Today, on October 15, Russians are celebrating the 211th anniversary of Mikhail Lermontov's birth. Every Russian knows his poems (well, at least one) by heart since school. 🤓
We've put together some important facts about the work and biography of this great man.

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Why was Soviet leader Gorbachev awarded the #Nobel Peace Prize?

On October 15, 1990, the first and last president of the USSR became the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The official statement from the Nobel Committee said that the prize was awarded to Mikhail Gorbachev for his "leading role in the peace process which today characterizes important parts of the international community".

“This peace process, to which Gorbachev has contributed so significantly to, opens up new possibilities for the world community to resolve its pressing problems, regardless of ideological, religious, historical and cultural differences.”

Gorbachev became General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1985 and the only president of the USSR from 1990 to 1991. The era of his rule became to be known as ‘perestroika’ (which literally translates as ‘reconstruction’), which meant a transition to democracy and cooperation with capitalist countries.

Gorbachev radically changed the USSR’s foreign policy and embarked on a course of disarmament. He ended the Cold War with the United States, lifted the ‘Iron Curtain’ and also contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was built in the post-war years.

For Soviet citizens, ‘perestroika’ signified the easing of censorship and the emergence of a market economy.

Nevertheless, the awarding of the prize to Gorbachev sparked much controversy. Many Soviet citizens were convinced that the country had surrendered its political positions to the West and that, overall, his policies had led to the collapse of the country.

📷 Pascal Le Segretain/Sygma via Getty Images, Sergey Guneev/Sputnik

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How the #Nazis called Soviet military equipment during World War II

‘Ghost’
In the early stages of the war, the Germans were powerless against the KV-1 heavy tank. Their artillery shells sometimes failed to leave even a dent in its powerful armor. This inspired such a mystical terror that they nicknamed the Soviet tank ‘Ghost’.

‘Mickey Mouse’
The BT-7 light tank (a ‘fast tank’), specifically the 1937 model, was associated with Mickey Mouse by the Germans. Its two oval turret hatches, when open, reminded them of the ears of the famous mouse. Some versions of the T-34 medium tank also had two hatches and earned this nickname, as well.

‘Black death’
The Red Army nicknamed the Il-12 armored attack aircraft the ‘Flying tank’, while Luftwaffe pilots called it the ‘Concrete plane’. But German soldiers, who came under its devastating fire on the ground, dubbed it the ‘Black death’.

‘Indestructible Locust’
The T-60 light tank had weak armament and armor, but it could easily be produced in large quantities. While factories were ramping up production of the T-34, it was the T-60s that supported the infantry on the battlefield. The Germans called it the ‘Indestructible locust’ – destroy one and another immediately appears in its place.

‘Ratsch-Boom’
One of the best artillery pieces of World War II, the 76mm ZIS-3 divisional gun, was known in the Wehrmacht as the ‘Ratsch-Boom’: the shell hit its target ("ratsch!") faster than the sound of the gunshot ("boom!").

‘Can Opener’
The ISU-152 heavy self-propelled artillery unit "opened up" German Tigers and Panthers so skillfully with its 152mm howitzer-gun that Wehrmacht tankers dubbed it the ‘Can opener’.

Credit: Sovfoto/Universal Images Group/Getty Images; Public domain; Boris Vdovenko/Dmitry Baltermants/МАММ/МDF/Arkady Shaikhet/Private collection/russiainphoto.ru; Alexander Gribovsky/TASS;

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