Underwater photographer of the year – winner. Dancing Octopus by Gabriel Barathieu (France). Location: Island of Mayotte, off the coast of south-east Africa. “Balletic and malevolent”, one judge said of this octopus, hunting in a lagoon. Barathieu waited until spring tides when there was just 30cm of water on the flats and plenty of light in the shallows. (Photo by Gabriel Barathieu/UPY2017)

The Predator’s Fins: Atho Ullah, Indonesia. 3rd place, Portfolio category. A freshly caught shark is taken ashore. Efforts to regulate shark fishing in Indonesia are not effective enough. Lack of awareness of the role sharks play in the ocean’s ecosystem poses a major threat to marine life. (Photo by Atho Ullah/2020 Hamdan International Photography Award)

Photo: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924) lying in state in the Kremlin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1924

Important! For the same article in Russian language click here.

Something quite intriguing is happening within Russian-speaking internet during the last few – should you type a fully academic inquiry (at least, according to Russian academic requirements) in national search engines for "Lenin's mausoleum" – the first thing you get (even in top 10 searches) is website pages talking about black magic and occult. Website authors view this construction differently, but unconditionally agree on one thing: the mausoleum of the "leader of the world proletariat” – the essence of a magical artifact, a sort of “energy vampire”. It was built with a certain purpose: to drain the energy out of miserable Soviet citizens on one hand; and to poison the anthroposphere of one-sixth part of the earth with its vibes (the exact territory that was occupied by the former Soviet Union), depriving the Russian people of will to resist on the other hand. Complete nonsense? No doubt. Nevertheless, an intriguing one. Well, probably because some oddities do exist in mausoleum's history. These oddities are the thing we are going to discuss this time. First, let me refresh you memory on the subject.

Confiscated rare and protected wildlife products such as these stuffed Sumatran tiger skins are burned and destroyed during a ceremony by government forestry and wildlife officials in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia May 23, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Irwansyah Putra/Reuters/Antara Foto)

Tourists watch the Christmas Day sunrise behind Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Friday, December 25, 2015. (Photo by J. David Ake/AP Photo)

A participant runs in high-heels as she competes in the Stiletto Run in Bucharest June 14, 2014. The annual 50 metres race requires participants to wear high-heels that are at least 7cm tall. (Photo by Bogdan Cristel/Reuters)

Raccoon Fritzi eats at the home of veterinarian Mathilde Laininger in Berlin, Germany, January 27, 2022. She cares for four raccoons that can no longer be released into the wild. Raccoon Fritzi has an Instagram account with ten thousand followers. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

In this undated photo released Tuesday April 13, 2021, by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, A Tu-160 strategic bomber of the Russian air force is shown on a training mission somewhere in Russia. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday described a massive military buildup in western Russia as part of drills intended to check the armed forces' readiness amid the threats posed by NATO. (Photo by Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP Photo)