Questions and Answers about
Russia
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in HistoryWhat triggered the Soviet attack on Finland in 1939’s Winter War?
Answer: On Nov. 26, 1939, the Russian village of Mainila near the Finnish border was bombed by members of the NKVD – predecessors to the KGB. The attack was used as an excuse to launch an invasion into Finland that would later become known as the Winter War. Finland’s President, Sauli Niinistö, on Feb. 19,…
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in HistoryWhich world leader was known for glasnost and perestroika?
Answer: Glasnost (meaning “openness”) and perestroika (“reconstruction”) were policy reforms associated with the 1980s General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev, that eventually led to the Soviet Union’s disintegration. Gorbachev, also credited with ending the Cold War, died on Aug. 30, 2022, at a Moscow hospital at 91.
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in SportsWho is the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics?
Answer: Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, 15, became on Feb. 7, 2022, the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics – and did so twice during the free skate event. She is also the second woman ever to land the quadruple toe loop after Alexandra Trusova, the fourth to land a quadruple…
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in PoliticsAccording to Russia, it’s “absolutely mandatory” that which country “never, never, ever” becomes a NATO member?
Answer: After hours of negotiations between the US Deputy Secretary of State and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister in Geneva on Jan. 10, 2022, Russia’s lead negotiator insisted that it was “absolutely mandatory” that Ukraine “never, never, ever” becomes a NATO member. His American counterpart argued that the US “will not allow anyone to slam closed…
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in ScienceWhat’s Russia’s Sputnik V?
Answer: Sputnik V is Russia’s coronavirus vaccine. On Dec. 5, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced hope for quick approval of the jab by the World Health Organization. More answers inside!
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in HistoryWhere did Catherine the Great rule?
Answer: Catherine the Great was the last reigning Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796—the country’s longest-ruling female leader. The period of Catherine the Great’s rule is considered a Golden Age of Russia. More answers inside!
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in HistoryWho was Andrei Sakharov?
Andrei Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, Nobel laureate, and activist for disarmament, peace, and human rights. The European Union’s top human rights award, Sakharov Prize, carries his name._x000D_
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in FilmsWho is Yulia Peresild?
Yulia Peresild is a Russian actress who was launched on a Russian rocket toward the International Space Station on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, along with director Klim Shipenko, to shoot scenes for the first feature-length film in space, titled “The Challenge.” The two-person film crew will spend nearly two weeks on the space station before…
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in BusinessWhat are the Pandora Papers?
The Pandora Papers (not to be confused with the Malta Files, China Cables, or the Global tobacco industry ICIJ investigation) is a global investigation on how the rich and powerful hide their investments published by ICIJ – The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists – on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. The Pandora Papers include more than…
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in PoliticsRussia, on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, threatened to block YouTube. Why?
On Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, Russia threatened to block YouTube after it removed Russian state-backed broadcaster RT’s German-language channels’ from its site, saying they had breached its COVID-19 misinformation policy. Russia accused YouTube of “unprecedented information aggression.” Separately on the very same day, Russia fined Google 6.5 million roubles ($89,534) for failing to delete content…
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in PlacesIn Russia, sparkling wine can be called champagne only if it comes from where?
According to a new Russian law adopted on Friday, July 2, 2021, wine manufacturers can only use Champagne for Russian wine. In the European Union and over 70 countries, the name Champagne is legally protected under an 1891 treaty, which reserved it for the sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region in France, protection reaffirmed in…
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in BusinessWhat is REvil?
REvil is a group of Russian hackers who run a ransomware-as-service operation._x000D_
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in PlacesWhich of these happened in Siberia during July 2021 for the 3rd year in a row?
For the third year in a row, residents of northeastern Siberia are reeling from the worst wildfires they can remember. In recent years, summer temperatures in the Russian Arctic have gone as high as 100 degrees, feeding enormous blazes. Last year, wildfires scorched more than 60,000 square miles of forest and tundra, an area the…
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in PlacesWhich of these can be found next to Iran’s southern port city of Bushehr?
Bushehr is twelve kilometers from the site of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant built in cooperation with Russia._x000D_
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in PoliticsRussian Poisoning: What was The Cell (AKA Kamera)?
Kamera (which means “The Cell” in Russian) was the poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services, operating until the late 1990s. Under Putin’s rule, there has been a surging wave of suspicious Russian poisonings.
