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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Why does the US treat the problems of Russia and Ukraine as its own?
In this question, I do not raise questions about the conflicts themselves. The question is different - how is the fact that the United States recognizes these problems as its own justified from a ...
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What makes the war in Ukraine exceptional?
I would like to state beforehand that the war Ukraine is tragic and I hope the conflict will end soon (preferably resolved via negotiations). However it is hard to ignore that it receives a lot more ...
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What is Russia getting in exchange for their gas and oil now that they've been cut off from the Western financial system?
As far as I can tell both of these things are currently true:
Russia has been cut off from a large chunk of the Western financial system
The EU is still buying Russian gas and oil
But how does this ...
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What reasoning did Eritrea provide for its vote on the UN resolution against the war in Ukraine?
In the recent UN General Assembly resolution denouncing Russia's actions in Ukraine, only four countries were opposed, besides Russia itself.
We have Belarus, a close ally of Russia that is involved ...
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Why are Western politicians even bothering to react to Russian claims?
Some examples of claims from Russia which Western politicians recently had to respond to:
Ukraine was making nuclear weapons in Chernobyl
Ukraine had biolabs working on new biological weapons
Ukraine'...
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Are power plants legitimate military targets under international law?
I've seen clips and articles stating that recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian power plants amount to "War Crimes". This seems right to me but I couldn't find any resource explicitly ...
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What's the point of banning a few 'selected Russian banks' from SWIFT?
I read that several Russian banks got banned from SWIFT (mirror) following the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. What's the point of banning a few selected Russian banks from SWIFT? I would ...
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Why does Russia try to prevent Ukraine from getting closer to the EU?
Which disadvantages does Russia fear?
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Who is the Russian military commander in charge of the war on Ukraine?
It seems like we are only hearing from Putin about the military operations. When we hear about Russian generals it's about them getting killed, like Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of 41st Army.
Which ...
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Why raise so much fuss about the Skripal poisoning?
On the surface, the Skripal poisoning seems like a minor issue on the scale of international politics: a couple of Russian secret service agents poison a couple of Russian citizens in their UK home. ...
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Why don't Russia and Ukraine enter an official state of war?
Since 2014, it's clear that Russian troops have invaded Ukrainian territory. Crimea was fully annexed and the Donbass is in a state of perpetual conflict. However, officially speaking, Russia and ...
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How can Putin save face?
Former MI6 Chief, Sir Robert John Sawers, says
we need to be a little bit careful about how we do that, we must leave Putin a way out
And Yuval Noah Harari says:
Nobody could say for sure how the ...
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Are there military arguments why Russia would blow up the Kakhovka dam?
There is a similar question here asking why Ukraine would blow up the dam. Russia, however, controlled the dam and could have blown it up to slowdown the Ukrainian counteroffensive, that was planned ...
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How do Russians [especially Russian Muslims] understand Putin's disapproval of 'multiculturalism'?
The BBC has reported that, at the G20 summit, Russia's president Vladimir Putin remarked that liberalism is obsolete. Which should be no surprise to anyone. The curious part of this criticism of ...
user8398
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Why is the West ignoring Belarus when threatening with sanctions related to the current Ukraine and Russia situation?
When reading different news outlets (e.g. Associated Press, CNN, Reuters) it seems the west is focused on threatening Russia with action should it decide to go forward with the expected (from the west ...
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Is there any proof that Ukraine was planning military deployment into the self-proclaimed republics in Donbass prior to 24 February 2022?
In an interview with CNN's Christine Amanpour (transcript), the Russian president's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has claimed that there have been "strong indications" that Ukraine had been ...
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Can the current European sanctions against Russia have a significant effect?
Many European countries and the EU itself have imposed economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. However, according to this Guardian article citing this study, European nations are ...
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Why does Russia always put importance on world dominance rather than economic development?
For instance, China has also put importance on military muscle, but not with the price of the economy.
The following graph shows that Russia's GDP is falling and China's GDP has rocketed.
The ...
user4514
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Do Western countries want for Russia to default or not on its foreign debt?
According to TASS, Russia should be able to avoid defaulting on its foreign debt because now, as opposed to 1998, it has enough financial reserves. However, the issue is that a big fraction of its ...
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How can Germany increase investments in Russia while EU economic sanctions against Russia are still in place?
According to Wikipedia EU economical sanctions against Russia are still in place:
The sanctions by the European Union and United States continue to be
in effect as of May 2019. In July 2018, the ...
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What are some non-partisan sources about the relative balance of power in the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Before the war everyone was saying Russia would just walk right in; now everybody makes a big kerfuffle about every Ukrainian tactical victory. What are good analyses on what the strategic situation ...
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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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Why does the U.S. oppose the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project?
Why does the U.S. oppose the €9.5 billion Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project?
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Why is the EU so reluctant to cut Russia off the SWIFT system as part of the new sanctions to be put in place after invading Ukraine?
This Reuters article argues that it is unlikely for the EU to include cutting Russia off the SWIFT system.
One of the most important reasons seems to be the financial impact on the EU lenders:
Data ...
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Are there military arguments why Ukraine would blow up the Kakhovka dam?
Today the Dniepro river dam at Kakhovka was breached. It is not obvious which side is responsible. While the Ukrainina side blames the Russians, the Russian side, obviously, blames the Ukrainians. So ...
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Why would Russia supply a NATO country with S400 Missiles batteries?
