Month: September 2019
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Russia Submits ‘Dylda’ For Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award
Russia has submitted “Dylda” (“Beanpole”), a film directed by 27-year-old Kantemir Balagov, for consideration in this year’s Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards. The film, Balagov’s second, is based on an interview from Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich’s book “The Unwomanly Face of War.” The book was one of the first to expose…
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Russia and Japan Agree to Collaborate in Hydrogen Supply
September 25, 2019, Tokyo – Rusatom Overseas and Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry signed an agreement to join efforts in conducting a feasibility study in 2020-2021 to export hydrogen from Russia to Japan. On the Russian side, the agreement was signed by Anton Moskvin, Vice…
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Russian Fishing Boat Catches Fire in Norway, Injuries Reported
A Russian trawler has caught on fire in the northern Norwegian port of Tromsø, local police said Wednesday. Twelve out of 29 crew members have been sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation, Norway’s NRK broadcaster reported. The Maritime Bulletin news outlet, which identified the trawler a the Bukhta Nayezdnik, said 27 people have been…
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On This Day in 1906 Dmitry Shostakovich Was Born
Russian composer and pianist Dmitry Shostakovich was born on Sept. 25, 1906 in St. Petersburg as the second of three children from a Polish Roman Catholic family with roots in Siberia. He would become known as one of Russia’s greatest 20th-century composers and a tenaciously resilient figure amid the Soviet Union’s crackdown on artists. Shostakovich’s…
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Cleanup Crews Filmed Removing Russian Nuclear Blast Debris
Helicopters, excavators and people wearing hazmat suits have been filmed near the site of a mysterious nuclear explosion at a Russian military site that has raised international concerns and safety fears. A liquid propulsion system blast on Aug. 8 at a naval missile test facility in Nyonoksa has killed seven people and led to a…
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Russian Military Specialists Arrive in Venezuela
A group of Russian military specialists has arrived in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Russia’s Interfax news agency cited an unnamed source as saying on Wednesday. The report did not say how many specialists had been sent, but it cited another unnamed source saying they had been dispatched in order to service and carry out…
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PhosAgro to Discuss Key Areas of Growth Strategy to 2025 and Present New Dividend Policy at Capital Markets Day
Key Highlights of PhosAgro’s strategy to 2020 adopted in 2013: Production of fertilizers increased more than 50% from 5.9 million tonnes in 2013 to 9.0 million tonnes at the end of 2018, with expected production of 9.4–9.5 million tonnes in 2019; Fertilizer sales volumes in the Company’s priority domestic market nearly doubled to…
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Putin Backs Venezuela Talks Rejected by Opposition Leader
Russian President Vladimir Putin backed negotiations between Venezuela’s government and opposition groups that have been rejected by the leader of the main opposition to President Nicolas Maduro. Last week, a group of Venezuelan opposition parties agreed to enter a dialogue with Maduro’s government. But larger groups, led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, rejected the move.…
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Putin-Linked Mercenaries Are Fighting on Libya’s Front Lines
A private army linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun fighting on the front lines of the Libyan war, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest projection of Russian power following a decisive military intervention in Syria. More than 100 mercenaries from the Wagner group headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, also known as…
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Senior Russian Model Becomes the Face of L’Oreal Paris Ad Campaign
A famous elderly model from Russia has been featured in an ad campaign for the French cosmetic giant L’Oreal. Valentina Yasen, the 64-year-old winner of Russia’s 2018 Glamour Model of the Year award, has donned magazine covers and graced catwalks as part of Oldushka, the Russian over-45 modeling agency. The retired theater actress explained that…
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Putin Urges NATO to Halt Missile Deployments in Europe – Kommersant
Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged NATO to suspend the deployment of missiles in Europe that were banned under a recently abandoned U.S.-Russian nuclear pact, the Kommersant business daily has reported. There are increasing concerns that Russia and the U.S. are headed toward an arms race after Washington formally pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear…
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UEFA Chooses St. Petersburg to Host 2021 Champions League Final
St. Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena will host the final of the 2021 UEFA Champions League, the European football governing body’s executive committee announced Tuesday evening. It will be Russia’s second time hosting a Champions League final. In 2008, Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium saw Manchester United beat Chelsea in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. The competition’s final is one of the…
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Cooperation with domestic companies fostering achievement of Gazprom’s strategic goals
Release September 24, 2019, 20:05 The Gazprom Board of Directors took note of the information about the engagement of Russian industrial and machine-building enterprises in the implementation of the Company’s strategic goals. It was highlighted that Gazprom is focused on further improving its operational efficiency and maintaining technological leadership among energy companies. These efforts are being carried out in a systematic manner within the Company’s Innovative Development…
