Day: June 22, 2020
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Defense Lawyers Want Wider Probe of MH17 Theories
Defense lawyers for a Russian suspect on trial over the downing of flight MH17 called Monday for more investigation of alternative theories including that a Ukrainian fighter jet was to blame. Prosecutors in the trial in the Netherlands say the Malaysia Airlines plane, which was shot down in 2014 and all 298 people on board…
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Anti-Kremlin Activist, Pussy Riot Member Jailed for 15 Days for ‘Public Swearing’
Anti-Kremlin activist and Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov has been sentenced to 15 days in jail on charges of public swearing after he was attacked outside a Moscow police station, the Mediazona news website, which he publishes, reported Monday. Verzilov disappeared early Sunday after unidentified men broke down his apartment door and arrested him. He reappeared…
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Russia’s Coronavirus Recovery Plan Has No Space for Renewables
One of the first wind power stations in Russia sits on the Commander Islands — a group of scrubby, sparsely inhabited mountainous rocks 100 miles off the country’s eastern coast in the Bering Sea. Started with a donation of two turbines from Denmark in the 1990s, the mini wind farm was designed to halve the…
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Moscow Braves a Summertime Flood
As if a global pandemic and months of quarantine weren’t enough to drown our spirits, Moscow was hit with heavy rains and hail over the weekend, leading to flash floods that flooded streets and passageways. While two people are reported to have been hit by lightning during the storm, Muscovites nonetheless trudged through the weather…
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Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | June 22
There have been 592,280 cases of coronavirus infection reported in Russia so far and 8,206 deaths. June 22: 3 things you need to know today Dozens of Russian World War II veterans who plan to attend the rescheduled Victory Day parade on Red Square on June 24 are self-isolating outside Moscow in order to protect President Vladimir Putin from…
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Wizz Air Opens First Russian Base With 5 European Routes
One of Europe’s largest low-cost carriers Wizz Air said it plans to open its first base in Russia with five European routes from St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport starting this September. Pulkovo this year became Russia’s first airport to permit “seventh freedom flights,” which allow international carriers to operate flights outside their country of registration. Russia…
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Putin Hails Russian War Dead at Giant New Army Cathedral
President Vladimir Putin paid homage to Russia’s World War II dead on Monday as he visited an enormous new Orthodox cathedral built to honor the military. Nearly 100 meters (330 feet) high and crowned by six golden domes, the Cathedral of the Armed Forces in a military theme park outside Moscow is now Russia’s third-largest…
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Prosecutors Seek 6-Year Jail Term for Russian Director
Russian prosecutors on Monday called for a six-year prison sentence for acclaimed director Kirill Serebrennikov, accused of embezzling public funds in a case that has stirred criticism at home and abroad. Serebrennikov is charged with creating an organized criminal group with his colleagues and embezzling more than $2 million of state funding for a theatre…
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On and Off the Trans-Siberian: The Homeowners of Kazan
Have you ever looked at the lit windows of random homes and wondered, who is living inside and what their life is like? Kazan’s hospitality had no borders, so here’s a twist to our usual approach: we didn’t meet people in the street or the train this time, we were invited into their homes. Meet…
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Russia Jails 2 Anti-Fascists, Ending Terror Case Plagued by Torture Claims
A court in St. Petersburg has sentenced two members of an anti-fascist activist group on terrorism charges, the final verdicts in a case the authorities say has prevented high-profile attacks and rights groups condemn as fabricated, the Mediazona news website reported Monday. Eight members of the Set activist group — Russian for “Network” — were…
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Arctic Temperatures Hit Record High in Russia Amid Heat Wave
Russia recorded an all-time heat record above the Arctic Circle on Saturday as Siberia continues to swelter under a historic heatwave, according to Russian weather data. The extreme weather in the town of Verkhoyansk comes as Siberia has seen a prolonged heatwave linked to wildfires, a massive oil spill thought to have been caused by…
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N.Zealand Freezes Assets of Alleged Russian Cyber Criminal
New Zealand police revealed Monday they had frozen NZ$140 million (US$90 million) in assets linked to a Russian man accused of laundering money for organized crime using cyber currency. Police said they acted after discovering funds belonging to Alexander Vinnik, who is in custody in France facing fraud charges, were being held in a New…
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‘We’ll See’: Putin Says He’s Open to Seeking Fifth Term
President Vladimir Putin could seek another term in office if Russians vote next week in favor of constitutional amendments that would “zero out” his previous four terms, he said in a new interview ahead of the vote. Putin’s changes to the country’s basic law, which he and Russia’s Constitutional Court approved in March, contain a…