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
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.

$5,390 Plastic Wash Basins

It's not exactly a bucket-list item, yet Americans import thousands of these plastic basins from Russia each year.

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

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

Latest Videos

How Hamas has held onto power in Gazaplay icon
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

Three Years After October 7: An unlikely Israeli-Palestinian Friendship
GZERO Reports

Three Years After October 7: An unlikely Israeli-Palestinian Friendship

More For You

Italian winery sees red

Italian winery sees red
At least seven masked men deactivated alarms and cameras at the Antinori winery before using the company’s forklifts to fill two trucks with crates of the winery’s reds. The thieves deliberately targeted higher-end bottles worth between €150 and €500 each, leading Antinori to suggest that they may have had insider knowledge of the winery. Antinori [...]

Tensions boil between Ethiopia and Eritrea, UK’s Labour Party notches win, Lula’s chances slim in Brazil

Tensions boil between Ethiopia and Eritrea, UK’s Labour Party notches win, Lula’s chances slim in Brazil

Members of the Ethiopian Federal Police (EFP) patrol after Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) army retreated from the regional capital near the Tigray Martyrs monument in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, October 8, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone.

Reuters
Ethiopia claims “all-out invasion” by EritreaEthiopia has told the UN that troops from neighboring Eritrea penetrated at least 60 meters across the border as long-standing tensions between the two East African countries threaten to boil over again. At issue is access to the Red Sea, which Ethiopia lost when Eritrea became independent after 30 [...]

India’s voter-list purge sparks backlash

India’s voter-list purge sparks backlash
Lottie Tellyn
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is framing the move as cleaning India’s electoral register – which included around 970 million people before the changes – of dead or duplicate voters. But many people say the purge has disenfranchised them. Critics argue that voters who are less likely to support Modi’s BJP party, such as India’s 200 [...]

El Salvador kicks off mass trials for alleged gang members, Australia's High Court deals blow to coal miners, Japan protests against alleged murder by US service member

Alleged members of Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13, attend an open hearing in a mass trial, after 486 alleged gang members were charged with more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, according to prosecutors, at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Salvador, April 23, 2026.

Alleged members of Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13, attend an open hearing in a mass trial, after 486 alleged gang members were charged with more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, according to prosecutors, at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Salvador, April 23, 2026.

REUTERS/Jose Cabezas
Mass trials begin in El SalvadorOver the past four years, Salvadoran authorities have used a state of emergency to arrest more than 90,000 people on suspicion of gang activity, putting many of them in maximum security prisons. Now, en masse, they are having their days in court in trials that human rights activists say are riddled with violations [...]