Day: October 8, 2019
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Attacks on Journalists in Russia More Than Double Since 2017 – NGO
The number of attacks and threats on Russian journalists by the authorities has more than doubled since 2017, according to a new report published by the international Justice for Journalists NGO on Monday. The report was published to mark the 13th anniversary of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskya’s murder. While five men were sentenced to…
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Youth Team Games held at Gazprom Transgaz Nizhny Novgorod
Background Gazprom Transgaz Nizhny Novgorod is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom that delivers natural gas to 15 regions in the Volga and Central Federal Districts of the Russian Federation. The company’s gas transmission system is composed of trunklines stretching for over 13,000 kilometers. Gazprom Transgaz Nizhny Novgorod operates 54 compressor workshops, 284 gas compressor units, 371 gas distribution stations, 2 mobile CNG refuelers and 4 refueling modules at the premises of gas…
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U.S. Toddler With Rare Skin Condition Gets First Treatment in Russia
Doctors in southern Russia have removed part of a birthmark on the head of an American baby who was born with a rare skin condition, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday. Seven-month-old Luna Fenner was diagnosed with giant congenital melanocytic nevus, with the shape of the mark covering her face resembling a Batman mask…
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Russian Theater Director Serebrennikov’s Fraud Case to Be Re-Tried, Court Says
A Moscow court has sent theater director Kirill Serebrennikov’s criminal fraud case back to its starting point a month after the case was returned to prosecutors, and more than two years after he was first arrested. Serebrennikov was detained in August 2017 on charges of embezzling 68 million rubles ($1 million) in government funds, a…
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On This Day Marina Tsvetayeva Was Born
Marina Tsvetayeva was born in Moscow in 1892 to a professor of art history – who founded what is today known as the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts – and a mother of German and Polish ancestry. Tsvetayeva’s family was one of wealth and influence, albeit not supportive of their daughter’s poetry. When Tsvetayeva was…
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Putin Gives Top State Honor to U.S. Astronaut Who Survived Russian Rocket Emergency
President Vladimir Putin has presented U.S. astronaut Nick Hague with one of Russia’s top state honors a year after the astronaut survived an emergency onboard a Russian spacecraft. Hague, along with Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin, made a dramatic emergency landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan in October 2018 when a booster rocket on their Soyuz…
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Russia and China to Sign Agreement on Combating Illegal Online Content
Russia and China will sign a cooperation treaty aimed at combating illegal content on the internet this month, Russia‘s state communications watchdog said on Tuesday, an example of deepening cooperation between the powers. Critics have accused Russia‘s authorities of trying to implement Chinese-style curbs on the internet. Cooperation in this area between the two regulators could alarm proponents…
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Russian Message in a Bottle Washes Up on Brazilian Beach
A group of friends frolicking on a beach in Brazil recently discovered a Russian message in a bottle thought to be written by Soviet sailors, Brazilian media have reported. The 15 friends were vacationing on the country’s southern tip on Sept. 20 when they came across a glass bottle containing a rolled sheet of paper…
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Vladimir Aniskin and His Invisible Masterpieces
In 1881 the Russian writer Nikolai Leskov wrote a short story called “The Tale of Cross-Eyed Lefty and the Steel Flea” about a group of blacksmiths in Tula led by a left-handed master. In the story, Tsar Alexander I brought back a miniature mechanical flea made of steel from England. His son, Tsar Nicholas I,…
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Putin Wants to Connect Russia’s Arctic Coast and the Indian Ocean
President Vladimir Putin wants to connect ports on Russia’s Arctic coast with ports on the Indian Ocean, he said at the Valdai Discussion Club conference. Asia and the Middle East were in the spotlight during the conference, which Putin has attended since its establishment in 2004. Infrastructure development was a key part of this year’s talks which took…
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Russia Says It Was Not Informed About U.S. Plans to Withdraw Troops From Syria
Russia was not informed in advance by the United States or by Turkey about U.S. plans to pull troops back from Syria’s northeast border region ahead of a Turkish military operation, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has emerged as a leading power broker in Syria over more…
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Russia to Keep U.S. Investor Calvey Under House Arrest Until January
A court in Moscow ruled Tuesday that U.S. investor Michael Calvey should remain under house arrest facing charges of embezzlement until Jan. 13, the state-run TASS news agency reported. Calvey and other executives at private equity group Baring Vostok were detained in February. They deny wrongdoing and say the charges against them are being used…
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Disappointed Kremlin Won’t Entrust Moscow Elections to City Hall – Vedomosti
The Kremlin will no longer allow authorities in Moscow to run their own elections after the ruling party lost a third of its seats in the capital’s city legislature last month, the Vedomosti business daily reported Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin’s administration has reportedly reviewed the results of the Sept. 8 vote — where the pro-Putin…
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New High-Speed Moscow-St. Petersburg Trains to Start Running in 2026
Russia is aiming to launch a new high-speed rail connection between Moscow and St. Petersburg by 2026, the state railway organization said yesterday. The proposed launch date was confirmed at a meeting between lawmakers in Russia’s Federation Council and Dmitry Kattsyn, head of high-speed projects at the country’s state rail operator, Russian Railways. Russian Railways…
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Ex-Head of Alrosa’s Flooded Russian Mine Found Dead in Custody
The former head of a Siberian diamond mine owned by Alrosa where eight men were killed in a flood two years ago was found dead in a pre-trial detention center on Tuesday, a day after he was arrested, Russian investigating authorities said. A regional branch of the federal Investigative Committee said there were indications the…