Russia
Russia is the largest nation state in the world. In 2013, Russia was #3 in the world in terms of military expenditure.[1] It was the #2 nation worldwide as regards arms export from 2012-2016, a long way behind fellow UN/Security Council member, US.[2]
Contents
History
Formerly the USSR, the country experienced turmoil after the end of the Cold War.
Fossil fuel reserves
As well as the 8th largest oil reserves,[3] Russia has the largest gas reserves of any nation state, about 25% of total global reserves.[4] It also has a lot of tar sands.
Leadership
Vladimir Putin has been an important figure in Russian politics of the last 2 decades. He became FSB Director on 25 July 1998, Russian Prime Minister on 9 August 1999 and Russian President on 7 May 2000.
Policies
In 2019 Russia was jailing Jehovah's witnesses under laws about "extremism".[5]
Russophobia
- Full article: Russophobia
- Full article: Russophobia

Irrational fear of Russia is termed "Russophobia". Western commercially-controlled media and governments have been building up this enemy image after the success of Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election.
"Russian Propaganda"
- Full article: “Russian Propaganda”
- Full article: “Russian Propaganda”
This website was accused by the spooky ProporNot website as being a supplier of "Russian propaganda" - notwithstanding its pages on events such as the 9/99 bombings. The general pattern of NATO-friendly groups attempting to reboot Cold War was clear to many observers since about 2016[citation needed], but the first clear documentary evidence of a deliberate campaign funded by UK Deep state-backed groups emerged only in late 2018 after the Integrity Initiative leak of 2018.
US Election Interference
After Donald Trump was elected, unnamed Russians were accused of interference in the 2016 US presidential election, through social media such as Twitter).
Society
“As commentators such as Mark Galotti and Edward Lucas have long pointed out, the Putin state has long co-opted Russian criminality to act as an information source, purveyor of corruption and in supporting Russia/Foreign policy aims including murders outside Russia. However, due to difficulties to say the least in obtaining convictions or even meeting criminal standards of evidence against persons outside the jurisdiction, much information which would demonstrate these links are often limited in numbers and quality. This is especially so due to the lack of understanding of the semi militarized ethos of Russian society.”
Euan Grant[citation needed]
An event carried out
Event | Location | Description |
---|---|---|
Evacuation from Afghanistan | Afghanistan | The evacuation of foreigners from Afghanistan, one of the largest airlifts in history |
A Quote by Russia
Page | Quote | Date | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Russophobia | “A superpower is a cold war term. When people today say that Russia aspires to have this status, I interpret it in the following way: they want to undermine trust in Russia, to portray Russia as frightening, and create some kind of image of an enemy. … Russia is in favor of a multipolar world, a democratic world order, strengthening the system of international law, and for developing a legal system in which any small country, even a very small country, can feel itself secure, as if behind a stone wall. … Russia is ready to become part of this multipolar world and guarantee that the international community observes these rules. And not as a superpower with special rights, but rather as an equal among equals.” | 2007 | Vladimir Putin, Kremlin |
Related Quotations
Page | Quote | Author | Date |
---|---|---|---|
Madeleine Albright | “President Clinton and I first met Putin before that
when he was kind of acting president at, this was an APEC meeting in New Zealand, and at that stage Putin was trying to be very ingratiating and trying to make new friends - he was still cold - and the issue about him is he is very smart and in these meetings. He did not have talking points and he took notes himself. He also is somebody I have to describe this because, they actually did kind of a jazz concert for President Clinton and President Clinton's driving around and Putin was sitting there like this..no rhythm whatsoever.. and and (sic), but the thing that is interesting is how smart he really is and directed he was. The thing that I speak to more is something that happened before, that in 91 when the Soviet Union had fallen apart I was running a think-tank and I was asked to participate in a big survey of all of Europe after the end of the Cold War, and we had questionnaires and focus groups and things like that, and the focus group I'll never forget, is one outside of Moscow where this man stands up and says "I'm so embarrassed we used to be a superpower and now we're Bangladesh with missiles". And what I think happened I write it not so easy not so difficult to really deduce this, is Putin identified himself with that person who felt that the dignity and the grandeur of Russia had been lost and he has is bound and determined to restore that in every single way.” | Madeleine Albright | 2018 |
