Month: July 2020

Russian investigators on Friday charged a rapper’s widow with his murder after discovering his dismembered body. Investigators said they found fragments of the body of Ukrainian rapper Alexander Yushko, who performed under the stage name Andy Cartwright, in a flat in the northwestern city of St. Petersburg on Wednesday. The Investigative Committee, which probes major…

Russian-British media owner Yevgeny Lebedev has been appointed to the House of Lords in Britain. Queen Elizabeth II conferred Lebedev’s lifetime peerage on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said. Lebedev owns Britain’s Independent and Evening Standard newspapers. His father, Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, is co-owner of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper in Russia. In…

The Kremlin on Friday asked ex-Soviet ally Belarus to release 33 Russian men detained in Minsk over an alleged plot to organize riots ahead of next month’s presidential elections. Belarussian security services on Wednesday arrested the group of Russians, saying they were mercenaries on a mission to destabilise the country in the run-up to the…

Authorities in Moscow have issued sweeping fines for violating face mask and glove requirements in recent weeks as the city looks to enforce coronavirus safety rules, the state-run TASS news agency reported Friday. The Russian capital has required masks and gloves to be worn at all times indoors and on public transportation since May 12.…

Belarus is cracking down on its border with Russia as it searches for 170 mercenaries it says are from the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group military contractor. Belarussian authorities on Wednesday detained 33 people it said were Russian mercenaries sent to “destabilize” the country ahead of its election. They had received information about the arrival of about…

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow, the western Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiysk and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military…

Russia has confirmed 839,981 cases of coronavirus and 13,963 deaths. July 31: 3 things you need to know today Authorities in Moscow have issued sweeping fines for violating face mask and glove requirements in recent weeks as the city looks to enforce coronavirus safety rules, the state-run TASS news agency reported Friday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the Russian capital has…

Tens of thousands of supporters of President Alexander Lukashenko’s top election rival on Thursday rallied in the Belarussian capital Minsk despite an increasing crackdown on the opposition. The rally came as Belarus authorities accused top members of the opposition of collaborating with Russian fighters to destabilize the ex-Soviet country. Backers of political novice Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a…

Thousands of supporters of President Alexander Lukashenko’s election rival on Thursday rallied in the Belarussian capital Minsk despite an increasing crackdown on the opposition. Backers of political novice Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, 37, packed a Minsk square in what appeared to be the largest opposition protest in the ex-Soviet country in a decade, an AFP journalist said.…

The European Union imposed its first ever sanctions against alleged cyber attackers on Thursday, targeting Russian and Chinese individuals and a specialist unit of Moscow’s GRU military intelligence agency. An export firm based in North Korea and technology company from Tiajin, China, were also listed. The member states said measures would be taken against six…

Russia has confirmed 834,499 cases of coronavirus and 13,802 deaths. July 30: 3 things you need to know today Russia’s coronavirus vaccine could be administered to civilians as soon as Aug. 15, Interfax cited a source at the state-run Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology as saying. The source said the Health Ministry will likely register the…

Belarus has arrested 33 Russian mercenaries allegedly plotting to destabilize the country ahead of next month’s presidential election. Belarus’ KGB security service said the detained men were members of the Wagner group, a shadowy private military firm reportedly controlled by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin which promotes Moscow’s interests in Ukraine, Syria, Libya…

A Ukrainian rapper was dismembered by his wife after he died of a drug overdose because she “didn’t want him to have an inglorious death,” the St. Petersburg-based Fontanka.ru news website reported Thursday, citing anonymous law enforcement sources. Andy Cartwright, who was born Alexander Yushko in Ukraine, died at age 30. He is best-known for…

A Russian court on Thursday sentenced former U.S. marine Trevor Reed to nine years in prison for assaulting police officers while drunk. His conviction follows the high-profile trial of another former U.S. marine, Paul Whelan, last month on espionage charges in a case that has fueled speculation of a prisoner exchange with the United States.…

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow, the western Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiysk and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military…

