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Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire
A late 20th century Russian timeline created by Pellegrino Shots. Read it here.
Premise and PoD
The timeline features the real world eccentric nationalist politician, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, becoming President of Russia after a cascade of events in the early 1990s, including Yeltsin's assassination during the 1991 coup attempt. Zhirinovsky remains in power until he is overthrown by a popular revolution in 2003. The Soviet Union (minus the Baltic republics) are not dissolved, but are turned into a fascist-esque federation known as the Union of Independent States. It launches or gets involved in a series of wars in the dissolving Yugoslavia, Romania, Estonia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, besides doing its best to discourage its member republics from breaking away.
Awards
It won the “Best New Cold War Timeline“ category at the 2013 Turtledove Awards.