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Moscow-Kazan Highway Delayed Until 2027 – Vedomosti
Russia’s Transportation Ministry expects to build a toll road linking Moscow with the city of Kazan by 2027, three years after its original planned completion date, the Vedomosti business daily has reported. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov last week authorized the Transportation Ministry to start building two sections of the Moscow-Kazan highway. The toll road is…
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PhosAgro Board of Directors Approves a New Dividend Policy: Payments to Shareholders May Exceed 75% of Free Cash Flow
London – The Board of Directors of PhosAgro has approved a new dividend policy, under which future dividend payments will be based on the Company’s free cash flow instead of net profit, with the amount varying depending on the Company’s debt levels. The new policy will allow the Company to direct more than 75% of…
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Russians Relive WWII Experience in Life-Size Exhibition in St. Petersburg
Hundreds of people queued in St. Petersburg over the weekend to visit the newly opened “Memory Speaks” panorama exhibition at Sevcabel Port. The immersive exhibition recreates the path of an unnamed schoolteacher who goes to the front, taking visitors through a dozen scenes — from his wooden cabin in Belarus to trenches outside Leningrad, street…
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Russia Produces Its First Lab-Grown Meat Sample
A Russian lab says it has produced the country’s first artificially grown piece of meat, opening up possibilities for a sustainable alternative to traditional meat products for the country’s consumers. The idea of “cultivating” meat in labs using in vitro animal cells has gained worldwide popularity over the past several years as a more ethical…
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Moscow’s Changing Street Names Reflect Its History
It often happens that when giving directions or setting up a meeting point in Moscow, I seem to stumble. Then I pause for a second before remembering the correct name of the street so that my interlocutor understands which venue I have in mind. There are several streets that trigger this confusion, but the main…
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Russian Women Are Getting Married 8 Years Later On Average, Official Data Says
The average woman in Russia gets married eight years later than she did earlier this decade, according to official data. Marriage rates in Russia hit their lowest point since 2000 last year, according to Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) data, and researchers don’t expect rates to begin rising again until the mid-2020s. Most women in Russia…
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Russian Protesters Don’t ‘Get Shot’ Like They Would In the U.S., Putin’s Spokesman Says
Protesters who were jailed over this summer’s mass election rallies in Moscow would have been shot dead if they had been protesting in the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has said in a leaked video. Dmitry Peskov’s conversation with students at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) appeared on social media in the wake…
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Russia Summons Senior U.S. Diplomat Over UN Visa Row
Russia on Tuesday summoned a senior U.S. diplomat in Moscow to protest over what it said was Washington’s unacceptable refusal to issue visas to members of a Russian delegation traveling to the United Nations General Assembly. The Kremlin promised a tough response and said Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, had been summoned to…
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Challenging Dated Stereotypes of Russian Cuisine With Smoked Salmon
Many people believe that Russian cuisine is very heavy and calorific. Chef Alexander Volkov-Medvedev likes to challenge this stereotype and showcase the diversity of Russian dishes. This salmon is his favorite dish because it goes through so many stages of preparation. A typical Russian dish can be light on the stomach, but it still takes a…
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Murmansk Launches Construction of Russia’s Largest Wind Power Park
While ice-cold fall storms were gathering force in Russia’s far northern region, Russian and Italian businessmen and state officials exchanged warm handshakes in a party tent erected on desolate lands about 80 kilometers northeast of the city of Murmansk. The spot will soon house 57 major wind turbines, making it Russia’s largest wind park and…
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Syrian Terrorist Drones Were Built With ‘Outside Help,’ Russia Says
Terrorists in Syria get help from an “outside” source in assembling their combat drones, the Russian military has claimed. Russia’s Khmeimim airbase in northwest Syria has been subjected to numerous drone attacks in recent weeks, including a Sept. 3 attack repelled by Russian air defense. The drones can travel over a path of 150 kilometers…
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Russia Tests Face, Voice Recognition Ahead of eSIM Integration – Izvestia
Russia is testing face- and voice-recognition technology to identify mobile device users as it moves toward approving eSIM technology which allows consumers to switch easily between carriers, the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper has reported. The Central Bank is overseeing a pilot project that uses personal biometric data to remotely open accounts despite concerns over state surveillance,…
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Rosneft has started bunkering of environmentally friendly marine fuel in the Far East
RN Bunker LLC – a specialized Rosneft subsidiary – has started bunkering of ships with RMLS 40, a marine fuel that has advanced environmental properties in the Far East.
