Year: 2020

A senior Russian priest notorious for making controversial remarks about women has died at age 69 during his rehabilitation from the coronavirus, a Russian Orthodox Church spokesman announced Wednesday. Earlier this year, Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov was crowned “Sexist of the Year” by Russian feminists for claiming that women have “weaker minds” than men and comparing common-law…

Russia has confirmed a record daily death toll from the coronavirus at 317 fatalities Wednesday as the country sees a record-breaking surge in cases but resists reintroducing strict lockdown measures.  The previous highest death toll of 286 Covid-19 deaths was recorded last Thursday. The new increase brings Russia’s overall Covid-19 death toll, as reported by…

Russia plans to resume tests of its Burevestnik nuclear-powered missile, a move that risks reigniting an arms race with the United States just as the countries appeared on course to renew nuclear arms deal extension talks, according to a new analysis of satellite images.  Researchers noted high levels of activity at the dismantled test site…

Russia and the United States on Tuesday were edging closer to breaking an impasse in long-running talks aimed at extending a landmark nuclear arms deal, due to expire within months. U.S. officials said they were ready to meet Russian diplomats as soon as possible, shortly after Moscow stated it could compromise on an American demand.…

A few degrees of warming in the Arctic could trigger an abrupt thaw of the permafrost that makes up two-thirds of Russia’s landmass and a subsequent climate change feedback loop, according to a new study based on ancient warming episodes. Three of the region’s largest warming events in the past 27,000 years coincided with rapidly…

The largest country in the world is facing a number of ecological crises. In the past month alone, Russia’s environment has seen mass aquatic die-offs in not one, but two places. In the Far East republic of Kamchatka, up to 95% of seabed life was wiped out in the Avacha Bay earlier this month, potentially…

Russia has confirmed 1,431,635 cases of coronavirus and 24,635 deaths. Oct. 20: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 16,319 new Covid-19 cases Tuesday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,431,635 and breaking the country’s record for new infections. Senior Russian healthcare professionals say they expect the country’s number of daily Covid-19 infections to peak at 20,000 before…

Russia confirmed 16,319 new Covid-19 cases Tuesday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,431,635 and breaking its record for new infections. This is at least the fourth record one-day increase in Russia in the past seven days. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Russia confirmed more than 100,000 Covid-19 cases…

Russia said on Tuesday it was ready to offer the United States a mutual one-year freeze on the number of nuclear warheads held by both countries in order to extend a landmark arms reduction deal due to expire next year. “Russia offers to extend the New START by one year and is ready to take…

The United States has charged 10 Russian nationals with smuggling $50 million worth of mainly stolen iPhones and other Apple products, the Justice Department said Monday.  The investigation has led the State Department to revoke 113 visas of current and former employees of Russia’s flagship carrier Aeroflot suspected of participating in the smuggling scheme. “If…

This piece was originally published in Coda Story’s Authoritarian Tech channel.  When video blogger Natalia Chernikhovskaya looked out the window of her Moscow apartment building she saw an antenna tower with white panels and a circular dish in the center. At first, she never suspected it could be the source of unexplained headaches and pains that she began…

The International Space Station is now working normally with no danger to its occupants after the crew managed to resolve a series of technical issues overnight, Russia’s space agency said Tuesday. The crew aboard the ISS had reported issues with the oxygen production system, a toilet and the oven for preparing food. “The problems that occurred…

A group of former Vedomosti business daily senior editors and journalists has launched a new Russian-language news website Tuesday in partnership with The Moscow Times.  The project came to life after the appointment of a pro-Kremlin editor-in-chief at Vedomosti sparked accusations of censorship and a mass resignation earlier this year.  VTimes, which aims to continue…

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has thrown out ventilators shipped from Russia this spring as part of a coronavirus aid exchange, BuzzFeed News reported Monday.  FEMA said in May that it had mothballed the 45 Aventa-M ventilators after they were blamed for two fires that killed seven coronavirus patients in Moscow and St.…

Six Russian military intelligence officers have been charged in the United States with carrying out cyberattacks on Ukraine’s power grid, the 2017 French elections and the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the Justice Department announced Monday. The six GRU agents were also accused of staging a malware attack called “NotPetya” that infected computers of businesses worldwide,…

