84 Weird & Interesting Facts About Russia Few People Know

The physical document that dissolved the Soviet Union is missing as of February 7, 2013.

27. The United States and Russia signed a treaty in 1967 agreeing not to nuke the Moon

28. A Russian submarine named Kursk sank in August of 2000 due to an accident involving poorly maintained torpedoes. None of the crew survived due to old, poorly maintained Russian rescue equipment and the Russian Navy’s refusal to accept Western aid.

29. Russian cosmonauts urinate on the right rear wheel of the transfer bus before liftoff. Female cosmonauts are excused, but some dash a cup of their own urine in solidarity.

30. Rich Russians hire fake ambulances to beat the city traffic. These ambulances don't have any medical equipment, but couches and flat screen televisions.

Catherine the Great of Russia once said that she needed a virile young man in the Imperial bed for the sake of her health, and was unable to rule Russia properly when sleeping alone. Eligible young noblemen would be “tested” by her ladies-in-waiting before making appearances in the Empress’ night chamber. “She selected a new favorite, or agreed to the selection recommended by her ‘experts,’ much as she selected a new painting for her collection.”

32. The Mir diamond mine of Siberia, Russia is so large that it creates air currents strong enough to suck a helicopter into it.

33. Russia opened a "Military Disneyland" that will allow guests to shoot military grade weapons and try out various military simulators.

34. A 10th-century Arab explorer named Ibn Fadlan who explored Russia witnessed a Viking funeral rite in which a slave girl had sex with each of the tribe's warriors before they ritualistically sacrificed her to serve their fallen chieftain in the afterlife.

35. Admiralty island in Alaska, is half the size of Yellowstone Park and has twice as many grizzly bears, or approximately one bear per square mile. Early Russian explorers named the island “Ostrov Kutsnoi” which means “Fear Island.”

A Russian named Sergey Tuganov died after winning a £3,000 bet that he could have sex with two women continuously for 12 hours. He used an entire bottle of Viagra and died from a heart attack.

37. 7 months after Russia declared war on Germany in 1914, a small band of Georgian warriors from a remote part of Georgia clad in medieval armor rode into the capital of Tiflis and up to the governor's palace, reporting for military duty, stating: "We hear there's a war" "Where's the war"

38. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, the difference being due to its large proportion of lakes, which constitute 60% of all the lakes in the world.

39. Russia out-produces Saudi Arabia in Oil Production by 1,000,000 barrels per day.

40. There is a mountain in Russia, called Magnitogorsk that is made almost entirely of iron with an estimated 7-10 Billion pounds of Iron Ore.

The daughters of Nicholas II of Russia survived the initial wave of fire from a firing squad because of the diamonds and precious gems are sewn into their clothing. The executioners were forced to rush forward with their bayonets.

42. After a Polish impostor named Dimitriy Ivanovich who claimed the throne of Russia was found out. He was executed, burned, and had his ashes shot out of a cannon back towards Poland.

43. Certain medals at the 2014 winter Olympics will contain fragments of the meteorite which hit Russia in 2013.

44. John Smith was a pirate, beheaded three Turks in jousting matches while fighting for the Holy Roman Army, and was enslaved in Russia until he escaped by killing his master. He did all this before he set sail for present day Virginia, United States.

45. Russians celebrate the New Year twice, once on January 1st and then again on January 14th.

In 2012, a team of scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences successfully revived a flowering plant (Silene stenophylla) from a 32,000-year-old fruit buried by a squirrel in the Siberian permafrost.

47. Russia installed lighthouses powered by nuclear generators along its coastline in the 1970s. Two of those generators are now missing.

48. “UVB-76” is a mysterious Russian radio signal (on 4625 kHz). For almost 40 years, a repeating buzzing sound has been broadcasted, though every few years it stops, and a Russian voice reads numbers and Russian names. In 2013, for the first time, UVB-76 issued an order: “Command 135 initiated.”

49. Certain bears in Russia have become addicted to sniffing Jet Fuel out of discarded barrels. Going as far as stalking helicopters for the drops of fuel they leave behind.

50. Russian scientists have observed differences between cockroaches conceived in space and their terrestrial counterparts. The space-conceived cockroaches grew more quickly, and also grew up to be faster and tougher.