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Embarrassing Chapters in Russian History

Guess these people, places, and things in Russian history that they would probably rather forget.
Don't freak out, but for the purposes of this quiz, we consider Russia and the Soviet Union to be the same.
Easily offended? Here are some more chapters to get mad about.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 10, 2018
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First submittedMay 6, 2018
Times taken18,050
Average score82.4%
Rating3.76
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Answer
This leader is found drunk, in his underwear, trying to hail a cab, and wanting pizza during a 1995 visit to Washington D.C.
Boris Yeltsin
Russia cynically makes a non-aggression pact with this country in 1939
Germany
Russia invades this Nordic country in 1939 and is roundly repulsed despite huge numerical superiority
Finland
Russia is forced to burn Moscow after it is captured by this French conqueror
Napoleon
American Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky at the world championships of this game
Chess
Unlike the United States, the Russians are unable to send a person here. They are forced to stop trying after several launch failures.
The Moon
The Soviet Union collapses after losing this "war"
Cold War
The 2014 Winter Olympics, held in this city, suffer from cost overruns and shoddy construction
Sochi
Russia invades this country in 1979 but is forced to withdraw a decade later with tens of thousands of Russian soldiers dead
Afghanistan
This Russian ballet dancer emigrates to Canada in 1974
Mikhail Baryshnikov
In an event called the Holodomor, Soviet leaders inflict a terrible famine on this country, killing millions
Ukraine
In a staged publicity stunt, this leader "saves" a camera crew by shooting a Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer dart
Vladimir Putin
Russia loses nearly its entire Pacific fleet in a disastrous war with this country in 1904–05
Japan
Russia is barred from the 2018 Winter Olympics because of this
State-Sponsored Doping
Russia sells this territory to the United States for less than $5 per square kilometer
Alaska
In the early 20th century, tens of thousands of people die in "pogroms" targeting this group of people
Jews
Poor design and disregard for safety cause this 1986 nuclear disaster
Chernobyl
igel
+39
Level 70
May 7, 2018
I think, formulations of at least some questions are strongly biased. Some examples:

What is embarrassing for a country, if its chess player is defeated by a better foreign player? I remember this time and, although the propaganda made efforts to sell the match as a fight of the systems, everybody acknowledged Bobby as a brilliant player. Hence, it could be embarrassed for the Communist state, but it was not embarrassing for people.

If USSR was cynical in entering a treaty with Nazi, are you ready to go so far, to assess the appeasement politics of UK and France cynical as well? Were US and European companies cynical while supplying Nazi with strategic goods and their governments while permitting these exports?

Taking into account that the final outcome of Napoleon invasion was his ultimate defeat – is it honest to point out to the interim result of the war implicating, the war was disastrous embarrassment for Russians? All the more, if considering that Napoleon had to lea

