Day: March 4, 2020
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Rosneft Joins Russia’s Gene-Editing Tech Program
Russia’s oil giant Rosneft and the Russian government will join forces to develop gene-editing technology, according to a government decree published Wednesday. The deal, which President Vladimir Putin ordered in December, aims to accelerate Russia’s $1.6 billion program to create 30 new varieties of genetically modified crops and animals by 2027. Rosneft is tasked with…
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Putin Says Fake Coronavirus Rumors ‘Organized From Abroad’
False rumors about the new coronavirus circulating in Russia are being directed from abroad, President Vladimir Putin claimed Wednesday at a government meeting. He told ministers the country’s FSB security service had reported to him that false information was being planted to create panic, while in reality the situation is not critical. “As for these provocative fake…
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U.S. Witness to Implicate ‘Putin’s Chef’ Prigozhin in Election Meddling – Politico
A secret witness will implicate Kremlin-linked catering magnate Yevgeny Prigozhin in plans to influence elections abroad at a trial next month, Politico reported Wednesday, citing a U.S. prosecutor. The St. Petersburg-based Concord Management and Consulting firm goes on trial in the United States in April after it was charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S.…
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Celebrating Women: 5 Soviet and Russian Stars on the Ice
Although competitive figure skating is a relatively young sport, Russia is already well-established as a powerhouse of the icy stage. In the lead-up to International Women’s Day and as skater Adelina Sotnikova has just announced her retirement, we look back on some of the women who have defined Russian and Soviet skating in the past…
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Dozens of Moscow Football Fans Detained After Mass Brawl
At least 20 football fans have been detained in Moscow after mass brawls broke out over the weekend, the state-run TASS news agency reported Wednesday. Several clashes took place between fans of FC Spartak and FC Dynamo on the day of the Moscow derby Saturday. Footage showed scenes of violence on the Moscow metro and…
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Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | March 4
As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 3,000 people continues to spread around the world, Russia has stepped up measures to tackle the health risk, including closing most entry points along its 4,200-kilometer border with China and temporarily banning Chinese citizens from entering the country. Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus…
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Putin’s Spending Boost Won’t Be Enough To Lift Russians Out of Poverty, Audit Chamber Warns
President Vladimir Putin’s new package of social spending initiatives will not be enough to hit the country’s ambitious poverty-reduction targets, a government watchdog has said. In its assessment of the government’s spending plans for the next few years, the Audit Chamber said the package of new measures, such as higher allowances for new mothers to…
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Is Russia Finally Waking Up to Climate Change?
Even skeptics can no longer ignore the effects of climate change in Russia. First, there’s the weather. Last year was the hottest on record; the ice in the Arctic is melting at a dramatic pace, as is the permafrost; while forest fires and flash floods have ravaged swathes of Siberia, and methane is spewing from…
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Deadly Russian Plane Crash ‘Not Terrorism,’ Egypt Says
A Russian passenger plane crash in Egypt was not an act of terrorism and the identities of its victims are unknown, an Egyptian appeals court ruled recently, according to the Kommersant business daily. Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed minutes after takeoff from the Egyptian resort Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg on Oct. 31, 2015, killing all…
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Russia Bans Export of Masks, Hazmat Suits to Fight Coronavirus
Russia has banned the export of masks, respirators and hazmat suits to ensure access to the items for medics treating coronavirus patients and the public, under a decree published Wednesday. The ban covers 17 types of equipment including face masks, plastic shoe covers, gloves, surgical scrubs, gas masks, hazmat suits and “reusable anti-plague” suits. The ban…
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‘We Treasure Our Lucid Dreams’ at Garage Museum
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art is almost just as famous for its architecture as its art; first housed in a disused public bus garage from the 1920s, now it is in a former Soviet café in the middle of Gorky Park, an iconic cuboid of steel, glass and sharp corners. This famously austere space, however,…
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New Research Projects Receives Support from Vostsibneftegaz
East Siberian Oil and Gas Company (Vostsibneftegaz), Rosneft’s subsidiary, started new grant scheme for the realization of the most important scientific projects in the Krasnoyarsk Region.
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Russian Court Rules in Favor of Facial Recognition Over Privacy Claims
A Moscow court ruled on Tuesday that the city’s facial recognition system does not violate the privacy of its citizens, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs told Reuters — a blow to activists who had hoped to ban the technology’s use. Lawyer and activist Alena Popova and opposition politician Vladimir Milov of the Solidarnost…
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Russia’s Yandex.Taxi Admits to Sharing Riders’ Location With Police
Russian tech giant Yandex’s taxi service shares passengers’ ride history with law enforcement authorities, according to the testimony of an ex-policeman on trial for wrongfully detaining an investigative journalist. Igor Lyakhovets was among the several police officers who had arrested journalist Ivan Golunov on drug charges in June 2019. An unprecedented public outcry led to…