2018 in Russia explained

Events in the year 2018 in Russia.

Incumbents

• President

Vladimir Putin

• Prime Minister

Dmitry Medvedev

Events

January

• 15 January - Two men aged 16, attacked students and a teacher with knives after which they attempted suicide. As a result of the attack, 15 people were injured, including the perpetrators.^[1]

February

• 11 February – Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashed shortly after take-off, killing all 71 people on board.

March

• 15–17 March – Sergey Lavrov has announced that Russia will expel diplomats from the United Kingdom because of the expulsion of 23 Russian envoys due to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal.^[2] The Russian foreign ministry is to expel 23 British diplomats amid tensions over the nerve agent attack in the United Kingdom.^[3]
• 18 March  - In the Russian presidential election, Vladimir Putin is elected for a fourth term, winning 73.9% of the vote.^[4]
• 25 March - 2018 Kemerovo fire^{[5] [6]}

May

• 5 May  - Thousand Protest rally in 97 cities including Moscow and St Petersburg, against Vladimir Putin for winning a fourth term in the Russian President Election.^[7]
• 7 May - Vladimir Putin sworn in for a fourth term as President of Russia in the Hall of the Order of St. Andrew of the Grand Kremlin Palace.^[8]
• 10 May - Opening of Crimean Bridge.^[9]

June

• 14 June  - The opening ceremonies of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.^[10]
• 19 June  - the Russian State Duma adopted a bill that made education in all languages but Russian optional, overruling previous laws by ethnic autonomies, and reducing instruction in minority languages to only two hours a week.^{[11] [12] [13]} This bill has been likened by some commentators, such as in Foreign Affairs, to a policy of Russification.^[11]

July

• 1 July  - Several thousand people protested across Russia against a hugely unpopular government decision to hike the pension age that has led to a record slump in President Vladimir Putin's approval ratings. No protests were held in World Cup host cities due to a regulation banning protest in the cities for the duration of the tournament.^{[14] [15] [16] [17]}
  • Russia knocks out Spain from the World Cup after winning a penalty shootout.^[18]
• 15 July - Closing ceremony of 2018 FIFA World Cup^[19]
• 28 July  - More than 10,000 people attended a rally in the capital, Moscow against government plans to increase the retirement age rise.^[20]

August

• 2 August  - More than 9,000 people attended a rally against government plans to increase the retirement age rise.^[21]

September

• 11 September - Pussy Riot's manager Pyotr Verzilov mysteriously fell critically ill after a court hearing in Moscow. This was the same day that he was slated to have received vital information from 'foreign services' about the death of several journalists reporting on the Wagner Battalion's actions in the Central African Republic.^[22]
• 11 September - Then Russian Minister of Justice Alexander Konovalov announced an expansion on 'extremist' materials, including the addition of 4,507 books, videos, websites, social media pages, and musical compositions. This was recorded to be a seismic, 200 item increase from the prior year.

October

• 26 October - Marking the first of approximately 36 public, Hip-Hop concerts, a three-month period of cancelled performances would begin.^[23] Dmitry Kuznetsov, or Husky, had his concert in Togliatti cancelled following a letter from the Prosecutor's office rejecting some of the lyrics of songs that were to be performed that evening due to the presence of 'cannibalism.'^[24]

December

• 26–28 December  - The 2018 World Rapid Chess Championship was held in Saint Petersburg. Winner and world champion was Daniil Dubov from Russia, ahead of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura.

Deaths

January

• 3 January – Igor Strelbin, footballer (b. 1974).^[25]
• 9 January – Robert Minlos, mathematician (b. 1931)
• 9 January – Alexander Vedernikov, singer and teacher (b. 1927)
• 9 January – Valeri Matyunin, footballer (b. 1960)
• 10 January – Mikhail Derzhavin, actor (b. 1936)
• 15 January – Viktor Anpilov, politician and trade unionist (b. 1945)
• 25 January – Lyudmila Senchina, soprano singer (b. 1948 or 1950)

February

See main article: Deaths in February 2018.

• 21 February – Valentin Afraimovich, mathematician (b.1945)
• 21 February – Sergei Aleksandrov, footballer (b. 1973)
• 26 February – Tatyana Karpova, actress (b. 1916)

March

• 22 March – Khozh-Akhmed Bersanov, Chechen writer and ethnographer (b. 1926)
• 26 March – Sergei Mavrodi, financial fraudster and a deputy of the State Duma (b. 1955)
• 27 March – Victor Kalashnikov, gun designer (b. 1942)
• 28 March – Oleg Anofriyev, actor, singer, songwriter, film director and poet (b. 1930)

April

See main article: Deaths in April 2018.

• 16 April – Maxim Borodin, 32, Russian Journalist (b. 1986)^[26]
• 19 April – Vladimir Lyakhov, cosmonaut (b. 1941)
• 21 April – Nina Doroshina, actress (b. 1934)
• 22 April – Ivan P. Neumyvakin, physician (b. 1928)

May

• 21 May – Aleksandr Askoldov, actor and film director (b. 1932)

July

• 3 July – Boris Orlov, gymnastics coach (b. 1945).^[27]
• 5 July – Evgeny Golod, mathematician who proved the Golod–Shafarevich theorem on class field towers (b. 1935).^[28]
• 8 July – Tazir Kariyev, footballer (b. 1989).^[29]
• 10 July – Andrei Suslin, mathematician who contributed to algebraic K-theory and its connections with algebraic geometry (b. 1950).^[30]
• 27 July – Vladimir Voinovich, writer (b. 1932).

