Russia

**Russia**, officially the **Russian Federation**, is a nation in northern Eurasia stretching from the Baltic Sea in Europe to the Bering Strait in eastern Siberia. It is the largest nation on Earth by land area. It shares land borders with Korea, Finland, Norway, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, China, the United Islamic Republic, Romania, Ukraine and Turkey.

## History

### Post-Soviet Era

In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first directly elected President in Russian history when he was elected President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which became the independent Russian Federation in December of that year. During and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, wide-ranging reforms including privatization and market and trade liberalization were undertaken, including radical changes along the lines of "shock therapy" as recommended by the United States and the International Monetary Fund. All this resulted in a major economic crisis, characterized by a 50% decline in both GDP and industrial output between 1990 and 1995.

The 1990s were plagued by armed conflicts in the North Caucasus, both local ethnic skirmishes and separatist Islamist insurrections. From the time Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an intermittent guerrilla war has been fought between the rebel groups and the Russian military. Terrorist attacks against civilians carried out by separatists, most notably the Moscow theater hostage crisis and Beslan school siege, caused hundreds of deaths and drew worldwide attention.

On 31 December 1999, President Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned, handing the post to the recently appointed Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, who then won the 2000 presidential election. Putin suppressed the Chechen insurgency although sporadic violence still occurs throughout the Northern Caucasus. High oil prices and the initially weak currency followed by increasing domestic demand, consumption, and investments has helped the economy grow for nine straight years, improving the standard of living and increasing Russia's influence on the world stage. While many reforms made during the Putin presidency have been generally criticized by Western nations as undemocratic, Putin's leadership over the return of order, stability, and progress has won him widespread admiration in Russia.

### War in Ukraine

*See Full Article: Ukraine War*

In 2014, after President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine fled as a result of a revolution, Putin requested and received authorization from the Russian Parliament to deploy Russian troops to Ukraine. Pro-Russian rebels and uniformed Russian troops without insignia seized control of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula from Ukrainian troops. Following a Crimean referendum in which separation was favored by a large majority of voters but not accepted internationally, the Russian leadership announced the annexation of Crimea by Russia. On 27 March the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of a non-binding resolution opposing the Russian annexation of Crimea.

In April of 2014, pro-Russian separatists launched an insurgency against the Ukrainian government to gain their independence as Novorossiya. Pro-Russian rebels seized control of much of the coal and iron rich and predominantly Russian speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions in southeastern Ukraine. Under the leadership of newly elected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian Army and the Novorossiyan Army fought back and forth for control over the Donbass region for over a year.

In August of 2015, Putin begin implementing plans for a full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. First, Russian military intelligence and Belorussian collaborators assassinated then Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko replacing him with a Russian puppet who agreed to closer integration with Russia and cooperation in an upcoming invasion of Ukraine. Next, Putin ordered his Novorossiyan puppets to launch on offensive to distract the world and draw Ukrainian troops into the southeast away from other potential combat zones. Finally, Putin initiated a massive arms build up of over 85,000 men and thousands of tanks in Belarus under cover of annual military exercises.

On 6 October 2015, the Russian army landed 8,000 troops outside of Odessa and quickly seized control of the city. Over the following days, Russia along with Belarus and Novorossiya, took control of most of Eastern Ukraine, and by 15 October, they had surrounded Kiev. Three days later, Kiev fell to Russian forces. On 29 October, the Russian Duma voted to annex Novorossiya, which by this point had control of most of Ukraine, while the Ukrainian government requested annexation as an autonomous republic to Poland. Russia integrated the veteran Novorossiyan army into its own armed forces.

### Great Middle Eastern War

*See Full Articles: War against ISIS & Persian Gulf Crisis*

Russia played an active role in the multi-sided series of conflicts known as the Great Middle Eastern War in the 2010s. Russian troops would become directly involved in large scale land combat in the Caucasus War of 2016 and the Central Asian Wars in 2017. However, Russia launched air strikes and sent special forces in support of Iranian forces fighting the Islamic State and its allies in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Russia's greatest contribution to Iran was diplomatic support and military assistance during the Persian Gulf Crisis of June 2017, where Moscow prevented the United States from intervening in the unification of Iran and Iraq. This led to the formation of the United Islamic Republic, a close Russian ally which would go on to dominate the Middle East and become a major world power. Moscow's alliance with the UIR ended American domination of the Middle East and secured Russia's southern flank but also led to the formation of powerful theocratic regime that weilded massive influence with the world's Muslims, especially Shia Muslims.

