Russia Defeats Sweden at Poltava -- Again: Russia Now Leads Two Nil1,2

At the battle of Poltava, on 8th July, 1709, a Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter 1 defeated a Swedish invasion force, thereby putting an end to Sweden's drive for great power status.

Earlier this week, at what may be called the second Battle of Poltava, two Russian missiles struck the main building of Poltava's Military Institute of Communication's killing 50 and injuring several hundred others.

Many of the victims are said to have been Swedish trainers, a fact that likely explains this week's resignation of Sweden's foreign minister, Tobias Billström.

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1. This score reflects only recent history. Prior to Sweden's defeat at Poltava by Peter the Great Sweden clashed with Russia several dozen times. Seems they can never give up, which considering that Sweden is barely habitable except by reindeer and Christmas trees is understandable. 

2. It was the Battle of Poltava and the death of King Charles XII of Sweden to which Samuel Johnson referred in his epic poem The Vanity of Human Wishes.

His fall was destined to a barren strand,

A petty fortress, and a dubious hand;

He left the name, at which the world grew pale,

To point a moral or adorn a tale.