When it comes to advice, the classic mantra is “just be yourself.” Yet the pressure to conform can make many people uneasy. Russia, however, seems to revel in the odd and the unexpected, offering a parade of stories that are anything but ordinary. Below are ten of the most head‑scratching, laugh‑inducing, and downright strange news bites that have emerged from the Russian realm.
10 The-Pooh Steals Tourist’s Money In Moscow
Russia has its own beloved version of Winnie‑the‑Pooh, a character that pops up in the streets of central Moscow. In 2017 a tourist from Ulyanovsk met a troupe of costumed icons and eagerly agreed to snap a group photo. The catch? She was asked to hand over 5,000 rubles (about $79) to a man dressed as Pooh. He promised to return with smaller bills for change, but he vanished without a trace, leaving the tourist out of pocket.
9 Town Hires Cat Chief To Attend To Strays
In 2018, Zelenogradsk received roughly 80 applications for an odd vacancy: a cat chief tasked with looking after about 70 stray cats. The town, proud of its feline‑friendly image, even erected a cat statue and added a whiskered emblem to its coat of arms. Svetlana Logunova secured the role, receiving a modest budget of 5,700 rubles (around $90) each month, a bright‑green jacket, a bow‑tie, a hat, and a bicycle. Her duties included feeding the cats and giving them free rides in the bike’s basket.
8 Russian Orthodox Church Considers Ending Blessings For Nuclear Weapons
During a June 2019 meeting in Moscow, a committee on ecclesial law suggested halting the centuries‑old practice of blessing missiles and warheads. They argued that priests should only bless individual soldiers and their personal weapons, not weapons of mass destruction. Bishop Savva Tutunov voiced this view, emphasizing that a weapon’s sanctity should be tied to the person wielding it. Yet the idea met resistance: former Patriarch spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin likened Russia’s nuclear arsenal to guardian angels, while Saint Seraphim—considered the patron saint of Russia’s nukes—remains a powerful symbolic figure.
7 Cops Put Out Fire With Snowballs
In November 2018, two officers from Krasnoyarsk’s Kuragino village spotted heavy smoke billowing from a garage beside a house. Lieutenant Yevgeny Lunin and Lieutenant Pavel Istomin quickly alerted the fire brigade and helped evacuate residents. While waiting for the firefighters, they hurled snowballs at the burning fence and garage gates, a quick‑thinking act that helped keep the fire from spreading.
6 Drunk Man Steals Car And Realizes He Doesn’t Know How To Drive
In 2014, police observed a man loitering in a car parked outside a café in the Kemerovo region. He lacked any identification, driver’s licence, or vehicle registration, and showed clear signs of intoxication. When officers took him to the precinct, the car’s rightful owner reported it stolen. It emerged that the drunkard had drilled a hole in the neighbour’s garage ceiling, snatched the vehicle, and then realised he couldn’t operate it. He ended up pushing the car for about one kilometre before being apprehended, facing up to six years behind bars.
5 Woman Rides Moscow Subway With A Live Fox On Her Shoulder
A video that went viral in late 2018 showed a woman boarding a Moscow subway train with a live fox perched calmly on her shoulder. Commuters stared as the fox remained unfazed by the bustling platform and the arriving train. While some online users worried about rabies and urged the owner to muzzle the animal, many found the sight hilarious and praised the woman for wearing real fur without harming animals. The fox’s presence isn’t as rare as it seems; geneticist Dmitry K. Belyaev began a domestication program in the 1950s, and a small population of tame red foxes still exists in Russia.
4 Man Crashes Armored Vehicle Into A Shop And Steals A Bottle Of Wine
At the start of 2018, a man in the Arctic town of Apatity stole an armored personnel carrier from a DOSAAF driving school, struggled to steer it, and crashed the massive vehicle into a shop after crushing a parked car. Witnesses said the thief appeared drunk. After the collision, he exited the hatch, inspected the damage briefly, then entered the shop through a broken window, where he was later found with a stolen bottle of wine. He surrendered without resisting, and the shop was not licensed to sell alcohol at that early hour.
3 Russian Official In Trouble After His Wife’s Twerking Caused A Massive Traffic Jam
In 2018, Oksana Yakovleva—stage name Yaxana—filmed a music video on a busy Moscow highway, where three women performed coordinated twerking routines from an SUV, blocking traffic and delaying ambulances. The stunt sparked a police report and embarrassed her husband, Alexei Yakovlev, a deputy from the United Russia party. He vowed to scold her upon his return, claiming the stunt was unnecessary PR. Yet footage showed the couple had previously joined in similar street‑dancing antics. Yaxana defended the act, saying the modern entertainment industry demands bold moves, even without money or connections.
2 City Paints Snow White To Hide Pollution
Late 2018 footage showed a woman’s hands turning white after playing with snow, prompting accusations that local officials in Kemerovo had covered black, polluted snow with a sticky white paint to mask environmental damage. Town head Dmitry Ivanov ordered the paint removed and reprimanded those responsible, apologising for spoiling residents’ New Year mood. The Prague Civil Society Centre noted that black snow is common in Russia’s coal‑mining regions, where coal production, while boosting the economy, wreaks havoc on health and the environment. Russia plans to produce roughly 480 million tons of coal annually by 2030.
1 Four Men Dress Up As A Bus To Cross Vehicle‑Only Bridge
In 2018, a daring group of four Russian men concealed themselves inside a bright yellow cardboard bus costume to sneak across Vladivostok’s Golden Bridge, a vehicle‑only thoroughfare. A traffic guard spotted the ruse and forced them to make a U‑turn. The Golden Bridge, a striking cable‑stayed structure opened in 2012, had barred pedestrians since 2015, prompting locals to protest the restriction. The video of the absurd attempt went viral, garnering laughs and admiration for the participants’ creativity.