Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who is the president of Russia. Putin has held continuous positions as president or prime minister since 1999:as prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012,and as president from 2000 to 2008 and since 2012. He is the longest-serving Russian or Soviet leader since Joseph Stalin.
Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov is a Russian politician who has been the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and served as Member of the State Duma since 1993. He is also the Chair of the Union of Communist Parties –Communist Party of the Soviet Union (UCP-CPSU) since 2001. Zyuganov ran for President of Russia four times,most controversially in 1996,when he lost in the second round to Boris Yeltsin per official results.
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is a Russian politician and current Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the Chechen independence movement,through his father who was the separatist-appointed mufti of Chechnya. He is a colonel general in the Russian military.
Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin is a Russian far-right political philosopher.
Alina Maratovna Kabaeva or Kabayeva is a Russian politician,media manager and retired individual rhythmic gymnast,who has been designated Honoured Master of Sports by the Russian government.
William Joseph Burns is an American diplomat who has served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Biden administration since March 19,2021. He previously served as U.S. deputy secretary of state from 2011 to 2014;in 2009 he served as acting secretary of state for a day,prior to the confirmation of Hillary Clinton. Burns retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a 32-year career. From 2014 to 2021,he served as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Alexander Vasilyevich Bortnikov is a Russian intelligence officer who has served as the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) since 2008. He is one of the most powerful members of the silovik faction of president Vladimir Putin's inner circle. A Hero of the Russian Federation since 2019,he also holds the rank of General of the Army,the second highest grade in use in the Russian military. According to some experts,it's likely Bortnikov played a key role in Putin's decision to invade Ukraine in 2022.
Michael Anthony McFaul is an American academic and diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. McFaul is currently the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor in International Studies in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University,where he is the Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is also a Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also a contributing columnist at The Washington Post. Prior to his nomination to the ambassadorial position,McFaul worked for the U.S. National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and senior director of Russian and Eurasian affairs,where he was the architect of U.S. President Barack Obama's Russian reset policy.
The most popular sport in Russia is soccer. According to Yandex search analysis results rating of the most popular sports among Russians:"Football topped the list of the most popular sports in Russia" with 5 to 10 million requests. Ice hockey came in second with handball,basketball,futsal,boxing,auto racing,volleyball,athletics,tennis,and chess rounding out the top ten rankings. Other popular sports include bandy,biathlon,figure skating,weightlifting,gymnastics,wrestling,martial arts,rugby union,and skiing.
Canada–Russia relations are the bilateral relations between Canada and Russia,the world's two largest countries in terms of area. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,relations became very tense after Canada imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed Canada on a list of "unfriendly countries",along with Taiwan,South Korea,Japan,Singapore,the United States,European Union members,NATO members,Australia,New Zealand,Switzerland,Micronesia and Ukraine.
Russia–South Africa relations are foreign relations between Russia and South Africa. Full diplomatic relations were established between both countries in 1942 as the Soviet Union. Russia has an embassy in Pretoria and a consulate-general in Cape Town. South Africa has an embassy in Moscow. Both countries are also members of BRICS.
The State of Israel is represented in the Russian Federation through an embassy in Moscow and a consulate-general in Yekaterinburg. Russia is represented in Israel through an embassy in Tel Aviv and a consulate in Haifa. Russia is a member of the Quartet on the Middle East. For many years,Israel was a haven for Russian Jews. This was especially the case during the aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1990s. Israel and the Soviet Union,Russia's predecessor state,were on opposing sides during the Cold War. However,the relationship between Israel and Russia has improved significantly since the early 2000s,with the election of the more pro-Israel Russian leader Vladimir Putin,and the election of the more pro-Russia Israeli leader Ariel Sharon. Putin has had a close relationship with long-serving Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Russia–Singapore relations are the bilateral foreign relations between the two countries,Russia and Singapore. Russia has an embassy in Singapore. Singapore has an embassy in Moscow. Both countries are full members of APEC. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,relations became very tense after Singapore imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed Singapore on a list of "unfriendly countries" along with Taiwan,South Korea,Japan,the United States,European Union members,NATO members,Canada,Australia,New Zealand,Norway,Switzerland,Micronesia and Ukraine.
The Foundations of Geopolitics:The Geopolitical Future of Russia is a geopolitical book by Aleksandr Dugin. Its publication in 1997 was well received in Russia;it has had significant influence within the Russian military,police,and foreign policy elites,and has been used as a textbook in the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian military. Powerful Russian political figures subsequently took an interest in Dugin,a Russian political analyst who espouses an ultranationalist and neo-fascist ideology based on his idea of neo-Eurasianism,who has developed a close relationship with Russia's Academy of the General Staff.
The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List,also known as the SDN List,is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists,officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes,and international criminals. The list is managed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). When individuals are added to the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN),their U.S. assets are blocked. Moreover,their names are added to automated screening systems used by banks in the United States and many foreign countries,making it difficult for them to open or hold accounts,transfer money,or transact properties internationally. Any individual or entity that provides support related to terrorism,drug trafficking or unauthorized military use to any person or entity appearing on the SDN list risks being penalized under the USA PATRIOT Act.
Putinism is the social,political,and economic system of Russia formed during the political leadership of Vladimir Putin. It is characterized by the concentration of political and financial powers in the hands of "siloviks",current and former "people with shoulder marks",coming from a total of 22 governmental enforcement agencies,the majority of them being the Federal Security Service (FSB),Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia,Armed Forces of Russia,and National Guard of Russia. According to Arnold Beichman,"Putinism in the 21st century has become as significant a watchword as Stalinism was in the 20th."
Fiona Hill is a British-American foreign affairs specialist and author. She is a former official at the U.S. National Security Council,specializing in Russian and European affairs. She was a witness in the November 2019 House hearings regarding the impeachment inquiry during the first impeachment of Donald Trump. She earned a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1998. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. She was installed as Chancellor of Durham University in June 2023.
This is a timeline of events related to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
The response of the United States to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022 has been in favor of Ukraine. President Biden condemned the invasion,providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine,and sanctioning Russia and Belarus,the countries heavily involved in invading Ukraine.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to widespread international condemnation by political parties and international organisations,as well as by people and groups in the areas of entertainment,media,business,and sport,where boycotts of Russia and Belarus also took place.
