Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

News

Weird stuff the US buys from Russia

Weird stuff the US buys from Russia
By Carlos Santamaria,
Carlos Santamaria

Carlos Santamaria is a former senior writer at GZERO.

See Full Bio
Alex Kliment,
Alex Kliment
Alex wears a few different caps and tips them all regularly. He writes for the GZERO Daily, works as a field correspondent for GZERO's nationally syndicated TV show GZERO WORLD WITH IAN BREMMER, and writes/directs/voices GZERO's award-winning puppet satire show PUPPET REGIME. Prior to joining GZERO, Alex worked as an analyst covering Russia and broader Emerging Markets for Eurasia Group. He has also written for the Financial Times from Washington, DC, and Sao Paulo Brazil. In his spare time, he makes short films and composes scores for long ones. He studied history and Slavic literature at Columbia and has a Master's from Johns Hopkins SAIS. He's a native New Yorker, a long-suffering Mets fan, and owns too many bicycles.
See Full Bio
Annie Gugliotta,
Annie Gugliotta
Annie Gugliotta was formerly a former graphic designer for GZERO Media and Eurasia Group. See more of Annie's work at https://www.annegugliotta.com/.
See Full Bio
Paige Parsacala
Paige Parsacala
Paige Fusco is a graphic designer creating visualizations - data-driven and otherwise - for Eurasia Group and GZERO Media.
See Full Bio
April 13, 2022
Make us preferred on Google

Bad news for anyone in America smoking a pipe on a recreational boat while playing a percussion instrument in a wig: the war in Ukraine could make your life a lot less colorful if Washington decides to sanction more US imports from Russia. All of those items are among the things the US buys from Russia, with love, every year.

So in the meantime, take a picture of them and print it on photo paper, then scrub your hands in a plastic washbasin, get a snack from the nearest vending machine, and settle in with a good children's picture book to read. When you are finished, take a moment to reflect on why, with Russia's help, you are such an unbelievably weird person.

Check out some of the weird and wild products America imports from Russia each year below.

$531, 312 Smoking Pipes

Russian pipes still draw fans in America. Or at least they did until February 2022.

Value of US imports in 2020. Source: Observatory of Economic Complexity

europerussia sanctionsukraine warrussiaus-russia traderussia-ukraineproducts us imports from russia

Latest Videos

Russia-Ukraine ceasefire postedplay icon
Puppet Regime

Russia-Ukraine ceasefire posted

Could Trump’s foreign policy sink the GOP?
The Debrief

Could Trump’s foreign policy sink the GOP?

Trump's Russian diesel deal and what it means for Ukraine
Quick Take

Trump's Russian diesel deal and what it means for Ukraine

How Hamas has held onto power in Gaza
GZERO World Clips

How Hamas has held onto power in Gaza

Three years on, Gaza remains in limbo
GZERO World Clips

Three years on, Gaza remains in limbo

How October 7 changed the Middle East, three years on
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

How October 7 changed the Middle East, three years on

More For You

Coke trade booms despite crackdowns

Coke trade booms despite crackdowns
Will Fitzpatrick
Over the past year, the Trump administration has unleashed a massive military campaign against suspected drug traffickers in South America and the Caribbean, including dozens of lethal airstrikes on alleged smuggling vessels. Despite these tactics, which human rights lawyers and activists have questioned, “massive” amounts of cocaine continue to [...]

Nord Stream sabotage trial begins in Germany, Mauritius sees rare unrest, Poland considers bringing back the draft

Serhii Kusnetzow, a former Ukrainian army officer charged by German federal prosecutors with being a co-perpetrator of a war crime over the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts, attends his trial in Hamburg, Germany.

Serhii Kusnetzow, a former Ukrainian army officer charged by German federal prosecutors with being a co-perpetrator of a war crime over the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts, attends his trial in Hamburg, Germany, October 14, 2026.

Markus Scholz/Pool via REUTERS REFILE
Nord Stream sabotage trial begins in GermanyA Ukrainian former special forces officer is accused of war crimes for leading the September 2022 sabotage of the massive undersea pipeline, which once carried Russian gas to Germany. The officer’s lawyers say Nord Stream was a legitimate military target following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and [...]

The GOP’s Musky scent

The GOP’s Musky scent
Musk’s cash splash – which makes him the largest known midterm donor – is meant to help Republicans head off a so-called “Blue Wave” of Democrat support that could cost the GOP not only the House, but possibly the Senate as well. It signals that Musk intends to remain a fixture of Republican politics, despite his rocky exit from the Trump [...]

Cyberattacks target freezers in France, Iran strikes vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Former DRC president teams up with M23 rebels

Boxes of perished goods are seen outside an Intermarche supermarket in Paris the day after a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at French supermarket chains, causing food losses and fires at several stores, France, October 13, 2026.

Boxes of perished goods are seen outside an Intermarche supermarket in Paris the day after a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at French supermarket chains, causing food losses and fires at several stores, France, October 13, 2026.

REUTERS/Lucien Libert
Supermarket cyberattacks turn the heat up in France Hackers set their sights on an unusual target in France this week: supermarkets. On Monday, attackers used remote software to raise the temperature on fridges and freezers to around 122 degrees Fahrenheit, spoiling food and sparking fires. While the full scale of the attack remains unconfirmed, [...]