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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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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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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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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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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Why does Russia specifically fund far-rights in Europe?
Far-right and left most pro-Kremlin in EU Parliament, data finds
Putin’s friends in Europe
Examining the Kremlin’s and Far-Right Parties Cooperation
Russian funding is a reward for ideological ...
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Is there any precedent of the Russian president skipping a debate during the presidential elections?
The Kremlin confirmed Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin will not
take the stage to debate his rivals in Russia's March presidential
election.
“Everyone can see Putin’s statements on all aspects of ...
user28660
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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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Did the governments of the US and European countries attempt to negotiate with Russia prior to the invasion of Ukraine?
I am aware that the US began warning other countries regarding the military buildup on the Ukrainian border in November of last year, and that the Russian Government denied that they were going to ...
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Why doesn't the EU adopt sterner sanctions against people with connections to the Kremlin living in the EU?
Russian officials and oligarchs often live in prosperous European nations. The EU has a lot of leverage. It could issue an ultimatum: either do this by this date (for example, release all political ...
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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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Why is there different policies from the USA for Turkey vs Greece/ India? [closed]
Russian S-300s used by 3 NATO member countries
According to the above link, the Russian S-300 missile defense system is being used by three NATO countries: Greece, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.
the USA ‘...
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Why are states purportedly performing assassinations with chemical and radioactive weapons?
Purportedly the Russian state assassinated Alexander Litvinenko by poisoning with him with:
radioactive polonium-210, believed to have been administered in a cup of tea
Alexander Litvinenko: ...
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Why didn't Western countries boycott the 2018 World Cup?
According to this article Russian government believes that 2018 World Cup will help Russian economy on the medium term:
a survey by the Russian government last week. It said the World Cup's
boost ...
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Why is the USA able to damage the Russian economy by imposing sanctions but Russia can't do the same?
Why is the USA able to damage the Russian economy by imposing sanctions but Russia can't do the same?
For example see U.S. tightens sanctions on Russia over Crimea, New US sanctions on Russia inflame ...
user4514
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What would the Kremlin stand to gain from killing the ex-spy Sergey Skripal?
What would the Kremlin stand to gain from assassinating the ex-spy Sergey Skripal, now critically ill after being poisoned on March 4th 2018 with a nerve agent?
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What could Russia hope to gain by continuing their war against Ukraine?
I'm struggling to understand what Russia hopes to gain by continuing the war.
In my understanding, if Russia somehow "won" (I appreciate there are different ways of thinking about what ...
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Why might the Russians want Trump to win?
The American CIA reportedly believes that the Russians, in the form of the Russian government and possibly private actors, went to signficant length (psych / cyber ops) to help Trump win.
Having said ...
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Why would Putin or Russia benefit from a weak EU or weak EU countries?
Various (western) commentators and politicians state that "the only one happy with/benefiting from [insert bad scenario here] is Putin/Russia" (I'm not sure which one(s) of the two they mean). ...
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What, if any, groups of pro-Russian separatists are in East-European countries?
Russian separatists in Ukraine have had an important role in "inviting" Russia to invade Ukraine. In order to predict future steps that may be taken by Russia, it may be useful to know: are ...
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Why did Putin call Ukrainian officials “drug addicts”?
Among other things, Putin has called the Ukrainian leadership a “band of drug addicts” (source) shortly before invading Ukraine in 2022.
This seems like a strange accusation. He could have simply ...
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Is there any meaningful purpose in stopping selling consumer goods to Russia?
So, my newsfeed had an item about "H&M" stopping selling things to Russa, as well as a score of other random retailers (Nike? etc...).
I can sort of see the possible argument about ...
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Did Russia once want to join NATO? Does former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov refer to a serious interest in the past?
In CNN's April 15, 2022 He was once Putin's Prime Minister. Now he supports Ukraine after 05:30 former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov says (my transcription, no closed captions available):
I'...
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Why doesn't Russia build more missile defense systems instead of complaining about NATO's systems?
This answer argues about Russia's concerns over missile defense systems due to undermining of Mutual Assured Destruction:
The basis for the modern stalemate is called Mutual Assured
Destruction. ...
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What is the motivation for the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, at the risk of starting a hot war with Russia?
My understanding is that due to its overall economic conditions today, Russia, a country much weaker than Soviet Union, does not have enough military power to defeat NATO in a hot war without invoking ...
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Are there any strategic reasons that Russian authorities would allow indiscriminate killing of Ukrainian civilians?
First of all, I believe that killing unarmed civilians is evil. But I know that this is not a problem for many leaders, including Putin, so I'm taking morality out of the equation in my question.
I ...
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Have the US and Russia (or USSR before it) co-vetoed a UN resolution before today?
In an interesting development today regarding the latest Turkish operation in northern Syria.
The U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a statement on Turkey's counterterrorism operation in Syria ...
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Why do people believe that if Putin ceases to be Russian president, the Russo-Ukraine war will cease?
