Among the western cultural icons referred to in the series are James Bond and Sherlock Holmes.
Look out for the references to Venera and Luna (the Soviet Venus and Moon space probes) and Sputnik which puts in a cameo appearance. The Soviet Union was first into space and the first to land on the Moon (unmanned) and another planet (Venus).
Kolya's favourite drink is kefir, a kind of fermented milk popular in eastern European countries. The space pirates like it too.
The character Alyssa is named after Alice Liddle, the heroine of Alice in Wonderland. She appears in over 80 books.
This series generated what was known as "Alyssamania" and the star received hundreds of love letters from schoolboys.