Here's something I cooked up in an hour:
Presidents of the Russian Federation
2012 – 2024: Vladimir Putin (United Russia)
2024 – 2030: Valentina Matviyenko (United Russia)
2030 – 2035: Vladimir Putin (United Russia)
2035 – 2036: Dmitry Medvedev (United Russia) – Acting
2036 – 2039: Sergey Shoygu (United Russia)
2039 – 2040: Maxim Oreshkin (United Russia) – Acting
2040 – Present: Arkadiy Abramovich (Independent)
And here's a general summary of events:
- Vladimir Putin wins the 2018 presidential election (amidst the usual accusations of electoral fraud and slanted coverage of the election by the Russian media), securing himself a second consecutive and fourth overall term as Russian President.
- During Putin’s fourth term in office, his Government continues its programme of reducing Russian dependency on exporting oil, while, in foreign affairs, relations between NATO and Russia are unable to thaw. When the 2024 presidential election arrives, Putin is unable to run for a further term (the Russian Constitution including provisions barring anyone from serving as President for more than two consecutive terms) and so (much like during Dmitry Medvedev’s Presidency) instead resolves to be the ‘Power behind the Throne’, with Valentina Matviyenko being United Russia’s nominee for President.
- Matviyenko is successfully elected President (electoral irregularities once again raised), while Medvedev (who is still Prime Minister) appoints Putin as Foreign Minister in his Cabinet, thereby ensuring that the former President can continue to oversee the Russian Government from a senior position.
- When Matviyenko’s term in office comes to a conclusion, she announces that she will not run for re-election as President – shortly afterwards, Putin announces that he will seek election as United Russia’s candidate. Putin successfully wins the 2030 presidential election and returns to the Kremlin for his fifth non-consecutive term.
- During Putin’s fifth term, a further blow to NATO-Russia relations comes with a sudden turn of events in Belarus, with long-time President Alexander Lukashenko’s sudden death in 2032. Lukashenko’s son (whom he has been grooming for office for decades), Nikolai Lukashenko, ascends to the Presidency following his father’s death, yet lacks the late President’s authority and so protests on the streets of Minsk take place, with demands for free and fair elections occurring. Eventually, Lukashenko is deposed as President and a Provisional Government is formed in Belarus, scheduling new elections for 2033 – in response, Putin (fearing that Belarus, the last pro-Russian state in Europe, could join the Western bloc) authorises a Russian military intervention into Belarus to ‘restore order’. The intervention is successful, Russian forces capture Minsk and the Provisional Government is overthrown, with Nikolai Lukashenko being restored – yet the invasion prompts international outrage, and the NATO countries authorise further economic sanctions on Russia which drives the Russian economy into further decline.
- As the 2036 presidential election approaches, Putin is expected by many to run for re-election and, during his sixth term in office, start to groom a successor to ascend to the Presidency after him. However, no such events take place – in December 2035, Putin passes away in his dacha in Krasnodar Krai at the age of eighty-three. This sends the Russian political establishment into shock, as Putin had not yet designated a successor for the Government and oligarchs to rally around – therefore, as per the Russian Constitution, Medvedev as Prime Minister is sworn in as Acting President until the presidential election, which he announces he will not contest.
- Sergey Shoygu is selected as United Russia’s nominee for President – as the Party still has the oligarch and media backing established by Putin, he is easily elected as President. However, when Shoygu starts his term in office, it is clear he lacks the public support previously held by Putin, while many oligarchs also gradually move away from Shoygu. Eventually, Shoygu, who becomes increasingly paranoid with age, fears that an oligarch-backed coup is imminent and so begins plans with the military (whom he has the backing of thanks to his tenure as Defence Minister) to arrest senior oligarchs and confiscate their property. However, several army officers with connections to the oligarchs give leeway to their friends and colleagues, who take drastic action – using influence and bribery, a cabal of oligarchs are able to have the State Duma impeach Shoygu on grounds of corruption.
