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 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 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 ...
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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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Why might the Russians want Trump to win? [duplicate]
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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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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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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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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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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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-...
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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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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 ...
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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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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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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 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 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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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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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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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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What was the reason for extending NATO in the 1990s?
I know there are questions that might sound similar, but this is a completely different one. Firstly, I am using the word extending and not expanding. Secondly, the question is limited to a time ...
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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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What is the benefit of Ukraine declaring martial law after a naval attack by Russian forces?
So as of my writing of this question—November 26, 2018—Ukraine declared martial law after a Russian naval attack. And as per The New York Times:
Ukraine’s Parliament voted Monday to declare martial ...
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Why doesn't Russia object to Norway's NATO membership?
Why doesn't Russia object to Norway's NATO membership like it does to that of Finland, Ukraine, and Georgia? Is it because the border with Norway is much shorter and basically in the middle of nowhere ...
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How could it happen that Ukrainian soldiers did not try to defend against the invasion?
What I do not understand about the current crisis in Crimea is how this invasion could be successful without anyone firing a gun.
Weren't there Ukrainian soldiers stationed in Crimea? Maybe the ...
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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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Why did Vladimir Putin order a pullout from Syria in late 2017?
Vladimir Putin ordered pullout of Russian troops from Syria. Why such a decision?
Russia had entered Syria to ensure that Bashar-Al-Assad remain in power and the West do not put a puppet in power?
It ...
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What is the public evidence about Russian claims concerning US promising non-expansion of NATO towards it borders?
During the recent 2022 conflict in Ukraine and the diplomatic talks preceding it, the Russian government kept saying that there were promises made by the US and the west that NATO would not expand ...
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What is the political justification by China and India for not participating in the sanctions against Russia?
China and India are not participating in the sanctions imposed by the Western world on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. This has effectively made the sanctions much less effective, compared to what ...
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Why did Russia default on its domestic bonds in 1998 when it could simply print money?
Russia defaulted on its domestic debt in 1998. It did not have to do so because the bonds were denominated in Russian Ruble and the government could simply have printed money to pay the bonds. Why ...
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Why has the US not been more assertive in confronting Russia in recent years?
Over the past few years, Russia seems to have been slipping back towards an authoritarian system of government, with Putin seemingly cementing his control of the country more and more. Along with this,...
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For how long has Putin been denying that human activity is a major contributor to climate change?
According to a 2020 DW article:
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by man-made emissions. Last month, in his year-end press ...
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Is it illegal for foreigners to pay US citizens to engage in political activities in the US?
It's been reported that 13 Russian Federation citizens have been indicted in the US for waging a misinformation campaign during the last Presidential election cycle in the hopes of sowing discontent. ...
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Was there any war Russia has ignited that was NOT explained by its "support" of a newly-created bogus puppet state (e.g. "People's Republic")?
History
This excerpt of a Russian newspaper says:
[…] On December 4 {1939}, comrade Molotov has telegraphed to Avenol. In his answer, he stated that there are no reasons for raising "Finnish ...
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What is the current official view of Lenin and Stalin in Russia today?
How are the historical roles of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin portrayed officially, for example in schoolbooks?
I can imagine the spectrum on answers is, indeed, broad? But the question on current ...
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Why won't Russia leave the Council of Europe?
The ECHR seems to constantly ruling against the current political regime in Russia, such as in the lawsuit by former Yukos shareholders. While Russia can obviously ignore any ruling they don't like as ...
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