The August curse is a perceived phenomenon in Russia where the worst disasters and adverse events seem to have occurred in that country during August. The idea of the curse dates back to the 1991 "August Coup". Many possible explanations have been presented for this observation, ranging from fact-based to supernatural.
In the early 21st century, journalists and observers noted that, since 1991, an unusual number of severe and fatal events in Russia had occurred in the month of August.[1] Examples included deadly accidents and incidents, terrorist attacks, and the outbreak of two major wars.
Russian media has speculated about possible explanations for such clustering. Seasonal influence on human activities, as opposed to the relative shutdown in winter, for instance, are among them.
For instance, many people take vacations in August: this leaves a kind of power-vacuum at some levels which terrorists and criminals can exploit.[2]
Evgeny Nadorshin, chief economist at Trust Bank, has said that, for many events, the occurrence in August is simply a coincidence. But Nadorshin noted that vacations and official inattention were key factors in enabling the 2009 Nazran bombing.[2]
Others have presented supernatural explanations for the August curse. Astrologist Elena Kuznetsova said in 2009, that the chaos will likely continue until mid-September because of the relative positions of Saturn and Uranus, and that Russia's horoscope is directly connected to the annual August turmoil.[3]
The usually hot weather of August was identified in 2001 as a contributing factor.[4] It is a time when military or insurgent actions can be undertaken.
Other far-reaching historical events have occurred in August in Russia, a prime time for military movements. For example, the Eastern Front of World War I was opened in August 1914 with the German invasion of Congress Poland, part of the Russian Empire. Germany started the Battle of Stalingrad that month (23 August 1942), in which the Soviets were eventually victorious.
| Year | Day | Casualties | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 19–21 | 3 dead | Soviet coup d'état attempt | |
| 1992 | 27 | Everyone on board (84) | Aeroflot Flight 2808 crashes in Ivanovo, Russia[5] | |
| 1994 | 4 | MMM Ponzi scheme collapses | ||
| 7 | 29 killed, 786 left homeless | Tirlyanskoe reservoir in Bashkortostan floods | ||
| 11 | 20 dead, 50 wounded | Train crash in the Belgorod Region[6] | ||
| 1996 | 29 | Everyone on board (141) | Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801 crashes in Norway | |
| 31 | First Chechen War ends, with the Chechens declaring victory | |||
| 1998 | 17 | Russian financial crisis | ||
| 1999 | 2 | Invasion of Dagestan, start of the Second Chechen War | ||
| 31 | The first attack of the Russian apartment bombings | |||
| 2000 | 12 | 118 dead | Kursk submarine disaster | |
| 2002 | 19 | 127 dead | Crash of a military helicopter in Chechnya | |
| 2003 | 1 | 44 dead 79 wounded | Suicide bomber drives a truck with explosives into a military hospital in North Ossetia | |
| 2004 | 24 | 90 dead | 2004 Russian aircraft bombings | |
| 2006 | 22 | 170 dead | Flight 612 plane crash | |
| 2007 | 13 | Bomb attack on a train between Moscow and St. Petersburg | ||
| 2008 | 7–12 | Russo-Georgian War | ||
| 2009 | 17 | 2 dead 3 injured | Two planes collide during rehearsals for an air show in Moscow | |
| 17 | 25 dead 64 injuries | Terrorist bombing in Nazran | ||
| 17 | 75 dead | Accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station | ||
| 2024 | 3 - ongoing | Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast |