Russia

Vera Figner Wreck: 20th-Century Paddle Steamer in Russia's Silva River

Diver inspects the wreck of the Vera Figner wreck. Photo by Pavel Lapshin
Diver inspects the wreck of the Vera Figner wreck. Photo by Pavel Lapshin

Scuba diving is a diverse and breathtaking activity where, upon submerging, one can find oneself drifting along the waves of history. Such an opportunity presented itself to me during my recent visit with fellow divers in Perm, who discovered an interesting object under the ice in the Sylva River.

Russian 16th Century Discovery: Battle of Sudbischen

Artifacts from the 16th century Battle of Sudbischen. Photo by Stanislav Trofimov
Artifacts from the Russian 16th century Battle of Sudbischen found in the Gogol River by divers from Oryol dive club DIVO. Photo by Stanislav Trofimov

In the spring of 2021, Oryol divers discovered the site where the Battle of Sudbischen took place in 1555. This battle between the Russian army and the Crimean horde was a fateful event, in name and in nature, in the history of Russia during the era of Ivan the Terrible.

Stage Gostiny Dvor Exhibition Center
Gostiny Dvor Exhibition Center sports a big stage

Moscow Dive Show 2021 show report

Alongside the arrival of springtime, the Moscow Dive Show heralds a new beginning.

While 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 saw the unprecedented mass postponement of international dive shows around the world—including Boot 2021—one dive show in Europe was determined that the show would go on.

And thus, the first large-scale event of 2021 for the dive industry was the Moscow Dive Show. It was held on four days from 8 to 11 April 2021 at the Gostiny Dvor Exhibition Center in Moscow.

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Diveheart partners with Tourism Malaysia for Moscow Dive Show 2021
Diveheart partners with Tourism Malaysia for Moscow Dive Show 2021

Diveheart partners with Tourism Malaysia for Moscow Dive Show 2021

The exhibition is an excellent opportunity to connect with divers in Russia and Eastern Europe and widen the adaptive diving community, according to Jim Elliott, founder of Diveheart.

“We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the life-changing power of scuba diving. There really are no boundaries to what we can achieve, and we have seen time and time again how educational scuba therapy has built confidence and transformed the lives of people with disabilities all over the world,” said Elliott.

Wrecks of Russia's Lake Ladoga

Islands of the Valaam Archipelago in Lake Ladoga, Russia. Photo by Stanislav Trofimov.
Islands of the Valaam Archipelago in Lake Ladoga, Russia. Photo by Stanislav Trofimov.

Ladoga is a magical lake—a location and natural monument that fascinates many tourists. In Europe, it is the second largest lake after the Caspian Sea. Sergey Kulikov takes us on a journey to this body of fresh water, located in northeastern Russia, just outside of Saint Petersburg, and reports on an expedition to some of the wrecks that can be found here.

Gostiny Dvor exhibition hall is quite close to the Red Square which can been seen in the upper left corner

Moscow Dive Show to go ahead as planned

With restrictions on public shows, events and exhibitions being lifted by the authorities on 25 January, rates of covid-infections in Moscow and Russia going down and the country's vaccination campaign picking up pace, the organisers of Moscow Dive show intend to go ahead with their 2021 edition.  

The show was initially scheduled to be held in February, as in previous years, but was postponed due to restrictions imposed by Covid. Moscow officials now consider it likely that all remaining restrictions will be lifted within two to three months.

WW2 Soviet Destroyer 'Moscow'

What sank the Soviet destroyer Moscow?

About 13 hours later, at 4:40 pm, three submarines—Щ-205, Щ-206 and Щ-209 (Щ is short for Щука or shuka, which means pike in Russian)—received approval from the Kremlin to move towards the eastern shores of the Black Sea, while the M-33 and M-34 left for long-range patrol near the main base. It was the first day of the war in the Black Sea.

Lockdown Local Diving

Photo by Kate Jonker: Speckled klipfish at Pinnacle dive site in Gordon’s Bay, South Africa

As many divers face travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, our contributors highlight the often overlooked or unsung yet intriguing diving that can be found in one's own backyard.

Swimming Pools and Underwater Photography

It used to be that when one talked about underwater photography, one primarily meant photographing sea animals in their natural surroundings; however, it can also be interesting to shoot underwater images in swimming pools. Firstly, a pool can be turned into an underwater photo studio. Secondly, there are pools that are unique in themselves. I present some examples in this article.

Dive Like a Russian: Busted Myths & Concrete Facts

For us survivors of the Perestroika, there are still some nice things we recall from the nostalgic Soviet past—one of these being, of course, the endless Cousteau series, run and rerun so many times on black-and-white television. The skinny Frenchman, with the (supposedly) red beanie, introduced an entire generation (or two) to the mysterious underwater world, full of beauties and beasts.