REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin
Earlier this year it was for the Sochi Winter Olympics. More recently, it's because president Vladimir Putin has been flexing his muscles again, this time in Crimea.
As the world's eighth largest economy Russia can't be ignored.
The sheer scale of its pipelines for instance, its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, or its population decline are mind-boggling.
We put together some key facts about Russia.