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Questions tagged [russia]

Use this tag for claims which apply to the country of Russia or the Commonwealth of Independent States.

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82 votes
2 answers
18k views

What is the origin of this photo of an unexploded bomb?

The viral image below purports to show three TV screenshots of the same photo of a bomb, with the source of the being attributed to three different sources: First image: Ukrainian Channel 5. The text ...
kandi's user avatar
  • 654
65 votes
1 answer
15k views

Is this photo of a jet firing at MH17 a fake?

An image showing a jet firing at MH17 in the Ukraine has surfaced recently and was broadcast by the official Russian state news channel, Channel One Russia. Could this image be real? There's an ...
user22869's user avatar
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61 votes
3 answers
21k views

Did Russia release lions onto the streets to keep people in isolation?

I've seen the below image circulating on Facebook: (source: pressablecdn.com) They are claiming lions are being used to keep Russians indoors during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Lio Elbammalf's user avatar
56 votes
1 answer
17k views

Did the CIA blow up a Siberian pipeline in 1982?

The Telegraph claimed in 2004 that the CIA blew up a Russian gas pipeline in Siberia, by tricking the operator into installing booby-trapped software. Thomas Reed, a former US Air Force secretary ...
dont_shog_me_bro's user avatar
48 votes
1 answer
11k views

Was Paul Manafort exonerated for the crimes he’s now charged with?

Andrew Napolitano just said this on Fox News regarding the trial of Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort: Here’s Manafort’s defense: I was investigated for all this by the government 8 years ago ...
Keshav Srinivasan's user avatar
48 votes
1 answer
10k views

Did a Russian Orthodox priest sprinkle holy water on Russia's Central Bank's servers?

Tweet by @bankableInsight (3,639 retweets, 1,662 favorites), reported by the NZ Herald: This is a Russian priest sprinkling holy water on the central bank's servers in an attempt to stop the fall of ...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
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39 votes
3 answers
10k views

Did Putin threaten to have traitors assassinated?

In the recent U.N. Security Council meeting, U.K. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Allen quoted Putin by the following words (YouTube link, the relevant part starts at 1:07:30): ...
DK2AX's user avatar
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38 votes
1 answer
5k views

Did Hillary Clinton pay Russian officials 30 million dollars, through her campaign to get dirt on Trump?

In tonight's episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, Ann Coulter said: I mean, Hillary Clinton paid, through her campaign, 30 million dollars to Russian officials to get dirt on Trump The full ...
JJJ's user avatar
  • 1,208
37 votes
2 answers
5k views

Did 17 U.S. intelligence agencies claim that Russia was behind the DNC hack?

It has been reported repeatedly that 17 U.S intelligence agencies have come out publicly to say that the Russian government was behind the 2016 Democratic National Committee Email Leak For example, ...
dan-klasson's user avatar
34 votes
1 answer
11k views

Did Volodymyr Zelenskyy say that "if someone in Ukraine feels Russian, they should leave for Russia"?

In an interview with the BBC on June 16, 2022, Sergey Lavrov claims the following: […], whose president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in September 2021 (you didn’t tell your viewers about it, did you?) ...
jcdenton618's user avatar
33 votes
1 answer
11k views

Did medieval Russia reject Islam because of its prohibition against alcohol?

For a long time, I have been aware of a historical anecdote about the attempt to convert Russia to Islam. I don’t know where I first heard the anecdote: I’m pretty sure it was oral, so I had to dig a ...
gerrit's user avatar
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32 votes
4 answers
16k views

Was Ukraine planning an attack in Donbas/Crimea prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine?

Quote by Putin in today's Victory Day speech: “In December last year, we proposed the conclusion of an agreement on security guarantees. Russia called on the West to enter an honest dialogue, in ...
Allure's user avatar
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31 votes
2 answers
5k views

Do the Crimean people prefer to be with Russia than with Ukraine?

In July 2016, Donald Trump, as a US presidential candidate was quoted by ABC News as saying: The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. Politifact ...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
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30 votes
1 answer
7k views

Did a Turkish cargo ship get bombed in the Black Sea during the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

In a Discord server, someone pointed out the following article by Russian state news media about a Turkish cargo ship which was reportedly hit by a bomb on the way from Odessa to Romania: Turkish ...
Nzall's user avatar
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28 votes
1 answer
9k views

Did Russia's economy boom between 1999 and 2013?

This image has been floating around on social media (e.g. 9gag It claims that Putin has been in power since 1999, and in the first 14 years: GDP rose from $159b to $2113b. GDP (PPP) rose from $1320 ...
dont_shog_me_bro's user avatar
28 votes
5 answers
14k views

Can Russia's Poseidon nuclear underwater drone create a 500 meter tidal wave?

According to TheTimes.co.uk, "Russian ‘nuclear tsunami’ will wipe out Britain, Kremlin-backed media threatens" In his Sunday evening primetime show, the Channel One anchor Dmitry Kiselyov ...
Evan Carroll's user avatar
  • 30.8k
28 votes
2 answers
3k views

Did NATO promise not to expand into Eastern and Central Europe?

