Top April Fools Hoaxes - Russia

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Diego Maradona signs for Spartak - In 1998, Russian newspaper "Izvestia" published an article claiming that Diego Maradona was planning to play for Moscow’s soccer club Spartak, and that Spartak was going to sign a $6 million contract with Maradona.

Mammoth calf found alive - In the late 80s, Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported in its issue on April 1st that a mammoth calf was found frozen somewhere in Chukotka; when people discovered the animal, it revived and was later settled in a Moscow zoo. Apparently a school teacher from Siberia gathered a group of pupils to make an excursion to Moscow to see this mammoth calf. The teacher couldn’t guess it was a practical joke. They went to Moscow to see a mammoth that wasn’t there; needless to say she filed a complaint.

Alexander Blok never existed - In 1990, Russia’s weekly Sobesednik reported "scientific research" saying that there was no poet named Alexander Blok (a poet who lived in Russia in the time of the Great October Revolution). The publication was so convincing that dozens of literary critics from all parts of the country started earnest and active weekly conferences on the matter.

More to come soon!