Russia , officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country in northern Eurasia. It is by far the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, spanning Eastern Europe and northern Asia.
The Country profile .
The capital is Moscow. The official language is Russian.
While Russians make up more than 80% of the population and Orthodox Christianity is the main religion, there are many other ethnic and religious groups. The ancestors of many of today's Russians practised Orthodox Christianity since the 10th century.
The president is Vladimir Putin. He succeeded Demitry Medvedev (3.2.08 to 5.2.12).
- KGB , the Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopanosti of the Soviet Union, was the world’s largest spy and state-security machine.
- USSR, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (also known as the Soviet Union) was the new communist state established in 1922.
- The fall of the Soviet Union
4.19.10 Israel Won't Sign Non-Proliferation Treaty : Netanyahu will not go against "long standing policy" and sign treaty.
7.25.10 A Russian Milestone: 1st Black Elected to Office. Jean Gregoire Sagbo last month became the first black to be elected to office in Russia. In a country where racism is entrenched and often violent, Sagbo's election as one of Novozavidovo's 10 municipal councilors is a milestone. But among the town's 10,000 people, the 48-year-old from the West African country of Benin is viewed simply a Russian who cares about his hometown. Sagbo isn't the first black in Russian politics. Another West African, Joaquin Crima of Guinea-Bissau, ran for head of a southern Russian district a year ago but was heavily defeated. Crima was dubbed by the media "Russia's Obama." Now they've shifted the title to Sagbo, much to his annoyance.
Russia's black population hasn't been officially counted but some studies estimate about 40,000 "Afro-Russians." Many are attracted by universities that are less costly than in the West. Scores of them suffer racially motivated attacks every year — 49 in Moscow alone in 2009, according to the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy Task Force on Racial Violence and Harassment, an advocacy group.
12.24.10 START gets initial approval in Russia: The State Duma voted 350-58 in favor of it . The U.S. Senate approved the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, by a 71-26 vote on Wednesday 12.22.10. The U.S. Senate's approval of the treaty gave Obama a key victory on what has been considered one of his top foreign policy priorities.
U.S.-Russia Relations: "Reset” Fact Sheet.
March 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict: The United States and its Western allies have imposed economic sanctions on Russian officials as a result of Crimea’s annexation. Russia responded by placing travel restrictions on U.S. officials.
Jul 17, 2014: The conflict dates back to before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated this past February, when protests for closer Ukrainian ties to the European Union drove out Ukraine's pro-Russian president,Viktor Yanukovych. He made the decision to suspend the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement and seek closer economic ties with Russia. This began a several-months-long wave of demonstrations and protests known as the Euromaidan, which later escalated into the 2014 Ukrainian revolution that ultimately resulted in the overthrowing of Yanukovych and the establishment of a new government. These events precipitated the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014.
7.25.14 Michael McFaul, a key architect of the reset policy who served as the American ambassador to Russia from 2012 until February of this year, was quoted as saying one of the reasons the reset initiative faded away ” was because “Putin decided it wasn’t in the interest of Russia the way he defines it.” Putin calculated demonizing the United States instead of cooperating would get him what he wanted: an economically and militarily strong Russia that would take its rightful place on the world stage, according to McFaul’s published comments.
8.3.16: Christians in Russia have said they are determined to preach the Gospel and fulfill the Great Commission despite tough new laws signed by President Vladimir Putin that ban evangelism outside of churches.
8.4.16: Franklin Graham Moves World Persecution Summit Out of Russia Over New Bans on Evangelism.
10.22.16: The U.S. government has formally accused Moscow of conducting cyber attacks on the Democratic National Committee to influence the elections in favor of Republican nominee Donald Trump. Russian President Vladimir Putin denies any meddling. That is just one issue, however, involving Russia where Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton bitterly disagree.
2.24.22: Why is Putin invading Ukraine? Put simply, it appears as if Russian President Vladmir Putin views Ukraine as traditionally part of Russia, and would very much like it back under his country’s control.
