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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 and 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. Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated; the Grand Duchy of Moscow led the unification of Russian lands, leading to the proclamation of the Tsardom of Russia in 1547. 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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Alexander II of Russia

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Siege of Kazan (1552)

Two paskhas with candles (with a kulich and Easter eggs in the background)

Paskha (also spelled pascha, or pasha; Russian: па́сха; [ˈpasxə]; "Easter") is a Slavic festive dish made in Eastern Orthodox countries which consists of food that is forbidden during the fast of Great Lent. It is made during Holy Week and then brought to Church on Great Saturday to be blessed after the Paschal Vigil. The name of the dish comes from Pascha, the Eastern Orthodox celebration of Easter. Besides Russia, Ukraine, etc. Pasha is also often served in Finland.

Cheese paskha is a traditional Easter dish made from tvorog (like cottage cheese, Russian: творог, romanized: tvorog), which is white, symbolizing the purity of Christ, the Paschal Lamb, and the joy of the Resurrection. It is formed in a mold, traditionally in the shape of a truncated pyramid which symbolizes the first Passover in Egypt, a nod to Christianity's early Jewish beginnings and a reminder that the Last Supper of Jesus was a Passover Seder. Others believe the pyramid is a symbol of the Trinity, the Church; Tomb of Christ). It is usually served as an accompaniment to rich Easter breads called paska in Ukraine and kulich in Russia (where the "paskha" name is also used in the Southern regions) and Poland “Pascha”. The Easter foods; bread and cheese paska are very rich and made of many dairy items given up during Great Lent. They are brought to church on Easter to be blessed by the priest. (Full article...)

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Lenin in 1920

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (22 April 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist who was the founder and first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924, and of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death. The founder and leader of the Bolsheviks, Lenin led the October Revolution which established the world's first socialist state. During the Russian Civil War, his administration consolidated power in a one-party state under the Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, his developments to the ideology are called Leninism.


Born into a middle-class family in Simbirsk, Lenin embraced revolutionary socialist politics following his brother's 1887 execution. Expelled from Kazan Imperial University for participating in protests against the Tsarist government, he devoted the following years to a law degree before relocating to Saint Petersburg in 1893 and becoming a prominent Marxist activist. In 1897, Lenin was arrested for sedition and exiled to Siberia for three years. He then moved to Western Europe, where he became a key figure in the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. In the party's 1903 schism, he led his Bolshevik faction against Julius Martov's Mensheviks. Lenin briefly returned to Russia during the failed Revolution of 1905, and during the First World War campaigned for its transformation into a Europe-wide proletarian revolution, which, as a Marxist, he believed would cause the end of capitalism and the rise of socialism. After the February Revolution of 1917 ousted the Tsar and established a Provisional Government, Lenin returned to Russia and played a leading role in the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the regime. (Full article...)

In the news

21 October 2024 – Sudanese civil war
An Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane crashes in North Darfur, Sudan, killing its crew of two Russians and three Sudanese nationals. The Rapid Support Forces claim that they shot down the aircraft with a surface-to-air missile and say that they have recovered the airplane's flight recorder. Russia says that its diplomats in Sudan are currently investigating the crash. (Sudan Tribune) (AP)
20 October 2024 – 2024 Moldovan presidential election, 2024 Moldovan European Union membership referendum
The presidential election goes to a second-round between current president Maia Sandu and politician Alexandr Stoianoglo of the pro-Russian Party of Socialists. (BBC)
The European Union referendum is narrowly approved by voters, with president Maia Sandu alleging foreign electoral intervention from Russia. (Reuters)
18 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, North Korea–Ukraine relations
The South Korean National Intelligence Service says that North Korea has started sending troops to fight with Russia in Ukraine. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol calls for a security meeting and says the international community must respond with "all available means". (BBC)
16 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, North Korea–Ukraine relations

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Mikhail Gorbachev
If the Russian word "perestroika" has easily entered the international lexicon, this is due to more than just interest in what is going on in the Soviet Union. Now the whole world needs restructuring, i.e. progressive development, a fundamental change.
Mikhail Gorbachev, Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World
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  1. ^ In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Sergeyevich and the family name is Khrushchev.