A high-profile political analyst and strategist who has advised presidential candidates in the U.S., Russia and Ukraine has been detained in Belarus ahead of a tense election. “I have been arrested,” Vitali Shkliarov, a Harvard University fellow, said on Telegram without providing further details. The 44-year-old was born in the Belarussian city of Gomel but…

Russian prosecutors on Wednesday asked for a sentence of nearly 10 years in a penal colony for a former U.S. marine accused of attacking police officers. Trevor Reed, a 28-year-old student and former Marine from Texas, allegedly attacked police while drunk after attending a party last year. He is accused of grabbing one policeman while…

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday demanded an explanation from Moscow after Minsk arrested more than 30 allegedly Russian fighters ahead of next month’s tense presidential election. “It is necessary to immediately turn to appropriate Russian structures so that they explain what is going on,” Lukashenko said at an emergency meeting.  Earlier in the day…

Russia said Wednesday that it plans to begin production of two “promising” coronavirus vaccines in September and October as Moscow races to develop a formula before Western countries. At a meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova singled out two vaccines under development by a research institute in Moscow and a lab in Siberia. “Today…

Belarussian law enforcement has detained 33 mercenaries from the private Russian military contractor Wagner Group less than two weeks before the country’s presidential election, the Belarus state-run Belta news agency reported Wednesday. The surprise announcement is the latest twist in an extraordinary election campaign that has seen strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko jail his key would-be…

Russians’ trust in President Vladimir Putin fell to a new low in July as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in anti-Kremlin protests in the Far East, according to newly published results from the independent Levada Center pollster. Only 23% of respondents named Putin when asked to identify which politicians they trust…

Russia will help Syria construct a replica of the Hagia Sophia that will operate as an Orthodox cathedral, a Russian lawmaker has said after Turkey converted the iconic Istanbul museum into a mosque this month.  The UNESCO World Heritage site’s conversion has sparked outcry worldwide, with political and religious leaders saying the structure had been…

Russia has confirmed 828,990 cases of coronavirus and 13,673 deaths. July 29: 3 things you need to know today Russia’s coronavirus vaccine could be administered to civilians as soon as Aug. 15, Interfax cited a source at the state-run Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology as saying. The source said the Health Ministry will likely register the vaccine,…

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow, the western Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiysk and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military…

In a forest outside Yekaterinburg, pilgrims chant and wave banners in their annual midnight procession in honor of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia and a saint in the Russian Orthdox Church. But this year’s pilgrimage to the spot where the emperor and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks on July 16, 1918,…

Two Russian fighter jets are suspected of violating Finnish airspace off the coast of Helsinki on Tuesday, the Finnish Defense Ministry said.  The incident “occurred over the Gulf of Finland near Helsinki at around 2:00 p.m. Finnish time (11:00 GMT)” and the border surveillance authority has opened an investigation to confirm the violation, the ministry said…

Russian judges on Tuesday slapped the anti-corruption group founded by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny with fines and convicted its director for refusing to delete a film about President Vladimir Putin’s top ally. The film is an expose which accuses former prime minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a huge luxury property empire.  Published in 2017 by…

Ivan Safronov, a journalist-turned-space adviser arrested on treason charges, has turned down a plea deal that would have required him to disclose his journalistic sources, his lawyer told Interfax on Tuesday. Safronov, who was a well-respected reporter for 10 years before becoming media adviser to the head of Russia’s state space agency Roscosmos, was charged…

Russia has confirmed 823,515 cases of coronavirus and 13,504 deaths. July 28: 3 things you need to know today The European Union won’t open its borders to Russian citizens until at least mid-August, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday, citing a source in one of the EU member states’ delegations. The EU is revising its “white list”…

The number of infections in northern Russia’s Murmansk region has surpassed those of the two countries it neighbors, according to official data. The Murmansk region has confirmed a total of 9,791 coronavirus cases as of Tuesday. To the region’s east, Finland has confirmed 7,404 cases and Norway has registered 9,132.  Finland and Norway each have…

Russians have been trying to obtain foreign passports and residence permits in unprecedented numbers since the coronavirus pandemic shut borders worldwide, Forbes Russia reported Monday. Demand for foreign residence permits was up 20% in March-May 2020 compared with the same period last year, Forbes reported, citing data from the Knight Frank real estate consultancy and…