- With Shoygu gone, Prime Minister Maxim Oreshkin is installed as Acting President, yet Oreshkin is deeply uncomfortable in his new position, not least because of the fact that he is beholden to the oligarchs for having been installed as President. Therefore, Oreshkin resolves to introduce major reforms to the Russian economy, intended to break up the oligarchs’ monopolies and establish a competitive free-market economy in Russia – such a prospect terrifies the oligarchs, who begin to conspire to remove Oreshkin in similar circumstances to Shoygu. Their opportunity comes when Oreshkin has to put on hold his economic reforms to face a foreign policy crisis – China, which has been growing increasingly distant from Russia over previous years as the latter has grown weaker in terms of power projection, provokes an incident on the Sino-Russian border in order to seize territory in the Russian Far East. A brief conflict occurs between China and Russia during early to mid-2040, which sees Russian forces pushed back and Vladivostok seized by Chinese troops. Eventually, Oreshkin’s Government is forced to agree to a cease-fire and a subsequent peace treaty with the Chinese Government which sees Russia cede the Sakhalin Peninsula, Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and the Amur Oblast to China.
- The Sino-Russian War is seen as a humiliating defeat across Russia and it turns the military against Oreshkin as a result. Eventually, in late 2040, a coup is finally launched against Oreshkin, resulting in the President being overthrown and multiple senior members of United Russia being arrested. Arkadiy Abramovich is installed as President, yet in reality is a frontman for a Politburo-style cabal of oligarchs, army officers and members of the deposed Government who switched to support the coup.
- Abramovich is re-elected as President in 2042, in a contest which is seen as the most fraudulent in the history of the Russian Federation, as Abramovich secures 94% of all votes cast. Meanwhile, when elections for the Duma took place a year prior, United Russia (having previously held a two-thirds majority) was completely wiped out, losing all of its seats, while pro-Government Independents subsequently dominate the legislature. Subsequent constitutional amendments are passed by the Duma which see elections for the office of President abolished, with Presidents instead serving life-terms and their successors being chosen by the Duma.
- During Abramovich’s tenure as President, the governing cabal organises a large-scale military build-up and modernisation of the Russian Army, with the intention of re-establishing control over the Far East territory lost to China in 2040. Eventually, conflict between Russia and China re-ignites in 2056, with Russia being the one to provoke a border incident. Initially, Chinese forces are able to advance into Siberia, yet a Russian counter-attack sees the invading force pushed back into Chinese territory. The conflict grinds to a halt outside of Vladivostok in late 2057, yet Russian forces are able to once again move forward in the new year, as revolts against Chinese rule in Tibet and Xinjiang (supported and financed by the Russian Government) forces China to allocate many of its soldiers elsewhere. By May 2058, Vladivostok is in Russian hands, amidst much celebration in Moscow, and, shortly afterwards, the Russian Government offers China peace terms whereby territory conquered by China in the First Sino-Russian War is returned to Russia. The Chinese Government rejects these terms, and so the Russian army resolves to launch an offensive into Manchuria.
- The Manchurian Offensive proves to be a bloody affair for both sides – Chinese troops fight tooth and nail to prevent Russian troops advancing, while Russian forces are determined to move forward. Eventually, by the end of 2059, Russian soldiers enter Harbin, the first major city in Manchuria to be secured in the offensive – yet conventional warfare comes to a close shortly after the capture of the city, as the Chinese Government, facing protests at China’s poor performance in the war, takes drastic action and drops an atomic bomb on Russian supply lines, so as to delay the Russian advance and allow the Chinese to re-take ground. Yet Russia responds by dropping an atomic bomb of its own on a Chinese military base and, from this point onwards, nuclear warfare between the two countries escalates, until China drops an atomic bomb on Vladivostok and Russia responds by dropping a bomb on Changchun. Several further Russian and Chinese cities are nuked, culminating with the Chinese President planning to launch an ICBM at Moscow – yet calmer heads prevail, and the President is removed in a coup before China asks for an armistice with Russia. The Treaty of Geneva, signed in May 2060, subsequently ends the Second Sino-Russian War, with Russia re-annexing all land lost in the first war as well as Manchuria, while Tibet (encompassing all of Greater Tibet) and Xinjiang are granted independence.
- Russia has emerged triumphant from the war, yet is militarily and financially exhausted, with many cities in the country's Far East now being irradiated. With the Government appearing weak, riots and protests take place across the country, demanding free and fair elections and democracy for Russia. However, the protestors also have another demand – as Abramovich looks out of the Kremlin onto Red Square (where protests are taking place), he sees many protestors waving the Imperial Standard of the Russian Empire with chants of ‘Bring back the Tsar!’. Interesting times certainly await the Russian Federation.