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European Budget Airlines Push For St. Petersburg Flights
Europe’s three largest low-cost airlines have applied to fly in and out of St. Petersburg in a move that would increase tourism to Russia’s northern capital but has drawn criticism from Russian airlines. St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport could become the first Russian airport to permit “seventh freedom flights,” which allow international carriers to operate flights…
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Russian Man Pleads Guilty in Massive JPMorgan Hack
A Russian man pleaded guilty on Monday to U.S. charges he took part in a massive computer hacking scheme that targeted JPMorgan Chase & Co and other financial services companies. Andrei Tyurin, 36, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to six counts including wire fraud and computer hacking conspiracy, admitting that he illegally obtained the…
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Russia Will Miss World Championships After IAAF Ban Extended
Russia will miss the World Athletics Championships for the second time in a row after the sport’s governing body, the IAAF, extended the ban against country’s federation on Monday. The IAAF confirmed the decision four days before the start of the competition in Qatar after hearing a report from its Task Force (TF) overseeing Russia’s…
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WANO experts score a high level of safety and reliability of Smolensk NPP
The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) completed the follow-un peer review at Smolensk NPP. It was part of the plan of the cooperation with Rosenergoatom. Five experts from Russia, Ukraine and Armenia independently assessed progress achieved by the plant in the areas of improvement marked by the 2017 peer review. “I noted the great…
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Moscow Ranks Among World’s Top 10 Fall Travel Destinations – CNN
Moscow has landed in CNN Travel’s list of the top 10 destinations to witness the red and golden hues of autumn. While acknowledging that “no country has a patent on trees filled with russet, scarlet and golden leaves,” the outlet singles out the Russian capital for “some unexpectedly fine spots for autumn hues.” Tsaritsyno, CNN…
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Traditional Recipes Recreated With Flair
At Ruski, the chef likes to mix things up a bit, sometimes preparing traditional recipes authentically, sometimes recreating them with modern flair. Sugudai is a traditional northern dish made of fresh, uncooked fish such as salmon, dressed with oil, vinegar or other acidic ingredient, green onions, fresh herbs and salt and pepper. Here it is…
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Alexey Miller and South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov discuss ongoing and future cooperation
Background In August 2009, Gazprom brought into operation the Dzuarikau – Tskhinval gas trunkline to provide direct gas supplies from the Russian Federation to South Ossetia. In April 2010, Gazprom and the Government of South Ossetia signed the Cooperation Agreement until 2029. Gazprom developed the General Scheme for gas infrastructure expansion in South Ossetia. The document provides for gas infrastructure expansion in some…
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Europe’s Tallest Buddha Statue Unveiled in Russia
Russia is now home to the tallest Buddha statue in Europe. The 30-ton golden monument to the Maitreya — a bodhisattva who will appear in the future — was unveiled in Russia’s Buddhist stronghold of Kalmykia on Sunday. Sitting at 12.5 meters tall, the Russian Buddha in the Kalmyk city of Lagan overtakes the 10-meter…
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‘Circle of Light’ Shines Bright in Moscow
From Sept. 20 – 24, Moscow’s annual “Circle of Light” festival lights up the capital with dazzling displays of art, history, playful projections and more. Light designers and multimedia artists from around the world had the chance to reimagine the Russian capital’s iconic architecture for the festival, incorporating not just light, but also flame, lasers…
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The Trump-Ukraine Scandal, Explained
A phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy has become a political flashpoint in Washington following reports that Trump repeatedly pressed Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son. The July 25 call has wide-ranging implications for Russia’s western neighbor Ukraine, which depends heavily on U.S. aid…
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Gazprom and Uniper discuss cooperation-related issues
Release September 23, 2019, 17:25 The Coordination Council of Gazprom and Uniper for sci-tech cooperation and staff training & development held a meeting in the Krasnodar Territory. The Co-Chairmen of the Coordination Council – Sergey Khomyakov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Oleg Aksyutin, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Head of Department, and Andreas Schierenbeck, Chairman of the Management Board of Uniper – noted the…
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Russia Sits on the Sidelines as the World Strikes for the Climate