Eavel001
+30
Level 43
Oct 5, 2018
This quiz was obviously put together by an American; "Unlike the United States, the Russians are unable to send a person [to the moon]" is such a salty thing to write
jmellor13
+19
Level 67
Oct 5, 2018
Are you kidding? The Space Race was a well-publicized touchstone of the Cold War. The US and USSR were both frantically trying to be the first to the moon, as a symbol of each country's superiority. The Soviets got the first satellite into space; they sent the first man into the space; and then they fell apart when they were trying to reach the big prize, and the US passed them and got to plant its flag on the moon. That is not biased American jingoism. That is what happened. And the Soviets were very embarrassed by it. Not because they didn't get to the moon, but because the Americans beat them there.
dunkinggandalf2
+18
Level 68
Apr 29, 2021
I think the idea that going to the moon is a "bigger prize" than reaching space or putting a man in orbit is the problem here. They are all amazing achievements, and gigantic milestones - valuing one above the others is such a ridiculous Cold-War-y thing.
Ferbin
+9
Level 76
Apr 29, 2021
Bingo. Furthermore, the russians beat the US in just about every other milestone, and kept going to space, even building stations, way after the moon landing.
bitterblue
+3
Level 58
Apr 29, 2021
Isn't the point of the quiz to be "salty"? I imagine that the U.S. version would have a similar question about the USSR beating it in getting the first man and the first woman in space
jmellor13
+2
Level 67
Apr 29, 2021
Whether getting to the moon is a bigger accomplishment than getting the first man in space is irrelevant. The issue is whether the Soviets were embarrassed by the Americans beating them to the moon. They were. They made it a huge priority, and they lost to the Americans. Yes, what the Soviet space program accomplished is objectively impressive, but they made it a point in the throes of the Cold War to beat the Americans to the moon. They poured a ton of resources into it, and they never got there.
dunkinggandalf2
+4
Level 68
Apr 30, 2021
I have no issue with the question, which is fine. It's just your characterisation of the Moon landing as "The Big Prize" that seems weird. It was *a* big prize - one that the Soviets certainly wanted and didn't get. Whether they are embarrassed by that is up to them.
QRU
+16
Level 74
Oct 5, 2018
To be fair, Bobby Fischer could be placed on the "Embarrassing Chapters in US History" quiz, too.
jmellor13
+2
Level 67
Oct 5, 2018
Hahaha. Very true.
Quizmaster
+5
Level ∞
Feb 9, 2020
This quiz is embarrassing chapters in Russian history. It's not going to be flattering. There are versions of this quiz for the UK, France, China, and of course the United States as well.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Apr 16, 2020
And now Germany too! (Italy coming soon).
dunkinggandalf2
+3
Level 68
Apr 29, 2021
Good luck finding any embarrassing chapters in *Italian* history! I mean, come on!
Xenonek
+3
Level 57
Apr 29, 2021
Mussolini, Gentili, Berlusconi, Bonanno, Luciano, Vizzini?

Ethiopia 1935/36, invading Greece in 1940, Libya in 1940, losing battleships in Tarent in November 1940?

Shall I continue?

itstaken1
+1
Level 16
Feb 26, 2024
You just gave away the whole quiz LOL
itstaken1
+1
Level 16
Feb 26, 2024
You just gave away the whole quiz LOL
1ProximaCentauri
+1
Level 55
Apr 29, 2021
Failing to Invade Greece, Politicians getting bribed by the Mafia etc, and lets not even start about the roman empire. If that counts as italy.
Temudhun
+1
Level 70
Apr 29, 2021
Such quiz could also be done for Japan, Spain, Turkey or Portugal.
1ProximaCentauri
+1
Level 55
Apr 29, 2021
And Belgium, which QM should easily finish!
dunkinggandalf2
+3
Level 68
Apr 30, 2021
I couldn't have been more obviously joking about Italy!

Every country has embarrassing chapters in their history, but many of the Italian ones are especially hilarious!

ellypois
+1
Level 69
Apr 24, 2021
all quizzes from this series (Embarassing Chapters) are biased
lucd13
+2
Level 69
May 7, 2018
Spent most of this time trying to think of another word for 'drugs'. Tried drugs, drug violation, etc - took ages before I thought of doping.
cornflakesfu
+1
Level 86
May 7, 2018
If you had watched NBC's coverage of the games, you would have heard the phrase "state-sponsored doping program" about a million times.
redsplat
+7
Level 74
May 7, 2018
Don't have access to NBC and suspect I wouldn't watch it if I did.
priamos
+3
Level 62
May 7, 2018
I don't think Russia had much of a "Pacific fleet" in 1904-5. As far as I'm aware most of the ships came from Europe. In fact part of the problem was that they had too little support infrastructure to operate efficiently in East Asia.
WillemLAif
+3
Level 76
Aug 17, 2018
They sent it from Europe indeed. The drunken captains ordered to shoot British fishing boats on the way because they thought they were already there, for one.
mf3
+5
Level 87
May 7, 2018
Technically, Ukraine was not a "country" at the time of the famine. It was a Soviet republic.
tshalla
+2
Level 75
May 7, 2018
No, although I get the intent of the question. That same intent doesn't work, however, on the Chernobyl question, given that Chernobyl is (today) in Ukraine and near the Belarus border (i.e. nowhere near Russia).
Yanni47
+2
Level 77
Sep 30, 2018
Maybe the quiz should be more accurately called "Embarrassing Chapters in Russian/Soviet History".
divantilya
+1
Level 37
Oct 5, 2018
In 1986 when Chernobyl happened, Ukraine was part of Russia.