Nearly half of Russians say they approve of a recent wave of anti-Kremlin protests in the Far East, according to an independent Levada Center poll published Tuesday. Mass protests broke out this month after the arrest of the Khabarovsk region’s popular governor Sergei Furgal and his replacement with a Putin-appointed lawmaker from an outside region.…

Ivan Safronov, a former journalist arrested on treason charges, has been isolated in jail with suspected coronavirus, prison watchdog representatives told Interfax on Monday. Safronov was arrested this month shortly after leaving his decade-long journalism career to become a media adviser to Russia’s space chief. He was placed in pre-trial detention in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison…

The European Union will remain closed to Russian citizens until at least mid-August, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday, citing a source in one of the EU member states’ delegations.  After three months of being closed to nonessential travel, the EU reopened its borders on July 1 to visitors from countries that were considered…

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow, the western Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiysk and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military…

Hundreds were evacuated after a fire broke out Monday at a pre-trial detention center for women in Moscow, Russian news agencies reported. “850 people were evacuated” after a fire broke out in the prison in southeastern Moscow, the state-run TASS news agency quoted the Moscow branch of the prison service as saying. White smoke rose…

Reindeer herders in northern Siberia have found a well-preserved wooly mammoth skeleton as climate change thaws the vast region’s permafrost layer at a rapid pace. The surprise archaeological find came during a historically hot summer in Siberia and the Russian Arctic, which is one of the world’s fastest-warming regions. Archeologists are working to find more…

Moscow-backed separatists on Monday breached a tense ceasefire in eastern Ukraine just hours after it began, the Ukrainian army said, but the separatists denied the accusation. The ceasefire came into force from midnight Sunday and had been agreed last week by negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the international monitor group OSCE.  The Ukrainian army said…

Doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov says no Russian athletes should be allowed to take part in next year’s postponed Tokyo Olympics. The World Anti-Doping Agency in December banned Russia for four years from major global sporting events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar over manipulated doping data. Russia is appealing…

Russia has confirmed 818,120 cases of coronavirus and 13,354 deaths. July 27: 3 things you need to know today Russia plans to administer its experimental coronavirus vaccine on healthcare professionals next month before its clinical trials are completed, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Thursday. Russian schools across the country will re-open for the new school year on Sept. 1,…

Wildfires currently burning across Russia have doubled in size over the past week, the state-run TASS news agency reported Monday, citing a source in the Federal Forestry Agency. “Over the week, the total area of ​​forest fires has more than doubled,” TASS quoted its source as saying. “The most difficult situation is developing in Siberia…

KHABAROVSK — As they have for nearly three weeks, the first protesters started to gather at Lenin Square in the city of Khabarovsk in Russia’s Far East at 7 pm on a recent weekday evening. They were soon joined by independent Russian journalists and a small army of YouTube bloggers, a growing profession in Russia as…

Russia held its annual Navy Day commemorations in St. Petersburg on Sunday with a parade that showed off the country’s best ships, nuclear submarines and naval aviation. The parade took place as President Vladimir Putin has boasted of the Navy’s growing capabilities and amid ongoing tensions with NATO. Here’s a look at the nautical display…

A Siberian shaman who made national headlines for attempting to trek to Moscow and “cast out” Putin from power won’t restart his journey, he said after being discharged from the mental asylum he was forced into earlier this year. In a statement carried by local media, Alexander Gabyshev said he wishes to focus on his…

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow, the western Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiysk and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military…

Former senior editors and journalists from the Vedomosti business daily are launching a new media project after the appointment of a pro-Kremlin editor-in-chief sparked accusations of censorship and a mass departure of staff from the paper. VTimes aims to continue Vedomosti’s tradition of independent journalism and editorial objectivity. “More than ever before Russia needs independent…

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday welcomed efforts to resolve Ukraine’s conflict with Kremlin-backed separatists during a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin ahead of a ceasefire starting Monday. Moscow and Kiev agreed to implement a ceasefire in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass during negotiations earlier this month, as a precondition for a broader…