Where is it? Yaroslavl Oblast is located in western Russian about equidistant from Moscow and St. Petersburg. It borders the Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma and Vologda Oblasts. It is in the same time zone as Moscow.

What's the biggest city? Yaroslavl, whose population was recently estimated at 613,088 out of a total of 1.4 million for... more

Rose Alaimo has only been in Russia a few days, but her experience is already proving an eye-opener.

You might remember that, back in late May, I introduced you to a Cornell University veterinary student who decided to go to Russia for what some people call a "volunteer vacation". Rose is doing a lot of volunteering, but she clearly isn't getting a lot of time for rest. And it doesn't seem to bother her one bit.

Rose arrived in Yaroslavl on July 23... more

Where is it? Perm Krai is located in western Russian at the foot of the Ural Mountains. It borders the Komi Republic, and the Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, Kirovskaya and Sverdlovskaya Oblasts. It has a two-hour time difference from Moscow and you can find the local time here.

What's the biggest city? Perm, whose population was recently estimated at 976,116 out of a total of 3 million for the entire region. The city's name is derived from... more

Where is it? Novosibirsk Oblast is located, as you might have guessed from the name, in western Siberia. It is bordered by Omsk and Tomsk oblasts, Kemerovo Oblast and Altai Krai. Kazahkstan is just to the south. The Ob River cuts through the region. Though it is small, the economic importance of its largest city has merited the Novosibirsk region its own time zone, and you can find the local time here.

What's... more

What with the need for a trip one, trip two, packing, regional pointers and the like, there's always a lot of talk about travel on the Russia Adoption forum board. But a new thread popped up last week with a fun idea: Travel to Russia to see the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and take the kids along.

As you may have seen in the news last week, on July 4 Russia won its... more

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