====== Russia ======

>Pop. 146,120,000 (approx.)
>
>President - Levka Novakovsky
>Prime Minister - Darina Sokova
>Chairman of the Federation Council - Sergei Kotenkov
>Chairman of the State Duma - Feliks Tokarev
>FSB Director - Natalia Argmanova
>
>Duma Composition:
>United Russia - 75%
>Communist Party of the Russian Federation 13%
>Agrarian Party of Russia 7%
>Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 5%


===== The Russian Federation =====

The Great Bear that is Russia still evokes memories of the Soviet Union and the Cold War for many, and diplomatic relations with the Federation have always been tentative since. Nevertheless, Russia is making good headway into the international community since removing troops from many of its European borders, and the peaceful resolution of the Georgia crisis in 2011.

President Novakovsky, the current President of the Federation, is a former member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who was of good standing. An outspoken and charismatic individual, keen on reforming the country's agriculture and keeping good relations with the European Federation and China in particular. He is popular in Russia, as he is often seen as a man of the people. The Prime Minister, Darina Sokova, was a member of the FSB (Federal Security Service) before taking her place in politics. Many say she exhibits the coldness of her previous occupation.

The United Russia party still holds the majority as it has done for many years now, with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation still holding the second most seats in the Duma. The Communist Party has increased its influence slightly in the last decade, not to a great extent, but enough to ensure that reforms in favour of the lower classes are more likely to be passed. Also, Moscow is slightly cheaper than it was ten years ago, and is no longer the most expensive place in Europe. This has increased tourism to the capital, and in turn more Russians are going abroad as tourists themselves. Russia is becoming a more popular place to live, both among its current citizens, and expats seeking a new life. 

However, the FSB now holds more power than the KGB ever held in its entire existence. While the KGB was subservient to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, The FSB has no such allegience to the ruling party. Human Rights groups across the world have spoken out against the oppression of the FSB, claiming that it is engaging in internal dissent. Furthermore, dissidents have claimed that the FSB have trained terrorists for reasons unknown. Overall, the FSB's control over surveillance is absolute. Critics of the FSB continue to make claims of election rigging within the government, as well as the more evident brutal suppression and hounding of separatists.

On an international scale, Russia has been engaging in various affairs. President Novakovsky recently toured the border states in Europe, and was received very warmly by the states of Belarus, Latvia and Georgia. Indeed, support for Russia has been very strong in the border states, and it seems as if the bad blood of the cold war has finally bled dry. Rumours persist, however, of Russian officials appearing in various parts of Eastern Europe. Unmarked vehicles with apparently civilian drivers, but with some rather unusual equipment. Both the European Commission and the Federation Council has firmly denied such happenings, the latter stating that anti-Russian sentimentalists attempting to cause trouble are the cause of the rumours. It also claims no knowledge of teams of scientists entering the Chernobyl exclusion zone, or of the supposed expeditionary ship that was detected entering the Arctic Circle.

Russian peacekeeping forces have been in action in various hotspots globally, generally seen to be assisting European or American forces, but also working on their own in certain parts of the Middle East. Though not widely publicised, support for Russian peacekeeping in the areas where it has occured has been high. The Russian Army has a substantial body of active soldiers, and in recent years new elite units have been supplementing their ranks. Soldiers trained in Siberia for all manner of combat scenarios have been highly successful in both peacekeeping and anti-terrorist efforts.

Russia has certainly housed some unusual happenings over the years, such as the mysterious explosion that devastated wide areas of forest at Tunguska in 1908. The reason for the explosion has yet to be properly concluded, although there are rumours of KGB involvement in the region during the Soviet era, as well as strange items found at the site. Russian officials today say that during their search of KGB files, no records of such exist.