Stop press: Can you tell the real Russian headlines from the fake ones?

5 October 2016

Weird news and photos from Russia are a big deal outside of the country, with sites like Vice and Buzzfeed regularly tapping into the topic’s unlimited potential. But it’s also very popular inside Russia, where popular news aggregator Breaking Mad collects the weirdest, craziest and scariest headlines from regional media.

Breaking Mad started as a project in 2013, and in its current form the homepage is just a long list of bizarre headlines. All the news the site shares is real, and even though some headlines can be tragic, altogether they paint a very surreal picture of life in Russia. While some accuse Breaking Mad of reinforcing stereotypes, all the news comes from real sources, and nothing is made up — even when it sounds like it is.

But can you tell the difference between real news headlines from Russia and fake ones?

Take the quiz to find out!

Stop press: Can you tell the real Russian headlines from the fake ones?

Moscow psychic offers patriotic karma cleansing for those returning from Europe

Squirrel steals secret files from Irkutsk region town administration, is chased by police

Chelyabinsk company team-building exercise uncovers a dead body in a local swamp

Novosibirsk woman rolls herself in linoleum to hide from bailiffs

Kislovodsk clairvoyants announce local terrarium iguana a “reincarnation of Joseph Stalin”

Moscow man attempts to sell his cat's virginity online

Instant noodle manufacturer sued by St Petersburg cossacks over “suggestive” noodle shape

Tomsk history museum fires all staff except mouser cat

Moscow policeman receives 3 million rouble bribe and retires

Kirov man finds grenade in garbage bin, takes a selfie with it

Samara PE teacher arrested for organising an “illegal funeral start-up”

Moscow man changes name to Antichrist, gets evicted

Siberia man dies after winning pelmeni-eating contest

Krimsk police decides against bringing criminal charges against a raccoon

Omsk engineers unveil robot-priest

Ministry of Health bans Perm residents from dying

Bear attacks Bear Population Control Committee in Kamchatka region

Krasnoyarsk woman arrested for killing third husband in a row

Local oligarch convicted in bee theft case in Altai

Find out how you scored

You scored: 0 / 20

Weird Russia novice. You don't know your unravelling PE teachers from hives full of stolen bees – and it's ok. Just don't attempt to get your patriotic karma cleanse until you level up.

Weird Russia savvy. You certainly know a thing or two about deadly pelmeni-eating contests and criminal raccoons. You can hone your skills by consulting clairvoyants from Kislovodsk.

Weird Russia connoisseur. Whether you're led by intuition or knowledge, you are excellently versed in robot priests and Stalin reincarnations. Treasure your valuable talent in these times of unreliable media.