Russian Wikipedia

{{Infobox website

|name = {{Wiki favicon}} Russian Wikipedia

|logo = File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-ru.svg

|logocaption =

|screenshot = 280px

|collapsible = yes

|caption = Main Page of the Russian Wikipedia in April 2013.

|url = {{URL|ru.wikipedia.org}}

|commercial = Charitable

|launch_date = {{start date and age|df=yes|2001|5|20}}

|type = Internet encyclopedia project

|language = Russian

|registration = Optional

|content_license = {{nobr|Creative Commons Attribution/
Share-Alike 4.0}} (most text also dual-licensed under GFDL)
Media licensing varies

|owner = Wikimedia Foundation

|author =

}}

The Russian Wikipedia ({{langx|ru|Русская Википедия|Russkaya Vikipediya}}) is the Russian-language edition of Wikipedia. As of {{Currentmonth}} {{Currentyear}}, it has :ru:Special:Statistics. It was started on 11 May 2001.{{Cite web |url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2001-May/000116.html |title=[Wikipedia-l] new language wikis |first=Jason |last=Richey |access-date=29 February 2016 |date=11 May 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106094154/https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2001-May/000116.html |archive-date=6 January 2016 |url-status=live}} In October 2015, it became the sixth-largest Wikipedia by the number of articles. It has the sixth-largest number of edits ({{Format price|{{NUMBEROF|EDITS|ru}}}}). In June 2020, it was the world's sixth most visited language Wikipedia (after the English, the Japanese, the Spanish, the German and the French Wikipedias).[https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/ru.wikipedia.org Monthly overview], Wikimedia Statistics, 11 July 2020. As of November 2024, it is the third most viewed Wikipedia, after the English and Japanese editions.{{Cite web |url=https://analytics.wikimedia.org/dashboards/vital-signs/#projects=eswiki,itwiki,enwiki,jawiki,dewiki,ruwiki,frwiki/metrics=Pageviews |title=Vital Signs: Pageviews |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=Wikimedia}}

It is the largest Wikipedia written in any Slavic language, surpassing the Polish Wikipedia by 20% in terms of the number of articles and fivefold by the parameter of depth.All Wikipedias ordered by number of articles In addition, the Russian Wikipedia is the largest Wikipedia written in CyrillicList of Wikipedias given in decadic logarithm or in a script other than the Latin script. In April 2016, the project had 3,377 active editors who made at least five contributions in that month, ranking third behind the English and Spanish versions. As of 2024, it is the most popular Wikipedia in many post-Soviet states, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and the second most popular in others.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Since the early 2010s, the Russian Wikipedia and its contributing editors have experienced numerous and increasing threats of nationwide blocks and country-wide enforcement of blacklisting by the Russian government, as well as several attempts at Internet censorship, propaganda, and disinformation, more recently during the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian war in the Donbas region{{cite journal |author1-last=Stukal |author1-first=Denis |author2-last=Sanovich |author2-first=Sergey |author3-last=Bonneau |author3-first=Richard |author4-last=Tucker |author4-first=Joshua A. |date=February 2022 |title=Why Botter: How Pro-Government Bots Fight Opposition in Russia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/D8A8A74976408CF7EC329827AFFFD3FC/S0003055421001507a.pdf/div-class-title-why-botter-how-pro-government-bots-fight-opposition-in-russia-div.pdf |journal=American Political Science Review |location=Cambridge and New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association |volume=116 |issue=1 |pages=843–857 |doi=10.1017/S0003055421001507 |doi-access=free |issn=1537-5943 |lccn=08009025 |oclc=805068983 |s2cid=247038589 |access-date=10 March 2022}} and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite magazine |last=Cole |first=Samantha |date=1 March 2022 |title=Russia Threatens to Block Wikipedia for Stating Facts About Its War Casualties, Editors Say |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/russia-threatens-to-block-wikipedia-for-stating-facts-about-its-war-casualties-editors-say/ |url-status=live |magazine=VICE |location=New York City |publisher=VICE Media |issn=1077-6788 |oclc=30856250 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302065323/https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvnpq5/russia-threatens-to-block-wikipedia-for-stating-facts-about-its-war-casualties-editors-say |archive-date=2 March 2022 |access-date=2 March 2022}}

