Tag Archives: Russia

Cycling – men’s 1 hour unpaced standing start

Ondrej Sosenka (Czech Republic) covered 49.700 km in one hour in Moscow, Russia, on 19 July 2005, beating the long-standing distance of 49.441 km achieved by Chris Boardman (GB) in Manchester, UK, on 27 October 2000. Sosenka holds the official UCI one-hour record with this time, however Boardman still holds the official UCI one-hour cycling “best performance” track record, with a distance of 56.376 km set on 6 September 1996.

Deadliest heat wave

In 2010, the climate in the northern hemisphere summer was dominated by a series of freak heat waves that proved the most devastating in Russia, where up to 56,000 people died as a result of overheating, droughts, forest fires and smog. Among the victims were thousands of people who drowned during the summer as those with heatstroke – and drunk swimmers – took to pools and rivers to cool down. Russia experienced its highest ever temperatures on 11 July 2010, when the mercury reached 44.0°C Continue reading →

Deepest lake

Lake Baikal in the southern part of eastern Siberia, Russia is the deepest lake in the world. It is 620 km (385 miles) long and 32-74 km (20-46 miles) wide. In 1974 the lake’s Olkhon Crevice was measured by the Hydrographic Service of the Soviet Pacific Navy and found to be 1,637 m (5,371 ft) deep, of which 1,181 m (3,875 ft) is below sea level.

Deepest nuclear explosion underground

A 2.5 kiloton nuclear device was detonated at the bottom of a shaft 2,850 m (9,350 ft) deep at a location 60 km (37 miles) south of Nefte-yugamsk, Siberia, Russia, on 18 June 1985. The detonation was carried out in an attempt to stimulate oil production. For a comparison, the Hiroshima bomb had a yield of around 15 kilotons. The Russians carried out 116 nuclear explosions between 1965 and 1988 in a program known as No. 7 – Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy. Known Continue reading →

Fastest combat jet

The fastest combat jet is the Russian Mikoyan MiG-25 fighter (NATO code name `Foxbat’). The reconnaissance `Foxbat-B’ has been tracked by radar at about Mach 3.2 (3,395 km/h 2,110 mph).  The single-seat `Foxbat-A’ has a wing span of 13.95 m 45 ft 9 in, is 23.82 m 78 ft 2 in long and has an estimated maximum take-off weight of 37.4 tonnes 82,500 lb.

Fastest ice hockey shot

The hardest recorded ice hockey shot in any competition was a 110.3 mph (177.5 km/h) slapshot by Denis Kulyash (Russia) of Avangard Omsk in the Continental Hockey League’s (Russia) All-Star skills competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 5 February 2011. Kulyash surpassed the previous mark of 105.4 miles per hour (169.7 km/h) by Zdeno Chara (Czech Republic) of the Boston Bruins (USA) set during the National Hockey League’s All-Star skills competition in Montreal (Canada) on 25 January 2009.

Fastest military submarine

The Russian Alpha class nuclear-powered submarines had a reported maximum speed of over 40 knots (74 km/h or 46 mph) and, were believed capable of diving to 760 m (2,500 ft). It is believed that only one now remains in service, as a trials boat.