10 things you might not know about RUSSIA

CHURCHILL described Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma…”

It is the national equivalent of a very drunk and slightly psychotic man – wise to treat carefully and ideally avoided at all costs.

But Britain has found – to her cost – that Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin ( above) are bent on destroying the very fabric of our civilisation, as the so- called Russia Report revealed last week.

So perhaps it’s an idea to find out a little more about this loathsome bully of a country… 1

THE name ‘ Russia’ comes from the old Norse word ‘Rus’, meaning ‘ men who row’. The first ‘ Russians’ were Vikings, who invaded and conquered the original Slavic people. 2

AFTER architect Postnik Yakovlev built St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, Ivan the Terrible blinded him, so he could never build anything to rival it. 3

THE Russian Emperor Peter the Great put a tax on beards and hanged a rat that chewed one of his toy soldiers. 4

GIVING flowers to residents can be a delicate point of etiquette. You should always make sure you give them in odd numbers, unless going to a funeral, when even numbers are the rule. 5

ALTHOUGH famous drunkards, Russians are only the world’s fourth biggest drinkers – according to WHO statistics – behind Belarus, Moldova and Lithuania. 6

THE word ‘ vodka’ derives for the word ‘ voda’, which means ‘ water’. 7

AVERAGE male life expectancy is 56 – lower than North Korea and Iraq and about what it was in Britain in 1910. 8

WEALTHY folk in Russia hire fake ambulances to beat Moscow’s dreadful traffic jams. 9

AN estimated 50% of policemen take bribes. 10

RUSSIAN Empress Catherine the Great did not die while being shagged by a horse, as legend says. She died after having a massive stroke while taking a dump.