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. The country's capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and cultural capital. Other major cities in the country include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Ufa and Samara.
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
industrialization 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 global ideological 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.
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system. Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin, under whom the country has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. Russia has been militarily involved in a number of conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries, including its war with Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring Ukraine, followed by the further annexation of four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion.
Internationally, Russia ranks among the lowest in measurements of democracy, human rights and freedom of the press; the country also has high levels of perceived corruption. The Russian economy ranks 11th by nominal GDP, relying heavily on its abundant natural resources, and 68th by GDP per capita. Its mineral and energy sources are the world's largest, and its figures for oil production and natural gas production rank highly globally. Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and has the third-highest military expenditure. The country is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council; a member state of the G20, SCO, BRICS, APEC, OSCE, and WTO; and the leading member state of post-Soviet organisations such as CIS, CSTO, and EAEU/EEU. Russia is home to 30
UNESCO
World Heritage
Sites.
WORLD WAR TWO
The Soviet Union entered World War II on 17 September 1939 with its invasion of Poland, in accordance with a secret protocol within the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union later invaded Finland, and occupied and annexed the Baltic states, as well as parts of Romania. On 22 June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front, the largest theater of
World War
II.
Eventually, some 5 million Red Army troops were captured by the Nazis; the latter deliberately starved to death or otherwise killed 3.3 million Soviet POWs, and a vast number of civilians, as the "Hunger Plan" sought to fulfil Generalplan
Ost. Although the Wehrmacht had considerable early success, their attack was halted in the Battle of Moscow. Subsequently, the Germans were dealt major defeats first at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943, and then in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Another German failure was the Siege of Leningrad, in which the city was fully blockaded on land between 1941 and 1944 by German and Finnish forces, and suffered starvation and more than a million deaths, but never surrendered. Soviet forces steamrolled through Eastern and Central Europe in 1944–1945 and captured Berlin in May 1945. In August 1945, the Red Army invaded Manchuria and ousted the Japanese from Northeast Asia, contributing to the Allied victory over Japan.
The 1941–1945 period of World War II is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet Union, along with the United States, the United Kingdom and China were considered the Big Four of Allied powers in World War II, and later became the Four Policemen, which was the foundation of the
United Nations Security Council. During the war, Soviet civilian and military death were about 26–27 million, accounting for about half of all World War II casualties.
The Soviet economy and infrastructure suffered massive devastation, which caused the Soviet famine of 1946–1947. However, at the expense of a large sacrifice, the Soviet Union emerged as a global superpower.
COLD WAR
After World War II, according to the Potsdam Conference, the Red Army occupied parts of Eastern and Central Europe, including East Germany and the eastern regions of Austria. Dependent communist governments were installed in the Eastern Bloc satellite states. After becoming the world's second nuclear power, the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact alliance, and entered into a struggle for global dominance, known as the
Cold
War, with the rivalling United States and NATO.
INVASION OF UKRAINE
In early 2014, following a revolution in Ukraine, Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from neighbouring Ukraine following a disputed referendum, then used Russian mercenaries and military forces, supported by local separatist militias, to start a war in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine where most of the inhabitants wanted to stay in Ukraine. In a major escalation of the conflict, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The invasion marked the largest conventional war in Europe since World War II, and was met with international condemnation, as well as expanded sanctions against Russia.
As a result, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March, and was suspended from the
United Nations Human Rights Council in April. In September, following successful Ukrainian counteroffensives, Putin announced a "partial mobilisation", Russia's first mobilisation since World War II. By the end of September, Putin proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, the largest annexation in Europe since World War II. Putin and Russian-installed leaders signed treaties of accession, internationally unrecognized and widely denounced as illegal, despite the fact that Russian forces have been unable to fully occupy any of the four regions. A number of supranational and national parliaments passed resolutions declaring Russia to be a state sponsor of terrorism. In addition, Russia was declared a terrorist state by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Hundreds of thousands are estimated to have been killed as a result of the invasion. The war in Ukraine has further exacerbated Russia's demographic crisis.