Policies

Difficult issues are resolved through the Arbitration Committee, which handles content disputes, blocks users or prohibits certain users from editing articles on certain topics.{{in lang|ru}} ru:WP:Arbitration Committee

Administrators (currently {{NUMBEROF|ADMINS|ru|N}}) are elected through a vote; a minimum quorum of 30 voters and 66% of support votes are required if the request is to be considered successful. Administrators who have become inactive (i.e. have not used administrative tools, such as "delete" or "block" buttons, at least 25 times in six months) may lose their privileges by an Arbitration Committee decision.{{in lang|ru}} ru:WP:Administrators (rus)

Content

{{As of|2024}}, some of the biggest categories (which contain more than 5,000 articles) in the Russian Wikipedia are:Most linked categories

176,411 biographical articles. Although the Western name order (given name(s) followed by family name) is generally used in Russian, the Russian Wikipedia uses lexical order (last name, comma, given name(s) and also the patronymic for most people from ex-Soviet countries) for all articles on non-fictional persons. This order has been traditionally used in major Russian-language encyclopedias, like the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
144,322 human settlements articles.
28,187 river articles
19,302 film articles
16,925 animal articles
16,517 scientific articles
16,133 surname articles
13,936 footballers' articles
11,247 Musicians' articles
10,755 Writers' articles
9,243 album articles
9,237 articles on recipients of the Order of Lenin
7,307 Company's articles
6,734 plant articles
6,574 street articles
6,265 NGC astronomical articles
6,157 actors articles
5,719 artist articles
5,580 music group articles
5,292 Hero of the Soviet Union articles

10,340 articles contain material from the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. More than 47,000 articles were translated from the English Wikipedia.

=Namespaces=

In addition to common Wikipedia namespaces, the Russian Wikipedia has three custom ones: "Incubator" ({{lang|ru|Инкубатор}}, #102–103) – which is used as a training camp for new users and their first articles, "Project" ({{lang|ru|Проект}}, #104–105) – for Wikipedia projects and "Arbitration" (# 106–107) – for arbitration requests.

= User pages =

On user pages, users are able to see their outreach, the cumulative view count of pages they have edited.

Reception

In a 2015 interview, {{ill|Roman Leibov|ru|Лейбов, Роман Григорьевич|et|Roman Leibov}}, a professor at the University of Tartu, stated that articles on the humanities in the Russian Wikipedia were significantly inferior in quality to those in the English edition, and some of the articles had deteriorated with time. He attributed this to what he characterized as the Russian Wikipedia community's overly strict enforcement of intellectual property regulations, as well as to the inadequate editorial proficiency of some contributors.{{cite news|url=http://gefter.ru/archive/15359|title=Википедия – знакомая и неизвестная|last=Усыскин|first=Лев|date=5 June 2015|publisher=Гефтер|access-date=7 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919155712/http://gefter.ru/archive/15359|archive-date=19 September 2015|url-status=live}}

In 2022, the San Francisco Examiner praised the Russian Wikipedia for "filling the information vacuum" while "independent media abandon Russia or are censored" during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{Cite web |last=Elder |first=Jeff |date=8 March 2022 |title=Russia's Wikipedia volunteers risk their freedom for truth |url=https://www.sfexaminer.com/archives/russia-s-wikipedia-volunteers-risk-their-freedom-for-truth/article_b0c672cb-971f-5cc1-bccc-c703eb0346ce.html |access-date=16 July 2022 |website=San Francisco Examiner |language=en}} For the safety of Wikipedians, all editors' names in the page about the Russian invasion in Ukraine are routinely erased.{{Cite web |date=19 January 2023 |title=Вторжение России на Украину (с 2022): история изменений |url=https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%D0%92%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%83_(%D1%81_2022)&action=history |access-date=25 February 2023 |website=Russian Wikipedia |language=ru |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119092602/https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%D0%92%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%83_(%D1%81_2022)&action=history |url-status=bot: unknown }}

