Russia has 2.3 million alcoholics

RUSSIA: Russians' consumption of alcohol has tripled since the fall of the Soviet Union, with the average person now knocking back the equivalent of 34 litres of vodka a year, new figures show. In a frank and at times morbid report, Russia's chief medical officer, Gennadi Onishenko, yesterday admitted that the nation had a serious alcohol problem. Login or subscribe for more.