Six Russian military intelligence officers have been charged with carrying out cyberattacks on Ukraine’s power grid, the 2017 French elections and the 2018 Winter Olympics, the US Justice Department announced on Monday. The six current or former members of the GRU were also accused of staging a malware attack called “NotPetya” that infected computers of…

The authorities in Belarus have moved to house arrest a high-profile American political analyst and strategist held for over two-and-a-half months in jail as President Alexander Lukashenko cracks down on opponents, his lawyer said on Monday. Vitali Shkliarov, a Harvard University fellow who has advised presidential candidates in the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, was detained…

Two Russian MMA fighters, Zelim Imadaev and Albert Duraev, have shown support for the decapitation of a French teacher by a Chechen refugee this weekend, reports said.  Police shot dead 18-year-old suspect Abdullakh Anzorov in a Paris suburb Friday after he posted a photo of 47-year-old history teacher Samuel Paty’s severed head on his now-suspended…

Moscow will not return to a full coronavirus lockdown like it did in spring as long as residents abide by current restrictions, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Monday as new cases continued to rise. The epicenter of Russia’s Covid-19 outbreak, Moscow confirmed 5,376 new infections in the past 24 hours and almost 367,000 since the start…

Russia confirmed 15,982 new Covid-19 cases Monday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,415,316 and breaking the country’s record for new infections. The latest one-day record comes as Russia for the first time since the start of the pandemic confirmed more than 100,000 Covid-19 cases within a week. Russia’s national coronavirus information center said…

Thousands of dead fish washed up on the shores of a reservoir in southern Russia’s republic of Kalmykia this weekend, prompting fears of an environmental disaster. Witnesses filmed the fish carcasses lining the Arshan-Zelmen reservoir, describing an “absolutely terrible” smell and pointing to emissions from factories in nearby regions as a possible cause. Investigators have…

Belarusian police on Sunday detained more than 200 people as tens of thousands marched against strongman Alexander Lukashenko in defiance of police threats to open fire after weeks of demonstrations. Crowds of demonstrators waving red-and-white opposition flags descended on a gritty industrial neighbourhood in southeast Minsk for a march along Partisan Prospect, a key transport…

Russia has confirmed 1,399,334 cases of coronavirus and 24,187 deaths. Oct. 18: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 15,099 new Covid-19 cases Sunday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,399,334. Russia resumed flights with Serbia and Cuba on Oct. 15 and will resume flights with Japan from Nov. 1, the RBC news website reported, citing Russia’s air transport…

An 18-year-old Chechen accused of beheading a teacher near his school in a Paris suburb received asylum in France and had no links to Russia, a Russian diplomat said on Saturday. “This crime has no relation to Russia because this person had lived in France for the past 12 years,” the spokesman for the Russian…

The man suspected of beheading a French teacher who had shown his students cartoons of the prophet Mohammed was an 18-year-old born in Moscow and originating from Russia’s southern region of Chechnya, a judicial source said on Saturday. Five more people have been detained over the murder on Friday outside Paris, including the parents of…

The United States on Friday rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to extend the New START nuclear treaty for one year unconditionally, countering that both nations must cap warheads during the period. “President Putin’s response today to extend New START without freezing nuclear warheads is a non-starter,” said Robert O’Brien, the national security advisor. O’Brien…

Russia has confirmed 1,369,313 cases of coronavirus and 23,723 deaths. Oct. 16: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 15,150 new Covid-19 cases Friday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,369,313 and breaking the record for new infections. Russia resumed flights with Serbia and Cuba on Oct. 15 and will resume flights with Japan from Nov. 1, the RBC…

President Vladimir Putin on Friday proposed that Moscow and Washington extend for a year and without any conditions the last major nuclear arms reduction accord between Russia and the United States. The New START deal was signed in April 2010 but went into force in February 2011. It lasts for 10 years but with a…

President Vladimir Putin wants to enact changes that would ban Russian authorities from recognizing gay marriages registered outside the country, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday.  A legal loophole in Russia’s family law recognizes same-sex couples who have tied the knot abroad as long as they’re not close relatives or are already married. This led…