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes | “It is vital to understand the reasons behind Putin’s warped reasoning – the fact that he is prepared to lie and to kill to protect his wealth and power – if we are to comprehend why the Kremlin has launched this information attack on the West. Only then can we begin to combat it. In Soviet times there was an ideological element, the battle of Capitalism versus Communism. That no longer plays a part. But Putin wants the West at least to respect Russia; better still to fear Russia. That is Putin’s mindset. If in Soviet times the leadership of the USSR relied on Western sympathisers with the Communist cause to help them in their mission, nowadays the Kremlin can call upon support in the West from three groups of people: naïve Russophiles who, despite all the evidence to the contrary, believe that Putin “can’t be all that bad, and anyway the Americans are just as bad”; those who are prepared to toe the Russian line in return for money; or those who are being blackmailed.” | Integrity Initiative | May 2018 |
Media manipulation | “Social media manipulation was pioneered by Israel in 2009, during its Gaza offensive, not by Russia and China. The UK and the US both have had online "psychological operations" for years. Calling out some actors but giving others a free pass does little to address the problem.” | Clare Daly | 10 December 2021 |
Bernard Montgomery | “The next war on land will be very different from the last one, in that we shall have to fight it in a different way. In reaching a decision on that matter, we must first be clear about certain rules of war. Rule 1, on page I of the book of war, is: "Do not march on Moscow". Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler, and it is no good. That is the first rule. I do not know whether your Lordships will know Rule 2 of war. It is: "Do not go fighting with your land armies in China". It is a vast country, with no clearly defined objectives, and an army fighting there would be engulfed by what is known as the Ming Bing, the people's insurgents.” | Bernard Montgomery | 30 May 1962 |
Russophobia | “RF is not a “normal” country in most senses of the word. Crucially, Russians see life & the world very differently from us. While economics is of course important to them, in the broadest sense Russians are not nearly as driven by economic & financial considerations.” | 13 January 2015 | |
Richard Sakwa | “NATO exists to manage the risks created by its existence.” | Richard Sakwa | 2015 |
Tim Sweijs | “The Russian aggression in Crimea has deeper roots. The Russian forces are being transformed from a big group of army conscripts to smaller, agile modern units. Underneath that is also the militarization of society. There are TV-channels that don't broadcast 'The Voice', but competition between tank-divisions on some trail.” | Tim Sweijs | 11 June 2015 |
Events
Event | Description |
---|---|
1993 Russian constitutional crisis | |
2013 Volgograd bombings | |
2014 Winter Olympics | |
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine | In a new episode of Cold War 2.0 Russia forcefully halted NATO expansion by invading Ukraine, with financial support of China. Although the EU and US denounced the "war crimes" as multiple cities were bombed, several countries opted less severe sanctions to keep importing diamonds and luxury goods and gas (and their loaned money) from Russia, seemingly creating a new iron curtain in Eastern Europe. |
9-99/Ryazan incident | Moscow FSB officers discovered wiring up what looked like a bomb in the basement of a building by night. Local FSB unaware. Claimed to be a terror drill but no documentation was presented. Instead documents were sealed and discussion of it prohibited in the Duma. |
Russian Civil War | |
Russian apartment bombings | A 'Russian 9/11' which boosted support for the second war that was launched in Chechnya |
Groups Headquartered Here
Group | Start | End | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Almaz-Antey | 2002 | Russian state-owned company in the arms industry. | |
Central Bank of Russia | 25 December 1990 | ||
Concord Management and Consulting | Russian company under US sanctions | ||
FSB | 12 April 1995 | Russian intelligence agency, successor to the KGB | |
Frunze Military Academy | 1918 | One of the most prestigious military educational institutions in the Soviet Union | |
Gazprom | Russian oil and gas giant corporation | ||
KGB | 13 March 1954 | 6 November 1991 | |
Kaspersky | The alleged - by the US and UK - offensive cybersecurity firm for Russia. | ||
Moscow State Institute of International Relations | 1944 | Educates very many of Russia's political, economic, and intellectual elite | |
Rosneft | 1993 | Russian integrated oil and gas company. One of the few multinationals in the world not owned by the Western interlocking directorate of capital. | |
Russia Today | 10 December 2005 | A global TV channel backed by the Russian government. Allows Western dissidents on air and some deep politics to be discussed. Putting a positive spin on the government, but not too bad coverage of Russia either. | |
Yaroslavl State University | 1970 | Up-and-coming provincial Russian university |
Citizens of Russia on Wikispooks
Title | Born | Died | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Vladimir Bukovsky | 30 December 1942 | Russian dissident who spoke at the 1979 JCIT. | |
