Between 1799 and 1834, thirty-two Russian settlements were renamed in honor of European regions that had been liberated or conquered by Russian soldiers. That's how in the southern Ural mountains, villages gained names like Paris, Berlin, Leipzig, Warsaw, Balkans, and other such.

Over the last two centuries, regions of Russia and other parts of Europe have repeatedly been divided and combined, breaking up and forming new political entities.

The photographer visited villages and small towns bearing these foreign names, searching for Russia’s cultural and economic connections with the West. This research digs into the depths of contemporary Russia while linking it with the outside world.