Day: July 10, 2020

Russia’s state statistics agency on Friday said at least 7,444 people died in May due to the coronavirus, a figure more than double that previously reported by the country’s health officials. Russia came in for criticism in May when it was reporting very few deaths in comparison to other European countries. Officials attributed the low…

Russia will begin negotiations with other countries to restart international flights from July 15, deputy prime minister Tatiana Golikova said Friday.  Flights will be permitted to countries where cases of the coronavirus do not exceed 40 per 100,000 people, where the average daily increase in new cases over the last 14 days is no higher…

Russia has confirmed 713,936 cases of coronavirus and 11,017 deaths. July 10: 3 things you need to know today Russia will begin negotiations with other countries to restart international flights from July 15, deputy prime minister Tatiana Golikova said Friday. Flights will be permitted to a specific list of countries where cases of the coronavirus do not exceed 40…

A Russian court on Friday fined a LGBT activist 75,000 rubles ($1,053) over “propaganda” drawings of gay families aimed at influencing minors. A magistrate’s court in the far eastern city of Komsomolsk-On-Amur fined activist and artist Yulia Tsvetkova over social media posts of drawings, she told AFP. One, called “A family is where love is,”…

A Moscow court on Friday ordered the governor of a Far Eastern region held for two months ahead of his trial on murder charges that sparked outrage from his party. The head of Khabarovsk, Sergei Furgal, 50, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of ordering the murder of several businessmen 15 years ago. A judge…

The Dutch government is taking Russia to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. Analysts say countries very rarely bring lawsuits against other countries in the Strasbourg-based court, with only 24 so-called “inter-state applications” filed in its nearly 70-year history.  “Achieving justice…

A Siberian health official has been fired after controversial photographs went viral showing alleged coronavirus victims in body bags, regional authorities said Thursday. A pro-Kremlin tabloid published photographs Monday showing a room full of black bags that it claimed proved a higher than reported Covid-19 death toll in the Tomsk region. The regional crisis center…

Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg saw a 10-year spike in deaths in June, official data said Thursday as questions persist over relatively low coronavirus deaths compared to other hard-hit countries. St. Petersburg, which began gradually lifting Covid-19 restrictions in early June, officially confirmed 987 deaths from coronavirus last month.  A total of 7,106 people…

Kazakhstan on Friday denied a claim by China’s embassy that a pneumonia outbreak more deadly than the novel coronavirus is rampaging through the Central Asian country.  In an alert for Chinese citizens posted on the embassy’s website Thursday, Beijing warned of a disease with “a mortality rate far higher than Covid-19.” The statement said the pneumonia…

Four Jehovah’s Witnesses have been detained on charges of extremism in southern Russia, investigators said Thursday amid an ongoing crackdown against the religious organization. The unnamed worshippers aged between 38 and 47 were alleged to be the “elders” of a group that has continued to meet in the southern city of Astrakhan since Russia banned…

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…

The week since Russia adopted constitutional changes has been marked by a series of high-profile arrests and sentences for activists, journalists and government officials. Here’s a look at some of the near-daily arrests, raids and other cases since the new Russian Constitution came into force following a week-long vote that ended on July 1. Broken…