In its own fact sheet NATO denies Russia's claims that NATO promised not to expand: Russian officials claim that US and German officials promised in 1990 that NATO would not expand into Eastern and ...
Christian's user avatar
  • 34k
27 votes
2 answers
9k views

Did Russia destroy all their (official) chemical weapons?

This article from The Guardian features a quote from Putin claiming that Russia destroyed all their chemical weapons: “Secondly, Russia does not have such [nerve] agents. We destroyed all our ...
Sim's user avatar
  • 670
24 votes
1 answer
2k views

Have Putin and his family stolen $300 billion or more from Russians?

During the debates held in the House of Commons on 14th March 2018 about the alleged poisoning of Russian spy Skripal in Salisbury, U.K. Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Thomas Tugendhat ...
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine's user avatar
23 votes
2 answers
9k views

Was Alexei Navalny poisoned in 2020 with Novichok nerve agents by Russia's Federal Security Service?

I found the video they’re lying about Alexei Navalny “Putin’s Enemy” on YouTube. It discusses four questions about the Russian lawyer and dissident Alexei Navalny, who recently died in Russian ...
Maximilian Janisch's user avatar
23 votes
2 answers
10k views

Do these photos show Ukrainian children being trained to fight the Russian army?

From a widely-shared Reddit post: Ukrainian children trained to use rifles against Russian soldiers The other photos in the post are shown below. Neither the post nor the comments provide a source. ...
LShaver's user avatar
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23 votes
1 answer
24k views

Is it dangerous to mix boiled and unboiled water?

There is a popular belief in Russia that mixing boiled and unboiled water (say, adding cold unboiled water to a cup of tea to cool it) can be dangerous for one's health, even if it is safe to drink ...
Quassnoi's user avatar
  • 4,373
22 votes
1 answer
15k views

Was Russian Su-24 fighter able to disable electronics aboard USS Donald Cook and thus lead to personnel aboard the ship to resign?

According to some news sources, an incident occurred on April 11th, 2014, between a Russian SU-24 fighter jet (some articles refer to it as a "tactical bomber") and USS Donald Cook (a guided missile ...
user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
2k views

Are these reports alleging the existence of blackmail material by the Russian intelligence on Donald Trump a hoax perpetuated by 4chan?

Buzzfeed published this PDF alleged to by from a former British intelligence officer containing notable allegations including: The Russian regime has been working with Trump for at least five years ...
dwjohnston's user avatar
  • 3,023
20 votes
1 answer
5k views

Were videos of the Flydubai Flight 981 crash published before the official crash time?

On March 19, 2016, Flydubai Flight 981 crashed in Russia. It is reported (for example on English Wikipedia and Russian Wikipedia to have crashed at 19 Mar 03:42 am MST (i.e. UTC+3) in City of Rostov-...
Croll's user avatar
  • 310
19 votes
2 answers
6k views

Did the USA increase oil imports from Russia after the Ukraine invasion?

According to Zhao Lijian of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China (RDCY) [...] Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Mikhail Popov said, in a contrasting ...
Evan Carroll's user avatar
  • 30.8k
19 votes
1 answer
6k views

Is Kaspersky Lab a military unit?

In this article, McClatchy DC bureau claims that one of the certificates the Kaspersky Lab received from Russian FSB/KGB reveals that the entire Kaspersky Lab joint-stock company is actually a FSB ...
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine's user avatar
18 votes
3 answers
4k views

Did Mueller indict a Russian company that didn't exist?

Conservative author Dinesh D'Souza just tweeted this: Is Mueller this dumb? Or does he think the press is too dumb to notice he indicted a Russian company that doesn’t even exist? This is a ...
Keshav Srinivasan's user avatar
18 votes
1 answer
1k views

Was the 2010 Polish presidential Tu-154 plane crash set up?

In 2010, a plane crash killed many top Polish officials. It occurred over Russian soil, and involved an aircraft carrying many politicians and military officials with a strong opposition towards the ...
Jules's user avatar
  • 284
18 votes
2 answers
2k views

Were the "DNC leak" emails stolen by the Russian government?

The DNC leak refers to the publication of thousands of private emails of the Democratic National Committee by WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks has not revealed their source and some outlets have claimed that "...
MuhKarma's user avatar
  • 301
18 votes
1 answer
599 views

Is Russia currently deploying troops to Syria?

A recent (31 August, 2015) article from Zero Hedge claims that Russia is currently deploying troops to Syria. as Ynet reports, not only has Putin not turned his back on Assad, or Syria, but the ...
James's user avatar
  • 435
18 votes
0 answers
656 views

Has traffic in some hashtags "plunged" since Russia lost access to Twitter? [closed]

Russia has blocked access to Twitter and Facebook. Opinions vary as to why, but most speculate that it is to prevent the general public from knowing how the Ukraine invasion is going. Today, I have ...
Kate Gregory's user avatar
17 votes
1 answer
4k views

Has Trump exonerated Russia for the downing of flight MH-17?

In an interview with the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, according to the NOS (Dutch Public Broadcasting), he said the following about the relations with the USA, in light of the recent elections in ...
SQB's user avatar
  • 3,359
17 votes
0 answers
6k views

Did Yuri Gagarin eat a lemon out a cup of tea when dining with the English Queen?

