Why do you call it Russian?
Because it is. The origin is the credential, and softening it into something vaguer would make the thing itself harder to understand.
Russian banya carries the same kind of weight in heat ritual that Italian espresso carries in coffee. Naming the origin is not nationalism, it is accuracy — it tells you which tradition the room, the stove, the steam and the venik came from, and therefore what is about to happen to you.
Some people pause at the word. We would rather they paused than arrived expecting a spa. The word is part of how the room stays what it is.
One distinction we make openly: this is cultural, not political. Our masters are Russian and Ukrainian and work side by side over a craft older than any border between them. We talk about the tradition and the people who carry it, never about a state.
Updated 2026-09-02