The “cruellest month” in Russian history is upon us, and it has left locals fearing for their lives.
A bizarre curse has left the people of President Vladimir Putin's nation scared of the month of August, after several horrific incidents have taken place every year for more than 30 years.
The August curse started in 1991 when three people died in a Soviet coup attempt, which was followed up a year later by 84 people dying in a plane crash in Ivanovo.
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And while 1993 was incident free, 1994 made up for it with 20 deaths and 50 injuries from a train crash, 786 people being left homeless and 29 deaths from a giant flood . . . and the collapse of a huge ponzi scheme impacting thousands of people.
The curse has seen almost every year since then claim the lives of hundreds of people during August, and where a year has been incident free, the following year has been even worse.
For example, 2004 saw 90 people died in an aircraft terror attack, but 2005 was incident free.
However in 2006, 170 were killed when a plane crashed over the Donetsk region.
The last official event was in 2019 with the Nyonoksa radiation accident.
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This saw five deaths, but tons of nuclear radiation leak out at the State Central Navy Testing Range in Arkhangelsk when a failed test of an “isotope power source” engine took place.
It only took 2.5 hours for radiation levels to go back to normal, having peaked at around 16 times what they should have been after the incident.
Many claim the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 was part of the August curse for the country, with the failed war in Ukraine accounting for 2022's events.
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Last year saw several Russian military officials killed, military bases attacked and even Ukraine launching a drone attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.
President Putin has never commented on the curse, and as we continue into August, it remains to be seen what impact it has on the country thus far.
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