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.

$593,361 Recreational Boats

We're not oligarchs, and these aren't yachts. But Americans still enjoy important recreational boats from Russia.

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

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

Latest Videos

Trump's Russian diesel deal and what it means for Ukraineplay icon
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

Why the 2026 UN Water Conference is focused on action, not talk
GZERO Reports

Why the 2026 UN Water Conference is focused on action, not talk

Xi wishes Putin a Happy Birthday
Puppet Regime

Xi wishes Putin a Happy Birthday

More For You

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, [...]

The IMF has survived Trump’s hostility toward global institutions. But at what price?

MF Communications Officer Jose Luis De Haro, Director of the Research Department at the IMF Silvana Tenreyro, Deputy Director of the Research Department at the IMF Petya Koeva-Brooks and Division Chief at the Research Department of the IMF Deniz Igan attend a press briefing during the IMF/World Bank 2026 Annual Meetings at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC)

IMF Communications Officer Jose Luis De Haro, Director of the Research Department at the IMF Silvana Tenreyro, Deputy Director of the Research Department at the IMF Petya Koeva-Brooks and Division Chief at the Research Department of the IMF Deniz Igan attend a press briefing during the IMF/World Bank 2026 Annual Meetings at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok, Thailand, October 13, 2026.

REUTERS/Patipat Janthong
The people tasked with safeguarding the world’s financial stability are gathering in Bangkok, Thailand, this week. Central bankers, finance and development ministers, private sector leaders, civil society representatives, and academics from nearly 200 countries are attending the IMF-World Bank’s annual meetings to discuss soaring public debt, the [...]

EU puts the brakes on Chinese EVs

EU puts the brakes on Chinese EVs
Will Fitzpatrick
The EU has new plans to limit the flow of Chinese-made goods into the continent to address its massive trade imbalance with China. China exported more than $7.5 billion worth of electric vehicles to the bloc in the first half of this year, nearly three times as much as during the same period last year. An estimated 800,000 Chinese-made fully [...]