Month: June 2019

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Elton John was “mistaken” about LGBT rights in Russia, while praising the British singer as a musical genius. Elton John said on Friday he was deeply upset by Putin’s comment that liberal values were “obsolete” and had been rejected by the majority of people in Western nations. He…

Animal rights groups have raised the alarm over the release of the first group of whales from the so-called “whale prison” in Russia’s Far East, calling it “extremely unprofessional and dangerous.” Russia released two orcas and six beluga whales back into the wild on Thursday, the first group of almost 100 whales whose detention since…

Russia has tested a new radar system that can evade detection by enemy drones or aircraft, its developer told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Friday. Passive radars operate without a transmitter, instead receiving signals from other objects to track targets. Russia’s new passive radar, called Tropa (Russian for “path”), uses communication towers to…

Olha Kyselova wasn’t born when the Chernobyl power plant exploded in 1986, yet the disaster has always been in her life. Her parents were “liquidators,” sent in to brave the radiation and help clear the area of deadly materials. Then they charted hotspots for more than a decade. But it wasn’t until she sat with…

Vladimir Bogdanov, who at 68 has run the Soviet and then Russian oil major Surgutneftegaz for 35 years, said on Friday that only God knows when his career will end at the company, whose ownership is a closely guarded secret. The firm, headquartered in the West Siberian city of Surgut, is considered one of the…

Russian President Vladimir Putin invited his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Friday to attend the May 9 Victory Day commemorative events in Moscow next year, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Peskov told reporters Trump reacted positively and the two leaders who met at the G20 summit in Osaka discussed arms controls, the situation in Syria,…

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday gave an exclusive interview to the Financial Times newspaper, a rarity for a president who seldom sits down with foreign journalists. The Russian president spoke candidly on a wide range of topics, from Russia’s domestic and foreign policy issues to his thoughts on the global trend of national populism and…

The bill has already been submitted to the State Duma and the Defense Ministry says it expects members of parliament to support the proposed legislation. Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke at a conference devoted to “questions of information resistance” in Moscow this week. The event took place as part of the Army 2019 Forum, an exhibition…

Nearly one in six Russian mayors have faced criminal prosecution over the past decade, according to a new study critical of Russia’s move to phase out direct mayoral elections in recent years. Local government reforms in 2014 led cities to abolish direct elections in favor of local lawmakers approving appointees. Only a handful of Russian…

Russian authorities accused the founder of a major car dealer and former member of parliament with illegally taking 4 billion rubles ($63 million) out of the country in what the businessman said could be retribution for his opposition to the Kremlin. “This wasn’t a surprise for me — this is Russia,” Sergei Petrov told Forbes in…

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and Vladimir Putin clashed over the poisoning of a former spy with nerve agent in western England, ahead of a rare face-to-face meeting today with the Russian president. May said she will tell Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, that he must stop destroying international conventions…

To keep our newsroom in Moscow running, we need your support. With your help, we can continue with our mission to keep you informed with breaking news, business analysis, thought-provoking opinions, the best of culture and insights into everyday life.

President Donald Trump on Friday sardonically asked his Russian counterpart to please not meddle in U.S. elections, appearing to make light of a scandal that led to an investigation of his campaign’s contact with the Kremlin during 2016 elections. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were speaking to reporters in Osaka, Japan, ahead of their first formal…

Looking for a new destination for your next night out? St. Petersburg might be what you’re looking for. The country’s second-largest city after Moscow is known for its cultural and historical richness as well as its vibrant nightlife. Research published earlier this month said that the city has become less expensive for expats over the…

To keep our newsroom in Moscow running, we need your support. With your help, we can continue with our mission to keep you informed with breaking news, business analysis, thought-provoking opinions, the best of culture and insights into everyday life.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a published interview he believed his meeting with Britain’s Theresa May at the G20 summit this week could help repair relations after the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil. He said that the incident was an issue between intelligence agencies and should not be allowed to damage…

