Oxford LibGuides: Eastern Europe, North Central Asia (History and Social Sciences): Free Online Resources

Introduction

In addition to the resources the Bodleian Libraries purchase, there are a number of alternative free online resources to support Slavonic and East European studies. If you have any suggestions to help us expand this page, please contact the Subject Consultant, Eleanor Peers.

Free online resources

OERs are any type of teaching and/or learning materials that are freely available in the public domain, published under open licenses. Those listed below are applicable to the study of Slavonic and East European Studies.

Ponars Eurasia
Oxford University podcasts on Russia and Eastern Europe
Post-Soviet Press Pod
A series of podcasts from the Post-Soviet Press Group at University College London.

Mass media sources can reveal a great deal. You will find a section on Slavonic and East European newspapers in the Research Guide on Newspapers.

Novaya Gazeta
A leading Russian independent newspaper.
Argumenty i Fakty
This Russian newspaper became very popular during perestroika. It has since become pro-government.
Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti
This is one example of Russia's many regional newspapers. It is based in Saint Petersburg.
Kapital
A leading Bulgarian newspaper.
Sega
A popular Bulgarian newspaper.
Nasha Niva
A Belarusian newspaper.
Ukrainska Pravda
A leading Ukrainian newspaper.
Nova Makedonija
A newspaper based in Macedonia.

Mosfilm YouTube channel
Mosfilm, one of the Soviet Union's main film studios, has put many of its films on this YouTube channel.
Odesa Film Studio YouTube channel
The Bridge: videos on archival research in Russia
Soviet TV programmes
YouTube channel showing Soviet state TV programmes, from GOSTELERADIOFOND.

Fond Obshchestvennoe Mnenie
A Russian polling agency.
Vserossiiskii Tsentr Obshchestvennogo mneniia
A Russian polling agency.
Levada-Center
Russia's independent polling agency.
Ukrainian open access data
Ukraine's state open access portal
Cyberleninka
This resource links you to open access academic texts from Russia.

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An English version at cyberleninka.org existed until 2025.
Electronic repository of Russian Historical statistics
Russian State Library
State Public Historical Library of Russia
The website of Russia's State Public Historical Library, offering online catalogues and access to some open access texts.
Library of the Russkoe Geograficheskoe obshchestvo
This resource offers open access copies of Russian Geographical Society reports from across the Tsarist Empire.
Russian National Electronic Library (NEB)
Guide to Russian Archives
Letopis’ zhurnal’nykh statei
A Russian bibliographic resource, based on digitising historical bibliographic periodicals (letopisi).
Gorky Media
Provides access to Russian open access literary journals (tolstushki).
Ukrainian periodical archive
Combined portal for searching Ukrainian archives
Center for Urban History, Lviv
Fontes
Online archive on Ukrainian history from the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.
Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO)
Kamunikat
Belarusian Internet library
Online encyclopaedia from the National Library of Belarus
Prozhito
Online historical archive about the Soviet Union.
International Memorial list of sources on the GULAG
Soviet Samizdat Periodicals
Open Society Archives
Foundation of Siberian Cultures
Central Asia and Siberia Specialized Information Service
Endangered cultures and languages in Siberia
Smithsonian Open Access
The Smithsonian has a very important collection of artefacts from Eurasia.
Online Primary Sources for Russian, Caucasian, Central Asian, Eastern and Central Europe Studies
This is a collection of websites providing open access resources about the region.
Osmikon digital source collections and microforms
A collection of digital and microform sources presented by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.
Secondary Archive
Platform for women artists from Central and Eastern Europe.
Hoover Institution Digital Collections
The Hoover Institution collections contain digitised material that is freely available.
Seventeen Moments in Soviet History
Russian Independent Media Online
Keston Digital Archive
Covers the persecution of religion under Communist and other regimes.
Wilson Center Digital Archive

Disclaimer

We accept no responsibility for the content of these external websites, which may have their own terms and conditions. Websites based in the Russian Federation and Belarus can be unstable, and can carry security warnings.