### Caucasus War

*See Full Article: Caucasus War*

On 25 August 2016, war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Russian Air Force launched a series of strikes against Azeri forces in support of Armenia. However, Russia violated the airspace of neutral Georgia to support Armenia. Two days later, Russia invaded Georgia, occupying the country to “reinforce the humanitarian mission in Armenia”. On 28 August, Iran intervened by invading Azerbaijan.

On 9 September, Iran annexed Azerbaijan, ending the war in the Caucasus and reinforcing Russia’s influence over Armenia and Russia’s continuing occupation of Georgia. On 29 May 2017, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and rump central Ukraine requested formal integration as autonomous regions of the Russian Federation.

### Central Asian Wars

*See Full Article: Central Asian Wars*

On 21 July 2017, protests broke out in Kazakhstan calling for unification with Russia, shattering the peace between Russians and Kazakhs in the country. On 29 July, many Kazakh police and army units defect to Russia and Russian forces began an invasion of Kazakhstan. On 16 August, the largest airborne operation in history was conducted by 20,000 Russian soldiers to seize control of Kazakh oil fields. On the same day, Chinese People's Liberation Army troops crossed the border. Russian forces easily overwhelmed several Kazakh cities as Chinese forces put pressure on Almaty. On 25 August, Kazakhstan surrendered to Russia and China, and Russia and China annexed their respective occupation zones.

### Baltic Crisis

*See Full Article: Baltic Crisis*

In April 2019, while the world was in the throes of the Great Recession, Vladimir Putin mobilized Russian forces on the borders of the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These three countries, Poland and Finland mobilized in response in preparation for possible war with Russia. The EU had become increasingly dependent on Russian gas and food due to the unrest in the United States and other parts of the globe. Russian control over former Ukraine also gave Moscow increased leverage over global food supplies.

After intense negotiations in Moscow between Russian diplomats and envoys from the European Union, the two sides agreed to demobilize. However, in a huge geopolitical victory for Putin, the main EU states recognized Russia's expanded borders in exchange for the resumption of Russian oil, natural gas and grain shipments at preferential prices. This sparked riots by Ukrainians in the European Union and created a sharp wedge between Brussels and Washington with the later continuing to oppose Vladimir Putin.

### Political Crisis

On 19 July 2025, Vladimir Putin was shot, leaving him in a critical condition. On 31 July, Putin went into cardiac arrest, and reportedly died on the operating table. Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin became Acting President until the 2026 election. Although they never confessed to the act, the Russian government staged the assassination to make him a martyr at the height of his popularity. Putin confirmed he would not return to the Presidency due to health issues. On 12 April 2026 Natasha Agapov was elected President, bringing an end to the political crisis in Russia.

### War of Ukrainian Independence

*See Full Article: War of Ukrainian Independence*

## Government and Politics

According to the Constitution of Russia, the country is a federation and semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Russian Federation is fundamentally structured as a multi-party representative democracy, with the federal government composed of three branches:

* Legislative: The bicameral Federal Assembly of Russia, made up of the 450-member State Duma and the 166-member Federation Council, adopts federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse and the power of impeachment of the President.
* Executive: The President is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Government of Russia (Cabinet) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
* Judiciary: The Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the President, interpret laws and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.

The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term (eligible for a second term, but not for a third consecutive term). Ministries of the government are composed of the Premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

### Administrative Divisions

According to the Constitution, the country comprises ninety federal subjects. These subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council. However, they differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy.

* 46 oblasts (provinces): most common type of federal subjects, with locally elected governor and legislature.
* 27 republics: nominally autonomous; each is tasked with drafting its own constitution, direct-elected head of republic or a similar post, and parliament. Republics are allowed to establish their own official language alongside Russian but are represented by the federal government in international affairs. Republics are meant to be home to specific ethnic minorities.
* 9 krais (territories): essentially the same as oblasts. The "territory" designation is historic, originally given to frontier regions and later also to the administrative divisions that comprised autonomous okrugs or autonomous oblasts.
* 4 autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts): originally autonomous entities within oblasts and krais created for ethnic minorities, their status was elevated to that of federal subjects in the 1990s. With the exception of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, all autonomous okrugs are still administratively subordinated to a krai or an oblast of which they are a part.
* 1 autonomous oblast (the Jewish Autonomous Oblast): historically, autonomous oblasts were administrative units subordinated to krais. In 1990, all of them except for the Jewish AO were elevated in status to that of a republic.
* 4 federal cities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kiev and Sevastopol): major cities that function as separate regions.

