Yep
Russians were first to orbit and photograph the dark side in 1959.
Also first to land a probe and send back photos in 1966
Of course it was all eclipsed by the USA’s manned landing in ‘69. Also, the Russian “faxed” photos were no comparison to the film shots the astronauts physically brought back.
That wasn't an orbit, but a fly-by. The trajectory was very simple ... they just blasted right by. Very clever as it required no manuevering at all.
As per Wikipedia:
The space probe passed within 6,200 km of the Moon near its south pole at the closest lunar approach at 14:16 UT on 6 October 1959, and continued on over the far side. On 7 October, the photocell on the upper end of the space probe detected the sunlit far side of the Moon, and the photography sequence was started. The first picture was taken at 03:30 UT at a distance of 63,500 km from the Moon, and the last picture was taken 40 minutes later from a distance of 66,700 km.