• Russia's war on Ukraine has deepened a divide between the former Soviet nation and Europe. • Before the end of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain cut off the Soviet Union from the rest of Europe. • Life there was restricted, but as its leaders changed, Western influence began to reach residents.

The US and Russia might be trying to strengthen relations as President Donald Trump aims to end the war in Ukraine, but there was once a time when the two nations couldn't be further apart.

During the Cold War, the Iron Curtain was a figurative and ideological wall — and eventually a physical one — that separated the Soviet Union from Western Europe after World War II.

Vintage photos provide a peek behind the curtain and show that, while members of the Soviet Union worked tirelessly to prove i

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