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The Worldy Wise: Insider Views From Russia

In a new series we will interview a person from a country outside of UK for their views on their life in their native country. This week we speak to Oleg who was born and raised in Russia and now lives in France.

@lynncollins7 Russian nature. Beautiful is not it? pic.twitter.com/zJi6SbhyGJ

— Sergei (@shamanaevsergei) September 26, 2015

Where are you from?

I am from Octyabrsky, the Republic of Bashkorotostan, Russia. 

(if a student) What are you studying? (If not a student) where do you work/what do you do?

I am an applied physics engineer working in Toulouse, France

What do you think is a unique aspect of your country?

In my opinion the unique aspect of my country is a diversity of cultures and nature.

@AlinaDal_F @marmelyr Russian North! Vologda Region! beauty in the simplicity of the image picture of nature!pic.twitter.com/3vFnlIX17V

— Татьяна (@Plehanovka) October 11, 2015

What do you think is the biggest issue facing your country at the moment?

The biggest issue which my country faces is a criminal government. I was reading some thoughts of a Russian artist who tried to answer a question about threats to the country, I agree with him. People are also responsible for what is going on. The system is not good but many poor minds support it. Maybe this ignorance is the biggest threat, no one can change the situation but us. 

What do you think first comes to mind when people are talking about your country?

Ignorance. Misinformation about simple people, like everyone drinks a lot of Vodka, or nearly everyone is mafia 🙂 yes, we have a lot of them but we have also proper people. 

Is there anything you wish people knew about your country that doesn’t get mentioned in the media?

My personal view is that a family and friends are your country. Everything which is outside is hostile. More than 150 nationalities live in the country. Moscow does not represent life in the whole country. Gogol is a famous writer who lived in the 19th century, he said: ‘There are two disasters in Russia: fools and roads.’

Russian landscape. From trans Siberian railway. #russia #russianfederation #transiberian #nature #demalde #instappic.twitter.com/dMRBUx3EMD

— Фото из Улан-Удэ (@InstaUlanUde) October 9, 2015

Facts about Russia 

  • The Trans Siberian Railway is the worlds longest railway as the 9200 kilometer (or 5700 mile) railway departs in Moscow (located in European Russia) and crosses into Asia.
  • Russia is the largest country in the world by area. It’s total area is 17,075,400 square kilometers and it covers more than a ninth of the Earth’s land area.
  • As of 2012, Russia is the second largest producer of oil after Saudi Arabia. 
  • Moscow has the third busiest Metro system in the world.