20+ photos of Russian babushkas like you’ve never seen them before!

Lifestyle
Russia Beyond
‘Pravda’ newspaper, axe and bones, 1984

‘Pravda’ newspaper, axe and bones, 1984

Vladimir Vorobiev/MAMM/MDF
We’re used to seeing a Russian babushka as a calm old woman in a headscarf sitting on her knitwork. But not all of them are so soft and kind! We’ve put together a gallery of badass Russian grandmas that you won’t want to mess with!

Russian babushkas never give up and defy all stereotypes. People say they can stop a running horse and enter a burning house. They raise their grandchildren, keep the house in order, never complain about life and always try to stay positive! And here is photo evidence of their endless energy!

Museum guards

Museum guards

Vladimir Vorobiev/MAMM/MDF
Two old women having small talk

Two old women having small talk

Vladimir Vorobiev/MAMM/MDF
An old saleswoman in the GUM department store in Moscow

An old saleswoman in the GUM department store in Moscow

Semen Mishin-Morgenstern/MAMM/MDF
An old woman from Chukotka

An old woman from Chukotka

Dmitry Baltermanz/MAMM/MDF
An old woman knitting, 1949

An old woman knitting, 1949

Georgy Lipskerov/MAMM/MDF
A countryside cyclist and an old woman with a yoke, 1979

A countryside cyclist and an old woman with a yoke, 1979

Vladimir Sokolaev/MAMM/MDF
A peasant woman during World War II

A peasant woman during World War II

Arkady Shaikher/Private collection
“Once upon a time there lived an old woman and an old man”

“Once upon a time there lived an old woman and an old man”

I.Lagunov/The State historical Museum of Southern Ural
“Don’t worry!”

“Don’t worry!”

Rustam Mukhametzyanov/Rustam Mukhametzyanov archive
An old woman holding a sheaf of grain

An old woman holding a sheaf of grain

Leonid Shokin/MAMM/MDF
A grandma cleaning mushrooms she just picked

A grandma cleaning mushrooms she just picked

L.Zhaleiko/A.Sologubova collection
An old woman posing on a tractor

An old woman posing on a tractor

Mikhail Prishvin/State Literature Museum
An old woman posing in a headscarf, 1870s

An old woman posing in a headscarf, 1870s

A.Krasovsky/MAMM/MDF
Leo Tolstoy and his wife Sofya

Leo Tolstoy and his wife Sofya

Leo Tolstoy State Museum
A peasant woman hauling her disabled son near Sarov Monastery, 1903

A peasant woman hauling her disabled son near Sarov Monastery, 1903

‘K.E.von Hahn and Ko’ photo studio/Sarov Monastery museum
Maria Polenova with Alisa the horse. Pavlovskoye estate

Maria Polenova with Alisa the horse. Pavlovskoye estate

Boris Kustodiev/Astrakhan State Art gallery
‘The Exodus’ After the Nazis aviation bombed Murmansk

‘The Exodus’ After the Nazis aviation bombed Murmansk

Yevgeny Khaldei/MAMM/MDF
An old woman sitting on a bench, 1956

An old woman sitting on a bench, 1956

Yevgeny Khaldei/MAMM/MDF
A grandmother and her ‘little’ grandson, 1960s

A grandmother and her ‘little’ grandson, 1960s

Anatoly Boldin/MAMM/MDF
An old woman selling potatoes at a railway station somewhere in the Urals, 1974

An old woman selling potatoes at a railway station somewhere in the Urals, 1974

Dmitry Vozdvizhensky, Nina Sviridova/MAMM/MDF
A group of old women on a holiday in a village, 1978

A group of old women on a holiday in a village, 1978

Denis Tyulenev archive

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