Day: July 20, 2020

Viktor Chizhikov, the Russian illustrator behind the memorable Mishka bear mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, died on Monday aged 84, his publisher said. The children’s book illustrator came up with the cuddly bear to represent the controversial Games, boycotted by countries including the United States. The publisher AST Deti announced his death on Facebook,…

The U.S. State Department placed Chechen Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov on its blacklist of human rights violators Monday for alleged torture, extrajudicial killings and other violations it said go back more than a decade. The department said Kadyrov, his spouse Medni Kadyrova, and his daughters Aishat Kadyrova and Karina Kadyrova, were designated under its Section…

The mayor of the Russian Arctic city of Norilsk on Monday announced his resignation after accusing regional officials of massively underreporting coronavirus figures. Rinat Akhmetchin, mayor of the Siberian city located 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, announced his departure during a briefing. His resignation came as President Vladimir Putin on Monday…

President Vladimir Putin on Monday boasted of Russia’s naval capabilities and hailed the country’s response to the coronavirus during a keel-laying ceremony for new warships in Moscow-annexed Crimea. Putin in recent years has called improving the Russian Navy’s combat capabilities a priority. Speaking at the Zaliv shipyard in the city of Kerch, Putin said Russia…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday named a new leader of the Far Eastern region of Khabarovsk from the nationalist LDPR party after the arrest of its popular governor brought thousands to the streets. Putin officially sacked Sergei Furgal, who was detained this month on murder charges, and named LDPR lawmaker Mikhail Degtyarev to replace…

Russia has confirmed 777,486 cases of coronavirus and 12,427 deaths. July 20: 3 things you need to know today Russia has come through the coronavirus pandemic with far fewer infections and deaths than many other European countries, President Vladimir Putin said Monday while visiting Moscow-annexed Crimea. Members of Russia’s ruling elite have been given access to an experimental coronavirus…

Prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is closing his foundation that has produced several high-profile investigations into alleged corruption among top government officials, he announced Monday. The Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) has faced a number of lawsuits over its video investigations targeting figures ranging from former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Oleg Deripaska. The Russian…

Wildfires in Russia have burned across an area larger than the size of Greece so far in 2020, Greenpeace Russia said Monday as it criticized the authorities of inaction. Using satellite data, Greenpeace Russia estimated that 19 million hectares (47 million acres) burned across Russia’s forests, steppes and fields from January to mid-July. The country…

KFC has partnered with a Russian biotech research firm to create the world’s first laboratory-produced chicken nuggets this fall. The fast-food chain and Russia’s 3D Bioprinting Solutions, founded by the private medical firm Invitro, announced the partnership Thursday amid a growing global race to find safe and authentic-tasting meat alternatives.  3D Bioprinting Solutions will use chicken…

In blistering 40-degree-Celsius heat Gulnat Kadirbeyeva drives around the outskirts of Baikonur delivering water and basic medicine to people battling severe coronavirus symptoms at home in cramped tower blocks. Many are decorated with large murals of rockets, a constant reminder of the city’s spaceport that is Russia’s launchpad into space.  An administrator at a construction…

A top executive of disgraced payments company Wirecard is believed to be in hiding near Moscow under the protection of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reported Sunday.  Wirecard collapsed in June after admitting that 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) missing from its accounts likely did not exist, in what auditors said…

Members of Russia’s ruling elite have been given access to an experimental coronavirus vaccine as early as April, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing unnamed sources. “Several hundred” billionaires, executives and government officials took the experimental shots developed by the state-run Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, a researcher familiar with the effort told the…

Three women have teamed up to fight presidential polls in Belarus, pitting “female solidarity” against strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who insists the country is not ready for a woman president. Their campaign comes as the rights group Amnesty International on Friday released a report condemning the ex-Soviet country’s discriminatory treatment of women opposition activists, citing threats…

Russian investigators have reiterated their conclusion that human remains found in central Russia belong to Tsar Nicholas II and his family, who were killed by revolutionaries over a century ago. Authorities had relaunched the probe into the July 17, 1918, execution of Nicholas II, his wife and their five children in 2015. On the 100th…