I know that you're hearing a lot about Russia. But it's really big on a map and additionally I can't, and won't, hold the citizens all responsible for the things happening. Life is complicated.

Regardless, this has been a complicated episode to write because of the complicated nature of Russian history. Expect more about this folks. Here are my sources:

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20101001122856/http://flag.kremlin.ru/gimn/ 
2. https://www.theguardian.com/science/across-the-universe/2015/jul/28/pluto-ten-things-we-now-know-about-the-dwarf-planet 
3. https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/geography/countries/article/russia 
4. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/russia/ 
5. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/european-countries-bordering-most-other-countries.html 
6. https://www.climatechangepost.com/russia/permafrost/ 
7. Figes, Orlando (2011). The Crimean War: A History. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 9781429997249.
8. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Basil_(Muscovy) 
9. https://www.rbth.com/history/329825-madness-of-3-russian-tsars 
10. https://archive.org/details/ivanterrible00loydgoog/page/n3/mode/2up 
11. https://countrystudies.us/russia/3.htm 
12. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Brief_History_of_Russia/i8_RH3hhsAMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA92&printsec=frontcover 
13. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/43119 
14. https://guides.loc.gov/alaska-treaty 
15. W. Bruce Lincoln, The Great Reforms: Autocracy, Bureaucracy, and the Politics of Change in Imperial Russia (1990)
16. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Religious_Schism_in_the_Russian_Aristocr/tuvVBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA6&printsec=frontcover 
17. https://web.archive.org/web/20070917041705/http://www.ensemble-aleksandrova.ru/index.php?id=42
18. https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2023 
19. http://www.cyberussr.com/rus/sg-zhit'.html 
20. Ledeneva, Alena V. (1998). Russia's Economy of Favors: Blat, Networking and Informal Exchange. Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies. Cambridge University Press. p. 1. ISBN 0-521-62743-5.
21. https://archive.org/details/shostakovichlife0000fayl/page/138/mode/2up 
22. Shostakovich, Dmitriĭ Dmitrievich (2004). Testimony : the memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. Volkov, Solomon. (25th anniversary ed.). New York: Limelight Editions. pp. 261–262. ISBN 9780879109981.
23. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/dec/27/russia.ameliagentleman 
24. https://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/12/20-years-since-the-fall-of-the-soviet-union/100214/ 
25. https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/22/world/end-soviet-union-text-declaration-mutual-recognition-equal-basis.html 
26. http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/mihalkovy_sv_mv/01.html 
27. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fairy_Tales_and_True_Stories/zfiZAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Sergey+Mikhalkov+Uncle+Styopa&pg=PA386&printsec=frontcover 
28. John Barron, KGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents. New York: Reader's Digest Press, 1974. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1974. New York: Bantam Books, 1974.
29. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Shostakovich_and_Stalin/x__ntDIlYGYC?hl=en 
30. https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/periods-genres/national-anthems/russia-federation-state-lyrics-history-english-translation/ 
31. https://archive.org/details/yeltsinrevolutio00aron 
32. https://web.archive.org/web/20100512162358/http://pravo.levonevsky.org/baza/soviet/sssr0606.htm 
33. https://web.archive.org/web/20110819211722/http://lawrussia.ru/texts/legal_105/doc10a880x600.htm 
34. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/decemberweb-only/57.0.html 
35. http://en.people.cn/english/200012/08/eng20001208_57318.html 
36. https://web.archive.org/web/20090204114156/http://en.rian.ru/symbols/20070607/66606928.html 
37. http://www.gov.ru/main/symbols/gsrf4_2.html