Skateboards first started to appear in the USSR in the late 70s. Many were homemade. DIY magazines aimed at teenagers, like The Young Engineer (Yuniy Tekhnik), published schemes for making your own skateboards at home as early as 1978. Other media also made reports about the exotic new sport trend sweeping through the distant Western countries – often calling the boards “roller scooters” and “pavement surfers”.

Soon skateboards were put on production lines in the USSR, and ironically, many of the factories producing them served the military — because back then the industry was obliged to produce goods for civilians as well as weapons and ammunition. There were several well-recognised brands like the Estonian Rula, Latvian Ripa, Russian Start and Ukrainian Virazh – but they were relatively rare and expensive. Several years later, Western-produced skateboards became a popular gift for those who got to go abroad.

Apart from the occasional local newspaper story, interest in skateboarding was also inspired by the pop culture that emerged after the perestroika. In Courier, a 1986 Soviet coming-of-age film, the main character skates around Moscow with his friend while skipping work. The producers of Primorskiy Avenue (Primorskiy Bulvar), a 1988 TV film, actually held auditions for the USSR’s skateboard enthusiasts, and cast the best ones for the scenes of young people showing off their skills on the streets of Odessa.