Yesterday, Sergei Chemezov, head of Russian state conglomerate Rostec, announced that Russia will supply four S-400 missile batteries for $2.5 billion to Turkey.
This seems bizarre for a number of ...
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Which "critical technologies" does Russia depend upon the United States and its allies for, that "China does not have access to?"
In the recent NBC's Face The Nation interview Top Treasury official says U.S. sanctions would target Putin, Russian economy after the 2 minute mark US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo ...
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Why couldn't Russia grow its economy as fast as China did?
Russia has a population comparable to Japan. But, the size of its GDP is below South Korea.
Why couldn't Russia grow its economy as fast as China did?
What factors prevented Russia from becoming an ...
user21304
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Why are PiS and Fidesz split over Russia (and Ukraine)?
Apparently formalizing an (EP) alliance between Poland's ruling party PiS and Hungary's ruling part Fidesz, despite numerous ideological similarities, might be held back by differences over Russia and ...
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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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Are there any clues as to how China's leadership thinks about Russia's invasion of Ukraine as it relates to Taiwan?
I'm curious if there are any clues about how China's leadership is thinking about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, particularly it's occupation of the Russian-speaking west, as it relates to Taiwan. ...
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Why does Russia bother to justify the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact?
According to this Guardian article, Russia is trying to justify the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact which is a very complex matter that was not even recognized until the end of the Soviet Union:
Eighty ...
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Did the sanctions against Russia take into account that oil price might neutralise their effect?
Western countries imposed some sanctions on the Russian Federation and some Russian individuals since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. But Russia can still sell oil on the international markets ...
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How did Russia end up becoming an opposing power of the West?
I am talking about pre-Ukraine War situation. Especially from 1990 to 2021.
At present there are only two major powers that are posing themselves as an opposing force to the US leadership.
I admit ...
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Is "100,000 soldiers near the Ukrainian border" a rare occurrence?
In recent weeks, the US has warned of the amassing of Russian troops ("100,000 soldiers", although if you read the specific claims it's more like 50,000 and even that's not quite verified) ...
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What is Russia's plan to cope with invasion-related economic damage to itself?
Russia has been under sanction since 2014 for the annexation of Crimea. Now, the West imposed more sanctions, and the construction work of the NordStream-2 pipelines has also been suspended.
What is ...
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Is there a faction in the Ukrainian parliament favoring an immediate ceasefire?
All the news coverage I've seen have indicated most of Ukraine are united in fighting Russia, saying things like "we will win eventually".
Still, recently in the news was Ukrainian president ...
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How do Western countries know that Ukrainians massively support the continuation of resistance?
More than 6 million Ukrainians have fled the country
The vast majority of Ukrainian males aged 18 to 60 are literally forced to stay in the
war-torn country
Social pressure probably prevents them from ...
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In what ways will the Russian-Ukraine war benefit/harm the United States?
At the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war this year (2022), I have seen rumors on Twitter saying that the United States could actually benefit from Russia's possible invasion into Ukraine. For ...
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What is the purpose of initiating the recent changes in the Russian Federation resulting in the "Russian Government Resigning"?
Recently (mid January 2020), there has been much press about the government of the Russian Federation "resigning".
From what I understand, these changes were initiated by current Russian Federation ...
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Russian sanctions under Trump
NBC just announced President Trump was imposing additional sanctions upon Russia for the Skirpal poisoning incident in the UK. These come on top of sanction increases in April, 2018
Senior Trump ...
user9790
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What would happen if Russia declared itself the successor of the Russian empire?
As I understand, Russia will have a right to claim on old Russian empire territories + Alaska. But it won't have any rights in UN. Am I right?
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Which damage specifically at Zaporizhzhia NPP is of contested origin?
As I understand it, both Russia and Ukraine have admitted carrying out some limited shooting in the vicinity of the reactors.
Russia admitted shooting on some nearby "training buildings" in ...
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Which countries (if any) does Russia characterize as its allies?
When discussing foreign policy, at least in English, many political leaders will mention the importance of working with their country's allies.
A case in point would be the US and recent statements ...
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How exactly can keeping chips using EUV technology "pre-empt many worst-case human rights... scenarios in the coming decades?"
note: for background see Which "critical technologies" does Russia dependent upon the United States and its allies for, that "China does not have access to?"
The Brookings ...
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Why didn't Russia annex Abkhazia and South Ossetia?
Russia's initial recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia occurred in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.
Why didn't Russia annex Abkhazia and South Ossetia?
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Why is having a NATO missile-defense launch system such a big deal for Russia?
After of its activation almost three years ago, from time to time, I keep hearing on the news about Russia making statements about the NATO missile-defense launch system placed in Deveselu (locally ...
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Did the United States break a promise to Russia when NATO moved eastward?
Did the United States break a promise to Russia when NATO moved eastward with new members?
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush made a promise to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would &...
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Minimizing civilian casualties during the siege of Mariupol?
What are the best practices of minimizing civilian casualties in cities under siege, as applied to the siege of Mariupol?
I am looking for best practices from the perspective of world civilians, ...
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Why doesn't Russia assassinate Zelenskyy with a rocket? [closed]
Remember Dzhokhar Dudaev? He led the Chechens during their first uprising against Russia in die 90s and was assassinated by Russia in 1996 who used a rocket to kill him in the streets of Grozny.
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