As many as 4 million people in 200 countries took to the streets for the Global Climate Strike on Friday — but Russia, the world’s largest country, was largely absent from the event. Inspired by 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg’s “Fridays for Future” campaign, young people around the world have organized protests calling for…
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Russia Gives Definitive Approval to Paris Climate Accord
Russia said it would implement the 2015 Paris Agreement to fight climate change after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday approved a government resolution signifying Moscow’s final acceptance of the deal. The same resolution said Russia would not technically ratify the accord however due to a legal nuance. Medvedev said Moscow would adapt the accord to existing legal…
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Russia’s Tsentr-2019 Military Drills: Vehicle Crashes, Ballistic Missiles and More
Russia, China and India held joint anti-terrorism exercises with Pakistan and four Central Asian republics last week. Nearly 130,000 troops, 20,000 pieces of equipment, 600 aircraft and up to 15 warships were rolled out across eight Russian training grounds for the Tsentr-2019 (Center-2019) drills. The Sept. 16-21 war games, which President Vladimir Putin observed Friday…
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Russia Facing Potential Olympic Ban After WADA Cites ‘Inconsistent’ Data
Russia is once again in danger of being banned from next year’s Olympics after the World Anti-Doping Agency revealed that historical data supplied by the country’s anti-doping authority contained “inconsistencies.” WADA said on Monday it had opened compliance proceedings against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) after examining the vast bank of historical testing data finally…
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A Russian Ethnic Group Leader Set Himself on Fire. But Will It Make a Difference?
IZHEVSK — It was a Tuesday morning like any other. Albert Razin, a 79-year-old activist, stood outside the State Council building in the capital of Russia’s republic of Udmurtia holding two handwritten signs. One read: “Do I have a fatherland?” The other quoted Soviet Avar poet Rasul Gamzatov: “If tomorrow my language will be forgotten,…
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Russia Formally Declares Alleged CIA Mole Missing, Search Underway – Reports
Russia has officially declared a former Kremlin official alleged to have been a CIA informant missing and is looking for him, according to an entry in the Interior Ministry’s database, the state-run RIA news agency reported on Monday. U.S. media reports, confirmed to Reuters by two sources, have said a CIA informant in the Russian government was…
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Russia’s North Rallies Against Dump for Moscow’s Trash Exports
Around 2,000 people have staged an authorized protest in the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk on Sunday demanding the government drop plans to create a giant landfill in the remote Shiyes railway station. Residents of nearby regions have for over a year fiercely opposed plans to ship more than 2 million tons of garbage a…
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Putin Sought to Boost Russian Population With ‘Gay Propaganda’ Law – Ex-British PM Cameron
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has said in his new memoir that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him he passed a law against “gay propaganda” to reverse the country’s declining birth rates. Russia banned “propaganda of homosexuality toward minors” in 2013 around the same time England legalized same-sex marriage, drawing criticism from Western states…
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Russia to Fund Abkhazian Military Modernization Amid Growing Tensions
Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a government proposal to bankroll the modernization of the armed forces in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, a government document published online showed on Monday. Georgia lost control of the Black Sea region of Abkhazia after an inter-ethnic conflict which followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia…
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Hit Drama ‘Chernobyl’ Wins Best Limited Series Emmy
HOLLYWOOD — Writer, creator and producer Craig Mazin’s HBO hit “Chernobyl” won the American television academy’s Emmy award for best limited series on Sunday. Mazin was also awarded the best writing Emmy for his script. In a short acceptance speech, Mazin thanked the “hundreds of people around the area dedicating themselves to telling this story.”…
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On This Day Sergei Ozhegov Was Born
On this day in 1900 Sergei Ozhegov, the writer of one of the first Russian dictionaries, was born. Born in Kamennoe village in the Tver region, Ozhegov is celebrated for his “Dictionary of the Russian Language,” which remains the most widely used reference for the Russian language today, especially for writers, journalists and interpreters. The…
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ROSATOM participated in the 63rd IAEA General Conference