Hackers working for Western intelligence agencies broke into Russian internet search company Yandex in late 2018 deploying a rare type of malware in an attempt to spy on user accounts, four people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The malware, called Regin, is known to be used by the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance of…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on Thursday that liberal values were obsolete because they had been rejected by the majority of the people in Western nations. Putin told the Financial Times newspaper that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had made a cardinal mistake by adopting a liberal policy towards immigration from the Middle East. “The…

Two pro-Russian separatist republics in eastern Ukraine have agreed to release four Ukrainian prisoners as a “goodwill gesture” later this week, news agencies reported Thursday. Rebels in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics have for the past five years been at war with government forces in eastern Ukraine. Prisoner exchanges are stipulated in an…

In a dingy parking lot hidden behind three of Moscow’s biggest train stations a crowd gathers around a fold-out table laden with vats of boiled buckwheat, fish soup, baked potatoes and hot tea, with cookies and bananas for dessert. For many of the city’s homeless, this is the only chance they have to eat a…

Approximately 550 people living in an outpost on Russia’s Kara Sea coast could soon face big changes after the federal government earlier this month decided to give the local seaport international status. Behind the decision lies a plan to boost shipments on the Northern Sea Route, the government said. Foreign vessels will now be allowed to…

Facial recognition cameras have helped police catch scores of suspects on the streets of Moscow and up to 10 criminals a month on the metro in the past two years, Russia’s Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday. Moscow claims the world’s largest network of 160,000 surveillance cameras, some equipped with facial recognition technology. Supporters of the technology say…

A Russian blogger has been fined for dancing to reggaeton music in front of a World War II monument under a new law banning “disrespect” of the authorities. The blogger, identified as “A. Chervyakova,” posted an Instagram video showing her dance at the Burial Mound of Immortality in April, court documents in the western Russian city…

Russia released two killer whales and six beluga whales back into the wild on Thursday, the first group of almost 100 whales whose detention in the Far East since last year caused an international outcry. The whales, caught last summer in order to be sold to marine parks or aquariums in China, were released in the…

Half of Russians are unable to tell the difference between real news and fake news, the head of a state-funded polling agency said on Wednesday. Almost one-third of Russians said they have encountered fake news online and one-fifths on television in recent years, the VTsIOM pollster said in April. MIT research has shown that fake…

The Russian Orthodox Church has developed plans to construct its own Vatican to the tune of $2 billion in the Moscow region, the Vedomosti business daily reported on Thursday. Church officials have been in talks with officials in the city of Sergiyev Posad to transform it into the capital of Orthodoxy since 2017. Sergiyev Posad…

UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen is working on fostering “a deeper understanding” between Russia and the United States to move the Syrian peace process forward, he said in an interview published on Thursday. In an interview published by the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, Pedersen also said he wanted to convene a group of influential…

The former head of a contracting firm charged with embezzling almost $6.5 million during construction of a Russian spaceport and spending money on luxury goods has received a suspended sentence and escaped jail time. The Vostochny Cosmodrome, a $3 billion project seen in Moscow as vital to secure Russia’s independent access to space, has been…

A Russian police officer has been detained for firing his handgun at a child who accidentally kicked a ball into his car while playing with friends, Russian authorities have said. The intoxicated 36-year-old had been parked near a courtyard in the western city of Kursk when he became “infuriated” by the ball that hit his…

Two people were killed and at least seven injured when an Antonov An-24 passenger plane made an emergency landing at a regional airport in Russia’s republic of Buryatia, in Siberia, on Thursday, the area’s emergency situations ministry said. There were 46 people, including four crew, on board the plane, which was en route from the…

Europe’s top human rights body has confirmed Russia’s return as a member after the country was suspended for five years over the annexation of Crimea. Russia was suspended from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in 2014, leading Moscow to halt its annual payments to the organization in 2017. PACE voted this…

