The Ryazan miracle (or Ryazan affair; Russian: рязанское чудо, lit. 'Ryazan miracle', or Russian: рязанский эксперимент, lit. 'Ryazan experiment', Рязанская авантюра "Ryazan venture") is a scandal which happened in 1959 and 1960 in provincial region of Ryazan Oblast, Soviet Union, that resulted from a propaganda campaign made in support of its planned economy by Alexei Larionov, chief of the Communist Party Committee of Ryazan Oblast, on the verge of newly highly ambitious plans put forward by Nikita Khrushchev to "surpass America". Larionov promised increases in meat and milk production plans that were widely and boldly advertised in Soviet propaganda until widespread lies and falsification were uncovered.[1][2][3] These proved to be disastrous to Ryazan Oblast economy and became a major blow to Khrushchev's political image.[3]