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Portal:Russia

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Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extending across eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country. Russia is a highly urbanised country including 16 population centres with over a million inhabitants. Its capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and its cultural capital.

The East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history. However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives, the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for ideological dominance and international influence. The Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space. (Full article...)

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Sviatoslav depicted in artwork by Ivan Akimov

Tarasun (also known as Arhi) is an alcoholic beverage drunk by the Mongol Buryats of Siberia. Apart from being the national drink of Buryatia, it is also used by the Buryats in their religious ceremonies. The Buryat and his tarasun have been compared to a Scotsman and his whisky. (Full article...)

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Vasilevsky in 1944

Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky (Russian: Александр Михайлович Василевский) (30 September 1895 – 5 December 1977) was a Soviet career-officer in the Red Army who attained the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces (1942–1945) and Deputy Minister of Defense during World War II, and as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953. As the Chief of the General Staff from 1942 to 1945, Vasilevsky became involved in planning and coordinating almost all the decisive Soviet offensives in World War II, from the Operation Uranus of November 1942 to the assaults on East Prussia (January–April 1945), Königsberg (January–April 1945) and Manchuria (August 1945).

Vasilevsky began his military career during World War I, earning the rank of captain by 1917. After the October Revolution of 1917 and the start of the Civil War of 1917–1922 he was conscripted into the Red Army, taking part in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1921. In peacetime he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a regimental commander by 1930. In this position he showed great skill in organizing and training his troops. Vasilevsky's talent was noticed, and in 1931 he was appointed a member of the Directorate of Military Training. In 1937, following Stalin's Great Purge, he was promoted to become a General Staff officer. (Full article...)

In the news

26 July 2024 – European Union–Russia relations, International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
The European Union sends its first transfer of 1.5 billion (US$1.63 billion) in proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine for military and infrastructure support. The Kremlin denounces the transfer as "illegal" under international law and pledges legal retaliation. (AP) (Reuters)
26 July 2024 – Finland–Russia relations
Finland reports that a Russian Navy vessel from its Baltic Sea fleet trespassed on Finnish territorial waters in the eastern Gulf of Finland. (Reuters)
25 July 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
Economic impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Fitch Ratings downgrades Ukraine's credit rating from "CC" to "C" due to the country's need to restructure US$20 billion in international bonds to foreign investors, increasing the country's risk of default. (Al Jazeera)
24 July 2024 – China–Russia relations, China–United States relations, Russia–United States relations
The North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepts two Russian and two Chinese bomber aircraft flying together near Alaska, marking the first record of Chinese H-6 aircraft entering Alaska's Air Defense Identification Zone, and marking the first time both countries were intercepted operating together. (CNN)
23 July 2024 – 2024 visits by Viktor Orbán to Russia and China, 2024 Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The European Union deprives Hungary of its ability to host the next set of foreign and defense ministry meetings as a "symbolic signal" against Viktor Orbán's uncoordinated meetings in Russia and China, moving the ministry meetings from Budapest, Hungary, to Brussels, Belgium. (BBC News) (The Independent)

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Complete equality of rights for all nations; the right of nations to self-determination; the unity of the workers of all nations—such is the national program that Marxism, the experience of the whole world, and the experience of Russia, teach the workers.
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