Therefore, it is an embarrassing chapter in RUSSIAN history.

camus
+4
Level 78
Oct 6, 2018
divantilya - in 1986, Ukraine and Russia were both part of the Soviet Union.
KanzazKyote
+3
Level 87
May 22, 2020
camus - the Soviet Union was universally recognized by Russia, international powers, and Ukraine itself as the successor of the Russian Empire, which included Ukraine. The seats of power of the USSR were in Russia and dominated by Russians (ethnically or culturally). It is ridiculous to suggest that Chernobyl was anyone else's fault, the only reason it wouldn't be is if the Ukrainian ASSR government independently developed Chernobyl all by themselves, which they didn't.
camus
+2
Level 78
Jul 17, 2020
Russia dominating the Soviet Union doesn't make all of its parts Russian. I don't know about the ethnicities of the people responsible for Chernobyl but that's beside the point.
Dimby
+1
Level 77
Apr 30, 2021
But the Russian domination of the USSR certainly would make most of the USSR's history relevant to a Russian history quiz.
fcalvaresi
+2
Level 38
Sep 29, 2018
Not all countries are sovereign nations.
dunkinggandalf2
+2
Level 68
Apr 29, 2021
Very true - just look at Country Kitchen Buffet!
Dimby
+2
Level 77
Apr 30, 2021
You're amazing, gandalf.
cpgatbyu
+4
Level 85
May 7, 2018
Moscow wasn't the capital of Russia in Napoleon's time.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
May 7, 2018
Fixed
wibblewobble
+10
Level 76
May 7, 2018
Burning Moscow was done deliberately to deny resources to the invaders. It was followed by the disastrous retreat from Russia and the abdication of a certain Corsican gentleman. It led directly to Russian victory so can hardly be called an embarrasement.
tshalla
+3
Level 75
May 7, 2018
Tolstoy was proud of the tactic, for what it's worth.
Osiris
+9
Level 62
May 7, 2018
It was an effective tactic, but it was embarrassingly desperate.
fcalvaresi
+2
Level 38
Sep 29, 2018
When you give up your biggest city to the enemy, this is because you lost all hope to successfully defend it, not because you wanted to in the first place.
ingriddurden
+2
Level 60
May 7, 2018
could you accept Czernobyl too ?
QuizFace
+1
Level 60
May 7, 2018
I kept trying things like Borishnikov. Didn't get close enough.
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 75
Apr 29, 2021
I got it first time and was genuinely astounded. I got the spelling slightly wrong, but it was accepted and I 100% didn't expect it to be.
JoanSR
+1
Level 74
May 9, 2018
Chernobyl had nothing of bad design. It was the state of the art of the 80's and better than many others. and a french design I think. However the safety procedures were embarrasingly set aside that's for sure, and more embarrasing cover-up attempts and late reaction to the blunder were the worst part of it.
Quizmaster
+7
Level ∞
May 10, 2018
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

Reading the article it sounds like the design had major problems. In my opinion, a nuclear reactor should be idiot proof.