Alexander Litvinenko | 30 August 1962 | 23 November 2006 | An exiled Russian spook turned whistleblower who died of polonium poisoning in London. |
Events Participated in
Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine | 24 February 2022 | Europe Russia Ukraine Kiev Donbas | In a new episode of Cold War 2.0 Russia forcefully halted NATO expansion by invading Ukraine, with financial support of China. Although the EU and US denounced the "war crimes" as multiple cities were bombed, several countries opted less severe sanctions to keep importing diamonds and luxury goods and gas (and their loaned money) from Russia, seemingly creating a new iron curtain in Eastern Europe. | |
HMS Defender Crimea controversy | 23 June 2021 | 23 June 2021 | A diplomatic military controversy between Russia and the UK |
Related Documents
Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:Absolute folly for Britain to get involved in Syria | Article | 1 March 2018 | Leo McKinstry | Tory MP Johnny Mercer, a former soldier, has demanded: “Britain must come to Syria’s aid” and condemned those who oppose “military intervention”. |
Document:Appendix A Ukraine Indicators and Warnings | Ukrainan view of Russian/separatist tactics and strategy | 26 February 2016 | Integrity Initiative | Ukrainian officers tells British colleagues their opinions |
Document:British Interests in Ukraine | article | 15 May 2014 | David Malone | A forensic analysis of some of the British interests in Ukraine and - by inference, events leading up to and following the February 2014 coup |
Document:Canada Takes A Hostage: Free Meng Wanzhou | Article | 8 December 2018 | Christopher Black | Canadians should be angry about these traitors isolating Canada from China, from Russia, from Iran and their great cultures, and condemning Canada to be nothing more than an outpost of the American empire. For traitors they are as they betray the Canadian people by serving the interests of the Americans and their war machine. Free Meng Wanzhou, for so long as she is held hostage, so are we all. |
Document:Economic Tasks - Vladimir Putin | article | 30 January 2012 | Vladimir Putin | A quintessentially orthodox IMF/WTO economic analysis from the Russian Prime Minister in the run up to the Presidential election in March 2012. |
Document:Ed Miliband’s decision to oppose military action against Syria is an action of statesmanship of which Britons will be proud | Article | 28 August 2013 | Michael Meacher | It is all very well to rush to war in a surge of moral outrage, it is quite another to spell out clearly what are the war objectives and how exactly they are to be achieved. |
Document:First Recorded Successful Novichok Synthesis was in 2016 – By Iran, in Cooperation with the OPCW | blog post | 17 March 2018 | Craig Murray | Beginning in late 2016, Iranian scientists succeeded in synthesising a number of Novichoks in full cooperation with the OPCW. This makes a complete nonsense of Theresa May’s “of a type developed by Russia” line, used to Parliament and the UN Security Council. |
Document:H.RES.758 | legal document | 18 November 2014 | United States Congress | This bill puts America on a footing for war against Russia. It has received close to zero coverage in the US and other establishment media. |
Document:How Russia betrayed America | essay | 10 March 2015 | Mike King | A useful mirror image of the Anglo-US-Nato official narrative about Russia |
Document:Hushing Up - and Profiting from - Saudi Aggressions while Warmongering against Russia | article | 29 August 2015 | Stephen Gowans | The gross hypocricy inherent in the foreign policy actions of Anglo-US-NATO governments |
Document:Igor Strelkov and Russia's Fifth Column | article | 12 September 2014 | 'The Saker' | Extended commentary and analysis of the statement by Igor Strelkov about the West's war on Russia and Russia's 5th Column problem |
Document:Integrity Initiative Weekly Report 9th to 15th July 2018 | report | 15 July 2018 | Euan Grant | |
Document:Introduction Banks | project proposal | June 2018 | Euan Grant | "We shall be approaching a range of international banks and institutions, including the BBA and ABI, together with major accountancy firms. We will use the results of these discussions to inform academia, think tanks and central government in the UK, particularly NCA, HMRC and MOD. We will also seek to put our views and, with permission, those of others into the public domain in a range of countries." |
Document:Introduction to Deloitte LLP | introduction letter | June 2018 | Euan Grant | "We shall be approaching a range of international banks and institutions, including the BBA and ABI, together with major accountancy firms. We will use the results of these discussions to inform academia, think tanks and central government in the UK, particularly NCA, HMRC and MOD. We will also seek to put our views and, with permission, those of others into the public domain in a range of countries." |
Document:It’s Nato that’s empire-building, not Putin | article | 7 March 2015 | Peter Hitchens | Rare honesty, peppered with obligatory obeisances to western official narratives, about Nato empire-building since 1990 from a western mainsteam media journalist. |
