Day: September 12, 2019
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Pelevin’s New Novel Plays With U.S.-Russian Culture Wars
Every fall, Russia’s reading public is offered a new dose of esoteric musings and funny word play from the novelist Viktor Pelevin. While it may be a nuisance for those who have never been hooked on his work, it is now a notable annual literary event for those expecting his latest release. This year’s work…
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Moscow Student Protester Declared ‘Extremist’ Ahead of Verdict
Russia’s state finance watchdog has placed a popular YouTube blogger accused of “mass unrest” during Moscow’s recent election protests on its list of extremists ahead of his trial. Yegor Zhukov, 21, was detained last month on charges of “organizing mass unrest,” a crime punishable by up to eight years in prison. A court ordered Zhukov’s…
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Moscow Asks U.S. to Confirm Location of Ex-Official Named as Possible Spy
Russia has asked the United States via Interpol to confirm the whereabouts of a former Kremlin official who Russian media have said may have been a U.S. spy exfiltrated in 2017, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. Zakharova made the comment after U.S. media reports, confirmed to Reuters by two sources, said a…
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Russia’s Largest Social Network Starts Dating App to Rival Tinder
VKontakte, Russia’s largest social network run by Mail.ru Group Ltd, is starting its own dating app Lovina centered around quick-fire videochats. The Lovina app offers a videochat to users who liked each others’ profiles, or sets a “carousel” of limited-time videochats for random users, in a model similar to speed dating when men and women…
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Russian School Threatens to Expel Boy for Copying Football Hero’s Man Bun
School administrators in Siberia have threatened to expel a 4th-grade student for wearing a man bun styled after his hero, the Swedish football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in an incident that has sparked an outcry across Russia. The hair-raising controversy gained nationwide attention this week after the 10-year-old aspiring football player was reprimanded for coming to…
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Russian Prosecutors Find Insufficient Anti-Terrorist Protection at Murmansk Nuclear Waste Sites
An inspection made by the Murmansk prosecutor’s office revealed poor anti-terrorist measures at Saida, Andreeva and Gremikha bays, the Kommersant business daily has reported. The law enforcement officials brought the violations to court, asking to oblige the defendant to install extra physical barriers of protection and other means to enhance security. All three sites are operated by…
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Russia Raps Netanyahu’s Jordan Valley Plan Before Putin Meeting
Russia condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex the Jordan Valley ahead of a meeting between the Israeli leader and President Vladimir Putin later on Thursday, warning it could sharply increase regional tensions. Netanyahu, who is campaigning for re-election on Sept. 17, announced on Tuesday he intended to “apply Israeli sovereignty” to the…
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Inmates Discovered in Long-Abandoned Moscow Prison Tower – Watchdog
At least two inmates have been housed in a tower long thought to be abandoned at the infamous Butyrka prison in central Moscow, the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) prison watchdog has said. The 19th-century Butyrka prison has held notable figures behind its bars, from persecuted Soviet-era writers Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Isaac Babel to Adolf Hitler’s…
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UN Investigators Link U.S., Syrian and Russian Forces to War Crimes
Airstrikes by U.S.-led coalition forces in Syria have killed or wounded many civilians, indicating that required precautions were ignored and war crimes may have been committed, United Nations investigators said on Wednesday. Syrian government and allied Russian warplanes are also conducting a deadly campaign that appears to target medical facilities, schools, markets and farmland and…
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Russian Police Throw Smoke Bomb, Detain Protesters After Local Election in Far East
At least 17 protesters rallying against the results of a local election in Far East Russia have been detained Tuesday night after security officials threw a smoke grenade into the bus they were in. Hundreds of protesters have demanded a re-do of Sunday’s vote in the republic of Buryatia’s administrative center of Ulan-Ude, where a…
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Mass Nationwide Raids Target Russian Opposition Leader Navalny’s Allies
Russian authorities have swept through at least 150 homes and offices of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s allies across the country early Thursday as part of what his allies say is a politically motivated investigation. This is at least the third wave of raids linked to Navalny in the past week. The first two were reportedly part…