In June 2023, the Wagner Group, a private military contractor fighting for Russia in Ukraine, declared an open rebellion against the Russian Ministry of Defense, capturing Rostov-on-Don, before beginning a march on Moscow. However, after negotiations between Wagner and the Belarusian government, the rebellion was called off.
WORLD
WAR THREE We
are on the brink of WWIII. Solutions
are not to purchase fossil
fuels from the CRINKs. And that includes India, who is refining oil
and supplying to the West to defeat sanctions aimed at stopping Russian's
illegal aggression in Ukraine. Thus, India under Narendra
Modi, might be treated as a proxy CRINK. Other
solutions are to manufacture solar panels and batteries
in NATO
countries. To quickly install wind farms and speed up the infrastructure
necessary for EVs and green
hydrogen for FCEVs,
and ICE
vehicles to run on methanol. World
War Three will be a war to eradicate extremist dictators. Meaning
communism and religious dictators who advocate violence to push their
cause, against the free democratic world and other peace loving religions. It
is possible that may also include taking out Royal families. Especially
those who tolerate and are thus party to corruption
in their country. This of course includes the United Kingdom where the
police are puppets to corrupt councils. A cancer in
society. If
there is going to be a nuclear exchange, we might as well eradicate all of
these evils in one fell swoop. The survivors of any nuclear holocaust
might then build on the ashes of evil, for a sustainable future, where it
is illegal for politicians to lie. A law proposed by the Welsh Senedd. STOP
POLITICIANS DECEPTIONS - CRIMINALIZE LYING It is an old joke: Q. How do you tell if a politician is lying? A. Their lips are moving.
Members of the Senedd, the Welsh parliament, are intent on tackling this age-old problem by bringing in legislation that bans politicians from telling untruths.
If the law comes into force, Wales would be the first country in the world to make lying by politicians a criminal offence.
The former Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price, who is leading the charge against the liars, said that in a world of post-truth politics, populism, disinformation and deep fakes, and with elections taking place in the UK and US this
year [2024], the issue Is vital.
“The public are rightly tired of seeing certain politicians lie with impunity,” he said. “It is not enough for us as lawmakers to throw up our hands in disgust. We have the power to change the rules so all politicians act with integrity, honesty and respect.”
Price has been campaigning on truth and trust in politics since the mid 2000s when he tried to impeach
Tony Blair over the Iraq
war, and then being given a knighthood.
That's the UK rewarding lying. Part of the problem, deep seated corruption
in politics right up to the top.
He said: “Then it was almost laughed out of court with comments such as: ‘There aren’t prisons big enough’. I think over the course of two decades it’s come from the margins to be seen as a serious proposition. A
fictional example of which would see Putin in the Gulag, along with all his
warmonger cronies. The same applies to Donald Trump, Boris
Johnson and thousands more politicians who routinely fail to tell it
like it is. Unfortunately, we think that includes most politicians today.
But if there was a law to prevent lying. That would surely make the world a
better place. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/welsh-senedd-members-consider-criminalising-lying-by-politicians/ar-AA1nVBmt https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/welsh-senedd-members-consider-criminalising-lying-by-politicians/ar-AA1nVBmt
A
new World series of ZEV events from 2015: The Cannonball International series.
Entry to these events are free, provided that the Rules
are followed (for you own safety). The objective is to demonstrate that
transport can be pollution less.
