Day: May 1, 2019
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Russia Celebrates the Absurd and Illogical at Annual Monstration
On Wednesday, Russians holding bright posters with absurd slogans paraded city streets across the country for one of the best-known and oddest modern Russian demonstrations: the Monstration. The first Monstration was held far from the Russian capital city in Novosibirsk in the mid-2000s, and has since spread to Moscow itself. A Monstration is similar to…
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The second Novovoronezh NPP-2 power block delivers its first megawatts into the Unified Energy System of Russia
On May 1, 2018, the power startup of the Novovoronezh NPP-2 (Novovoronezh city, the Voronezh Region, an affiliate of the Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company, a part of the Electric Power Division of the Rosatom State corporation) 2nd power block took place. The innovative 3+ generation VVER-1200 power block was synchronized with the grid and achieved the…
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Russia Warns U.S. Over ‘Aggressive’ Moves in Venezuela
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone that further “aggressive steps” in Venezuela would be fraught with the gravest consequences, Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Lavrov also condemned what he called the United States’ “interference” in Venezuela’s internal affairs as a breach of international law, adding that…
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Putin Signs Internet Isolation Bill Into Law
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a bill that seeks to establish Russia’s “internet sovereignty” into law. Deputies first submitted the measures to tighten state control over the internet in December, citing the need to respond to an “aggressive” U.S. national cybersecurity strategy. It has drawn fierce criticism from civil society groups over fears that it…
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Pussy Riot Activists Granted Asylum in Sweden
Sweden has granted asylum to two members of the anti-Kremlin activist group Pussy Riot, the country’s media reported on Wednesday. Artist Lusine Dzhanyan and her partner Alexei Knedlyakovsky have sought asylum for themselves and their two children in Sweden since 2017, saying they had received harassment and death threats in their home country. Their initial…
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Pompeo to Speak With Russian Counterpart on Venezuela – Bolton
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to speak with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday amid tensions over the political situation in Venezuela, White House national security adviser John Bolton said in television interviews. Pompeo on Tuesday accused Russia of intervening when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was prepared to leave the country in the…
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Over 100 Activists Detained at Russia’s Labor Day Marches
More than 120 people have been detained during May Day marches in seven Russian cities on Wednesday. May 1 marks Labor Day in Russia, where official parades and organized street demonstrations celebrating workers and laborers are held across the country. Traditionally, official May Day celebrations in Russia are seen as a source of pride rather…
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On This Day: In 1918 Soviet Russia Celebrated May 1
On this day in in 1918, the Soviet government marked May 1 as Day of International Solidarity with Workers. Its origins date back to Australia in 1856, when workers demonstrated for an 8-hour work day. This demand was picked up by anarchist organizations in the U.S. on May 1 in 1886. Demonstrations and marches in…
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Moscow’s Labor Day Parade Draws 100K Marchers
May 1 marks Labor Day in Russia, one of the country’s major public holidays. Cities across the country hold official parades, organized street demonstrations and marches on this day, which celebrates workers and laborers. More than 100,000 people attended this year’s parade in Moscow, according to police estimates. Here’s a look at the celebrations throughout…
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Russia Says a Local Firm Deliberately Contaminated Oil Pipeline
Months of work are needed to restore clean oil supplies via a key Russian pipeline to Europe, Belarus said on Tuesday, as Moscow suggested a deliberate act was behind the contamination that prompted some countries to release state oil reserves. Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia and other countries halted oil imports via the Druzhba pipeline last…
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Russia Says U.S. Claim It Told Venezuela’s Maduro Not to Flee Is Part of ‘Information War’
Russia‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday rejected a suggestion by Washington that it had persuaded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro not to flee in the face of street protests, calling the assertion part of an information war. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was prepared to leave the country on Tuesday morning in the face of a…
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Putin Sacks Russian Envoy to Belarus Amid Oil Row
Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly sacked Moscow’s ambassador to Belarus, Mikhail Babich, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, amid a row over contaminated oil and a wider political discord between the ex-Soviet countries. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has generally been more closely aligned with Moscow than any other ex-Soviet leader, while the lack of tolerance for…