand. Most ethnic Russians have a so-called European appearance, but there are many Russian citizens who could be classified as ethnically Asian.

Russia’s ethnic diversity often surprises tourists, who expect the country be more homogenous. While there are more than 190 ethnicities in the country, Russia does not officially define any group as Asian.

Get your daily dose of Pushkin: A service emails you the great poet’s works

The free online service nezarastet.ru prepared 365 newsletters with poems by Alexander Pushkin, Russia’s most revered poet. 

How to speak 12 languages?

Italian polyglot: ‘To understand Russians you must speak Russian’

Luca Lampariello is a well-known Italian polyglot who speaks 12 languages fluently, including Russian. He posts advice on how to learn new languages in his blogs. He told us in magnificent Russian how he had managed to learn the language, what he thinks of Russians and Russia and what he plans on learning in the future.

Who is Fyodor Dostoyevsky?

Do you know who is Dostoevsky?   

Fedor Konyukhov finished the round the globe voyage on the balloon

Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov finished the round the globe voyage on the Morton balloon as he landed in West Australia deserted area - 20 kilometers of Bonnie Rock, TASS learned from the support team’s member Anton Parfenov, who is at the scene.

Learning Russian has given me a whole new life

English writer and translator Mary Hobson decided to learn Russian at the age of 56, graduating in her sixties and completing a PhD aged 74.