Timeline

File:Article count of Russian Wikipedia.png

File:Ruwklogo1M 3.png

File:Wikipedia-logo-1.5million-v1.1-ru.svg

The main page was created on 7 November 2002.{{cite web|url=http://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1|title=Базовая статья|access-date=25 March 2015}}
On 30 December 2004, the 10,000th article was created.
On 23 December 2005, the 50,000th article was created.
On 16 August 2006, the 100,000th article was created.
On 29 November 2006, the Russian Wikipedia received the National Runet Award in the Educational section.
On 10 March 2007, the 150,000th article was created.
On 4 September 2007, the 200,000th article was created.
On 27 November 2007, the Russian Wikipedia received the National Runet Award in the Educational section.
On 17 March 2008, the 250,000th article was created.
On 18 July 2008, the 300,000th article was created.
On 22 January 2009, the 350,000th article was created.
On 16 June 2009, the 400,000th article was created.
On 25 November 2009, the Russian Wikipedia received the National Runet Award in the Science and Education section.[http://nom.premiaruneta.ru/2009/site/approved/#3 Номинанты Премии Рунета — 2009. Интернет-проекты] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015123321/http://nom.premiaruneta.ru/2009/site/approved/#3 |date=15 October 2009 }} (in Russian)
On 25 February 2010, the 500,000th article was created.
On 8 October 2010, the 600,000th article was created.
On 12 April 2011, the 700,000th article was created.
On 10 December 2011, the 800,000th article was created.
On 8 September 2012, the 900,000th article was created.
On 11 May 2013, the 1,000,000th article was created.{{cite news|url=http://cit.ua/article/27310/|title=Русский раздел Википедии преодолел рубеж в 1 миллион статей|date=11 May 2013|work=cit.ua|publisher=Сервисные интернет технологии|access-date=12 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706105750/http://cit.ua/article/27310/|archive-date=6 July 2014|url-status=live}}
On 27 March 2014, the 1,100,000th article was created.
On 19 March 2015, the 1,200,000th article was created.
On 29 March 2016, the 1,300,000th article was created.
On 14 June 2017, the 1,400,000th article was created.
On 1 October 2018, the 1,500,000th article was created.{{cite web |url=https://roskomsvoboda.org/42084/ |title=Русскоязычный раздел Википедии преодолел рубеж в 1 500 000 статей |website=RosKomSvoboda |language=ru |date=1 October 2018 |access-date=2 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002215240/https://roskomsvoboda.org/42084/ |archive-date=2 October 2018 |url-status=live}}
On 26 February 2020, the 1,600,000th article was created.
On 17 February 2021, the 1,700,000th article was created.
On 4 March 2022, the 1,800,000th article was created.
On 18 September 2024, the 2,000,000th article was created.

History

=Early years=

File:Wiki.500.000.png

The Russian Wikipedia was created on 20 May 2001 in the first wave of non-English Wikipedias, along with editions in Catalan, Chinese, Dutch, German, Esperanto, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish.

File:Wikipedia ru - Page views by country over time.png

The first edit of the Russian Wikipedia was on 24 May 2001, and consisted of the line {{lang|ru|"Россия – великая страна"}} ("Russia is a great nation"). The following edit changed it to the joke: {{lang|ru|"Россия – родина слонов (ушастых, повышенной проходимости – см. мамонт)"}} ("Russia is the motherland of elephants (big-eared, improved cross-country capability, see Mammoth."){{cite news|url=http://www.lenta.ru/news2/2007/09/04/wikipedia/index.htm|script-title=ru:В русской Википедии появилась 200-тысячная статья|date=4 September 2007|publisher=Lenta.ru|language=ru|access-date=16 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208020858/http://lenta.ru/news2/2007/09/04/wikipedia/index.htm|archive-date=8 February 2010}}

For a long time development was slow (especially after some participants left for WikiZnanie), but in the 12-month period between February 2005 and February 2006 it surpassed nine editions in other languages – the Catalan, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Finnish, Norwegian, Chinese, Esperanto, and Danish Wikipedias.

