The downward trend in the role of the primary and secondary sectors of the Russian economy has become especially noticeable in the post-Soviet period during the transition to market relations. When analyzing the accelerated development of the tertiary sector, the main emphasis is usually placed on its objective nature and compliance with global trends. However, despite the common model of transformation of the structure of the economy with European countries, the results achieved both quantitatively and qualitatively differ from the level of more developed countries. These differences are even more pronounced at the regional level. In the article, the results of the tertiary sector development in Russia in the post-Soviet period are presented in comparison with other European countries and by the federal subjects. The research information base includes Eurostat and World Bank databases for cross-country comparisons, Rosstat materials for the typology of Russian regions, and quarterly data on tax contributions from the Federal Tax Service for the analysis of the stability of the tertiary sector sub-sectors in the context of the coronavirus crisis. Russia’s lagging in terms of the share of the tertiary sector in the economy, which was rapidly decreasing in the first decade and a half of the post-Soviet period, has stabilized in recent years. The lagging behind developed European countries is determined by the weighted structure of the economy, combined with unfavorable institutional conditions for the development of B2B services, lowered consumption standards of the population, including those associated with its relatively low incomes, the sparseness of the settlement system, and tardy entry into the period of tertiarization. At the regional level, the quantitative and qualitative tertiary sector growth is characteristic of a stable group of fifteen of the most advanced federal subjects. In most of the rest regions, it is rather derivative on the background of a recession in other sectors of the economy. The resilience of the tertiary sector during the coronavirus crisis has been determined by the ratio of more inertial non-market and vulnerable market subsectors. The group with the largest relative losses includes both strong regions with moderate diversification of the tertiary sector and an increased share of B2B services and the weakest regions, where market branches are mainly represented by retail trade.

The complexity of knowledge generation has led to the growth of international networks of scientific cooperation, and integration into these networks is a vital factor of competitiveness. The development of cross-border scientific cooperation pursues two general objectives: firstly, regional development due to the peculiarities of the economic-geographical position, and secondly, economic development by reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of knowledge sharing as a result of a combination of geographical and a-spatial types of proximity. This article focuses on the study of the border cities of Russia in the context of determining their ability to create scientific knowledge, as well as the potential for integration into cross-border scientific cooperation networks. The study uses scientometric methods in combination with qualitative assessments, which made it possible to obtain more holistic ideas about the development trajectory of the scientific space of the Russian borderland. The results of this study showed that the border cities of Russia concentrate significant scientific potential. However, its implementation depends on the population size of the city, the distance from the border and a strong scientific center, the degree of institutional, cognitive, cultural, and other proximity to neighboring cities of the bordering states, and the development level of research in the latter.

The results of studies of changes in agrometeorological characteristics on the territory of Belarus in recent decades and their impact on the state of flora and fauna of the country are presented. It is shown that the isoline of the annual sum of active daily temperatures exceeding 10°С moves from the south to the north of the country at an average speed of about 12 km per year. The northern boundary of the growing season duration since the beginning of the period of modern warming has shifted to the north of Belarus by about 280 km and the average growing season duration has increased by 12 days. An increase in air temperature and evaporation with an almost unchanged annual amount of precipitation causes an increase in the aridity of the climate of Belarus. The average annual effective precipitation (excluding potential evaporation) decreases at a rate of about 6 mm/year and the zero balance between precipitation and potential evaporation moves to the north of Belarus at an average speed of 19 km per year. Statistical analysis of the relationship between the leaf area index (LAI) and meteorological parameters for the warm season shows that at present time the main factor limiting the growth of ecosystems’ biological productivity in Belarus is the precipitation amount. Modern climate changes do not contribute to an increase of the cultivated land biological productivity in the southern and central parts of Belarus (below the latitude of Minsk), the LAI here is decreasing at a rate of up to 2% per year. The displacement of agroclimatic zones and the increased climate aridity have led to the expansion of steppe plant and animal species of various taxonomic groups to the territory of Belarus as well as to changes in the aquatic flora and fauna.

The article analyzes in detail the wind regime of the cold period of the year (October–April) and assesses the deflationary danger of soils in the southern part of the Tomsk Oblast. The source materials were historical-geographical, cartographic, literary sources, wind speed data for the cold period of the weather stations Tomsk (1965–2017), Pervomayskoye (1965–2015) located in the subtaiga zone, and Bakchar (1965–2015) in the southern taiga subzone. For the key section (20 km to the south-east of Tomsk), were used data from observations of the Tomsk aerometric station (AMSC Tomsk), located among agricultural land in an open area (1991–2015). Hourly data on wind speed and direction were analyzed for 2006–2015. Soil resistance to wind erosion is calculated according to the dependence proposed by M.E. Belgibaev. The ratio of the percentage composition of physical clay (less than 0.01 mm) and physical sand (0.01–1.0 mm) was proposed to be called the deflationary hazard indicator (DHI). This indicator is determined for the upper soil horizons (0–10 and 10–20 cm). The value of the DHI is distributed as follows: 0–0.3, very much pliable; 0.3–0.6, very pliable; 0.6–1.2, moderately pliable; 1.2–2.0 or more, slightly pliable. Soil deflation occurs unevenly in time and space and is cyclical in nature from 1–2 to 5–6 years. In the snow layer, up to 824–1848 g/m2 of aeolian particles accumulate during the years of active manifestation (2012). Deflation is most intense in the cold period of the year in the little-snowy winter during blowing snow. In addition, the process develops unevenly due to the influence of the meso- and micro-relief of arable land. Aeolian deposits in the snow layer are closely related to the soils of the region, the humus content reaches in them 5.1%.

