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Residents carrying their belongings and pet dogs wade through a flooded street as they evacuate from their inundated homes in Liloan town, Cebu province, on November 4, 2025, after Typhoon Kalmaegi hit overnight. (Photo by Alan Tangcawan/AFP Photo)

Residents carrying their belongings and pet dogs wade through a flooded street as they evacuate from their inundated homes in Liloan town, Cebu province, on November 4, 2025, after Typhoon Kalmaegi hit overnight. (Photo by Alan Tangcawan/AFP Photo)
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07 Nov 2025 02:46:00
1924:  Vladimir Ilyich Lenin lying in state in the Kremlin

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.
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16 Oct 2011 11:27:00
A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market on February 6, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to more than 28000 in mainland China Thursday, days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global public health emergency. China continued to lock down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts have confirmed can be passed from human to human. In an unprecedented move, Chinese authorities have put travel restrictions on the city which is the epicenter of the virus and municipalities in other parts of the country affecting tens of millions of people. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to over 564 on Thursday, mostly in Hubei province, and cases have been reported in other countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and several others. The World Health Organization has warned all governments to be on alert and screening has been stepped up at airports around the world. Some countries, including the United States, have put restrictions on Chinese travelers entering and advised their citizens against travel to China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market on February 6, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to more than 28000 in mainland China Thursday, days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global public health emergency. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
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09 Feb 2020 00:07:00
Chinese women wear protective masks as they are dressed in traditional clothing from the Qing Dynasty era outside a park on March 29, 2020 in Beijing, China. A limited section of the iconic tourist site was re-opened to the public this week allowing a smaller number of visitors to reserve tickets online in advance and to enter after passing health screening. With the pandemic hitting hard across the world, China recorded its first day with no new domestic cases of the coronavirus last week, since the government imposed sweeping measures to keep the disease from spreading. For two months, millions of people across China have been restricted in how they move from their homes, while other cities have been locked down in ways that appeared severe at the time but are now being replicated in other countries trying to contain the virus. Officials believe the worst appears to be over in China, though there are concerns of another wave of infections as the government attempts to reboot the worlds second largest economy. In Beijing, it is mandatory to wear masks outdoors, retail stores operate on reduced hours, restaurants employ social distancing among patrons, and tourist attractions at risk of drawing large crowds remain closed. Monitoring and enforcement of virus-related measures and the quarantine of anyone arriving to Beijing is carried out by neighborhood committees and a network of Communist Party volunteers who wear red arm bands. A primary concern for Chinese authorities remains the arrival of flights from Europe and elsewhere, given the exposure of passengers in regions now regarded as hotbeds for transmission. Since January, China has recorded more than 81,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 3200 deaths, mostly in and around the city of Wuhan, in central Hubei province, where the outbreak first started. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Chinese women wear protective masks as they are dressed in traditional clothing from the Qing Dynasty era outside a park on March 29, 2020 in Beijing, China. A limited section of the iconic tourist site was re-opened to the public this week allowing a smaller number of visitors to reserve tickets online in advance and to enter after passing health screening. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
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01 Apr 2020 00:05:00
English National Opera presents Georges Bizet's “Carmen” at the London Coliseum in London on October 6, 2025. (Photo by Jane Hobson/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

English National Opera presents Georges Bizet's “Carmen” at the London Coliseum in London on October 6, 2025. (Photo by Jane Hobson/Rex Features/Shutterstock)
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19 Oct 2025 03:48:00
Retired builder Vasili Sidamonidze, 70, poses for a portrait at his home in Gori, Georgia, December 6, 2016. “Unfortunately, Stalin is not popular nowadays. Our people don't respect him. Only we, members of the (Communist) Party, respect him”, Sidamonidze said. “I always try to attend Stalin's birthday anniversaries in Gori. Unfortunately many people don't want to join us even if they live nearby. They look at us from their windows”. Stalin, who was born in Gori in 1878 and died in 1953, is largely reviled today in Georgia, which regained its independence during the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Over the years, his memorials have been dismantled, most recently in 2010 when authorities removed a statue of the dictator from Gori's central square. But Stalin is still revered by a small group of mainly elderly supporters who stress his role in the industrialisation of the Soviet Union and in defeating Nazi Germany in World War Two. Each Dec. 21, a few dozen people mark his birthday by gathering outside a Gori museum dedicated to Stalin, where they make speeches and walk to the square where a 6-meter-high bronze statue of him once stood, calling for it to be reinstated. Opponents say it was a symbol of Moscow's still lingering shadow. In 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia and recognised its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

Retired builder Vasili Sidamonidze, 70, poses for a portrait at his home in Gori, Georgia, December 6, 2016. “Unfortunately, Stalin is not popular nowadays. Our people don't respect him. Only we, members of the (Communist) Party, respect him”, Sidamonidze said. “I always try to attend Stalin's birthday anniversaries in Gori. Unfortunately many people don't want to join us even if they live nearby. They look at us from their windows”. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)
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17 Dec 2016 07:59:00
A tribal Fulani man milks a cow at a local milk collecting centre in Dangwala Karfi village on the outskirts of Nigeria's northern city of Kano January 19, 2016. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

A tribal Fulani man milks a cow at a local milk collecting centre in Dangwala Karfi village on the outskirts of Nigeria's northern city of Kano January 19, 2016. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)
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21 Jan 2016 08:00:00
Monkeys sit along a street during a snowfall in Ayubia, some 75 km north of Islamabad, Pakistan on January 7, 2020. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo)

Monkeys sit along a street during a snowfall in Ayubia, some 75 km north of Islamabad, Pakistan on January 7, 2020. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo)
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24 Jan 2020 00:01:00