In 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010{{cite web|url=http://www.premiaruneta.ru/laureates/2010/|title=Номинанты и Лауреаты 2010 года|work=Премии Рунета|access-date=25 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827031323/http://www.premiaruneta.ru/laureates/2010/|archive-date=27 August 2011|url-status=live}} the Russian Wikipedia won the "Science and education" category of the "Runet Prize" ({{langx|ru|link=no|Премия Рунета}}) award, supervised by the Russian government agency FAPMC.{{cite news|url=http://lenta.ru/news/2005/08/29/premia/_Printed.htm|script-title=ru:Главная премия российского интернета стала государственной|date=29 August 2005|publisher=Lenta.ru|language=ru|access-date=15 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612011913/http://lenta.ru/news/2005/08/29/premia/_Printed.htm|archive-date=12 June 2011|url-status=live}}

=Troubles with the Russian government=

{{further|Internet censorship in Russia|Mass surveillance in Russia|Russian web brigades}}

File:Ru-wiki-blackout.jpg

On 10 July 2012, Russian Wikipedia closed access to its content for 24 hours in protest against proposed amendments to Russia's Information Act (Bill No. 89417-6) regulating the accessibility of Internet-based information to children. Among other things, the bill stipulates the creation and country-wide enforcement of blacklists, which would block access to forbidden sites. Several aspects of this amendment drew criticism from various civil rights activists and Internet providers.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Supporters of the amendment stated that it is aimed only at widely prohibited content such as child pornography and similar information, but the Russian Wikimedia chapter has declared that conditions for determining the content falling under this law will create a thing like the "great Chinese firewall". They further claimed that existing Russian legal practice demonstrates a high likelihood of a worst-case scenario, resulting in a country-wide ban of Wikipedia.{{cite web|url=https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Забастовка_Википедии_на_русском_языке|title=Забастовка Википедии на русском языке|date=10 July 2012|access-date=10 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711231309/http://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC_%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%B5|archive-date=11 July 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18781869|title=Russian Wikipedia goes dark in protest at censor law|date=10 July 2012|publisher=BBC News|access-date=10 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710191520/http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18781869|archive-date=10 July 2012|url-status=live}} The second and the third readings of the law were held in the State Duma on 11 July; no essential corrections were introduced. The law will come into force after three readings in the State Duma, one reading in the Federation Council and presidential approval.{{cite news|url=http://www.euronews.com/2012/07/10/wikipedia-down-in-protest-in-russia/|title=Wikipedia down in protest in Russia|date=10 July 2012|publisher=Euronews|access-date=10 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712171605/http://www.euronews.com/2012/07/10/wikipedia-down-in-protest-in-russia/|archive-date=12 July 2012|url-status=live}}

On 10 July, Nikolai Nikiforov, Russian Minister for Telecommunications and Mass Media announced in his Twitter account, that the organization of the List of the prohibited websites (that was sited on the Law Project No. 89417-6) will be suspended until 1 November 2012.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/nnikiforov|title=Николай Никифоров|access-date=25 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324100532/https://twitter.com/nnikiforov|archive-date=24 March 2015|url-status=live}} On the same day Yelena Mizulina, a Duma deputy and the head of the subcommittee which sponsored the law, said that the blackout is an attempt to blackmail the Duma and was sponsored by the "pedophile lobby".{{cite web|url=http://slon.ru/russia/elena_mizulina_vikipediya_prikrytie_pedofilskogo_lobbi-809860.xhtml|script-title=ru:Елена Мизулина: Википедия – прикрытие педофильского лобби|last=Доброхотов|first=Роман|author2=Никита Лашук|author3=Маргарита Белодедова|title=Republic.ru |date=10 July 2012|publisher=Slon.ru|language=ru|access-date=12 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712121513/http://slon.ru/russia/elena_mizulina_vikipediya_prikrytie_pedofilskogo_lobbi-809860.xhtml|archive-date=12 July 2012|url-status=live}}

Also, since 2012, Russian foreign agent law resulted in reduced funding available for the Russian Wikipedia and its volunteers, who no longer can receive financial aid from abroad, including their share of funds raised through global Wikipedia fundraisers.{{cite web|url=http://www.calvertjournal.com/opinion/show/2967/wikipedia-russian-government-edits|title=Knowledge is power: Why is the Russian government editing Wikipedia?|access-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142833/http://www.calvertjournal.com/opinion/show/2967/wikipedia-russian-government-edits|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}