There is an anecdote, popular in Russia, about Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, who was served tea with lemon when dining with the English Queen. After he had had the tea, he reached into the ...
Quassnoi's user avatar
  • 4,373
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

Was very little or no new medication developed in the USSR?

Prof. Robert (Haim) Belmaker, head of the Israeli Psychiatric Association, spoke today (2018-01-05) on the סדר יום / Daily Agenda radio program (Note this is a program in Hebrew). At some point in the ...
einpoklum's user avatar
  • 2,521
15 votes
2 answers
2k views

In the USSR's legal system, was everything illegal unless specifically allowed?

Alan Dershowitz was recently interviewed by Michael Tracey on the latter's podcast. At 09:20 into the interview, Dershowitz makes the following claim regarding the USSR legal system: ... unlike in ...
einpoklum's user avatar
  • 2,521
15 votes
1 answer
2k views

Was Aeroflot SU2074 intended target in MH17 shooting?

In recently published video and press release SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) claims that intended target for the SA-11 operated by Russian separatists was Russian Aeroflot flight SU2074 (aka AFL-...
vartec's user avatar
  • 26.8k
14 votes
2 answers
5k views

Is the RS-28 Sarmat missile capable of destroying an area the size of France?

The Daily Mail claims Russia has unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile, capable of destroying an area the size of France. Who estimated this level of destructive power? ...
Sklivvz's user avatar
  • 78.9k
14 votes
1 answer
95k views

Did Gen. Patton say "We defeated the wrong enemy?"

I've seen this quote in various far-right memes. Supposedly, Gen. George S. Patton, upon taking control of Berlin in 1945, said "We defeated the wrong enemy." The Communists, one supposes, were the ...
stackexchanger's user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
3k views

Did Tsar Nicholas II write “1916 was cursed, 1917 will surely be better”?

Chess legend and political activist Gary Kasparov tweeted this New Year a claimed quote from Tsar Nicholas II’s diary: “The year 1916 was cursed; 1917 will surely be better!” (For those not versed in ...
PLL's user avatar
  • 365
14 votes
0 answers
801 views

Did Stalin's son hide the death of a whole hockey team after a plane crash?

According to World Heritage Encyclopedia, in the Sverdlovsk air disaster of 5 January 1950 almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) died, which was covered up by Vasily Stalin (born ...
Joaquin Barañao's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
4k views

Is this graph of life expectancy pre and post Chernobyl accurate?

Is the following graph of male life expectancy of ex-Soviet states spanning Chernobyl accurate? The source of the graph is a blog post (チェルノブイリ事故後の平均寿命), which according to google translate means "...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
  • 39.1k
13 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is there a Russian social media game called "Blue Whale" that incites self-violence and suicide?

According to the Daily Mail: Police in Russia are investigating a rush of teenage suicide attempts amid fears that they may have been manipulated by sinister social media groups. Two schoolgirls fell ...
Sakib Arifin's user avatar
  • 15.9k
13 votes
1 answer
766 views

Does or did Russia support the Donbass People's Militia? [closed]

Many (western) sources claim that Putin (actively) supports the rebels in eastern Ukraine, more specifically the Donbass People's Militia. For example, BBC News writes: Russia was obviously ...
gerrit's user avatar
  • 18k
13 votes
0 answers
1k views

Was the Russian Olympic Shooting Team 12 days late for the 1908 Summer Olympics due to a calendar mixup?

According to an article in Sports Illustrated, referred to by a reddit post, an article about programmer falsehoods, and elsewhere, the Russian Shooting team arrived 12 days late for the 1908 Summer ...
gerrit's user avatar
  • 18k
13 votes
0 answers
450 views

Is Turkey trading oil with Islamic State? [closed]

Russia claims Turkey is trading oil with Islamic State: Syria conflict: Russia accuses Erdogan of trading oil with IS (BBC News, 2 December 2015) Russia presents proof of Turkey’s role in ISIS oil ...
gerrit's user avatar
  • 18k
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is Tucker Carlson "accepting money from the Russian government"?

In a Q&A session following a talk on geopolitics, Peter Zeihan (a well-known geopolitical analyst and author) claims that Tucker Carlson is being paid by Russia to push its agenda, as he answers a ...
quant's user avatar
  • 1,994
11 votes
4 answers
2k views

Do Russians get depressed the same way Americans do?

In 2010, The Wired wrote an article called "Why Russians Don't Get Depressed", describing a paper in Psychological Science. Others, such as The Atlantic and Reuters, wrote about the study as well. ...
user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Was MH17's flight path rerouted?

I was reading this article which is an open letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron from former Russian President, Sergey Stepashin, and Russian Politician President, Sergey Glazyev regarding the ...
skepticthrowaway's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
3k views

Does Russia have around 3 million sex workers?

There are some links that mention this, for example: Ukranian Euromaidan Press claimed in 2017: There are now well over one million prostitutes in the Russian Federation, a figure that is higher than ...
user2638180's user avatar
  • 2,416