ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Personification of Russia

Okay kiddo, so you know how sometimes we give things that aren't people their own personalities so we can talk about them like they have feelings and thoughts of their own? Like how we might say a tree is "happy" if it's really big and has lots of leaves, even though trees can't actually feel emotions?

Well, some people do that with countries too! They give them personalities kind of like they're people. And one of those countries that people like to personify is Russia.

Russia is a big, big country with lots of history and lots of people living there. Some people think of Russia like it's a person, and they might imagine it as being big and strong and tough, kind of like a superhero.

Other people might see Russia as a little bit scary, like a big grizzly bear or a dragon. They might think of it as being sneaky and unpredictable, a little bit like a movie villain.

It's all make believe, of course - Russia is just a country, it doesn't actually have thoughts or feelings or a personality of its own. But sometimes people like to give it one anyway, so they can talk about it in a way that makes sense to them.