Thanks for your replies @
vostok . Several years ago I had visited Eastern Europe with a bunch of my friends from Japan and the United States. We took the Euro-Rail and then when we arrived to Western Ukraine we took the Ukrainian rail from Lvov to Kiev. When we were in Kiev we had a historical tour -- visited the Maidan , and even went to the Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, as well as visited the underfloor monastery (Orthodox Christian) that had the preserved bodies of the Saints. It was wonderful experience for me as an Orthodox Christian , really. What inspired me was that when we arrived to Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, the priests explained to us that apparently during the 13th century when the Armies of the Golden Horde came to siege Kievan Rus, the people who were in the cathedral were spared. There was an attribution to this as a miracle. The frescos , paintings, even the Iconostasis are apparently an example of classical Byzantine theological art. Everything is preserved ...beautiful. Am actually a fan and adorer of the Kievan Rus King, Yaroslav the Wise, the first of the Rus to convert to Christianity. I admire a lot about Russian, history and culture. Even the cyrillic language, which was a gift to all people by St. Cyrillus, Glory be to God. I had visited also Belorussia -- and stayed in Minsk for couple of days for filming and to attend the tours. I never had the chance to visit Russia proper , but someday, I would love to.