Day: August 28, 2020

Authorities in Russia’s Far East have opened a criminal case against a local teen over a TikTok video that shows him lighting a cigarette with a candle inside a church, a move they qualified as a violation of Russia’s law against insulting religious feelings. Investigators in the Zabaikalsky region said Friday that the unnamed 18-year-old…

Prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny remains in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator more than a week after falling ill from an apparent poisoning but his symptoms appear to be receding, his spokeswoman said Friday as doctors race to identify the substance with which he may have been poisoned. Navalny, 44, has been…

The outspoken head of Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) Yury Ganus was fired from his position on Friday after accusing the country’s sporting leadership of failing to fight widespread drug use. The decision to remove the director general “was taken unanimously,” the president of Russia’s Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov said at a press conference, according to…

Russian and Belarusian recon troops conducted joint assault exercises Thursday, the day that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the formation of a “law enforcement reserve” standing by in case anti-government protests escalate in Belarus. The exercises are part of the 10-day international army games that Belarus hosts at an army base in Brest on the…

The website editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine has resigned after his publication deleted an article about the daughter of a state development corporation head receiving student financial aid despite not qualifying for it. Forbes reported earlier this week that Anastasia Shuvalova, the daughter of VEB.RF chairman Igor Shuvalov, was accepted into Moscow…

The Kremlin on Friday hailed Shinzo Abe’s contribution to bilateral ties between Moscow and Tokyo after the Japanese Prime Minister announced his resignation for health reasons. Russia’s relationship with Japan has been overshadowed by a decades-long territorial dispute over Tokyo’s claim to a chain of islands seized by the Soviet Union in the final days…

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday said it had expelled a senior Norwegian diplomat in retaliation after Oslo expelled a Russian diplomat following the arrest of a suspected spy. The Russian ministry said that “as a retaliatory measure” a senior diplomat at the Norwegian embassy was declared persona non grata and must leave within three…

Authorities in Belarus detained at least 260 protesters and 17 journalists Thursday evening, human rights activists said as opposition rallies continued more than two weeks after the country’s disputed election. Belarusians have taken to the streets every day since the Aug. 9 vote in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory. The days immediately…

A Russian nuclear submarine has surfaced near Alaska during navy exercises, spooking American commercial fishing vessels in the area, the U.S. military said early Friday. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Thursday that its nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Omsk and missile cruiser Varyag fired at targets in the Bering Sea as part of its “Ocean Shield 2020”…

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow and St. Petersburg. 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 parade in Moscow and a nationwide vote on…