See also

• 2017 in Russia
• 2019 in Russia
• 21st century
• Elections in Russia
• Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent Elections

Notes and References

1. News: Twelve hurt in Russia school knife attack. 15 January 2018. BBC News. 23 October 2018. en-GB.
2. Web site: Russian spy: Moscow 'will expel British diplomats soon'. BBC News. 15 March 2018.
3. Web site: Russia spy poisoning: 23 UK diplomats expelled from Moscow. BBC News. 17 March 2018.
4. Web site: Russia election: Vladimir Putin wins by big margin. BBC News. 18 March 2018. 18 March 2018.
5. News: Russian shopping centre inferno kills 64. 2018-03-26. BBC News. 2018-12-25. en-GB.
6. Web site: Fire tragedy at Kemerovo shopping mall leaves at least 64 dead. TASS. ru. 2018-12-25.
7. Web site: Protesters detained as thousands rally against Putin's government. NBC News. en. 2018-12-25.
8. Web site: https://ria.ru/20180507/1520027664.html. ru:Путин принимает парад Президентского полка на церемонии инаугурации. РИА Новости. 7 May 2018 . ru. 2018-12-25.
9. Web site: Putin opens new bridge to Crimea, provoking Ukraine, Western ire. 2018-05-16. euractiv.com. en-GB. 2019-03-06.
10. News: World Cup 2018 opening ceremony: Robbie Williams's middle finger and giant fire bird feature in snappy show. Tyers. Alan. 2018-06-14. The Telegraph. 2018-12-25. en-GB. 0307-1235.
11. News: Putin's Plan to Russify the Caucasus. Foreign Affairs. 1 August 2018.
12. News: Gosduma prinyala chtenii zakonoproekt ob izuchen'i rodnyix yez'ikov. RIA Novosti. 19 June 2018.
13. News: Russian minorities fear for languages amid new restrictions. Deutsche Welle. 5 December 2017.
14. News: Russians protest over pension age rise announced during World Cup. 2018-07-01. The Guardian. 2018-12-25.
15. Web site: Russians protest pension reform as Putin popularity slides. au.news.yahoo.com. en-AU. 2018-12-25.
16. Web site: Russians protest over retirement age hike as Putin's popularity falls. Reuters. 2018-07-02. DAWN.COM. en. 2018-12-25.
17. News: Putin approval rating plummets over rise in pension age. Moscow. Marc Bennetts. 2018-07-02. The Times. 2018-12-25. en. 0140-0460.
18. Web site: World Cup upset: Russia knocks out Spain. 2018-07-01. KMGH. en. 2018-12-25.
19. Web site: 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - News - RELIVE: Press Conference on the Closing Ceremony for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia . FIFA.com. www.fifa.com. en-GB. 2019-03-06.
20. Web site: Thousands protest in Russia against proposed retirement age rise News Al Jazeera. www.aljazeera.com. 2018-12-25.
21. Web site: Thousands protest against pension law despite Putin's rollback News Al Jazeera. www.aljazeera.com. 2018-12-25.
22. Web site: 2018. RUSSIA 2018 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT. live. 7 May 2021. www.state.gov. https://web.archive.org/web/20190715151844/https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/RUSSIA-2018-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf . 2019-07-15 .
23. Web site: 2019-02-28. Russia: Censorship of Younger Generation's Music. 2021-05-13. Human Rights Watch. en.
24. Web site: АФАНАСЬЕВА. Ольга. 2018-10-27. Репера Хаски не пустили на концерт в Тольятти за пропаганду каннибализма и полового разврата. 2021-05-13. samara.kp.ru. ru.
25. News: ru:Бывший футболист «Динамо» Игорь Стрельбин скончался в Брянске . . bryansktoday.ru . ru . 4 January 2018 .
26. Web site: Russian journalist Maxim Borodin dies after mysterious fall from balcony. The Times. 16 April 2018.
27. Web site: Markante turncoach Boris Orlov (73) overleden. https://web.archive.org/web/20180704034609/https://nos.nl/artikel/2239747-markante-turncoach-boris-orlov-73-overleden.html. dead. July 3, 2018. July 4, 2018. nos.nl.
28. Web site: Скончался Е.С. Голод | Механико-математический факультет. https://web.archive.org/web/20180709011234/http://www.math.msu.su/node/1093. dead. July 9, 2018. math.msu.ru.
29. Web site: В Краснодарском крае застрелен бывший игрок ФК "Ангушт" Тазир Кариев. https://web.archive.org/web/20180709064743/https://kubnews.ru/proisshestviya/2018/07/08/v-krasnodarskom-krae-zastrelen-byvshiy-igrok-fk-angusht-tazir-kariev/. dead. July 8, 2018. July 9, 2018. kubnews.ru.
30. Web site: В Петербурге ушел из жизни известный математик Андрей Суслин. Невские Новости.