Djilas
+1
Level 82
Jun 18, 2018
There certainly was bad design involved, a similar event simply cannot happen in many other types of reactors that just stop when temperature is too high.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
Sep 27, 2018
I would agree that the Soviet response to the disaster was far more embarrassing than the disaster itself. At least from my understanding from having visited the place. If I don't know what I'm talking about I blame my Ukrainian tour guide.
driehoek25
+2
Level 66
Apr 29, 2021
The design was horrible. Someone pointed that out in the 70's but got silenced for that and the facts were put away.
Gamer1162
+1
Level 60
May 15, 2018
I wouldn't have wanted to be one of those guards looking out for Yeltsin that day. Also, how is the defection of Baryshnikov an embarassing chapter of history?
kalbahamut
+4
Level 82
May 30, 2018
It says that the country was such a terrible place to live that people were trying to flee. Baryshnikov was far from the only one who made the attempt, but he's one of the more famous one and therefore emblematic of this phenomenon. You never saw large numbers of Americans trying to flee to Cuba or the Soviet Union; just like nobody in West Germany was attempting to flee to East Germany, and nobody in South Korea has ever tried to escape to North Korea. Pretty fair inclusion, IMO.
dunkinggandalf2
+4
Level 68
Apr 29, 2021
While it's of course far less common, there absolutely have been instances of people trying to and succeeding in leaving West Germany for East Germany, South Korea for North Korea, and I'm sure the same is true for the US to Cuba, although I'm less familiar with that part of the world so no examples come to mind.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
Apr 29, 2021
Approximately 25,000 North Koreans defected to the South. 13 defectors went in the opposite direction. It's so lopsided and close enough to 0 that saying that it never happens is a valid observation. Like saying the sky is blue. Then some pedant pipes in with "well actually sometimes it's pink!" or "it only appears blue because of the wavelengths of light that pass through the atmosphere at certain angles when arriving at your retina"...... you know what I mean.
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 68
Apr 30, 2021
What are you talking about? If you live on Earth, the sky is black about half the time, and some combination of blue, grey and white the rest of the time. Also reddish-yellow at sunrise and sunset.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
May 2, 2021
and besides I just noticed I specifically said "large numbers." I never said that there were zero.
dunkinggandalf2
+3
Level 68
May 2, 2021
You actually said "nobody", both for Germany and for Korea, but I guess that's as close as you'll ever come to admitting a mistake, so I'll accept it. Oh, and happy birthday to you!
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
May 4, 2021
Hypocritical and inaccurate insult/criticism from you as usual.
dunkinggandalf2
+2
Level 68
May 6, 2021
What? Wishing you a happy birthday? Sorry if that offended you, I was trying to be nice!
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Oct 20, 2022
After hypocritically stating I'm incapable of admitting a mistake and incorrectly implying again that I was wrong, and then later acting like you don't even know what I could be referring to in an obvious effort to paint me as the jerk and not yourself, and this is your best attempt at being "nice." Well, kudos for effort.
Algernon
+1
Level 72
May 16, 2018
Got them all apart from the ballet dancer. My Knowledge of ballet dancers is pretty limited, and it doesn't extend to him.
kapulani3
+1
Level 74
Sep 16, 2018
Baryshnikov is not just a ballet dancer. He also became an actor, a talented one at that. He and Gregory Hines did a fantastic movie together in 1985 called White Nights (also stars Helen Mirren). If you never saw that, I highly recommend it. I haven't seen it since 1985 and it still stands out in my mind as a great movie with some phenomenal dancing by both Hines and Baryschnikov.
Tummykong
+1
Level 66
Oct 5, 2018
And, a recurring role in Sex In The City.
RobNobody
+3
Level 77
Oct 5, 2018
My knowledge of ballet dancers, especially male ballet dancers, is pretty much limited ENTIRELY to Baryshnikov.
jmellor13
+1
Level 67
Oct 5, 2018
Me too. And I only know it from the Simpsons. "I think you move like a young Baryshnikov!" Russian name? Dancer? That's got to be the guy.
Natascha
+1
Level 52
Oct 7, 2018
I was thinking Rudolf Nureyev, but he asked for asylum in Paris.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
May 30, 2018
I see you accepted my critique of the previous clue suggesting the Soviets had lost the Space Race; I'm still not sure I agree with the wording of the present clue about failing to get to the moon- it was more like they just decided it wasn't worth it once the Americans already got there- but, much better than the previous clue/answer. Sputnik, Yuri Gagarin, Laika, and I all appreciate the change. ;-)
RobNobody
+4
Level 77
Oct 5, 2018
Honestly, I don't think Laika was a big fan of how things turned out.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Oct 5, 2018
Probably not but we can at least remember and honor her sacrifice.
dunkinggandalf2
+2
Level 68
Apr 29, 2021
I agree. If anything, the Soviets handily won the Space Race, but lost the Moon Race.
Antimatter
+3
Level 45
Sep 7, 2018
Kept trying Nureyev for the ballet dancer at first. Good quiz, would be fun to see a United States version of this too... Vanguard satellite launch, anyone? ;)
RobNobody
+1
Level 77
Oct 5, 2018
Oh, they've got you covered.
YVAS
+1
Level 49
Oct 5, 2018
Maybe add something about the gay purge and extermination in Chechnya?
ander217
+2
Level 75
Oct 5, 2018
Only one I missed was Sochi. I tried Soji, Sojie, Shojie, Shoji...I must have confused it with the Japanese fiddler in Branson.
Elan
+5
Level 65
Oct 5, 2018
I think it's blasphemous to make a quiz about Russian embarrassment without including the "Miracle on Ice."
DonTheLamplighter
+6
Level 84
Feb 7, 2020
Forgot about this. A team of professionals who regularly played together for a country that had won the previous 4 Olympic gold medals (and 5 of the last 6) losing to a bunch of college players whom they had soundly trounced, 10-3, just days before. The head coach was so stunned, he forgot to pull the goalie, down by a goal, as the final minute wound down.