On 5 April 2013, it was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media that Wikipedia had been blacklisted over the article "Курение каннабиса" ("Cannabis smoking") on Russian Wikipedia.{{cite news|url=http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130405/180469665.html|title=Russia May Block Wikipedia Access Over Narcotics Article|publisher=RIA Novosti|access-date=8 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410031251/http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130405/180469665.html|archive-date=10 April 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://rbth.ru/news/2013/04/05/russian_media_regulator_confirms_wikipedia_blacklisted_24706.html|title=Russian media regulator confirms Wikipedia blacklisted|publisher=Russia Beyond the Headlines|date=5 April 2013|access-date=8 April 2013|archive-date=7 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007080431/https://www.rbth.com/news/2013/04/05/russian_media_regulator_confirms_wikipedia_blacklisted_24706.html|url-status=dead}} On 31 March 2013, The New York Times reported that Russia was 'Selectively Blocking [the] Internet',{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/technology/russia-begins-selectively-blocking-internet-content.html?_r=0|author=Andrew E. Kramer|title=Russians Selectively Blocking Internet|work=The New York Times|date=31 March 2013|access-date=8 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404004908/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/technology/russia-begins-selectively-blocking-internet-content.html?_r=0|archive-date=4 April 2013|url-status=live}} though Wikipedia itself was not blocked at that time.

Articles on Russian Wikipedia, and also on other Wikipedia versions, concerning the shoot down of flight MH17 and the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian war in the Donbas region have been targeted by Internet propaganda outlets associated with the Putin-led Russian government. Some of the edits were spotted by a Twitter bot which monitors Wikipedia edits made from Russian government IP addresses.{{cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/a-tweetbot-caught-the-russian-govt-editing-flight-mh17-1607483459|title=A Tweetbot Caught the Russian Gov't Editing Flight MH17 Wikipedia Info|first=Robert|last=Sorokanich|date=18 July 2014 |access-date=3 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115045613/http://gizmodo.com/a-tweetbot-caught-the-russian-govt-editing-flight-mh17-1607483459|archive-date=15 November 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Dewey|first=Caitlin|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/21/flight_mh17s_wikipedia_page_edited_from_ip_address_associated_with_putins_office.html|title=Flight MH17's Wikipedia page edited by Russian government; An IP address associated with Vladimir Putin's office has made multiple edits to the Wikipedia page for the MH17 flight page|work=Toronto Star|agency=The Washington Post|date=21 July 2014|access-date=10 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141246/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/21/flight_mh17s_wikipedia_page_edited_from_ip_address_associated_with_putins_office.html|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Zeveleva|first=Olga|url=http://calvertjournal.com/comment/show/2967/wikipedia-russian-government-edits|title=Knowledge is power: why is the Russian government editing Wikipedia?|work=The Calvert Journal|date=6 August 2014|access-date=3 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118071700/http://calvertjournal.com/comment/show/2967/wikipedia-russian-government-edits|archive-date=18 November 2016|url-status=live}}

The entire Russian Wikipedia was blocked in the Russian Federation for a few hours in August 2015 due to the contents of the article on charas.[https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/08/25/world/europe/ap-eu-russia-wikipedia-ban.html Russia Cancels Short-Lived Wikipedia Ban] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828062223/http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/08/25/world/europe/ap-eu-russia-wikipedia-ban.html|date=28 August 2015}}, The Associated Press

In November 2019, Russian president Vladimir Putin called for a government-run alternative to Wikipedia. The Guardian reported state funds had already been allocated according to official documents published the previous September. The new electronic alternative was intended to be based on the Great Russian Encyclopedia.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/05/vladimir-putin-calls-for-reliable-russian-version-of-wikipedia|title=Vladimir Putin Calls for 'Reliable' Russian Version of Wikipedia|work=The Guardian|agency=AFP|date=5 November 2019|access-date=5 November 2019}} According to the London Times, the proposal had been abandoned by mid-May 2020,{{cite news|last=Bennetts|first=Marc|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kremlin-drops-plans-for-state-approved-wikipedia-mvnc0wnkf|title=Kremlin drops plans for state-approved Wikipedia|work=The Times|date=15 May 2020|access-date=15 May 2020}} {{subscription required}} however, according to Great Russian Encyclopedia employee Yekaterina Chukovskaya, only the working group was disbanded and work on the project as a whole will continue.{{cite web |url=https://meduza.io/news/2020/05/13/vlasti-rossii-otkazalis-ot-idei-sozdavat-analog-vikipedii-za-dva-milliarda-rubley |title=Власти России отказались от идеи создавать аналог "Википедии" за два миллиарда рублей |language=ru |publisher=Meduza |date=13 May 2020 |access-date=16 May 2020}}

