Skeptics Stack Exchange
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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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Did Downer claim Israel told him to spy on Papadopoulos?

Former Trump Campaign foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos just tweeted this: Alexander Downer has made a bizarre, and unfounded, claim and perpetuated a conspiracy theory that the Israelis were the ones who told him to spy on me in London. I…
Keshav Srinivasan
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Is this an authentic US army pamphlet about Red Army, issued to soldiers in 1945?

Archive.org contains a scan of an 84-page pamphlet, called "Our Red Army Ally" that purports to be a document published by the United States War Department in 1945, for the purposes of training American Soldiers how to deal with their USSR…
Oleg V. Volkov
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Was Joseph Mifsud working for Western intelligence agencies?

George Papadopoulos, who was a foreign policy advisor on President Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign, just tweeted this: I just have a responsibility to inform America of the truth. Western intelligence had elaborate sting operations and or fake…
Keshav Srinivasan
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Did Russia have over a million universities in 2005?

According to the European University Institute's Academic Careers Observatory, in 2005 Russia had over a million degree-granting institutions: In 2005, Russia had 1,196,350 universities and higher education establishments that are authorised to…
Psychonaut
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Did the US (ab)use the "deconfliction channel" with Russia to shoot the Syrian Su-22 plane?

I just read this piece of news: ... the American plane took off from a carrier (George HW Bush), flew over all of Russia's radar and missile sites in western Syria, shot down the Syrian Su-22 in Raqqa, and then flew right back over all the Russian…
user541686
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Does the average Russian drink 250mL of vodka a day?

I've seen this claim a few times around the internet: The reality is that the average Russian consumes about a pint of vodka a day; or, one-half of a half liter. Source: Russian Life, 2007 The claim isn't terrible clear about the units. (@ChrisW…
Frames Catherine White
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Did Stalin's Russia ban Jew's Harp?

In this TEDxVilnius talk entitled, Jew's Harp, Listen and You Will Hear It: Valentinas & Viaceslavas at TEDxVilnius the following claim is made, But if we talk about Russia, in time of Stalinism Jew's Harp in Russia was forbidden. Because of its…
Evan Carroll
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Did Ukraine set up Russia on the MH17 incident?

Rebels shot several planes of Ukraine in the last days, after they got their hands on that missile system. Some say that because of this, Ukraine flight control specifically gave directions to the plane to fly within that zone, knowing that the…
Alex
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Did Putin claim that the predominantly Russian-speaking Donbas region is pro-Russia?

Source Putin has maintained the predominantly Russian-speaking Donbas region is pro-Russia, although polls have indicated that is not the case. This is the first time I've seen this claim, especially used in this context as a justification for…
Allure
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Did Rasputin have an affair with Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna?

Grigori Rasputin was a trusted friend of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia around 1915. There is a popular rumour that he was having an affair with Nicholas's wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna Wiki briefly says: Iliodor, hinting that Rasputin was…
user5341
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Is Russia funding environmentalist groups to protest fracking?

Leaked transcripts from a private Clinton speech suggest that Russia has given large amounts of money to environmentalist groups in Europe and the US to promote protests against fracking, according to this article from October 2016. Similar claims…
user6246
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Was Gagarin the thirteenth person to be sent to space?

I read this Russian article today that claims that Yuri Gagarin (the first person to journey into outer space) was, in fact, the thirteenth attempt that was finally successful. Is that correct?
Matas Vaitkevicius
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Did Washington Post report US diplomats claiming that Russian agents break in their home and shat on their carpets?

I've found today an translated article in Russian language, claiming to originally be from Washington Post. It goes about some guy receiving reports/notes from US diplomats he knows that Russian agents stalk them, break in their homes just to…
Oleg V. Volkov
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Do Russians need to disclose their encryption keys to the Federal Security Service?

Is it true that in Russia, citizens have an obligation to send copy of all of their private encryption keys to the Federal Security Service (FSB), even without receiving a specific demand? Update: Someone replied on the…
ArekBulski
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Did the EU prohibit the transport of Russian fertilizer to non-EU countries, so that only the EU could purchase it?

Reportedly Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia accused EU officials of “selfishness, cynicism and hypocrisy” for prohibiting European carriers from transporting Russian fertilisers to Africa, Asia or Latin America, while…
Fizz
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