Questions tagged [russian-federation]

For questions about or involving the Russian Federation, successor of the Soviet Union. Located in Eurasia, Russia is the largest country by land mass, and it operates as a semi-presidential republic. For questions about the Soviet Union (USSR), use tag: [soviet-union].

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10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why does People's Republic of China (PRC) tolerate the existence of a "de facto embassy" of the Republic of China (ROC) in Russia?

It is well known that Communist China (PRC) is really sensitive about countries that establish formal relations with the Republic of China in Taiwan (ROC). One prominent example is the PRC reaction on ...
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Depleted uranium shells in the Russian nuclear doctrine

According to the current nuclear doctrine of Russia, is the transfer/usage of shells containing depleted uranium considered as a nuclear attack on Russia? Technologically, can it be considered as a ...
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3 votes
1 answer
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What caused drastic reduce in the population of ethnic Tatars in the Russian Federation?

I compared the Russian census 2010 and the recently released census 2020/2021. Ethnic group 2010,#n by pop 2010,population 2021,population 2010..2021,pop change 2010..2021change, % Tatars 2 5,310,...
-1 votes
5 answers
518 views

What is the rationale of shooting toxic shells in an area that was meant to be liberated?

The UK authorities confirmed that they will provide depleted uranium shells to the Ukraininan forces. As usual to divert the attention from the metal toxicity they pointed out the low radioactivity. ...
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19 votes
10 answers
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Why is the US under Biden so strongly supporting Ukraine in the war?

Why is the US supporting Ukraine so massively? Hardly a week goes by without some kind of aid package from the US to Ukraine. Clearly, the support is designed to continue the war and the extent of the ...
-5 votes
0 answers
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Can the US intervene to keep Russia out of China's hands? [closed]

I know saying America has an empire is a taboo, but they're also the reason Yeltsin and the oligarchs existed in the first place. I also don't know if Russia wanted democracy in the first place. Is ...
7 votes
3 answers
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What evidence has the ICC relied on in ordering the arrest of the President of Russia?

A few days ago, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said: Today, the Pre-Trial Chamber has issued arrest warrants in relation to the following two individuals: Mr Vladimir Putin, ...
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7 votes
6 answers
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Why is the ICC focusing on the transfer of war orphans to Russia rather than Russia's much more obvious crimes in Ukraine?

As per the official press release by the ICC: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born on 7 October 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful ...
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20 votes
2 answers
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Did Russia communicate President Vladimir Putin's planned Mariupol visit to Ukraine for deconfliction purposes?

When US President Biden visited Kiev, it is thought that Russia was made aware of the visit ahead of time for purposes of deconfliction - for example to avoid a Russian attack on Kiev while unaware ...
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-5 votes
1 answer
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Why didn’t the USA government ask USA companies to take action against India’s neutral stance on the Russo-Ukrainian War? [closed]

The Russo-Ukrainian War is an ongoing conflict that began in 2014. India appears to have changed its stance on the war. According to Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar’s statement in the Upper House of ...
4 votes
2 answers
576 views

What is the basis for Russia calling the ICC "the puppet of the West"?

Citing it straight from the horse's mouth, @ Tass The International Criminal Court (ICC), which is ready to exercise pseudo-justice on the orders of the West, has proved its inferiority, Russian ...
6 votes
3 answers
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How is the ICC warrant supposed to restrict Putin's travel abroad given that he's in possession of diplomatic immunity?

According to The Guardian: Putin is likely to evade justice in the near future: Russia does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction, and insisted on Friday it was not affected by the warrants. But the ...
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38 votes
8 answers
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What's the point of issuing an arrest warrant for Putin given that the chances of him getting arrested are effectively zero?

As per recent news: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, a move dismissed by Moscow as ...
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19 votes
5 answers
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Does it make sense from a pro-Ukrainian perspective to sabotage Nord Stream?

Some unnamed US intelligence officials cited by the New York Times suggest that a pro-Ukrainian group may be involved in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines. But at the time of the explosions,...
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8 votes
3 answers
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Why did Poland, Finland and some other EU countries ban Russian citizens from entering? [duplicate]

I was surprised to learn that Estonia, Czechia, Finland, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania banned Russian citizens from entering for tourism purposes. What are the practical reasons for doing so? Or was it ...
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-4 votes
2 answers
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What is the motivation for the merceneries to join Prigozhin's Wagner PMC? [closed]

I read that Wagner PMC recruits criminals from Russian prisons to fight in Ukraine. They pay as high as US$ 14000/month. However, they have no or minimal training in combat and are practically being ...
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5 answers
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What would be the advantage of launching an UN-led inquiry over the Nord Stream sabotage?

Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow was presenting a request for an independent investigation in light of doubts about the integrity and transparency of Denmark, Germany and Sweden in ...
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1 vote
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Does Russia benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative?

I was looking at this map and it seems that Russia is not confirmed to be a member of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI). I am wondering if Russia expressed any view that might indicate they're not too ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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What is the state of participation by Russia in the Belt and Road Initiative?

What is the state of participation by Russia in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)? They definitely don't seem to be enthusiastic about it. I doubt they're even participating in it. There seem to be ...
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8 votes
1 answer
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Has China expressed the desire to claim Outer Manchuria recently?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iibs7buNwxQ Has China expressed the desire to claim Outer Manchuria recently? Outstanding boundary issues between China and Russia were officially settled in the 1991 ...
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3 votes
0 answers
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Has Iran presented any evidence that their drones (used in Ukraine) were sent to Russia before the war?

It seems Iran initially denied they sent drones to Russia, but later Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that they sent some, but before the war. “Some western countries have accused ...
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8 votes
1 answer
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Did Russia publish a detailed report as to who sabotaged the gas and electricity pipelines to Georgia in 2006? Was Georgia convinced?

In January 2006: Four explosions on Russia's side of the border created the shortages, Georgian and Russian officials said. The first two occurred at roughly the same time, before sunrise, severing ...
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4 answers
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Does the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have any means to force Ukraine into negotiating peace with Russia? Does the U.S.?

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley urged Ukraine and Russia to find a "political solution", saying that the war in Ukraine is unwinnable by purely military means. Does ...
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7 votes
4 answers
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What is Russia's stated military strategy in Ukraine as of early 2023?

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. After a short initial phase of the invasion, in which Russia's forces advanced quickly but did not take stable control of a lot of area and gradually met stiff ...
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8 votes
2 answers
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To what extent is the UK's cost-of-living crisis Russia's fault?

I know that the UK's cost-of-living crisis is partly due to the war in Ukraine. Russia, of course, has sharply limited the amount of energy it exports to Europe; this substantially raises winter ...
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18 votes
8 answers
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As of January 2023, and short of overt war, what retaliatory steps Russia could take against Ukraine's Western allies?

Ukraine has various Western allies who support the Ukrainian war effort for different reasons. Russia sees this support more and more as direct participation in the war. It appears that if Russia ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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(2014?) Proposal of an alternative referendum form in Crimea and Donbass under the supervision of the UN / OSCE

I'm trying to find out if there were (official) proposals* to hold alternative forms of referendums in the two areas. I know that the UN and OSCE have criticized and not recognized the referenda that ...
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9 votes
2 answers
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What did Scholz say about Putin's motive?

I remember reading a news article claiming that the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, said something to this effect: "In my face-to-face meeting with Putin in February 2022, I talked with him ...
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19 votes
6 answers
9k views

Why is sending so few tanks to Ukraine considered significant?

It is reported that thousands of tanks are currently being used in the Ukraine War. To help Ukraine, Britain is sending 14 Challenger 2 tanks and America is sending a few (50) Bradley infantry ...
4 votes
1 answer
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What's the official status of the DPR (and LPR) militias under the laws of the Russian Federation?

Interestingly, TASS still posts news about the feats of the DPR militia, e.g. there's one dated Jan 10, and it seems to be from 2023 (as it references M777 howitzers, which Ukraine didn't have last ...
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14 votes
2 answers
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Who runs the Russian-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk at a regional level nowadays?

Excuse my ignorance, but I could find no source about this in English, although I'm sure there are plenty in Russian... So, after the official annexation/incorporation of Donetsk and Luhansk into ...
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12 votes
2 answers
763 views

Did Boris Yeltsin regret his decision of choosing Putin as his successor?

In a PBS documentary, Putin's revenge, the following is said at around 10m15s by Strobe Talbott. Before Boris Yeltsin died, he told intimates that it was a great mistake to have selected Putin as a ...
3 votes
1 answer
279 views

Did "Novorossiya" have a de facto control over its declared territory between 2014 and 2015?

Did the self-proclaimed "Novorossiya" have control over the territory it claimed during the time it existed (22 May 2014 to 20 May 2015)?
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22 votes
3 answers
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What are “Russian nationalist military bloggers”?

