It was Peter I who truly opened up Belgium to Russia. In 1717, during his second trip to western Europe, the Russian reformer tsar made an official visit to these lands.

Late last year in Yasnaya Polyana the ashes of Leo Tolstoy’s son Mikhail were reburied. For many years he had lived in Morocco, and it was in the capital city of Rabat that he had died. In the first half of the 20th century, this North African country, at the time a French protectorate, became a second home for many of our fellow citizens, including representatives of prominent aristocratic families who by the will of fate found themselves in this strange land.

It is well known that the largest Russian diasporas were established only recently - less than twenty years ago. Their formation was associated with the collapse of the Soviet Union, which resulted in nearly twenty-five million Russians and Russian-speakers being separated from their homeland virtually overnight.