Gabriel Gavin Gabriel Gavin

The year the Russian empire really collapsed

Photo by ANATOLY SAPRONENKOV / AFP

In a quiet suburb of Moscow, a twenty-minute metro ride from the Kremlin, is the Soviet Union’s answer to Disneyland. Between a budget supermarket and a teacher training college is the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy, known to locals by its Russian-language acronym, VDNKh. The ‘Kh’ is said like you are clearing your throat.

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