With the final collapse of the Soviet Union on December 1st, 1991, and with the new openness promised by Mikhail Gorbachev well under way, the release to historians of files, photographs and film strips held in the Soviet state archives seemed a very real possibility. Yet, as with the development of the new Russian state, progress - in some areas - has been somewhat slower than anticipated, even though the academic community remains enthusiastic. A key development in this process, however, has been facilitated by the USA-based company Abamedia, which has, over the past four years, used internet technology to aid historians and researchers in finding key elements of the Russian state film and photographic archives.