2015 in review: The 10 most popular RBTH articles of the year

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Which RBTH articles got the biggest number of hits in 2015? These are the 10 stories that ranked as the most popular among our readers this year.

1) Russian Superheroes: Slavic fairy tales in perfectly detailed sketches

Source: Roman 'Amok' Papsuev Source: Roman 'Amok' Papsuev

In his spare time Russian illustrator Roman Papsuyev (@amokrus) draws sketches inspired by Russian fairy tales, reinterpreting characters from Russian folklore in modern gaming-fantasy style. The epic hero Ilya Muromets, Vasilisa the Beautiful and Vasilisa the Wise, the forest guardian Leshy, Koschei the Immortal and more stylized characters got more than 30k likes on RBTH’s Facebook page.

2)  TV series about Russian occupation of Norway sparks furor

Poster for a new Norwegian TV series Occupied. Source: kinopoisk.ruPoster for a new Norwegian TV series Occupied. Source: kinopoisk.ruA small news story about a new Norwegian TV series became the second most read RBTH story of the year. The premise of the series is that Russia occupies the Nordic country and takes control of its oil fields. Russia's Foreign Ministry described the project as being "in the worst traditions of the Cold War" and representing a "non-existent threat from the east."

3) 10 reasons you should never ever visit Moscow

Red Square. Source: Alexandr Sukharev
Red Square. Source: Alexandr Sukharev

The shocking beauty of Red Square, noisy nightlife and horrible monuments: RBTH explained why Moscow really is the worst place for a vacation… It seems our readers have a good sense of humor and enjoyed this witty anti-guide with us! Don’t miss our reasons for ignoring St. Petersburg either!

4) Russian megafactories: The world’s largest nuclear submarine

Source: Slava Stepanov / Gelio
Source: Slava Stepanov / Gelio

Since last year RBTH has been publishing stories about Russia’s heavy industries in pictures. Readers were particularly fascinated by this photo story about the Sevmash shipbuilding company, located in the city of Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk Region, which is primary focused on building nuclear submarines for the Russian navy.

5) Russian scientists successfully implant the first 3D-printed thyroid gland

3D Bioprinting Solutions printed the thyroid gland in March 2015. Source: Press Photo3D Bioprinting Solutions printed the thyroid gland in March 2015. Source: Press Photo

This year was marked with a great medical breakthrough: A Russian company announced a successful experiment implanting 3D-printed thyroid glands into mice. 3D Bioprinting Solutions printed the thyroid gland – or to be precise, the gland's organ construct – in March of this year. At that time, scientific laboratories were saying that they would start printing human thyroid glands if the experiment was successful – which it was.

We have a special multimedia long read on the team of scientists that printed the organ.

6) Could you survive the Russian winter?

Russian winter. Source: Ilya Naymushin / ReutersRussian winter. Source: Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

At the end of November we started preparing for the cold season and decided to find out whether our readers know what it is like to be in Russia during the winter. Take part in our test as many readers have already done, and don’t forget to check out our winter album rbth.com/winter_is_coming.

7) 10 must-see films about World War II

Among the more recent Russian movies about World War II, Rogozhkin’s Among the more recent Russian movies about World War II, Rogozhkin’s "The Cuckoo" may be the most satisfying. Source: Kinopoisk

This year Russia commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe in World War Two. RBTH had a specially designed page devoted to everything we published about the war – the memoirs of witnesses, historical articles, and features on this year’s celebrations. One of the most popular texts was about the best Soviet and American movies featuring this tragic time that took millions lives.

8) Black caviar made in Thailand

In Thailand, the main consumers of sturgeon and black caviar are the members of the upper middle class. Source: Press photo
In Thailand, the main consumers of sturgeon and black caviar are the members of the upper middle class. Source: Press photo
This year RBTH spread its coverage from the English-speaking world to a global audience and started to pay special attention to Asia. Our story about a joint Russian-Thai farming venture in the Thai resort of Hua-Hin that produces two tons of black caviar annually proved really popular not only among English-speaking Asian readers but also worldwide.

9) The world according to Russian search engine users

What Russians are looking for on the Internet
What Russians are looking for on the Internet

Russia’s biggest internet search engine Yandex analyzed what Russians search for on the internet in relation to foreign countries. The company created a map that shows the three most-searched-for words for each of the countries included in the study.

10) 5 weapons that are driving up Russians arms exports

A T-90 tank at the ‘Army-2015’ exhibition in the Moscow region in June 2015. Source: EPA
A T-90 tank at the ‘Army-2015’ exhibition in the Moscow region in June 2015. Source: EPA

For the second year running Russian weapons exports registered an uptick. In this piece for RBTH, blogger Rakesh Krishnan Simha details the Russian-made arms and military hardware that are most in demand across the world.

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