Considering the Cold War climate at the time, this one could easily have been one of the first ones on this quiz.

gzx5
+1
Level 71
Oct 6, 2018
You should do an embarassing moments one for Mexico, Japan, and Turkey too.
Kontio100
+1
Level 52
Oct 13, 2018
I just couldn't manage to write Chernobyl correctly. It's written so differently in my language (Tsernobyl).
Zefyrinus
+1
Level 71
Nov 20, 2018
Suomi on tunnetumpi kuin kuu. Torilla tavataan.
jmellor13
+1
Level 67
Apr 29, 2021
Teemu Selanne.
divantilya
+2
Level 37
Feb 18, 2019
Camus: You are correct. My faux pas; I did not forget that it was the Soviet Union back then.
RKS
+2
Level 65
Nov 15, 2019
How about a quiz "embarrassing times in US History"?
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Nov 15, 2019
https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/30947/embarrassing-chapters-in-us-history
kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
Oct 29, 2020
That was the first one in the series, and I made several sequels to it.
AlpenMarmot
+1
Level 61
Apr 29, 2021
Selling Alaska was not embarrassing, it was a right decision. Russia would have lost this territory anyway, because it was far away and we weren't enough recourses to defend or explore it.
nerdalert
+3
Level 85
Apr 29, 2021
You could also add "Losing your only aircraft carrier to a fire while in dock"
JWatson24
+1
Level 71
Apr 29, 2021
If you like this, please try my Embarrassing Chapters in Spanish History Quiz!
Usukhuu
+1
Level 35
Apr 29, 2021
One mistake no one lost or won cold war
MindWax
+4
Level 83
Apr 29, 2021
2 countries entered the cold war. One still exists. The other collapsed and disbanded after decades of famine, corruption, and the worst sorts of authoritarianism. There is a clear winner and loser of the cold war, no matter how much you'd love to spin it another way
Badeghut
+1
Level 70
Apr 29, 2021
I don't think it is known whether the Russians burnt down Moscow or whether it was burnt down by Napoleon's troops during the looting.
MichaelPeblo
+1
Level 46
Apr 29, 2021
Please accept typos for Yeltsin 😭
1ProximaCentauri
+1
Level 55
Apr 29, 2021
Can you simply accept Cheating for Doping?
stoooopot
+1
Level 69
Apr 29, 2021
100%. I only knew Barishnokov thanks to Recess lol.
QuantumMechanist
+1
Level 70
Apr 29, 2021
Lost nearly their entire Pacific fleet? How about they try sending their Baltic fleet instead?
skyraider112
+2
Level 51
Apr 29, 2021
You gotta think the false Dmitrys should be on this list. I'd say that's about as embarrassing as it gets
FaroPor
+1
Level 60
May 1, 2021
Yeah. The False Dmitry was weird.
AlexanderTheLarge
+3
Level 60
Apr 30, 2021
The United States has more embarrassing moments.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
May 2, 2021
doubtful. Both because the Russians are every bit as bad if not very probably worse than the Americans, but also because Russia (if you include the Soviet Union, Russian Empire, and various precursor states) has been around longer.