It seems like quite a lot of people think that the current war in Ukraine is entirely down to Putin, and if Putin dies / is assassinated / is replaced in a coup etc, then the war will end. Examples:
...
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Has Russia actually defaulted on its foreign debt as of April 11, 2022?
An article from CNN starts out by stating that Russia "has defaulted on its foreign debt", but then appears to qualify the statement by observing that "Moscow has a grace period of 30 ...
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What did Putin do to ensure that he doesn't get overthrown by a military coup or to reduce the likelihood of it?
What did Putin do to ensure that he doesn't get overthrown by a military coup or to reduce the likelihood of it?
https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2022-05-25/new-punishments-await-...
user28660
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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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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 ...
user28660
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If the Russian regime is so popular, why does it need to invest into limiting freedom of expression?
According to this article, Putin has signed two laws that further limit freedom of expression (law source):
Two new laws in Russia jeopardize the privacy and security of internet
users and aim to ...
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Two years after the breakout of Ukraine war, is/how is Russia successful in sustaining its economy (now even growing?) and the war?
Since 2022, Russia has received huge amount of Western economic sanctions. The war itself is money-burning.
I understand that war may stimulate military-related economy as explained in this VOA ...
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To what does US Army Lt. General H. R. McMaster refer saying that Germany's Social Democratic Party has a 'deep and unnatural affinity' for Russia?
CNN's March 3, 2022 video H.R. McMaster on how NATO is holding up against Vladimir Putin's stress test includes the following statements by United States Army lieutenant general, Senior Fellow at the ...
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Is there a political faction in Russia publicly advocating for an immediate ceasefire?
Analogous to the corresponding question about Ukraine:
All the official news coverage I've seen have indicated most of Russia is determined in continued fighting in Ukraine, saying things like that ...
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Why has India abstained on the UNSC resolution on Russia in Ukraine?
Why has India abstained on the UN Security Council resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
EDIT:
The Finantial Times published India sticks with Russia after Vladimir Putin’s invasion ...
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Why would Russian troops in Ukraine fly the flag of the USSR? And why would the Russian MoD advertise this?
From this video which appears genuine:
I'm miffed at why the Russian soldiers are flying the flag of the USSR. And why would the Russian Ministry of Defense advertise this?
A little more search ...
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Why can't the West just ban Russia from trade?
President Biden has announced new sanctions on Russia after Russia invaded Ukraine unprovoked.
From CNN:
President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled harsh new sanctions on Russia meant to punish the ...
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On what grounds did Vladimir Putin invoke Article 51 of the UN Charter for self defence while going into Ukraine?
In his announcement (at 20:02) of the special military operations, Vladimir Putin invoked article 51 of the UN charter, justifying these operations as self-defence. However, since Russia was never ...
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Why hasn't Israel imposed sanctions on Russia?
As stated by Jake Sullivan, a main goal of the US in the current Ukraine war is to "weaken and isolate Russia".
Considering that the US has been a major and frequently sole ally of Israel on ...
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Why is it considered acceptable to freeze Russia's foreign reserves, but not acceptable for Russia to default on their debts?
Currently the following things are true:
Western countries have frozen most of Russia's foreign currency reserves
Russia is either in default or would be soon
However #1 is seen as fair and ...
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How much power does Putin have in Russia?
Does Putin have absolute power to do whatever he wants (e.g., start a nuclear war)? How powerful is he in the Russian government or does he need approval of some other body of government to do things ...
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Why is the Crimean peninsula so important for Russian trade?
One of the major reasons why Russia is stated to be so much in the need of controlling the Crimean peninsula, is that their economy is restricted due to having too few options for sea trade, having ...
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How reasonable are fears of Russia attacking any NATO country in the foreseeable future?
Consider the facts that Article 5 is the cornerstone of NATO alliance, how the collective military strength of NATO massively dwarfs that of Russia, how Russia has fared in Ukraine, how depleted it is....
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Why does Russia view missile defense as a strategic threat?
A key hurdle in the talks has been Russia’s demand that the U.S. stop resisting limits on its missile defenses, which the Russians view as a long-term threat and the Americans see as a deterrent to ...
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What is the basis for the Western leaders to believe that harsh economic sanctions will not lead to a nuclear war with Russia eventually?
It is clear at the moment that no Western countries will send troops to Ukraine or set up a non-fly zone in Ukraine because they worry that will lead to a WWIII.
But Putin already said Western ...
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Are there any checks and balances against nuclear escalation in Russia?
During the Trump years, there was conversation about nuclear command and control in the U.S. and the military's response to a rogue presidential nuclear strike order. Specifically, the question ...
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Why did ten countries side with Russia in the UN General Assembly vote on Crimea?
The UN General Assembly just held a vote declaring the Russian annexation of Crimea to be illegal. Eleven countries voted against this resolution: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, ...
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Why doesn't Russia recognize Kosovo if it uses the Kosovo precedent to justify annexing Crimea?
The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea written in 2014 explicitly mentions Kosovo as a precedent for unilateral declarations of independence. This declaration of independence was ...
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