In 2015, the population of Russia was estimated to be around 146 million people. The economy of Russia was a slowly developing market economy, and it had strong ties with other European countries as well as United States and China. It had a high level of foreign investments which contributed to its economic growth. Politically, Russia was a federal semi-presidential republic, where both the president and prime minister held executive powers. In 2015, Vladimir Putin served as President while Dmitry Medvedev served as Prime Minister. The Russian Parliament was composed of two chambers: State Duma and Federation Council. In terms of defence, Russia had strong military ties with NATO which it joined in 1997 as part of its post-Cold War security policy. Russia also maintained strong diplomatic relations with its neighboring countries in the Caucasus region as well as other countries around the world. See ehealthfacts for Russia in the year of 2005.
Yearbook 2015
Russia, also known as Russian Federation is a country located in Eurasia continent. At the New Year, the Euro-Asian Economic Union came into force, with the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joining. But in several of the countries there was opposition to what was perceived as more or less Russian coercion.
Trade in the new Union could not outweigh the Western sanctions that followed the Russian annexation of Crimea and the involvement in the war in eastern Ukraine. The Russian economy was also hard pressed by the low oil price, industrial production declined and GDP was expected to shrink by about 4% during the year. The ruble lost about half its value against the dollar, there was a shortage of imported goods and prices went up.
Ukraine accused Moscow of reinforcements and weapons reinforcements to the separatists in eastern Ukraine. In January, the EU extended and extended its sanctions because of the war, while the Kremlin announced Russian military reinforcement in Crimea, Kaliningrad and the Arctic, three sensitive areas in relation to the US and NATO. According to COUNTRYAAH, Moscow is the capital of Russia which is located in Eastern Europe.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Russia country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
In February, a new ceasefire agreement was signed in Ukraine, but the Russian side was accused of continuing to supply heavy weapons to the separatists. The ceasefire was broken quickly and NATO called for the Kremlin’s support for the separatists.
President Vladimir Putin’s supporters in the so-called Anti-Majdan movement demonstrated in February with around 40,000 participants in Moscow. It was a protest against the change of power in Ukraine a year earlier when the Russian-backed regime overthrew.
Progressive Party leader Aleksey Navalnyj was arrested by police in February and was sentenced to 15 days in prison when he called for a demonstration against Putin. But the opposition was hit even worse that month when RPR Party leader Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on an open street in Moscow. Nemtsov, who was shot in the back, was reported to have evidence of Russian involvement in the war in Ukraine. The opposition accused the regime of being behind the murder.
Nemtsov’s report was published posthumously stating that at least 220 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war in eastern Ukraine, and that Russian invasion of the country had occurred on a large scale on two occasions. The soldiers’ relatives had been silenced under threat of prosecution.
Tens of thousands of people marched in March for Nemtsov, the largest manifestation of several years in Moscow. Five men from Chechnya were arrested and charged with the murder of Nemtsov. One of them, a former police officer linked to the Chechen leader, admitted during interrogation but changed his mind and said he had been threatened. The European Parliament called for an international investigation into the murder.
In the spring, the Progress Party and RPR-Parnas formed an opposition alliance with a view to upcoming elections.
In March, large Russian military maneuvers were held with aircraft, submarines, naval vessels and 80,000 soldiers in the Arctic, the Caucasus and the Far East. At the same time, NATO initiated exercises in the Baltic and Poland and announced increased military presence there, prompting President Putin to announce plans for 40 new intercontinental nuclear missiles.
In an agreement in March, Moscow took control of the Georgian breakaway republic of South Ossetia’s military and border guard. NATO protested and claimed violations of international law. In the same month, the EU renewed sanctions against Moscow again.
In March, a gathering of neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic parties from several countries was held in March. Organizer was the Russian National Cultural Center, which supports Putin, and the political party Rodina. Protesters against the rally were arrested by police.
The Kremlin’s grip on the Crimean media tightened, and in April two radio channels and a TV channel belonging to the opposition Crimean Tatars were silenced.
In April, Moscow agreed with Iran on the delivery of anti-oil anti-aircraft robots. It happened after five years of embargo due to US pressure.
In September, surprisingly, an open protest against the Kremlin was allowed. It was the first time in about 18 months. Several thousand people gathered in a suburb of Moscow, and one of the speakers was Aleksey Navalnyj.
