Day: July 6, 2020

Russian authorities have demanded mining giant Nornickel make a “voluntary” $2 billion contribution to cover the environmental damage caused by the Arctic’s biggest ever oil spill. In a statement issued Monday, Russia’s environmental agency Rosprirodnadzor assessed the cost of the spillage of 21,000 tons of diesel at 148 billion rubles ($2.1 billion). The agency added…

It is unclear when EU countries will reopen their borders to Russian tourists, President Vladimir Putin said Monday during a meeting with the head of Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot. “It is not clear what our partners will do in many countries of the world, including in Europe, they cannot understand each other yet. And it…

Britain on Monday identified 49 individuals and organizations to be sanctioned under a new regime targeting people who violate human rights, 25 of them Russian and 20 Saudis. The Russians are targeted for involvement in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and the Saudis for the death of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Foreign Office…

Local residents of Nenoksa village on the coast of the White Sea in Russia’s Far North will be given the opportunity to evacuate their homes on Tuesday ahead of planned work at the military missile site where a deadly nuclear accident occured last summer. On Sunday, a message appeared on the local administration’s website posted…

Gazprom’s controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline overcame another major obstacle to completion Monday, as Denmark granted permission for the pipeline to continue being laid with the use of less technologically advanced ships, potentially negating the impact of U.S. sanctions against the project. The decision could allow Russia to complete the final 120 kilometer stretch of…

A Russian journalist avoided a prison sentence on Monday but was given a $7,000 fine for “justifying terrorism” in a controversial case that sparked an outcry at home and abroad. Svetlana Prokopyeva, who is based in the northwestern city of Pskov, was charged with publicly justifying terrorism over a column she wrote about a bombing…

Russia broke all recorded heat records in the first six months of the year, and the head of the country’s weather service has warned of “dangerous weather events” to come in July. “The first six months of 2020 were the warmest in the history of instrumental weather observations in Russia,” the RBC news website quoted…

The leader of Russia’s Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill said on Monday he was “deeply concerned” by calls in Turkey to alter the status of the Hagia Sophia, the historic former cathedral in Istanbul. Turkey’s top court is debating whether one of the architectural wonders of the world can be redesignated as a mosque, a move…

Top infectious diseases specialist Vladislav Zhemchugov said on Monday he isn’t concerned a recent outbreak of bubonic plague in Mongolia and northern China will spread to Russia. Last week, Mongolia quarantined its western region near the border with Russia after identifying two suspected cases of the bubonic plague linked to the consumption of marmot meat.…

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first cousin once removed was elected on Sunday to head the People Against Corruption political party, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. Roman Putin, son of President Putin’s cousin Igor, said he aimed to run with the party in the upcoming regional elections in September, and then in the elections…

For weeks, Russian women have been posting non-sexualized photos of themselves in little or no clothing as well as artwork of tummy rolls, body hair, vaginas and breasts on social media. The online flashmob, a common form of protest in Russia, is taking place in support of Yulia Tsvetkova, a feminist and LGBT activist from…