Russkaya Volya (literally: Russian Will) was a daily newspaper on political, public, and literary matters, published in 1916—1917 in Petrograd (currently, Saint Petersburg). The first issue saw the light on December 15, 1916. The editorial said:

The newspaper ran a column headed “War, ” where they published messages from war correspondents. There were also sections focusing on politics and economy.

The section for literary criticism was headed by the author Leonid Andreyev who, among other things, published his own articles, essays, and critical reviews. The Bolsheviks harshly criticized the newspaper, and it was shut down right after the October Revolution. Their publishing office was passed on to the Pravda newspaper.

During the troubling times of the Revolution, when World War One was still raging and the future was vague, newspapers and magazines gave people the so much needed food for thought. Published articles and news were virtually the only source of true information for the people in a sea of growing rumors.

The Mytishchi History and Art Museum owns a copy of Russkaya Volya dated March 5, 1917. Old newspapers can tell us a lot about the time when they were published if you read closely. Alongside with rather grim articles, the newspaper had many cheerful and funny notes. In general, an analysis of newspaper articles of those times can leave an impression that since the start of the war people did nothing but had fun. Advertisements published on the pages pulled you into a whirlpool of entertainment, just to get distracted and forget about everyday problems.

Announcements of performances, concerts, balls, and other amusing events followed one after another. Newspapers featured news stories about performers coming from another city to give a show and about lotteries, as well as ads of dancing and language classes.