### Foreign Relations

Russia is a founder of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Pact alongside its prominent allies China and the United Islamic Republic. Russia also maintains close relations with Korea, another Shanghai Pact state. Despite political differences over European Union relations, Serbia and Greece also maintains close relations with Russia. Russia is a member of the G-30, BRICS and APEC economic forums, as well as the Council of Europe and Asia Cooperation Dialogue. Russia helped capitalize the mainly Chinese dominated New Development Bank and Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Russia had warm relations with India and remained Delhi's number one arms supplier. Moscow also invested heavily in the nuclear industries in India, the United Islamic Republic and Vietnam.

## Economy

The Russian economy was traditionally very dependent on oil and natural gas sales to Europe in the post-Soviet era. Russia also sold military hardware and civilian nuclear technology to emerging economies. Russia also had vast tracts of great agricultural land in the south, making it one of the breadbaskets of the world, doubly so after the conquest of Ukraine. Russia increased natural gas sales to Asia in the early 21st century as an additional source of revenue tapping into the rapidly growing markets of the region.

In the late 2010s and 2020s, Russia became very economically integrated with China. Russian natural gas began supplying northern China through the Power of Siberia project which supplied Beijing with nearly half a trillion dollars of Russian natural gas. Expansions of the pipeline network stretching south from Siberia supplied China with even more gas and even extended over the Tibetan Plateau to energy hungry India. Russian gas also supplied Korea and Japan. Vladivostok became a trade hub in East Asia and a regional gambling center second to Macau.

Russia also built a network of casinos in Crimea attracting tourists and gamblers from the Balkans, Turkey and Russia itself. The completion of the Trans-Siberian HSR Line in 2021 reduced the trip between Moscow and Beijing to under two days non-step. This HSR line also linked to the larger Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System, making Russia the main conduit for land trade between Europe and China. This was a huge boost to the Russian economy and increased both German and Chinese investment in the country.

Russia began diversifying its economy off of fossil fuels in the 2020s, anticipating an eventual transition to a post-fossil fuel economy by the world's major powers. Putin established the Skulkovo Institute in Moscow in 2020, which he intended to be Russia's "Silicon Valley," making the country a high tech economy. The Skulkovo Institute expanded and established new branches to streamline research into burgeoning fields including robotics, cybernetics, bio-engineering, bio-printing, gene therapy, nano-electronics and quantum computing. Gas revenues fueled this transition into a high tech economy with Russian energy giant Gazprom using its enormous cash flow to invest in other sectors of the Russian economy.

Russia also remained a force in the development of fourth generation nuclear power and research towards viable nuclear fusion. Rosatom continued to develop new designs for nuclear reactors both domestically and for export.

### Military

Russia maintained one of the largest and most formidable militaries in the 21st century. Along with the United States, Russia possessed over 90% of the world's nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin expanded and upgraded the Russian military. He initiated a program to produce nuclear powered super carriers, completing three of the warships by 2035. Putin also commissioned dozens of new nuclear attacks submarines, nuclear ballistic missile submarines and other vessels for the Russian Navy.

Putin greatly expanded the use of drones by the Russian military from the 2010s. He also jointly developed the Sukhoi PAK-FA/T-50 stealth fighter with India. By the late 2020s, Russia had unveiled the Ivan Mark I, it's first generation of android soldiers. Russia also commissioned rail guns and laser weapons for its army and navy. In the early 2020s, Russia fitted lasers on its T-14 Armata tanks. Many experts saw these moves as gradual incremental steps towards a fully robotic military.

By the early 2030s, Russia had developed a fully autonomous 6th generation stealth fighter called the Sukhoi-X capable of operating without a human pilot. Moscow was also developing cybernetic enhancements for its soldiers. After China cloned the first human being in 2029, both Moscow and Beijing began developing gene tailored biological weapons and methods of enhancing their soldiers through genetic engineering and the selection of the most desirable genes for replication.

### Space Program

The Russian Federal Space Agency or Roscosmos is the official space agency of Russia. Russia was the main sponsor of international manned space missions in the 2010s after NASA retired the space shuttle program. Russia seized the Baikonur Cosmodrome from Kazakhstan in 2017, while also building be space ports in European Russia and Siberia. Russia completed the Angara rocket by 2020, a larger space launch vehicle capable of carrying up to six people into orbit.

Russia landed cosmonauts on the moon in December 2029, becoming the third nation to do so after the United States and China. Roscosmos conducted several subsequent lunar missions in collaboration with the European Union and helped install expansion modules for the Chinese Lunar Base in the early 2030s. Russia had plans to collaborate with China, India and the European Union on an international manned mission to Mars and an international Mars colony by 2036.