Where is it? Krasnodar Krai, or territory, is located in southwestern Russia between the Black Sea and the Caucasus mountains. It includes the Republic of Adygea and is bordered by Rostov Oblast, Stavropol Krai and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Krasnodar is in the Moscow time zone .

What's the biggest city? Krasnodar, which had a population of 646,175 as of the 2002 census, out of some 5.1 million inhabitants in the... more

Where is it? Altai Krai, or territory, is located in Siberia, to the west of Krasnoyarsk. It is bordered by Kazahkstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and is separate from the Altai Republic. It is in the Novosibirsk time zone, which is three hours ahead of Moscow. You can find the current local time here.

What's the biggest city? Barnaul, which has... more

I passed through Lenin Square often when I was in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 2005. I'd cast a quick eye on the resolute statue of the Communist revolutionary on the way to the business center I used to send e-mails home during my two adoption trips.

But this past Saturday, June 23, Lenin Square got much more than a passing glance. Washington, D.C.-based charity Kidsave International used it as the kick-off point for a march involving 200 children from orphanages on Sakhalin... more

Where is it? Ivanovo Oblast, or region, is located in western Russia, northeast of Moscow. It is bordered by Kostroma Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Vladimir Oblast, and Yaroslavl Oblast, and the Volga River flows through the northern part of the region. It is in the Moscow time zone, and you can find the current local time here.

What's the biggest city? Ivanovo, which has... more

Where is it? Krasnoyarsk Krai is an enormous territory in Siberia that stretches from the Arctic Ocean almost to Russia's southern border with Mongolia. It is in its own time zone, and four hours ahead of Moscow. You can find the current local time here.

What's the biggest city? Krasnoyarsk, which is located toward the territory's southern end. The city's population was 909,341 as of the 2002 census, out of some 3 million... more

Where is it? The Jewish Autonomous Oblast, or region, is located in the Russian Far East, bordering on Khabarovsk Krai. It is in the same time zone as Vladivostok. You can find the current local time here.

What's the biggest city? Birobidzhan (sometimes written as Birobidjan), population 77,250 as of the 2002 census, out of 190,915 total inhabitants... more

Where is it? Kamchatka Oblast, or region, is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, northeast of Primorye Krai and Khabarovsk Krai and bordered by the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean. It shares a northern border with Magadan Oblast. It is in the same time zone as... more

Where is it? Sakhalin Oblast, or region, is an island located in the Russian Far East, to the east of Primorye Krai and Khabarovsk Krai in the Sea of Okhotsk. It is in the same time zone as Vladivostok. You can find the current local time here. China, Japan and Russia have all claimed sovereignty... more

I don’t know why it is that the key conversations in our family seem to occur in traffic. It's not like we spend a lot of time on the road; I probably have fewer miles on my three-year-old car right now than most families have after 12 months.

But you might remember that my older son, who was adopted from Vladivostok, started asking questions about his birth mother... more

When I went to Vladivostok in November 1999 for my first adoption, you could fly from Seattle to the Russian Far East on Aeroflot. It wasn't a non-stop; I've done fewer stops on most of the puddle-jumpers I've flown. After leaving Seattle, the flight landed in Anchorage, then Magadan, Khabarovsk and finally Vladivostok.... more