Portal:Russia


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Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world, spanning eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries. With a population of over 140 million, Russia is the most populous country in Europe and the ninth-most populous in the world. It is a highly urbanised country, with sixteen of its urban areas having more than 1 million inhabitants. Moscow, the most populous metropolitan area in Europe, is the capital and largest city of Russia, while Saint Petersburg is its second-largest city and a major cultural centre.

Human settlement on modern Russian territory dates back to the Lower Paleolithic. The emergence of the East Slavs as a prominent group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD led to the creation of Kievan Rus' in the 9th century. Rus' adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988. Following its disintegration, the Grand Principality of Moscow unified Russian lands in the late 13th century, leading to the formation of the Tsardom of Russia in 1547. By the early 18th century, the Tsardom had expanded vastly through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers. It was proclaimed as the Russian Empire in 1721, which remains the third-largest in history. The Russian Revolution of 1917 led to the abolition of monarchic rule and the creation of the first constitutionally socialist state in the world. Following the Russian Civil War, Russia established the Soviet Union as its largest and principal constituent. Amidst rapid industrialisation in the 1930s, the Soviet Union saw deaths of millions under the totalitarianism of Joseph Stalin. It played a decisive role for the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union emerged as a superpower and competed with the United States for ideological dominance and international influence. The 20th-century Soviet era 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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In this month

Selected food or cuisine –

Dressed herring, colloquially known as shuba, herring under a fur coat, or furry herring (Russian: "сельдь под шубой", romanized"sel'd pod shuboy" or "селёдка под шубой", "selyodka pod shuboy"), is a layered salad composed of diced spekesild covered with layers of grated boiled eggs, vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beetroots), chopped onions, and mayonnaise. Some variations of this dish include a layer of fresh grated apple while some do not.

A final layer of grated boiled beetroot covered with mayonnaise is what gives the salad its characteristic rich purple color. Dressed herring salad is often decorated with grated boiled eggs (whites, yolks, or both). (Full article...)

Selected biography –

El Lissitzky in a 1924 self-portrait

El Lissitzky (Russian: Эль Лиси́цкий, born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky Russian: Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, listen; 23 November [O.S. 11 November] 1890 – 30 December 1941) was a Russian and Soviet artist, active as a painter, illustrator, designer, printmaker, photographer, and architect. He was an important figure of the avant-garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works for the Soviet Union.

Lissitzky began his career illustrating Yiddish children's books in an effort to promote Jewish culture. He started teaching at the age of 15, maintaining his teaching career for most of his life. Over the years, he taught in a variety of positions, schools, and artistic media, spreading and exchanging ideas. He took this ethic with him when he worked with Malevich in heading the suprematist art group UNOVIS, when he developed a variant suprematist series of his own, Proun, and further still in 1921, when he moved to Weimar Republic. In his remaining years he brought significant innovation and change to typography, exhibition design, photomontage, and book design, producing critically respected works and winning international acclaim for his exhibition design. This continued until his deathbed, where in 1941 he produced one of his last works – a Soviet propaganda poster rallying the people to construct more tanks for the fight against Nazi Germany. (Full article...)

In the news

14 March 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Russian attacks on civilians in the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
Five people are killed and three others are injured in Russian drone strikes on residential areas and critical infrastructure across Ukraine. (Reuters)
12 March 2026 – Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war, Embargo of Russian oil during the Russo-Ukrainian war
The United States treasury department issues a temporary license permitting the delivery and sale of Russian oil and petroleum products already loaded onto vessels before March 12, easing sanctions on such shipments until April 11 amid rising global energy prices. (AFP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)
12 March 2026 – Crocus City Hall attack
A Russian military court sentences 19 people for their involvement in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, in 2024. Fifteen of those are sentenced to life in prison while the other four are given between 19 and 22 years in prison. (BBC News)
11 March 2026 – United Nations Security Council, 2026 Iran war
The UN Security Council approves a resolution (S/RES/2817) condemning Iran's attacks on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Jordan. The text, presented by Bahrain and co-sponsored by 135 countries, is passed with 13 votes in favor and the abstentions of Russia and China. (United Nations Press)
10 March 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war

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