This photograph taken during a government organised media tour shows people in traditional costume standing in Potala Palace Square as the Potala Palace – classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1994 – is seen in the background in the regional capital Lhasa, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on June 1, 2021. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

A supporter dressed as flamingo cheers on the riders during the 12th stage of the 102nd Giro d'Italia – Tour of Italy – cycle race, 158kms from Cuneo to Pinerolo on May 23, 2019. (Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo)

Handler Jorge Garcia-Bengochea holds Honor, a miniature therapy horse from Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, as they visit with patients at the Kravis Children's Hospital at Mount Sinai in the Manhattan borough of New York City, March 16, 2016. Some of the most powerful medicine delivered to young patients at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on Wednesday came in a package less than 32 inches tall and with a tail. Honor, a 10-month-old colt with Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, trotted into the hearts of dozens of children and teens being treated at the Manhattan hospital. (Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters)

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.

In this February 19, 2014 photo, a skate seller puts slices of skate into styrofoam boxes for shipment to customers around South Korea at a fish market in Mokpo, a port city on the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula. The aroma of one of southwestern South Korea's most popular delicacies regularly gets compared to rotting garbage and filthy bathrooms. And that's by fans. The unusual dish is typically made by taking dozens of fresh skate, a cartilage-rich fish that looks like a stingray, stacking them up in a walk-in refrigerator and waiting. Up to a month in some cases. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Gigi Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski celebrated the opening of the shopping centre by taking part in the evening's ribbon cutting ceremony in Mykonos, Greece on June 30, 2018. (Photo by Richard Young/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Model Adriana Lima attends Madonna presents An Evening of Music, Art, Mischief and Performance to benefit Raising Malawi at Faena Forum on December 2, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Raising Malawi)

“I started photography in June 2009. At the time, I was searching for a way to express both the rigorous scientist and the creative artist in me. There are few hobbies that let these two approaches work together, so I really was enthusiastic about it: I am now spending all my free time studying various techniques, contemplating others' fantastic work, and of course, making pictures”. – Christophe Kiciak. Photo: “The Hero”. (Photo by Christophe Kiciak)