However, if criticism of America is what turns you on or preoccupies you, as it seems to be for so many, I authored a series of six or seven quizzes on embarrassing moments in US history. The original series I made about the US is what inspired this series by Quizmaster.

dunkinggandalf2
+2
Level 68
May 2, 2021
It's not a contest, Alexander.

The point is that every country has embarrassing chapters, which we should be aware of. Most countries also have shining achievements, but, weirdly, those tend to be better-known, at least within said countries.

dunkinggandalf2
+2
Level 68
May 2, 2021
Also: every country is accountable for its own embarrassing chapters. The fact that others have failed too doesn't excuse anything a particular country has done wrong.
PynchonsOverbite
+1
Level 91
Jan 23, 2022
The childish lies that authoritarians (and wannabes) tell about themselves suggest serious emotional developmental issues. But saving a camera crew from a tiger is so stupid it's kind of awesome.
lance7211
+2
Level 68
Feb 15, 2022
With all these embarrassing chapters of history quizzes you can basically just type "jews" before even looking at the questions
tourwoorden
+4
Level 70
Feb 26, 2022
It's still a bit early to tell how it's going to work out exactly, but I would not be surprised if we're witnessing another embarrassing chapter for Russia currently.
GrandMaester
+2
Level 44
Apr 13, 2022
Although this quiz does not intend to include every atrocity in the Russian history, please consider to add the Circassian genocide and the Katyn massacre in the answers.

For those who did not heard about these two events, the former happened between 1763 and 1864 when around one and a half million souls living north of the Caucasus were murdered, raped and expelled from their homeland by the Russian Empire. According to many sources, the Tsarist Army even killed and raped children and the skulls of victims were collected by Russians like General Grigory Zass for "scientific purposes."

Regarding the Katyn Massacre, around 22.000 Polish military officers and intellectuals were executed in the Katyn Forest by the orders of Stalin, after the Partition of Poland between the Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

Additionally, the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia can be included in the answers as well.

Kingsfisher
+1
Level 63
Aug 3, 2022
1. The "Holodomor", as Ukrainians call it, was not a deliberate genocide of Ukrainians, since the famine at that time was also in Russia and in Kazakhstan, and in Kazakhstan the famine caused more damage.

2. Of course, I do not know who and how much money was stolen for the Sochi Olympics, but it was definitely not terrible (I definitely remember it very good).

3. I cannot judge Katyn and, in principle, Stalin, but it is very problematic here because the victims of all the events under Stalin, as for me, are shamelessly overestimated (20-60 million people were killed by him? Seriously? there were only 190 million inhabitants in the USSR at that time, even with all the rigidity of Stalin, he did not cut out such a large part of the population), and I find it hard to believe in 500,000 captured Poles and 20,000 killed in Katyn

kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Oct 20, 2022
The famine was deliberately made worse in Ukraine by Stalin. And currently your government is deliberately knocking out power plants in Ukraine to try and freeze the people there to death since their military has been so roundly defeated. Please turn off Russia Today and watch some real news.

As for the larger estimates of the victims of monsters like Stalin and Mao... these often include not just those people that they directly ordered murdered by the thousands in political purges, etc, but also people who died as a result of their policies which led to famines, wars, ethnic cleansing and population displacements et cetera. 60 million does indeed seem far-fetched. 10-20 probably isn't.

WhatIsLove
+7
Level 59
Sep 13, 2022
Time to add the war in Ukraine lmao. What a disaster
Ponderosa
+1
Level 86
Oct 14, 2022
Maybe a bit too early. We have yet to see if the "world's second most powerful military" loses Moscow, or just Crimea to Ukraine.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Oct 20, 2022
Indeed. Likely the most shameful and embarrassing thing a country has done in my lifetime (since 1979). Completely and totally unnecessary... and all for zero gain, which should have been clear from the outset.
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