Document:Mueller Scrambles To Limit Evidence After Indicted Russians Actually Show Up In Court | Article | 13 June 2018 | 'Tyler Durden' | This is probably the first time in the history of litigation that a plaintiff (here, prosecutor) has told a court that it may not have obtained good service of process on a defendant that has appeared to defend the case on the merits. Robert Mueller to US District Court: "We didn’t really mean it, Judge! We had no idea they might actually show up!" |
Document:Myths about Contemporary Russia | article | 28 April 2014 | Father Andrew | An article that comprehensively refutes the major western demonising myths about Russia |
Document:NATO goes to war against Russia | Statement | 1 March 2022 | WSWS Editorial Board | There must be a new mass anti-war movement, based on the international working class. This opposition, however, must be developed as a conscious political movement for socialism. This means the building of the International Committee of the Fourth International and its affiliated Socialist Equality Parties in every country. |
Document:Nato Expansion and Turkey | blog post | 17 May 2022 | Craig Murray | There is another, specifically Turkish interest in play here, which is very much a factor in Erdogan’s willingness to stand up to Biden over Swedish and Finnish NATO entry. This of course relates to the permanent tension between NATO members Turkey and Greece. |
Document:Nyet means Nyet | diplomatic communication | 1 February 2008 | William Joseph Burns | February 2008 classified diplomatic cable from US ambassador to Russia William J Burns to the State Department about how Russia views NATO involvement in Ukraine |
Document:On Naval Blockades and A Hard Days War | Article | 11 October 2018 | Christopher Black | The NATO leadership are in love with war. They enjoy frightening people. They enjoy the killing. It gives them a thrill talking about it when they sit down in their comfortable chairs and have their cocktails after a hard days war. |
Document:Pitch for a long-Form TV series about Russia in the 1990s | media strategy planning | 26 December 2018 | Integrity Initiative Chris Donnelly Martha Bayles | Pitch for creating a long-Form TV series about Russia in the 1990s |
Document:Proposal to understand and counter Russian Active Measures | proposal | 14 October 2018 | ||
Document:Russia is a Bangladesh with missiles | article | 22 April 2016 | Madeleine Albright Eduard Limonov | Insulting comments by Madeleine Albright about Vladimir Putin and Russia, responded to in kind by Eduard Limonov |
Document:Russia-US Conventional Military Balance | article | 24 July 2015 | 'The Saker' | Further thoughts on the US-Russia conventional military balance in light of continuing NATO sabre-rattling around Russia's western/southern borderlands |
Document:Russia’s “Save Ukraine” Memorandum: Prevent the Ukraine from “Going Fascist” | article | 13 February 2014 | The geo-politics of the 2013-14 Ukraine riots and the US push for 'Regime-change' from the perspective of a high-level Russian think-tank. | |
Document:Russophobe Myths | webpage | 4 July 2009 | Anatoly Karlin | A list of common Russophobe myths about Russia |
Document:Speaking notes for meetings in Israel | speaking notes | June 2018 | Dan Kaszeta | Institute for Statecraft wants to build a relationship with the Israeli government |
Document:Speech by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 20 August 2017 to the Syrian Diplomatic Corps | Speech | 31 August 2017 | Bashar al Assad | The US President is not the maker of policies, but the executor. Therefore, the “Deep State” in the United States does not govern in partnership with the President, but leaves him a small margin. |
Document:Springtime for Russophobia | article | 6 September 2014 | Mark Hackard | On the roots of the Russo-phobia of Western Establishments and its burgeoning in the wake of Russia's clear red-line over Ukraine |
Document:St Petersburg International Economic Forum | speech | 23 May 2014 | Vladimir Putin | Vladimir Putin's address to the plenary session of the 18th St Petersburg International Economic Forum on 23 May 2014 |
Document:The Balkans: Courruption as a Weapon of War, the Vulnerabilities to Corruption and Malign Influence | project proposal | 17 October 2018 | Euan Grant | Awareness of Chinese, Turkish and V4 influence in non-EU Balkan States, and associated potential risks to be mitigated and opportunities that might be exploited; mitigating Russian (and associated) malign influence |
Document:The Curious Case Of Russia’s Contradictory Stance Towards 5G Technology | Article | 18 May 2019 | Andrew Korybko | While RT is telling the English-language international audience to be wary of 5G technology, the Russian state itself is already experimenting with it and doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about the potential health effects that it could have on its people. |
Document:The IMF Bank Job | article | 9 May 2014 | Edmund Dalpe | A hilarious piece of satire - but closer to the truth about who calls the shots on events surrounding the Ukraine coup and what it really about, than any or all of the western MSM talking-heads combined. |
Document:The Jewish Role in the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia's Early Soviet Regime | article | January 1994 | Mark Weber | An analysis of the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in July 1918. |