September 20, 2019, Vienna – The 63rd Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference was held in Vienna. The Conference brought together high-ranking delegates from more than 170 IAEA Member States to discuss the most relevant issues and set priority directions for developing cooperation in the global nuclear industry. Director General of ROSATOM Alexey…
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Blue Corridor – Gas into Engines 2019 Rally enters Russia
Release September 20, 2019, 18:30 The Russian stage of the international Blue Corridor – Gas into Engines 2019 Rally for vehicles powered by natural gas was launched today at the Russkaya compressor station (CS) in the Krasnodar Territory. Via a video link, the participants in the Russian stage of the race took over from the European-stage crews that had traveled 5,320 kilometers from Istanbul, Turkey,…
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Where Indians Eat Indian Food in Moscow
An estimated 14,000 Indians currently live in Russia — most in Moscow — and an ever-increasing number of Indian tourists visit the capital every year. Consequently, while perhaps not a staple of the native Russian diet just yet, Muscovites are familiar with Indian cooking, and there is an array of restaurants available to satisfy a…
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Russia Criticizes U.S. General Over Plan to Destroy Kaliningrad Air Defenses
Russia on Friday accused the United States of brazenly threatening it after a senior U.S. general said Washington had drawn up a plan in case it needed to destroy air defenses in Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave in Europe. U.S. General Jeffrey Harrigian said on Tuesday that “If we have to go in there to take down,…
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St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport Eyes Opening Up to Foreign Budget Airlines
Low-cost international airlines could soon fly in and out of St. Petersburg more freely after an easing of restrictions announced by Russian officials, Russian media have reported. No other Russian city allows so-called “seventh freedom flights,” which allow international carriers to operate flights outside their country of registration. St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport projects that the permissions will…
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St. Petersburg’s New Governor, Undeterred by Charges of Vote Fraud, Promises Moscow-Style Revival
If all goes to plan for St. Petersburg’s new governor, Russia’s second-largest city may soon have the landscaped public parks, brand-new buses and budget surpluses of its big brother Moscow. The man behind the promises, Kremlin protégé Alexander Beglov, was inaugurated Wednesday in the gold and marble halls of the Mariinsky Palace in the city…
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Russian Scientists Supported by Rosneft Complete First Stage of Survey into Atlantic Subspecies of Walrus in the Waters of Pechora Sea
Specialists of the Nenets Nature Reserve have launched an extensive field survey of a population of the Atlantic subspecies of walrus as a part of the biological indicator species monitoring programme implemented by Rosneft Oil Company.
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Russia Moves to Expand Its Arctic Icebreaker Fleet, Already the World’s Largest
The enterprise responsible for Russian seaport and maritime infrastructure development today operates a total of 36 icebreaking vessels. This is the largest fleet of its kind in the world, the state-run Rosmorport company says. And more is to come. According to company deputy general director Vasily Strugov, another nine vessels will be added to the fleet by 2024. Among them, there…
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Jailed Russian Actor Released Ahead of Appeal After Moscow Protest Verdicts Spark Outcry
A Moscow court has ruled to release novice actor Pavel Ustinov from custody days ahead of his appeal following widespread public outcry over his conviction. Ustinov, 23, was found guilty Monday of dislocating a riot police officer’s shoulder during mass anti-government protests in Moscow last month. A court sentenced Ustinov to three and a half years…
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One Detained North Korean Poacher Died, FSB Says
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday that one North Korean poacher, captured by Russian border guards in the Sea of Japan, has died, the Interfax news agency reported. A Russian border patrol discovered two North Korean schooners and 11 motorboats fishing illegally off its far eastern coast on Tuesday and detained the first…
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Russia’s Love Affair With India
When Ponnuchamy Jeevanantham first came to Moscow from Tamil Nadu in southern India in 1987 to study agriculture at the Peoples’ Friendship University he was dismayed by how mild Russian food was compared to Indian cuisine. “You couldn’t find any spices,” he said. “There were bay leaves, black pepper and maybe some chilli powder —…
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Russia Sends Shaman en Route to Exorcise Putin to Psychiatric Hospital
Officials have sent a Siberian shaman to a psychiatric hospital after he was apprehended on his way from Far East Russia to Moscow to exorcise President Vladimir Putin, authorities said Friday. Alexander Gabyshev embarked on his odyssey in March, promising to walk more than 8,000 kilometers from his native republic of Sakha to Moscow to…