Day: July 8, 2020

Lithuania’s media watchdog on Wednesday banned Russian broadcaster RT, echoing a move by neighbor Latvia, after it found a key figure at the station was on an EU sanctions list. Lithuania’s LRTK media regulator said the television station previously known as Russia Today was controlled by Dmitry Kiselyov. Regarded by critics as Russia’s chief spin…

On Tuesday, the day after journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva escaped prison time for writing a column, she spent the morning walking around her home city of Pskov in northwestern Russia, enjoying her newfound freedom.  When she returned to her apartment in the early afternoon, the 40-year-old sat down to read and reply to the messages of…

Moscow has told the U.S. embassy to “mind your own business” after Washington’s diplomatic mission raised concern about curbs on media freedom in Russia. Rebecca Ross, the spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy, on Tuesday expressed concern about a clampdown on journalists in Russia. “Watching arrest after arrest of Russian journalists – it’s starting to look…

Russian health officials in Siberia have begun testing rodents for bubonic plague after several cases were registered in neighboring Mongolia and China. The consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said there’s no risk of plague outbreaks spreading to Russia because of border closures and travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO)…

Ukraine’s security service said it has detained an alleged Russian agent in Kiev suspected of overseeing separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. The SBU security service identified the suspect as Ukrainian citizen Andrei Nikolayevich, whose last name was only given as the initial K. He is alleged to be a “freelance representative” for the GRU Russian…

Russia has confirmed 700,792 cases of coronavirus and 10,667 deaths. July 8: 3 things you need to know today Federal transport authorities have found more than 500 violations of anti-coronavirus measures at Russian airports in June, the Kommersant business daily reported. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, has extended Russia’s ban on international flights until Aug. 1 due…

Moscow lifted restrictions including compulsory travel passes on June 8, a move welcomed by residents who rushed out to enjoy the streets and parks. Many other regions lifted lockdown restrictions ahead of a July 1 national vote despite the pandemic.    Critics have cast doubt on Russia’s low official mortality rate and accused authorities of under-reporting…

Russia and China on Tuesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended authorization for cross-border humanitarian aid in Syria for a year, though Moscow swiftly proposed a more limited extension. Germany and Belgium, two of the council’s non-permanent members, had drafted the resolution, which would have allowed aid to continue to pass through…

Russian prosecutors demanded Tuesday that a respected Gulag historian be sentenced to 15 years in prison over alleged sexual assault in a case his allies say has been trumped up to silence him. Yury Dmitriyev, 64, spent decades locating and exhuming mass graves of people killed under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s rule.  Rights groups and…

Siberia’s unprecedented heat wave will continue through July, experts have warned, increasing the risk of forest fires and permafrost damage and highlighting the effects of climate change. Forecasts show that five Siberian regions, including one in the Arctic, will experience temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius in early July. This follows The Siberian town of Verkhoyansk…