The article analyzes the conditions for the formation of the river channel and river morphology in the lower reaches of the Ob River within the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Despite its important economic and water transport significance, the lower Ob River has remained practically unexplored until now. The geomorphological structure of the valley determines the formation of a wide-floodplain channel. The floodplain reaches 50 km across and narrows to 10 km only near Salekhard. For the first time, the bifurcated channel appears within the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. The beginning of the bifurcated channel within the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is the Bolshoy Nyurik branch between the two main branches—Malaya Ob and Bolshaya Ob. Numerous floodplain channels branching off from the Malaya Ob reduce its water content to 10% of the total water. This is accompanied by a change in the river morphology and the parameters of riverbends. At the same time, the intensity of riverbank erosion decreases. In addition to the riverbends on the Malaya Ob, there are often segments of an unbranched channel. The Bolshaya Ob has an unbranched channel due to its location along the right valley side. Along with the data on water runoff dispersion, the data on the distribution of suspended load along the branches are presented during the flood. It is shown that its change is greatly influenced by riverbanks erosion and the floodplain branches, especially on the Malaya Ob. The obtained materials, in addition to general scientific value, are important for substantiating projects for water management and water transport development of the Ob River.

The content distribution of heavy metals in river sediments within the technogenic disturbed geosystems of the Eastern Donbas (in the Seversky Donets and Tuzlov river basins) is studied. The content of heavy metals varies widely. At the same time, the highest concentrations are characteristic of iron and manganese and the lowest concentrations—of lead and cobalt. To assess the level of bottom sediments contamination with heavy metals we used the fraction <0.01 mm (pelitic fraction) extracted from gross samples. This fraction not only>dominates most of sediments’ samples but concentrates a major part of heavy metals, and has the best indicator properties when characterizing the pollution of river ecosystems. The work used generally accepted Russian and international indices such as total pollution index (Z_c), contamination factor (C_f), degree of contamination (C_d), geoaccumulation index (I_geo); in addition average continental shale values were used as a baseline concentration for the fraction <0.01 mm. The heavy metal pollution level of river bottom sediments in>the Seversky Donets and Tuzlov river basins is classified as “moderate” by the degree of contamination index and “uncontaminated” or “uncontaminated to moderately contaminated” by the geoaccumulation index, and “low” by total pollution index. In general metal contamination of river sediments is lower in the Seversky Donets basin than in the Tuzlov basin, which is associated with a more intense anthropogenic load. The results of using different indices seem to be comparable. Generally, the pollution level of river bottom sediments within the technogenic disturbed geosystems of the Eastern Donbas can be described as relatively low.

Highlighting the ideologically significant factors but paying little attention to the personal beliefs and mindsets are common for publications considering the identity of the Kaliningrad Oblast inhabitants. At best, the authors refer to local myths and stereotypes. To address this shortcoming, we suggest considering the identity as a reflexive construction, strengthened by narratives and controlled by social practices. The paper is aimed to show how the refocusing of thinking of social reality was affecting the Kaliningrad Oblast’s society during the last decade and to reveal its impact on the self-identification of Kaliningrad Oblast inhabitants. The research is based on the interviews carried out by the authors in the summer of 2020. The results of the content analyses of the text materials were compared with the data of previous surveys and research. The analysis reveals that the two opposing cultural phenomena are essential for the regional society: the first is “outdating,” a reflection on the current processes and changes in terms which are relevant for previous periods; and the second is “outscoring,” an introduction of the narratives and practices typical for the post-modern society. The authors hypothesize that the current level of pluralism achieved by the regional society, as well as the combination of the traditional and modern values, provide the necessary resilience for the identity of the Kaliningrad Oblast inhabitants and make it possible to consider this identity as a driver of the regional development. Nevertheless, the current balance is fragile, and it can be threatened by the discrepancy between the politics of identity retention, managed by the traditional state-oriented tools, and the reflexivity of modern individuals, which are weakly regulated by traditions, social prescriptions, or ascriptions. This hypothesis requires further verification.

