Month: May 2020

The United States refused to adopt a UN text written by Russia Wednesday denouncing the use of mercenaries in a supposed plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government. The U.S. rejected the document during a Security Council meeting organized at the request of Moscow, which backs Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The leftist Venezuelan leader announced earlier…

Russia has recorded far fewer deaths than other countries with large outbreaks, but critics have cast doubt on the low official mortality rate and accused authorities of under-reporting in order to play down the scale of the crisis. Russian health officials say one of the reasons the count is lower than in the United States…

At least two hospitals in Russia’s Novosibirsk region have been keeping coronavirus patients in the hallways after reaching capacity, local media reported this week. Footage shared by medics and residents showed gurneys in hallways at the state hospitals refitted to treat Covid-19 patients. The Novosibirsk-based Ngs.ru news website said Wednesday that it had been receiving…

A Russian suspect in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has said he feels “a moral responsibility” for the deaths of 298 people but refused to admit to downing the passenger jet, Britain’s The Times newspaper reported Wednesday. Igor Girkin, 49, is one of three Russian suspects who, along with one Ukrainian suspect, are…

A Russian coronavirus nurse has been verbally reprimanded for wearing a bikini beneath a see-through protective gown while tending to patients, local press reported Tuesday. The nurse from the Tula region south of Moscow gained instant internet fame after a photo showing her making the rounds in the provocative garb with an elderly patient looking…

Officials at the prestigious Moscow State University are refusing to investigate widespread claims of sexual harassment by faculty members while some students face veiled threats of academic retribution for speaking out, the Meduza news website reported Tuesday. Current and former students and professors last week urged MSU to take steps to protect students in an…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 308,705 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 2,972 deaths. May 20: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 8,764 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 308,705 and marking…

Russia’s coronavirus information chief has predicted that the infection will kill as many people in the country that it needs to, appearing to backtrack on his previous prediction that it would be “impossible” for the virus to spread to Russia. Doctor and television presenter Alexander Myasnikov was in mid-April appointed to the post whose duties…

Authorities have cordoned off Russia’s largest gold mine after nearly 900 workers there became infected with coronavirus, miners have told the Sibir.Realii news outlet. The Olimpiada mine in Siberia with nearly 6,000 employees has emerged among the biggest incubators of Russia’s Covid-19 outbreak since early May. Its owner Polyus said the outbreak has not affected…

Russia has recorded far fewer deaths than other countries with large outbreaks, but critics have cast doubt on the low official mortality rate and accused authorities of under-reporting in order to play down the scale of the crisis. Russian health officials say one of the reasons the count is lower than in the United States…

A Russian military helicopter crashed Tuesday evening, killing its three crew members, news agency RIA Novosti reported. The MI-8 helicopter belonging to the Russian Air Force crashed near the town of Klin, 50 miles outside Moscow, during training exercises. “On May 19, around 20:00, while performing a training flight 20 kilometers from the village of Klin,…

Britain and the United States on Tuesday urged Russia to stop sending mercenaries to the conflict in Libya, after a recent UN report confirmed the presence of Russian and Syrian fighters in the country.  Russia dismissed the demands at a Security Council video conference, however, denying again that Moscow has any role in the presence…

Russians have significantly increased their charitable donations in the weeks since most of the country entered coronavirus lockdown, the Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday, citing an analysis of charitable giving data. The latest statistics follow warnings from NGOs that only 5% of the country’s foundations and charities have enough resources to cover a lengthy disruption…

The Saratov region in southern Russia has reinstated its ban on outdoor walks and activities, a top regional official said Monday after a nearly weeklong spike in new coronavirus cases. Local authorities had eased the restrictions last Tuesday, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a nationwide “non-working” period that was intended to slow the…

Russian medics are 16 times more likely to die from the coronavirus than healthcare professionals in countries with similarly high Covid-19 numbers, the Mediazona news website reported Tuesday. Russia does not officially publish a separate count of medical professionals who have died from the virus. Since last month, the country’s doctors have been reporting their…