Document:The Last Bus to Idlib: Terrorist Safe-Haven in Syria About to Face a Cleaning Out | Article | 3 August 2018 | Steven Sahiounie | One by one, all other areas in Syria under terrorist control have fallen, and now the final battle for Idlib province looms large on the horizon. The liberation of Idlib will begin soon, and the green buses can finally get back to their job of transporting Syrians as they live, shop and work in peace at last. |
Document:The Meaning of the US Saber-Rattling at the Borders of Russia | article | 18 July 2015 | 'The Saker' | Some thoughts on the Russia - NATO military balance in light of NATO posturing, excercises and sabre-rettling around Russia's wetern and southern borders |
Document:The Reasons for the Decline of MOD | reform proposal | 6 April 2018 | Integrity Initiative | The Civil and Military Services have seen their intellectual capacity dramatically reduced as they have reduced in numbers, and for the past decade have made virtually no contribution to the redesign of the Whitehall structures of power. This now needs to change. |
Document:The Russians are coming | article | 9 May 2014 | William Blum | The west's tried and trusted - but lately tired and increasingly absurd - specter of an aggressive, expansionist Russia, demolished in style by the inimitable William Blum |
Document:The Threat of War and the Russian Response | article | 23 September 2014 | Sergei Glazyev | An adviser to the Russian President analyses the current systemic global crisis and the way forward for Russia and the world |
Document:The World Is on the Brink of War Once Again as All Hell Breaks Loose in Syria | Article | 8 February 2018 | Darius Shahtahmasebi | With the assistance of the media, the United States and Israel continue to bomb Syria in direct contravention of international law, targeting Russia's ally the Syrian Arab Army, without any significant journalistic or international opposition. |
Document:The slandering of a Russian “Elon Musk” | article | 19 October 2020 | 'Rhys James' | A tongue-in-cheek analysis of strange goings-on in the Russian Drone design and manufacturing industry; but with a hard edge to it which plausibly suggests Isaeli-Mossad shenanigans |
Document:The tyranny of the political spectrum | article | 5 March 2017 | Peter | Details of an exchange in the comments section of an article on the World Socialist Web Site between the author and a regular WSWS commentator which was quickly removed by the site operators. It illustrates the blinkered censorious nature of activists committed to both 'Left' and 'Right' - in this case the 'Left'. |
Document:Think Piece: Current Russian Strategic Thinking | strategic analysis | 19 January 2018 | Chris Donnelly | Chris Donnelly gives his view on Current Russian Strategic Thinking |
Document:Time to Start Paying Attention: The US Just Bombed Russians in Syria | Article | 9 February 2018 | Darius Shahtahmasebi | It is not clear if Russia has a retaliation of its own in mind, but we would do well to remember that when similar incidents took place last year, Russia indicated that they would begin targeting US jets if they had to. Almost immediately after this stark warning, Australia pulled its planes out of its air missions in Syria. |
Document:Turkey ambushed Su24 using information supplied by US | report | 27 November 2015 | Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation | Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, General Bondarev, presents facts of the attack on the Russian Su-24M aircraft carried out by Turkish F-16 fighters in the sky over Syria on 24 November 2015 |
Document:US Nuclear Policy Review: The World Is Our Enemy | Article | 8 February 2018 | Christopher Black | “We (the United States) will keep you guessing as to when and against whom we will use them (nuclear weapons). We will maintain our role as the greatest state terrorist by keeping the nuclear Damocles sword over the heads of the people of the world constantly to ensure that the world acts in our interest.” |
Document:US Recruits Russia as Junior Partner | article | 24 November 2010 | Rick Rozoff | By aligning itself with the US and NATO, Russia has nothing to gain and everything to lose. |
Document:US is militarizing Ukraine to invade Russia | discussion | 20 June 2014 | Sergei Glazyev | Vladimir Putin's economic adviser outlines the massive militarisation of Ukraine and the Anglo-US agenda that is behind it. |
Document:US media, politicians mobilize against Sochi Olympics | article | 10 February 2014 | Andrea Peters | A useful analysis of the orchestrated campaign of vilification against Russia and its president coincident with the run-up to the Sochi winter Olympics. |
... further results |
References
- ↑ http://www.iiss.org/en/about%20us/press%20room/press%20releases/press%20releases/archive/2014-dd03/february-0abc/military-balance-2014-press-statement-52d7
- ↑ https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2017-03/news/us-leads-rising-global-arms-trade
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_proven_reserves
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_gas_proven_reserves
- ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-religion/russia-jails-jehovahs-witness-adherent-for-six-years-over-extremism-idUSKBN1YH132