Presidents of the Russian Federation
2012 – 2024: Vladimir Putin (United Russia)
2024 – 2030: Valentina Matviyenko (United Russia)
2030 – 2035: Vladimir Putin (United Russia)
2035 – 2036: Dmitry Medvedev (United Russia) – Acting
2036 – 2039: Sergey Shoygu (United Russia)
2039 – 2040: Maxim Oreshkin (United Russia) – Acting
2040 – Present: Arkadiy Abramovich (Independent)
And here's a general summary of events:
- Vladimir Putin wins the 2018 presidential election (amidst the usual accusations of electoral fraud and slanted coverage of the election by the Russian media), securing himself a second consecutive and fourth overall term as Russian President.
- During Putin’s fourth term in office, his Government continues its programme of reducing Russian dependency on exporting oil, while, in foreign affairs, relations between NATO and Russia are unable to thaw. When the 2024 presidential election arrives, Putin is unable to run for a further term (the Russian Constitution including provisions barring anyone from serving as President for more than two consecutive terms) and so (much like during Dmitry Medvedev’s Presidency) instead resolves to be the ‘Power behind the Throne’, with Valentina Matviyenko being United Russia’s nominee for President.
- Matviyenko is successfully elected President (electoral irregularities once again raised), while Medvedev (who is still Prime Minister) appoints Putin as Foreign Minister in his Cabinet, thereby ensuring that the former President can continue to oversee the Russian Government from a senior position.
- When Matviyenko’s term in office comes to a conclusion, she announces that she will not run for re-election as President – shortly afterwards, Putin announces that he will seek election as United Russia’s candidate. Putin successfully wins the 2030 presidential election and returns to the Kremlin for his fifth non-consecutive term.
- During Putin’s fifth term, a further blow to NATO-Russia relations comes with a sudden turn of events in Belarus, with long-time President Alexander Lukashenko’s sudden death in 2032. Lukashenko’s son (whom he has been grooming for office for decades), Nikolai Lukashenko, ascends to the Presidency following his father’s death, yet lacks the late President’s authority and so protests on the streets of Minsk take place, with demands for free and fair elections occurring. Eventually, Lukashenko is deposed as President and a Provisional Government is formed in Belarus, scheduling new elections for 2033 – in response, Putin (fearing that Belarus, the last pro-Russian state in Europe, could join the Western bloc) authorises a Russian military intervention into Belarus to ‘restore order’. The intervention is successful, Russian forces capture Minsk and the Provisional Government is overthrown, with Nikolai Lukashenko being restored – yet the invasion prompts international outrage, and the NATO countries authorise further economic sanctions on Russia which drives the Russian economy into further decline.
- As the 2036 presidential election approaches, Putin is expected by many to run for re-election and, during his sixth term in office, start to groom a successor to ascend to the Presidency after him. However, no such events take place – in December 2035, Putin passes away in his dacha in Krasnodar Krai at the age of eighty-three. This sends the Russian political establishment into shock, as Putin had not yet designated a successor for the Government and oligarchs to rally around – therefore, as per the Russian Constitution, Medvedev as Prime Minister is sworn in as Acting President until the presidential election, which he announces he will not contest.
- Sergey Shoygu is selected as United Russia’s nominee for President – as the Party still has the oligarch and media backing established by Putin, he is easily elected as President. However, when Shoygu starts his term in office, it is clear he lacks the public support previously held by Putin, while many oligarchs also gradually move away from Shoygu. Eventually, Shoygu, who becomes increasingly paranoid with age, fears that an oligarch-backed coup is imminent and so begins plans with the military (whom he has the backing of thanks to his tenure as Defence Minister) to arrest senior oligarchs and confiscate their property. However, several army officers with connections to the oligarchs give leeway to their friends and colleagues, who take drastic action – using influence and bribery, a cabal of oligarchs are able to have the State Duma impeach Shoygu on grounds of corruption.