Russia has granted citizenship to more than twice as many foreigners in early 2020 than it did in the same period last year as the country moves to ease citizenship laws and boost its flagging population numbers. Authorities issued 161,170 Russian passports to foreigners between January and March compared with 63,249 in January-March 2019, the…

Hundreds of people have gathered to watch a live performance online on a Saturday night in Moscow. That’s become normal under the city’s strict coronavirus lockdown rules, but this is no Swan Lake.  Four women have tied a man to a plastic-covered mattress in a sparsely decorated room. He wears nothing but a black face…

Russian Mixed Martial Arts fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov has appealed to residents of his native Dagestan to follow containment rules as his father was put on a ventilator after catching the novel coronavirus. The undefeated UFC lightweight champion took to Instagram late Monday to urge people in the southern Russian region to be “disciplined” and to…

Residents of central Moscow are more likely than other Muscovites to violate the city’s self-isolation orders, according to an analysis of population clusters inside apartment buildings cited by Interfax on Monday. Its authors attribute the violations to the residents’ relative affluence and their ability to go out of town or visit the many small squares…

Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin returned to his duties on Tuesday after recovering from the coronavirus, as total infections approached 300,000 and officials said new cases were dropping off. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree reinstating Mishustin as the head of government, nearly three weeks after the prime minister announced on television he had tested…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 299,941 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 2,873 deaths. May 19: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 9,263 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 299,941. Russia now has…

Russia began easing nation-wide lockdown restrictions last week and announced the national football league would restart in late June. Critics have cast doubt on Russia’s low official mortality rate, accusing authorities of under-reporting in order to play down the scale of the crisis. Russian health officials say one of the reasons the count is lower is…

Russia opposes investigations into the World Health Organization (WHO) and China in connection with their response to the deadly coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s senate speaker Valentina Matviyenko told Interfax on Monday. Her remarks come amid the United States’ increasingly bitter spat with China and accusations that the WHO failed to contain the outbreak that has infected…

Russia’s national coronavirus crisis center has stopped updating the latest Covid-19 death counts in at least two Siberian regions while the regions have published new numbers, the Tayga.info news website reported Monday. The disparity comes amid questions over Russia’s low coronavirus death toll compared to other countries with high Covid-19 case numbers. Russia only counts the…

President Vladimir Putin was forced to intervene personally on Monday in the epidemic sweeping Russia’s North Caucasus region of Dagestan, as local officials described the coronavirus situation as a “catastrophe.” For several days now, there have rumours of mounting fatalities and overwhelmed hospitals in the mountainous majority-Muslim region and local medical staff have taken to social…

Russia’s blue chip companies have posted some of the bleakest financial results for years in the first few months of 2020, with analysts saying the hit to earnings will only grow sharper. Energy giants, banks and airlines all saw their earnings slump over the first three months of the year, and the damage could last…

The Russian Navy has ordered a batch of six cutting-edge warships for its Baltic Fleet, Navy commander-in-chief Nikolai Yevmenov said Monday. The move comes amid ongoing tensions between Russia and NATO member states in the Baltics. All six of the Karakurt-class corvettes from Project 22800 will be armed with Kalibr cruise missiles, Yevmenov said in…

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Monday that the growth in new coronavirus cases had been stopped in Russia, which has recorded the world’s largest number of infections after the United States. “The situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection remains difficult, but we can still acknowledge that we managed to put a stop to…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 290,678 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 2,722 deaths. May 18: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 8,926 new coronavirus infections Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 290,678, signaling a…

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has ordered the firing of local medics who complained of personal protective equipment shortages and the death of at least one colleague, the regional Caucasus Knot news outlet reported Sunday. Staff at a hospital repurposed for coronavirus patients in the town of Gudermes staged protests last week claiming that many of…