Russia’s population decline in 2020 will be 1,100% greater than that of 2019 amid the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to government projections cited by the RBC news website Thursday.  The government forecasts a 352,500 drop in Russia’s population this year, according to the report, leading to a population of 146.4 million by the end…

A whirlwind two weeks of post-election violence and fierce power struggles in Kyrgyzstan has political observers at odds over Russia’s role and true intentions in Central Asia’s “island of democracy.”  Anger over pro-government parties’ gains in an Oct. 4 parliamentary vote spilled into the streets of Bishkek, prompting the fall of the government and resignation…

Russia confirmed 15,150 cases of the novel coronavirus Friday, a new daily record since the start of the pandemic as authorities grapple with the onset of a second wave. This is the first time that Russia has confirmed more than 15,000 Covid-19 infections in a single day.  Friday’s increase pushed the overall number of Covid-19…

Kyrgyzstan’s new prime minister Sadyr Japarov claimed presidential powers on Thursday after the Central Asian country’s head of state Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned amid a post-election crisis. “The powers of the president and the prime minister have been transferred to me,” Sadyr Japarov told cheering supporters on Thursday, after Jeenbekov resigned and the parliament speaker refused…

Russia has withdrawn from talks with Australia and the Netherlands launched nearly two years ago to establish responsibility for the 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. Moscow said the Dutch government’s “unfriendly” move this summer to take Russia to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for its role…

An emergency ministry inspector in Russia’s Far East spent Wednesday night in an unusual way: rescuing a family of beluga whales that beached on the shore near the Sea of Okhotsk.  Residents of the coastal Chumikan village reached out to Alexei Paramonov on Wednesday afternoon, saying two adult whales and a baby were left to…

Around two-thirds of Russian medics believe that the country is not ready for a second wave of the coronavirus, according to a survey published by the VTimes news website Thursday.  Russia is the world’s fourth-most affected country with more than 1.35 million confirmed cases of Covid-19. Its number of new coronavirus cases has nearly tripled…

Russia has suspended its financial assistance to the cash-strapped Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan until political stability is restored there, the RBC news website reported Wednesday, citing a Finance Ministry source and another federal official.  The Kyrgyz government, a Russian ally, has been paralyzed since protesters chased out its president following disputed parliamentary elections on…

The oxygen supply system has failed in a module on the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) but the crew is in no danger, Russian space agency Roscosmos said Thursday. The oxygen supply system on the Zvezda module on the orbital lab failed late on Wednesday but a second system on the American…

Moscow partygoers will be required to register their phone numbers before they can enter bars, nightclubs and other late-night establishments, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Thursday as the city sees a renewed rise in coronavirus cases.  Starting Oct. 19, all visitors of establishments operating between midnight and 6 a.m. will be required to scan a QR…

The European Union has slapped sanctions on senior Kremlin officials and the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, according to a decision published on the EU’s legal portal Thursday.  The EU banned travel and froze the assets of FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov, as well as President…

Russia has confirmed 1,354,163 cases of coronavirus and 23,491 deaths. Oct. 15: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 13,754 new Covid-19 cases Thursday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,354,163. A record 286 people have died from the virus in the past 24 hours. Starting Oct. 19, Muscovites will be required to register their phone numbers before they…

Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned on Thursday, saying he wanted to bring an end to the crisis sparked by disputed parliamentary elections earlier this month. Protests had erupted after the election on Oct. 4 was won by parties loyal to Jeenbekov but opponents said was hit by vote-buying. The results were later annulled but this…

Russia has cleared two antiviral drugs called remdesivir for coronavirus treatment after doctors used the drugs to treat U.S. President Donald Trump, the Health Ministry announced Wednesday. U.S. studies have said that biochemical firm Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir can shorten coronavirus recovery time by an average of four days but does not reduce deaths. Remdesivir was…

An oil slick the size of a hockey rink has been discovered on the Volga River north of Moscow, authorities said Wednesday, the latest instance of pollution to hit Russia’s waterways this year. The 5,000 square meter layer of fuel was spotted near the port of Kimry some 150 kilometers north of the Russian capital,…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for international cooperation to end fierce clashes over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, during a telephone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said. The two leaders “stressed the urgent need for joint efforts to end the bloodshed as soon as possible and move to…