- With Shoygu gone, Prime Minister Maxim Oreshkin is installed as Acting President, yet Oreshkin is deeply uncomfortable in his new position, not least because of the fact that he is beholden to the oligarchs for having been installed as President. Therefore, Oreshkin resolves to introduce major reforms to the Russian economy, intended to break up the oligarchs’ monopolies and establish a competitive free-market economy in Russia – such a prospect terrifies the oligarchs, who begin to conspire to remove Oreshkin in similar circumstances to Shoygu. Their opportunity comes when Oreshkin has to put on hold his economic reforms to face a foreign policy crisis – China, which has been growing increasingly distant from Russia over previous years as the latter has grown weaker in terms of power projection, provokes an incident on the Sino-Russian border in order to seize territory in the Russian Far East. A brief conflict occurs between China and Russia during early to mid-2040, which sees Russian forces pushed back and Vladivostok seized by Chinese troops. Eventually, Oreshkin’s Government is forced to agree to a cease-fire and a subsequent peace treaty with the Chinese Government which sees Russia cede the Sakhalin Peninsula, Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and the Amur Oblast to China.
- The Sino-Russian War is seen as a humiliating defeat across Russia and it turns the military against Oreshkin as a result. Eventually, in late 2040, a coup is finally launched against Oreshkin, resulting in the President being overthrown and multiple senior members of United Russia being arrested. Arkadiy Abramovich is installed as President, yet in reality is a frontman for a Politburo-style cabal of oligarchs, army officers and members of the deposed Government who switched to support the coup.
- Abramovich is re-elected as President in 2042, in a contest which is seen as the most fraudulent in the history of the Russian Federation, as Abramovich secures 94% of all votes cast. Meanwhile, when elections for the Duma took place a year prior, United Russia (having previously held a two-thirds majority) was completely wiped out, losing all of its seats, while pro-Government Independents subsequently dominate the legislature. Subsequent constitutional amendments are passed by the Duma which see elections for the office of President abolished, with Presidents instead serving life-terms and their successors being chosen by the Duma.
- During Abramovich’s tenure as President, the governing cabal organises a large-scale military build-up and modernisation of the Russian Army, with the intention of re-establishing control over the Far East territory lost to China in 2040. Eventually, conflict between Russia and China re-ignites in 2056, with Russia being the one to provoke a border incident. Initially, Chinese forces are able to advance into Siberia, yet a Russian counter-attack sees the invading force pushed back into Chinese territory. The conflict grinds to a halt outside of Vladivostok in late 2057, yet Russian forces are able to once again move forward in the new year, as revolts against Chinese rule in Tibet and Xinjiang (supported and financed by the Russian Government) forces China to allocate many of its soldiers elsewhere. By May 2058, Vladivostok is in Russian hands, amidst much celebration in Moscow, and, shortly afterwards, the Russian Government offers China peace terms whereby territory conquered by China in the First Sino-Russian War is returned to Russia. The Chinese Government rejects these terms, and so the Russian army resolves to launch an offensive into Manchuria.
- The Manchurian Offensive proves to be a bloody affair for both sides – Chinese troops fight tooth and nail to prevent Russian troops advancing, while Russian forces are determined to move forward. Eventually, by the end of 2059, Russian soldiers enter Harbin, the first major city in Manchuria to be secured in the offensive – yet conventional warfare comes to a close shortly after the capture of the city, as the Chinese Government, facing protests at China’s poor performance in the war, takes drastic action and drops an atomic bomb on Russian supply lines, so as to delay the Russian advance and allow the Chinese to re-take ground. Yet Russia responds by dropping an atomic bomb of its own on a Chinese military base and, from this point onwards, nuclear warfare between the two countries escalates, until China drops an atomic bomb on Vladivostok and Russia responds by dropping a bomb on Changchun. Several further Russian and Chinese cities are nuked, culminating with the Chinese President planning to launch an ICBM at Moscow – yet calmer heads prevail, and the President is removed in a coup before China asks for an armistice with Russia. The Treaty of Geneva, signed in May 2060, subsequently ends the Second Sino-Russian War, with Russia re-annexing all land lost in the first war as well as Manchuria, while Tibet (encompassing all of Greater Tibet) and Xinjiang are granted independence.
- Russia has emerged triumphant from the war, yet is militarily and financially exhausted, with many cities in the country's Far East now being irradiated. With the Government appearing weak, riots and protests take place across the country, demanding free and fair elections and democracy for Russia. However, the protestors also have another demand – as Abramovich looks out of the Kremlin onto Red Square (where protests are taking place), he sees many protestors waving the Imperial Standard of the Russian Empire with chants of ‘Bring back the Tsar!’. Interesting times certainly await the Russian Federation.
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