Russia is a distinct civilization that must be protected through genetics and other advanced technologies, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview that aired Sunday. Putin told state television that “it would be impossible to secure the future of our civilization” without artificial intelligence, genetics and unmanned vehicles, as well as hypersonic weapons.  “Russia is…

A U.S. donation of coronavirus tests and ventilators is on its way to Russia, which ranks second in the world behind the United States for its number of infections, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump had offered to send “some testing equipment, as well as ventilators” in…

Sergei Gribalev’s rubber boots sank into the open field’s thick, foul-smelling mud. As he prepared to take water samples and examine a nearby stream, seagulls landed atop swimming pool-sized basins, filled with brown manure.  “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said, through a respirator mask that covered the lower half of his…

Russia confirmed 8,926 new coronavirus infections Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 290,678. It was the lowest number of new virus cases since May 1, when Russia announced 7,933 cases. On Sunday, the head of Russia’s public health watchdog, Anna Popova, said the growth of new coronavirus cases in Russia is stabilizing. Russia is…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 281,752 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 2,631 deaths. May 17: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 9,709 new coronavirus infections Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 281,752. Russia now has the…

Tucked away in a Moscow office block, the laboratory could pass unnoticed were it not for the line of people waiting, as Russia rolls out mass testing for coronavirus. While those in line are observing social distancing, they do not have symptoms of coronavirus. They have come to the laboratory, part of a commercial chain…

Russia says its high number of cases is due in part to a massive testing campaign that has seen more than 6 million tests carried out. Moscow accounts for roughly half of all infections and the city said it would be launching mass voluntary tests for antibodies from Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week…

Russia says its high number of cases is due in part to a massive testing campaign that has seen more than 6 million tests carried out. Moscow accounts for roughly half of all infections and the city said it would be launching mass voluntary tests for antibodies from Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 272,043 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 2,537 deaths. May 16: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 9,200 new coronavirus infections Saturday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 272,043 and signaling…

Russia’s state communications watchdog has demanded that Google block a Russian news website’s article on a Financial Times report about Russia’s possibly undercounted coronavirus deaths.  Roskomnadzor, the watchdog, said Thursday it was probing reports by FT and The New York Times, which analyzed official mortality data to investigate whether Russia is undercounting its coronavirus deaths,…

The Russian Premier League will restart its season next month despite rising coronavirus infections, but behind closed doors, its governing body said Friday. The Russian football association said in a statement that matches, suspended since March 17 because of the outbreak, would resume from June 21. The Russian Premier League, the country’s top football division,…

Ambulance workers in western Siberia have threatened to go on hunger strike if they don’t receive President Vladimir Putin’s promised payouts for working with coronavirus patients. Thursday marked Putin’s deadline to hand out April bonuses of up to 80,000 rubles ($1,100) to all medics treating Covid-19 patients. Russia’s prime minister acknowledged this week that regional…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday rejected allegations by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Russian hackers had spied on her. “Five years have passed. Not a single concrete fact has been provided,” Lavrov said in a live interview with Russia’s RBC news website. Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Merkel voiced frustration that Russia was targeting…

Austrian princess Maria Galitzine, who spent her school years in Russia, has died of a sudden heart aneurysm in the United States at age 31, her family said in an obituary published Friday. Maria Singh, née Princess Maria Galitzine, was the great-granddaughter of the last emperor and empress of Austria and a descendant of the…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 262,843 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 2,418 deaths. May 15: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 10,598 new coronavirus infections Friday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 262,843. Russia now has…

Russia says its high number of cases is due in part to a massive testing campaign that has seen more than 6 million tests carried out. Moscow accounts for roughly half of all infections and the city said it would be launching mass voluntary tests for antibodies from Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week…

The head of Russia’s state-run oil giant Rosneft on Thursday asked President Vladimir Putin for a tax exemption for investments into genetic technology. Rosneft has been tapped to work alongside the Russian government to pursue “accelerated development of Russian genetic technologies” through 2027. Putin, who has sought to transform Russia into a world leader in…