In a recent article, Anger in Russia as scores of troops killed in one of Ukraine war's deadliest strikes. Polityuk, Pavel, there is a reference to “Russian nationalist military bloggers”. One such ...
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2 votes
0 answers
198 views

Possible scenarios after Putin's rule comes to an end? [closed]

I'd like to understand what are the likely scenarios are for Russia after Putin leaves office. Reasons for his departure could include death of natural causes, being forced to step down, or a coup. ...
14 votes
10 answers
6k views

Why are European countries increasing their defense budgets if they are members of a nuclear-armed NATO?

Mirror question to Why would Russia care about NATO troops on its borders if it has nuclear weapons? Naively one would think that Russia should not worry about NATO because they have nuclear weapons. ...
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16 votes
0 answers
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Why would it be in Russia's interests if the Nord Stream 1 was left unoperational? [duplicate]

Supply through NordStream-1 is disrupted. Accusations were made that Russia was responsible for it. If Russia indeed was responsible for it, how would that be in Russia's interest? Destroying its own ...
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4 votes
1 answer
232 views

How much has Russia paid Ukraine for gas transiting through Ukraine to Europe in 2022?

How much has "Russia" paid, in non-Ruble, "Ukraine" for gas transiting through Ukraine to EU in 2022? How were the transfers accomplished? SWIFT? Which entity was debited, and ...
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8 votes
1 answer
196 views

Which countries are affected by Russia's decree banning oil sales to them?

Vladimir Putin bans Russian oil exports to countries that imposed price cap over Ukraine war President Vladimir Putin has delivered Russia's long-awaited response to a Western price cap, signing off ...
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12 votes
8 answers
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What are the possible mechanisms of security guarantees for Ukraine?

My question is based on this post by Radio Free Europe. In a nutshell, there was a peace plan suggested that includes security guarantees for Ukraine. What are some reasonable mechanisms for such ...
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10 votes
1 answer
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How can we estimate the real support of continued resistance among Ukrainian citizens?

Inspired by the question How can we estimate the real support of the war among Russian citizens? and discussion therein. Is there an estimate how many Ukrainians (on Ukrainian-controlled territory, ...
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24 votes
7 answers
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How can we estimate the real support of the war among Russian citizens?

I've read that up to 70% of Russian citizens support an ongoing invasion to some extent. But these numbers were coming from government-affiliated organizations (VCIOM etc.); I think one can't really ...
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27 votes
7 answers
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Is Bakhmut an important city in the Ukraine war, and if so, why?

Russia and Ukraine have been fighting over it for over 4 months. Is there a reason why the city seems to be considered important for the war? I heard analysts say that the city only has a symbolic ...
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10 votes
3 answers
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What position exactly did Merkel express recently about the Minsk agreements?

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel gave an interview to the Zeit - but the Zeit is paywalled and I don't speak German. In that interview, she supposedly said: I thought that the introduction of ...
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5 answers
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Is the EU Border Guard Agency able to tell Russian passports issued in Ukraine or Georgia from the legitimate ones?

On 8 December 2022, the European Council has adopted a resolution on not accepting Russian travel documents issued in Ukraine and Georgia. I'm wondering if the Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard ...
9 votes
3 answers
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Could the Kaliningrad region join the EU without becoming an independent state if a referendum or proposition is voted for by the people?

Through the scheme decided by the highest court with jurisdiction in and over Russia at the time, the European Court of Human Rights declared what the terrorist regime of Russia (see Parliamentary ...
23 votes
4 answers
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Why is ex-East Germany more tolerant towards Russia than many other ex Warsaw Pact countries?

I am happy to be corrected that this is not the case, but from fairly frequent news items it seems to me that sentiment towards Russia in historic East Germany isn't all that negative. Or at least is ...
3 votes
5 answers
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How does the indignation of the Russo-Ukrainian War compare to the Iraq War?

I was only born in 2001. I know London and DC had enormous protests, but none of the details. So eyewitness accounts are great but I need historical data too. With the triumph of YouTube I can follow ...
3 votes
0 answers
259 views

Would it be possible for NATO to intercept russian cruise missiles over the Ukraine from NATO airspace, and avoid becoming a party of the war? [closed]

In media reports and discussions, the impossibility of a no-fly zone was discussed since the current (2022) war in Ukraine started. Basically, a no-fly zone would entail NATO jets shooting down ...
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14 votes
5 answers
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Would a tit-for-tat retaliation against Russian civilian infrastructure be a violation of the Geneva convention?

Ukraine is currently suffering from a series of Russian attacks against civilian infrastructure, which might soon result in the entire country not having access to electricity. Does the Geneva ...
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