What Soviet Russia was like in 1985 (PHOTOS)

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the new general secretary of the Communist party and de facto leader of the country. It was under him that the era of great change and openness of the USSR to the world began. 

Chairman of the French National Assembly Louis Mermaz (pictured in the center) paid an official visit to the USSR.

It became easier for foreigners to get into the USSR. French tourists were also frequent visitors to the country. The photo shows them drinking tea from a samovar in the cold. 

The 12th World Festival of Youth and Students also took place in Moscow, attended by 26,000 people from 157 countries. The photo shows a scene from the opening ceremony at the Luzhniki Stadium. 

That same year, Gorbachev met with U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Geneva and they negotiated an arms race. This was one of the first steps toward ending the Cold War. 

Gorbachev's name is also associated with the gradual rehabilitation of the Russian Orthodox Church. The photo shows Patriarch Pimen during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Theological Academy in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

In 1985, the USSR celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Victory in World War II. The photo below shows the parade on the Red Square. 

Brothers in arms, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, also celebrating the anniversary of the Victory. 

The jubilee of ballerina Maya Plisetskaya was celebrated in the The Bolshoi Theater, the main stage of which is covered with flowers her fans brought to her. 

In her 60s, she was still a prima and performed regularly.

An action shot of an ambulance in Moscow taken through a fisheye lens.

Costume-themed ski slope event in the Moscow region.

In 1984, synchronized swimming was first presented in the program of the Summer Olympics. The USSR boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles. But, the national team started active training. The photo below shows the Olympic swimming pool in Moscow.

The whole country was crazy about ice hockey. And at an international tournament arranged by the ‘Izvestia’ newspaper in Moscow, the USSR national team played Canada, Sweden, Finland and other countries.

The famous ‘Arktika’ icebreaker. In 1977, it became the first ship in history to reach the North Pole in a surface voyage. 

By 1985, revenue from oil and gas production in the USSR had reached its peak. The ‘Murmanskaya-20’ drilling rig is pictured in the photo below. 

Engineers of the forestry institute of the Komi Republic at work.

Soviet school children doing physical exercises between classes.

International students attending classes at the Moscow University of People's Friendship.

Zodchego Rossi Street in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), where the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is located.

Soviet newlyweds and friends and family pose on the staircase in the Palace of Marriage in Leningrad.

Winter fishing, meanwhile, was popular on the frozen Volga River.

Happy Soviet childhood kind of looked like this…

A young man attending a computer exhibition. By the way, it was in 1985 that top-level domains (.com, .net, .org and others) were first registered.

The 1980s was also the time of rock and roll, even in the USSR. Below is the cover of the album ‘Everest’

Aquarium, one of the oldest Soviet and Russian rock bands, and its first members posing for a group photo.

Oriental flavor of the country of Soviets, the old bazaar in Kazan.

Nevsky Prospekt in Leningrad.

Children rushing to their line at the pioneer camp. 

Tour boat in Leningrad.

Soviet industrial robot.

Meeting the father. A son returning from the war in Afghanistan.

Fashion of the 1980s.

Soviet Father Frosts on New Year's Eve.