TRANS-RUSSIA
CANNONBALL INTERNATIONAL ZEV RUN STOPS* 50mph
START
|
MURMANSK
|
NORTH
|
KMS
|
MILES
|
HOURS*
|
1st
STOP
|
Monchegorsk
|
-
|
133
|
83
|
1.66
|
2nd
STOP
|
Kandaleksha
|
-
|
242
|
150
|
3.00
|
3rd
STOP
|
M18.E105
|
-
|
463
|
288
|
5.76
|
4th
STOP
|
M18/E105
|
-
|
547
|
356
|
7.12
|
5th
STOP
|
Segezha
|
Republic
Karelia
|
684
|
425
|
8.50
|
6th
STOP
|
Medvezhyegorsk
|
Republic
Karelia
|
799
|
496
|
9.92
|
7th
STOP
|
Pudozh
|
Republic
Karelia
|
991
|
616
|
12.32
|
8th
STOP
|
Vologodskaya
|
Oblast,
Vytegra
|
1,095
|
680
|
13.60
|
9th
STOP
|
Lipin
Bor
|
Oblast
|
1,248
|
775
|
15.50
|
10th
STOP
|
Vologda
|
Oblast
|
1,417
|
880
|
17.60
|
11th
STOP
|
Yaroslavl
|
Oblast
|
1,591
|
988
|
19.76
|
12th
STOP
|
Pereslavl-Zalessky
|
Yaroslavl
Oblast
|
1,755
|
1,090
|
21.80
|
13th
STOP
|
Moscow
|
-
|
1,867
|
1,160
|
26.98
|
14th
STOP
|
Stupino
|
Moskovskaya
O.
|
2,010
|
1,249
|
24.98
|
15th
STOP
|
Bogoroditsk
|
Tul'skaya
oblast
|
2,139
|
1,329
|
26.58
|
16th
STOP
|
Yelets
|
Lipetskaya
oblast
|
2,292
|
1,427
|
28.54
|
17th
STOP
|
Veronezh
|
Oblast
|
2,411
|
1,498
|
29.96
|
18th
STOP
|
Pavlovsk
|
Voronezhskaya
O.
|
2,586
|
1,606
|
32.12
|
19th
STOP
|
Millerovo
|
Rostov
Oblast
|
2,777
|
1,725
|
34.50
|
20th
STOP
|
Rostov-On-Don
|
Rostov
Oblast
|
2,946
|
1,830
|
36.60
|
21st
STOP
|
Krasnodar
|
Krasnodar
Krai
|
3,220
|
2,001
|
40.02
|
22nd
STOP
|
Tuapse
|
Krasnodar
Krai
|
3,400
|
2,113
|
42.26
|
23rd
STOP
|
Golovinka
|
Krasnodar
Krai
|
3,476
|
2,160
|
43.20
|
FINISH
|
BOLSHOY
SOCHI
|
SOUTH
|
3,524
|
2,330
|
46.60
|
Location:
Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes
included with Europe), bordering the Arctic
Ocean,
between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean
Geographic
coordinates: 60
00 N, 100 00 E
Map
references:
Asia
Area:
total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km
water: 79,400 sq km
Area—comparative:
slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the US
Land
boundaries:
total: 19,917 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959
km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km,
Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km,
Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km,
Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,441
km, Norway 167 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km,
Ukraine 1,576 km
Coastline:
37,653 km
Maritime
claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate:
ranges from steppes in the south through humid
continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in
Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters
vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in
Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool
along Arctic coast
Terrain:
broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast
coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and
mountains along southern border regions
Elevation
extremes:
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Mount El'brus 5,633 m
Natural
resources: wide
natural resource base including major deposits of oil,
natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, timber
note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain,
and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources
Land
use:
arable land: 8%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 46%
other: 42% (1993 est.)
Irrigated
land: 40,000 sq
km (1993 est.)
Natural
hazards:
permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to
development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands;
volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula
Environment—current
issues: air
pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired
electric plants, and transportation in major cities;
industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of
inland waterways and sea coasts; deforestation; soil
erosion; soil contamination from improper application of
agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes
intense radioactive contamination
Environment—international
agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen
Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic
Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur
94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography—note:
largest country in the world in terms of area but
unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of
the world; despite its size, much of the country lacks
proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry)
for agriculture
Russia
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Rainforest
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WAYN
Where Are You Now
Wealden
iron industry
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Solar
Cola drinkers care about planet
earth
..
Thirst for Life
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