Moscow and St. Petersburg are becoming more affordable for expats, according to new rankings from a global consulting firm. Moscow placed 27th and St. Petersburg 75th out of 209 cities worldwide for the most expensive locations to work abroad in Mercer’s 2019 ranking, dropping by 10 and 26 spots from last year respectively.  “Despite moderate…

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will have an hourlong meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit on June 28 in Osaka in Japan, a Kremlin aide said on Wednesday, in their first official encounter for almost a year. The meeting will take place amid growing tension over Tehran. Trump threatened…

Two Russian paratroopers have drowned after a failed parachute landing attempt, the country’s military was quoted by news agencies as saying on Wednesday. It was unclear if the paratroopers died during the snap combat readiness inspections currently taking place in Russia’s central, eastern and southern military districts. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday that…

Iran “won’t be alone” if the United States decides to launch a military strike on the Islamic republic, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump targeted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials with sanctions on Monday. The dramatic step to increase pressure on Iran follows Tehran’s…

Alexei Mordashov’s children are quickly climbing the ranks of the world’s wealthiest, even as one of them just emerged from his teens. The country’s fourth-richest man transferred some of his holdings last week in European tour operator TUI AG, worth $890 million, to his sons Kirill, 20, and Nikita, 19. In February, he gave them…

Tourists could be barred from visiting Russia’s Lake Baikal in order to protect its ecosystem, a senior aide to President Vladimir Putin has said. Pollution has plagued Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest and oldest freshwater lake, for at least two decades. Scientists recently warned that government proposals risk exacerbating the problem.  “We’ll have to artificially…

Russian senators have voted unanimously to uphold President Vladimir Putin’s suspension of a landmark nuclear arms control treaty with the United States on Wednesday. The U.S. will withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty on Aug. 2 unless Moscow ends violations, which Russia denies, of the 1987 pact. Putin signed a decree suspending Russia’s…

Russia has agreed to pay Kazakhstan a fixed per-barrel rate of compensation for tainted oil, industry sources said on Wednesday, a breakthrough in an oil contamination crisis that disrupted Russian and Kazakh flows earlier this year. It is the first such deal and could serve as a template for other agreements, including with Western buyers…

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the Russian air force plane that landed in Venezuela this week was carrying a rotation of military specialists but that their number in the country had not increased, the state-run TASS news agency reported. The plane landed on Monday in Venezuela’s main airport, according to a Reuters witness…

If there’s one thing Russia’s good at, it’s rolling out the tanks for a grand display of military might and armed excellence. The 2019 Army forum, held Tuesday in the outskirts of Moscow, was no different. Here are a few of the fiercest fighters that the Defense Ministry put on display:

One in 10 Russians say they have been tortured by law enforcement officials, a survey by the independent Levada Center pollster said. Russian law enforcement has been rocked with several torture scandals, with victims including LGBT people in Chechnya, Jehovah’s Witnesses and prisoners. In 2018, United Nations human rights investigators called on Russia to halt frequent torture…

Regional authorities in Russia’s Arctic have introduced stricter environmental regimes on Kolguev Island to protect the island’s bird and wildlife species. The small island located in the southeastern Barents Sea, north of the Nenets coast, is considered a crucial area for migrating birds. It is also inhabited by several endangered species. The Kolguevsky Nature Reserve was…

Russian authorities are taking steps toward banning Georgian wines amid an escalation in tensions between the ex-Soviet neighbors over the past week, the Kommersant business daily reported on Wednesday. Violent protests erupted in Georgia’s capital last week after a Russian lawmaker addressed the Georgian parliament in Russian from the speaker’s chair. On Monday, Russia’s state consumer…

Moscow will respond in kind to any steps NATO takes over Russia’s decision to suspend a 1987 nuclear missile treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday, according to the state-run RIA news agency. NATO defense ministers will discuss later on Wednesday their next steps if Moscow keeps a missile system that the…