The scientific rationale for ecosystem-based adaptation projects is comprehensive. This work considers a set of measures aimed at preserving the ecosystems of Lake Balkhash and the Ili River that are vulnerable to current climate change. Adaptation activities, in particular, the restoration of tugai forests, are designed to increase the water-regulating and environmental-forming functions of the Ili River Delta, which will increase the stabilization of the water regime of Lake Balkhash and the resilience of its ecosystems to any climate change scenarios in the region. In addition, forest plantations will accumulate carbon in pools of phytomass, deadwood, litter, and soil. The paper describes the calculation methodology, which makes it possible to predict carbon uptake by the pool of phytomass of the planted forests using fragmentary data on the dynamics of taxation indicators. The obtained values of carbon absorption by the tree phytomass are applied to reforestation scenarios that set the rate of reforestation by tree species. According to the forecasts received, reforestation in the Ili River Delta on the area of 200 thous. ha over 30 years will lead to the accumulation of 7 Mt C by tree phytomass, which corresponds to a normalized absorption of 1.15 t C/ha/year. The mitigation effect of the project is quite sufficient to have independent value.

The article proposes a new methodology for zoning of Russian territory according to road traffic and climatic conditions. The duration of stable warm and cold year periods is used as the main criteria for zoning. The changes of these parameters on the territory of Russia from the base climatic period (1961–1990) and through the next 25 years (1991–2015) are considered; the statistical significance of these changes is estimated. The zoning maps are presented according to the data for the two time periods. The displacement of the zones’ boundaries due to warming is about 200–300 km. This distance is comparable to the length of the Russian Federation’s subjects. The consequences of the global warming for the road traffic in Russia are ambiguous. In general, the reduction of the cold season observed almost everywhere in Russia has a positive effect on motor transport. But such unfavorable conditions like snowfalls and zero-crossing of air temperature have increased in some parts of Russia. Regions with a high density of roads are located in neutral and favorable zones according to road traffic and meteorological conditions.

Scientific works and ideas of Yu.G. Lipets (1931–2006) had a great impact on the development of the Soviet and Russian human geography in the last third of the 20th – early 21st century. Lipets began his scientific career in the early 1960s as an expert in the geography of African countries. He has left a rich scientific legacy in geographical African studies. Lipets was the author of pioneering economic and geographical works on the countries of Southeast Africa, economic regionalization of Africa, urbanization, population migration, labor resources, formation of labor markets in African countries. Later, over the years of his work at the Central Economic Mathematical Institute and the Institute of Geography (within the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union and Russian Academy of Sciences), Lipets became a prominent scientist in the field of system modeling and implementation of quantitative methods in human geography. The spectrum of his scientific studies ranged from the key issues of theoretical geography to the theory of equilibrium prices. Lipets has initiated the “geography of world development” as an interdisciplinary research area in contemporary Russian human geography. This research direction has become the pinnacle of the scientific activity of Lipets. It has integrated the previously separate scientific disciplines such as “geography of world economy,” “problematic country studies” and “geographical global studies.” Lipets formulated the concept of three aporias of modern geography – the key methodological difficulties of its development. These three aporias dealt with issues of the unity of geography, the role of spatial analysis in the study of nature and society, as well as uniqueness and typicality in geography. The article also discusses the activities of Lipets as a scientific manager and organizer. He played an important role in establishing a seminar on new methods in human geography in Moscow, in the Russian Geographical Society, organized scientific conferences, led scientific research of the Economic and Geographical Section of the International Academy of Regional Development and Cooperation.

This article introduces the concept of paleogeopolitics – a discipline that aims to reconstruct all types of geopolitical representations, phenomena, and processes that existed in the past within the area of interest. The uniqueness of the proposed method of retrospective research of geopolitical representations is that it is not based on geopolitical sources but on works of art. The present article demonstrates how paleogeopolitical research can be conducted based on the material of the literary heritage of an individual writer. It also specifies what literary sources and research methods are most relevant in reconstructing the geopolitical processes of the time. The article proposes a paleogeopolitical study based on the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky. To determine the structural elements of the reconstructed geopolitics, the use of G. O’Tuathail’s typology of critical geopolitics is suggested. The present study offers a comprehensive assessment of the entire spectrum of potential paleogeopolitical studies based on the works of Dostoevsky, which would allow researchers to assess the geopolitical landscape of the writer’s world. The application of the proposed paleogeopolitical research to the analysis of the concept of “the Kirghiz Steppes” in the writer’s geopolitical world view is demonstrated. The results have shown the process of changing the status of “the Kirghiz Steppes” in Dostoevsky’s works and in the social consciousness of the time: from the frontier of the Empire to their own territory, and later to a new heartland.

The goals and objectives of creating scientific stations, including the Kursk Biosphere Station of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, are formulated. A brief description of the objects of experimental studies of the water balance at this station in the 1980s is given. The main research results obtained in the winter-spring months of the year, of study and regulation of the spring surface slope runoff formation and soil erosion using non-traditional agricultural technologies, are presented. Some directions of further geological and hydrological studies at the Kursk Biosphere Station objects are considered. The possibilities of using modern monitoring tools, continuous measurement of the observed parameters using high-precision digital equipment and instruments, the use of remote sensing methods (including unmanned aerial vehicles), the development of precision farming technologies based on the soil spatial heterogeneity, and characteristics of agricultural fields in real time based on assimilation satellite information, are discussed. A complex of necessary organizational measures is considered, including the issues of organizing educational and industrial practice of students of higher educational institutions.