The author answers the question of the extent to which Marx's theory is applicable to the study of Russian realities and how Marx treated Russia and vice versa. The article shows that the theory of Marx and, in particular, his works in the field of dialectics, the philosophy of history, etc., are quite universal, although, like any other philosophical doctrine, they can not be applied literally. It is equally important to bear in mind that Marx's works were based on the realities of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, a number of their provisions retain their importance at the present time, and most important of them a critical analysis of the contradictions of the capitalist social system, which is very relevant from the point of view of the study of the conditions of modern Russia. The author shows that Marx's attitude toward Russia was contradictory, and the attitude toward Marx in Russia changed more than once. Before the revolution of 1917, Marx's works were very popular among critically thinking intelligentsia. In the USSR, Marxism was turned into an obligatory and predominantly dogmatic theoretical narrative, although there was a world-class level of work in the sphere of critical Marxism. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there emerged an opposite turn the dogmatic denial of Marxism, which in recent years, however, has been replaced by a revival of interest in creative Marxism, evidenced in particular by the formation of the Post-Soviet School of Critical Marxism.