In the autumn, Moscow entered the war in Syria on the regime’s side. In September, naval ships and soldiers were dispatched to the Russian naval base Tartous on the Syrian coast, and the Kremlin initiated intelligence cooperation with Syria, Iraq and Iran in the fight against the Islamic State (IS).
Putin proposed in the UN an international alliance against IS and met the US president, but then the Kremlin took the initiative from the US by launching its own air strikes at the request of the Syrian regime. The attacks were said to be directed at IS but turned out to be mainly rebels with which the US cooperated, rebels in the fight against both the Syrian regime and IS. Moscow refused, but the West considered that Moscow strengthened Bashar al-Assad’s regime and contributed to prolonged war and more difficult resolution of the conflict.
In October, a Russian passenger airplane was blown up over the Sinai desert and 224 people were killed. The plane was on its way to Saint Petersburg with Russian tourists aboard Egyptian Sharm el-Sheikh. The investigation showed that an explosive charge was smuggled on board in the luggage compartment. IS said to be behind the attack, which was seen as revenge for the Russian bombings in Syria. In November, the Crimean Peninsula was darkened when assailants blasted power lines from Ukraine. Ukrainian activists then blocked the repair of the pipelines, and Moscow blamed Ukraine and threatened to cancel gas and coal supplies.
An acute conflict with NATO country Turkey burst in November. After a time of Turkish protests against Russian violations of Turkey’s airspace, Turkish fighters shot down a Russian bomber at the Syrian-Turkish border. According to Turkey, the Russian plane had flown in Turkish airspace and failed to respond to repeated warnings. According to Moscow, the plane had not violated the border and heard no warnings. President Putin spoke of a “stab in the back” and warned of serious consequences for Turkey.
Moscow
Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe’s largest city; 11.5 million (2010), located on the Moscow River and its tributaries Jauza and the now underground Neglinnaja. Before Peter the Great in 1712 made St. Petersburg the capital of Russia, Moscow had been there for 200 years.
From the beginning of the 1500-t. the image of Moscow originates as one of the political and religious centers of the Christian world, the Third Rome. Moscow was the capital of the Soviet Union in 1918-91 and in the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Union (RSFSR) and then in the Russian Federation.
Now Moscow is the capital of Russia and of the Moscow region and has the status of one of the country’s 89 so-called federal subjects; it is divided into ten districts, administrativnyj okrug, a total of 994 km2. The city’s leadership is made up of a directly elected mayor and the 35-member Moscow City Duma.
The city boundary coincides largely with the 109 km long motorway road, which has a radius of 17-19 km; six satellite towns outside the ring road were incorporated in Moscow in the 1980’s. 90% of Muscovites are ethnic Russians; yet the city has a multi-ethnic character with, among other things, Ukrainian, Muslim, and Jewish minorities, as well as many traveling merchants, who make a striking feature of the street scene at all times.
History
Moscow is mentioned for the first time in 1147, but archaeological finds show that, in the present Kremlin area, a settlement was already formerly found around a fortified islet at the mouth of the Neglinnaja River in the Moscow River; this fortress was expanded in 1156. Read on about the history of Moscow.
Cityscape and infrastructure
Characteristic features in the city center is the wide, busy streets, Stalin Future seven 26-36 storey towers in kransekage style and the great bridges over the Moskva River. Read on about Moscow’s cityscape and infrastructure.
Industry
Moscow. Komsomolskaya metro station. Moscow’s subway is rightly world famous. Each station is decorated in its own style, ranging from conservative classicism to the space age’s sputnik symbolism. Even during Russia’s economic crisis, the metro remains characterized by precision, efficiency and excellent cleanliness. Photography from 1991.
The city has a large and versatile industry with an overweight of the food and iron and metal industries. Largest are the car factories ZIL and AZLK/ Moscow and the machine factory Krasnyj proletarij. In addition, electrical engineering (Dynamo), fine mechanics (Manometer), the steel mill Serp in Molot (Hammer and Seal), textile and perfume factories and a few shoe companies. They are all gigantic in size with their own staff homes, kindergartens, clubhouses, sports grounds and holiday colonies for the thousands of employees.
Architecture and museums
Moscow has largely retained its medieval, radially arranged plan with the Kremlin as its center.
Media
The city is Russia’s media center with a wealth of print and electronic media.
Culture
The city has a rich cultural life and its history is reflected in the range of attractions. From the time of the emperor is at the head of the city approximately 40 stationary theaters Bolshoi Theater with opera and ballet.