In December 2023, the Russian Wikimedia chapter voted unanimously to dissolve itself after its director had been warned by authorities that he would be designated a "foreign agent". He also stated that he was forced to resign from the university where he worked.{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=The Moscow |title=Wikimedia Russia Shuts Down Amid 'Foreign Agent' Threats |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/12/19/wikimedia-russia-shuts-down-amid-foreign-agent-threats-a83487 |access-date=20 December 2023 |work=The Moscow Times |date=19 December 2023 |language=en}}

== 2022 fork ==

In June 2022, Runiversalis, a pro-government partial fork of the Russian Wikipedia, was launched. The site launched with only 9000 articles, a tiny subset of the 1.85 million articles on the Russian Wikipedia, with many articles being taken unmodified from the Russian Wikipedia.{{Cite web |title=Runiversalis, un Wikipédia russe, approuvé par l'État |url=https://actualitte.com/article/107530/international/runiversalis-un-wikipedia-russe-approuve-par-l-etat |access-date=25 August 2022 |website=ActuaLitté.com |language=fr-FR|first=Barbara |last=Fasseur}}

==Censorship and disinformation during the Russo-Ukrainian War==

In February and March 2022, in the first week following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and breakout of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russian Wikipedia editors warned their readers and fellow editors of several, reiterated attempts by the Putin-led Russian government of political censorship, Internet propaganda, disinformation attacks, and disruptive editing towards an article listing of Russian military casualties as well as Ukrainian civilians and children due to the ongoing war. The Wikipedia was generally considered under threat in Russia.{{cite news |last1=Elder |first1=Jeff |title=Russia's Wikipedia volunteers risk their freedom for truth |url=https://www.sfexaminer.com/fixes/how-wikipedia-volunteers-in-russia-are-beating-disinformation/ |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=8 March 2022}}

On 1 March 2022, Roskomnadzor, the Russian agency for monitoring and censoring mass media, wrote to the Wikimedia Foundation requesting for removal of the article "{{lang|ru|Вторжение России на Украину (с 2022)|italic=no}}" ("2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine").{{Cite news |date=1 March 2022 |title=Moscow threatens to block Russian-language Wikipedia over invasion article |work=National Post |url=https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/moscow-threatens-to-block-russian-language-wikipedia-over-invasion-article |url-status=live |access-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220301/https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/moscow-threatens-to-block-russian-language-wikipedia-over-invasion-article |archive-date=1 March 2022}}

On 11 March 2022, Belarusian political police GUBOPiK arrested and detained Mark Bernstein from Minsk, an editor of the Russian Wikipedia, who was contributing to the Wikipedia article about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. GUBOPiK accused him of the "spread of anti-Russian materials" and of violating Russian "fake news" laws.{{cite web |author= |url=https://news.zerkalo.io/life/11113.html |title=В Беларуси задержали Марка Бернштейна — активиста и популяризатора интернет-энциклопедии Wikipedia.org |language=ru |website=Zerkalo.io |date=11 March 2022 |access-date=11 March 2022}}{{cite web |author= |url=https://reform.by/302401-wiki-aktivist-mark-bernshtejn-zaderzhan-za-antirossijskie-materialy |title=Wiki-активист Марк Бернштейн задержан за "антироссийские материалы" |language=ru |website=reform.by |date=11 March 2022 |access-date=11 March 2022}}{{cite web | url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/mark-bernstein-russian-wikipedia-pages-detained-in-belarus-104102452.html | title=Prominent editor of Russian Wikipedia pages detained in Belarus | date=12 March 2022 }}

