Questions and Answers about
Russia
-
—
in PoliticsWho is the first Western journalist to interview Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine began?
Answer: In a move that surprised many and confirmed some suspicions, Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host known for his divisive commentary, secured a landmark interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This interview, conducted in Moscow, marks the first engagement of its kind since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years prior. Carlson’s trip…
-
—
in PoliticsHow did Russia greet Ukraine in the early hours of the New Year 2024?
Answer: On Jan. 1, 2024, Russia launched a record number of 90 Shahed-type drones over Ukraine, causing casualties and damage.
-
—
in TechnologyWhat cosmic name did Elon Musk bestow upon his youngest offspring?
Answer: Techno Mechanicus Musk, affectionately dubbed “Tau,” was born in June 2022. Tau made his grand debut not in a tweet or a press release but in the pages of Elon Musk’s new biography, as chronicled by Walter Isaacson. While X Æ A-13 might’ve been the talk of the town in 2020, and Starship continues…
-
—
in PoliticsHow did Kim Jong-Un roll into Russia for his meeting with Putin on Sept. 12, 2023?
Answer: On Sept. 12, 2023, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea’s supreme leader. didn’t just hop on a plane or drive to Russia. Instead, he chose his dark green, luxuriously decorated armored train for a 20-hour journey to Vladivostok, Russia. This slow-moving fortress comes complete with reddish-pink leather armchairs and an average 60 kph (around 37 mph)…
-
—
in PoliticsWhat did Russian President Putin say about Yevgeny Prigozhin after his death?
Answer: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head honcho of the Russian mercenary Wagner force and the failed June 2023 rebellion, often dubbed “Putin’s chef,” met his untimely end in a plane crash on August 23, 2023. Following the event, President Vladimir Putin, in a rare display of culinary critique, described Prigozhin as an adept entrepreneur who navigated…
-
—
in PoliticsHow close did the rogue Wagner troops get to Moscow before their boss Prigozhin had a change of heart?
Answer: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner private military company, led an armed rebellion against the Russian military on June 24, 2023. He claimed that his forces came within 125 miles (200 kilometers) of Moscow before he agreed to halt his advance and return to his bases. He made this decision after talks with…
-
—
in PlacesWhere is the Nova Kakhovka dam?
Answer: Nova Kakhovka Dam is a strategically vital dam in southern Ukraine. It is situated on the Dnieper River and holds back an enormous body of water that supplies water to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014. It also provides cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is now under Russian…
-
—
in PoliticsHow did Russia react to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 30, 2023?
Answer: Russia’s Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) after criticizing the Putin regime and praising US military assistance to Ukraine during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on May 30, 2023. Graham responded defiantly by challenging Russia to submit to the International Criminal Court, where Putin faces a…
-
—
in PoliticsWho is this mother of 23?
Answer: Maria Lvova-Belova is a Russian politician and the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights. She is accused of unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine to Russia during the invasion. The EU and Japan have sanctioned her, and the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against her and Russian President Putin on March 17, 2023. Lvova-Belova…
-
—
in PoliticsWhat is the Wagner force?
Answer: The Wagner Group is a “Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force” formerly managed and financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch once close to Putin. The mercenary group has been involved in conflicts in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, and, most recently, Ukraine. In a video address on Mar. 5, 2023, Prigozhin said…
-
—
Which country gave Steven Seagal a humanitarian award?
Answer: Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded actor Steven Seagal the Order of Friendship on February 27, 2023, for his “humanitarian work,” which included his cooperation with Russia and his adoration for Putin. Seagal got Russian citizenship after expressing admiration for Putin in 2016 and is known for backing the annexation of Crimea.
-
—
in PoliticsWhat is the New START Treaty?
Answer: The New START Treaty is a nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia. The agreement limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads each side can deploy. Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, signed the treaty in 2010. and it’s supposed to expire in 2026._x000D_
-
—
in PoliticsAccording to his 2023 State-of-the-Nation speech, how does Vladimir Putin plan to fight Western sanctions in the future?
Answer: During his state-of-the-nation address on Feb. 21, 2023, Putin said Russia would change its education system and science and technology policies to withstand Western sanctions. He also warned that Moscow could resume nuclear tests. Putin accused Western elites of targeting Russian culture, religion, and values because they “realize it is impossible to defeat Russia…
-
—
in PoliticsAccording to Putin’s Feb. 2023 State of the Nation speech, Ukraine is under the occupation of who?
Answer: On Feb. 21, 2023. the Russian president gave his annual state-of-the-nation address. In his speech. Putin said war was the new normal. According to Putin, as Ukraine has been effectively occupied by “the Kyiv regime and its Western overlords,” Russia would respond accordingly to the West trying to turn a local conflict into a…
-
—
in PoliticsHow much additional military aid did President Biden promise during his visit to Kyiv in February 2023?
Answer: As part of his visit to Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2023. President Joe Biden announced $500 million in military aid, including artillery ammunition, Javelin missiles, and howitzers. Nearly a year after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Biden visited the Ukrainian capital to show America’s “unwavering support.” Biden said the United States was “here to stay.”…
-
—
in PoliticsWhich countries agreed on Jan. 2023 to continue military support to Ukraine in close Euro-Atlantic coordination?
Answer: In a coordinated effort by the West to help Kyiv break combat deadlocks as Russia’s invasion reaches its 12th month, Germany and the United States are sending battle tanks to Ukraine. France, the UK, the US, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden agreed on Jan. 25, 2023, to continue military support for Ukraine._x000D_
-
—
in BusinessWhich countries had their debt defaulted (failed to pay their foreign bondholders) in 2022?
Answer: Sri Lanka was the first nation to stop paying its foreign bondholders in May 2022. Russia followed in June due to sanctions the West laid amid the Ukraine war. El Salvador, Ghana, Egypt, Tunisia, and Pakistan are currently considered vulnerable to default but have not yet failed to pay their foreign bondholders.
-
—
in PoliticsWhy did Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov auction off his Nobel Peace Prize medal?
Answer: Dmitry Muratov, co-winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize and editor of Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s last major independent newspapers, auctioned off his Nobel medal for a record $103.5 million to raise money for UNICEF’s humanitarian response for Ukraine’s displaced children. The auction of Muratov’s medal broke the record for any Nobel medal…
-
—
in PoliticsWhat’s Iran’s stand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
Answer: In a meeting in Tehran with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 19, 2022, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that if Russia hadn’t sent troops into Ukraine, it would have faced an attack from NATO in the Crimean Peninsula. Khamenei added that the West opposes an “independent and strong”…
-
—
in PoliticsIn July 2022, Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia. Which middle eastern country did Vladimir Putin visit in the same week?
Answer: President Joe Biden, on July 16, 2022, capped a four-day trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia – where he met with leaders of the Arab world on his first trip to the Middle East since taking office. Three days later, on July 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and…
