History of Disaster Relief, Russia

Natural disasters affecting Russia throughout its history have included earthquakes, severe weather, droughts, famines, and fires. Russia has also been prone to technological disasters, conflict disasters, and terrorist attacks. When the Communist Party came to power [Page 297]in 1917 and Russia became the Soviet Union, disaster relief efforts were often hindered by government controls on released information. International disaster relief organizations such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army, however, were allowed to operate effectively within the Soviet Union. The Russian Society of the Red Cross, established by Czar Alexander II in 1867, is one of the world's oldest humanitarian organizations. When Mikhail Gorbachev came into office in the late 1980s, he implemented policies of openness within the Soviet government, society, and economy that affected ...