Day: January 21, 2021

New U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday proposed a five-year extension with Russia of New START, the last remaining nuclear reduction treaty between the powers, but vowed to pressure Moscow on other fronts. The treaty, which has limited the United States and Russia to 1,550 nuclear warheads each, expires on February 5 after negotiations stagnated…

Russian authorities rounded up leading opposition activists and key Alexei Navalny allies Thursday evening, ahead of nationwide protests the Kremlin critic’s operation is organizing for Saturday. Activist Lyubov Sobol — who became the face of Moscow’s Summer 2019 protests in Moscow after she was blocked from running for city council — was detained for inciting…

The EU Parliament on Thursday called for an end to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project over the arrest of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. MEPs also called for sanctions against “Russian oligarchs” and allies of President Vladimir Putin, in response to the arrest of Navalny upon his return to Russia on Sunday. The EU…

NASA is considering reducing its presence in Russia under new U.S. President Joe Biden, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday. In addition to its liaison office in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, NASA reportedly has around 90 employees and Russian service staff in Russia’s space agency Roscosmos and other spaceflight offices around Moscow.…

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ruled that Russia committed a series of rights violations, including torture and preventing people returning to their homes, in the wake of its 2008 war against Georgia. The five-day conflict in August 2008 between Russia and the pro-Western Georgian government ended with Russian troops stationed in…

Germany has offered Russia support in Moscow’s development of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday. Russian authorities said Wednesday they have applied for registration of Sputnik V in the European Union. “Beyond all the political differences that are currently large, we can nevertheless work together in a pandemic, in a humanitarian area,” Merkel…

Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan will introduce Covid-19 passports from Feb. 5, becoming the first region of the country to do so, Governor Radiy Khabirov announced. The electronic document and an associated QR code will be automatically issued to residents with Covid-19 antibodies through the Gosuslugi.ru government portal.  “A person who received the vaccine would be…

Russian police threatened to prosecute those who spread calls to join nationwide protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny amid the authorities’ campaign to discourage attendance, Interfax reported Thursday. Unauthorized rallies are scheduled in at least 50 Russian cities this Saturday, galvanized by Navalny’s arrest upon his return from treatment in Germany for…

Russia has drastically cut funding for anti-domestic violence initiatives following years of dwindling financing in favor of non-government organizations that promote conservative values, the Open Media investigative outlet reported Thursday. The outlet found that all but one out of an estimated dozen domestic violence crisis centers and legal aid organizations were rejected in 2021 as…

The mayor of Russia’s capital Moscow on Thursday announced a “significant” easing of coronavirus restrictions citing the success of the vaccination campaign. Starting Friday, Moscow will reopen its museums and libraries, while theaters and cinemas will be allowed to accommodate more visitors, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. He said colleges, sports schools and children’s clubs will resume…

An extravagant Black Sea mansion alleged to belong to President Vladimir Putin got renewed attention this week after a viral investigation by opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Praskoveyevka estate in southern Russia cost 100 billion rubles ($1.35 billion) to construct and is 39 times the size of Monaco, Navalny said in the video released after…

A young Russian conscript has been sentenced to 24 and a half years in prison Thursday for gunning down eight fellow soldiers in what he said was retaliation to hazing, Russian media reported. Ramil Shamsutdinov, 22, was arrested in the fall of 2019 on murder charges at a military base where he had served in…

Young Russians have flooded TikTok with calls to rally in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny this weekend, prompting the state censor to urge the popular short-video app’s administrators to take them down. Navalny called for nationwide street protests this Saturday after his arrest and a viral investigative video into an opulent $1.35 billion Black…