On 1 November 2022, a Russian court levied a fine 2 million rubles on the Wikimedia Foundation, for declining to delete two articles on Russian Wikipedia.{{cite news |date=1 November 2022 |title=Russia fines Wikimedia Foundation over Ukraine war entries |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-fines-wikimedia-foundation-over-ukraine-war-entries-2022-11-01/ |work=Reuters |access-date=1 November 2022}} On 28 February 2023, the Wikimedia Foundation was fined another 2 million rubles after accusations of refusal to delete what the court called "misinformation".{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/russian-court-fines-wikipedia-over-military-misinformation-2023-02-28/ |title=Russian court fines Wikipedia over military 'misinformation' |website=Reuters |date=1 March 2023 |access-date=7 March 2023}} On 14 April 2023, a similar fine of 2 million rubles was imposed over an article on the Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.{{Cite web |last=Bajak |first=Frank |date=14 April 2023 |title=Russian court fines Wikipedia for article about Ukraine war |url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-wikipedia-censorship-fine-war-ukraine-51b4e08b96cceaedb455ea3f9564208c |access-date=14 April 2023 |website=Associated Press}}

Calls to block access to Wikipedia have been made by various Russian political actors since the beginning of the invasion. In particular, Valery Fadeyev and Igor Ashmanov, members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, called on 4 April 2023 to block the access because of "systemic bias".{{cite news |title="Это идеологический, политизированный продукт". Глава СПЧ призвал заблокировать "Википедию" в России |url=https://t.me/tvrain/64481 |work=TV Rain |date=4 April 2023 |language=ru}}

==2023 fork==

On 24 May 2023, long-time Wikimedia RU director Vladimir V. Medeyko announced "Рувики" ("Ruviki"), a fork of Russian Wikipedia.{{cite web|title=Запуск проекта Рувики|trans-title=Ruviki project launches |website=Habr|date= 24 May 2023|url=https://habr.com/ru/companies/ruwiki/articles/737260/}}

Impact of policies on content

In 2021, historian Maksym Potapenko and Doctor of Political Science Mateusz Kamionka conducted a study on editing the texts of articles about Crimea since its annexation by Russia. The researchers noted the difference in terminology between the Wikipedia articles in Russian, where in 2021 the military operation of the Russian Federation in Crimea in early 2014 was called "the annexation of Crimea to Russia", and in Ukrainian, where the events were described as "annexation". In articles on the history of Crimea in Ukrainian, it is described as an ethno-historical region of Europe, Russian-language articles describe it as the imperial and Soviet heritage of Russia.

According to the researchers, this is due to the difference in the political media narrative of both countries, as the Wikipedia editions preferred sources in their own language, as well as the difference in Ukrainian and Russian historiography, which has been growing since 2014. The researchers note that the content of the articles in the Ukrainian and Russian versions is significantly influenced by the current political situation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "The use of history as a means to substantiate and legitimize territorial claims" is increasing, and the use of history as a tool in Wikipedia undermines the principle of neutrality, one of Wikipedia's basic principles. As researchers noted in 2021. After 2014, articles on the history of Crimea in Ukrainian Wikipedia became more independent and original in terms of sources, while articles in Russian, due to a greater number of views, had a greater impact on the audience.{{Citation |last1=Potapenko |first1=Maxim |title=Wiki-History of Crimea: Ukrainian and Russian Versions |date=2023-01-30 |pages=91–104 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111000596-006/html?lang=en |access-date=2024-05-28 |publisher=De Gruyter Oldenbourg |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783111000596-006 |isbn=978-3-11-100059-6 |last2=Kamionka |first2=Mateusz|url-access=subscription }}

References

External links

{{wikinews|has=articles relating to the Russian language Wikipedia

| Russian Wikipedia "a top internet community"| Russian Wikipedia reaches a quarter million articles| Russian Wikipedia reaches half a million articles| 'Imagine a world without free knowledge', in Russia}}

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{{in lang|ru}} [http://ru.m.wikipedia.org Russian Wikipedia mobile version]
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[https://www.studentlibrary.ru/book/ISBN9785970605882.html Wikipedia explains everything YouTube shows everything ]

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