Cultural phenomenon of Russian troika.

The troika has become a cultural icon of Russia, especially after it was featured in a scene of Nikolay Gogol's novel Dead Souls, where a character marvels at a troika speeding through the vast expanses of Russia (Oh troika, winged troika, tell me who invented you?).

The person carried by Gogol's troika – Chichikov, the protagonist of the novel – is a fraudster buying "dead souls" (ownership of dead serfs whose deaths had not yet been registered by population censuses) with the intent of taking out a loan against them. The irony of the iconic Russian troika being the bearer of a swindler has been discussed in Vasily Shukshin's short story Started Skidding.

The 1934 Russian film Lieutenant Kijé portrays a wild ride on a troika, accompanied by music by Sergei Prokofiev. Prokofiev later expanded his score into the Lieutenant Kijé orchestral suite; the "Troika" movement in particular has been reused in many popular works.