Year: 2021

Russia said Monday it was extending a deadline for Twitter to remove illegal content by a month to mid-May, after the social media giant started cooperating when Russia slowed down its operations. State telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor imposed slowdowns on Twitter’s services in mid-March, accusing it of failing to remove content related to child pornography, drug use and calls…

Russian-speaking social media users have posted 10% more profanity-laced content in the two months since a law requiring platforms to delete them came into force than before, the RBC news website reported Sunday. The Medialogia media monitor tallied 20.2 million posts containing swear words on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter, as well as three…

Russia recorded almost 30,000 excess deaths during February, the country’s statistics agency announced Friday — a figure which takes Russia’s total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic above 422,000. Excess deaths are calculated by comparing fatalities during the pandemic with mortality rates in the same months of previous years. It is…

Western countries have grown increasingly nervous in recent days over signs of a Russian military buildup close to the conflict in eastern Ukraine and on the annexed Crimean peninsula. The conflict in eastern Ukraine — which broke out in 2014 following Ukraine’s pro-Europe Maidan revolution and Russia’s annexation of Crimea — has seen repeated flare-ups…

A Russian court on Friday fined Twitter nearly $117,000 for failing to remove calls to opposition protests, as Moscow ramps up pressure against the U.S. tech giant. Authorities in January accused foreign social media platforms of interfering in Russia’s domestic affairs by not deleting calls to rallies in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny…

Russia’s state-run Sputnik news organization will shut down its British operations five years after opening a bureau in Scotland, the news agency described as a Kremlin propaganda tool announced Friday.  Sputnik began broadcasting from its Edinburgh studio in August 2016, the same year that U.S. intelligence agencies accused it and the RT news channel of…

Rights groups in Moscow urged Russians to take responsibility for abuses in Syria as they released a damning report Friday on the country’s role in the decade-old conflict. Published to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of the Syrian war, the report is the first into the conflict by Russian campaigners and seeks to shed light…

Surgeons in Russia’s Far East successfully performed an open-heart surgery despite the outbreak of a major fire in their hospital Friday. A wiring malfunction is believed to have caused the fire at the cardiac surgery center in the city of Blagoveschensk, regional prosecutors told state media. Around 120 personnel and patients were evacuated as the…

Armenia’s prime minister has gone into self-isolation as a preventative measure against coronavirus ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, officials said on Friday.  It is common for anybody meeting in person with 68-year-old Putin to isolate beforehand to protect him from the contagion. Nikol Pashinyan, who faces backlash at home…

The developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said Friday that they have come up with technology that “updates” the jab to protect against new, more-contagious strains of the virus. Studies suggest that vaccines currently in use provide less protection against the new Covid-19 variants that have emerged in Britain, South Africa and Brazil.  Scientists…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday accused Moscow of building up troops on his country’s border as the United States warned Russia against “intimidating” Ukraine. Kiev has been locked in a conflict with Russian-backed separatists since 2014, and this week Ukrainian officials reported Russian troop movement in annexed Crimea and on the border, near territories…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday warned that anti-white racism might be building in the United States and said that political correctness “taken to the extreme” would have lamentable consequences. In an interview with political scientists broadcast on national television, Moscow’s top diplomat said Russia had long supported a worldwide trend that “everyone wants to get…

A television crew from the Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT has filmed a segment at Alexei Navalny’s prison colony, the jailed Kremlin critic’s Telegram channel said Thursday. The crew arrived at the prison colony, known as one of Russia’s harshest, a day after Navalny announced the start of his hunger strike to demand proper medical care for…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny announced Wednesday that he is going on hunger strike to demand medical treatment and an end to “torturous” sleep deprivation in one of Russia’s most notorious prison colonies. Hunger strikes as a tool of protest date back to the Soviet era, when solo dissidents or even entire groups of prisoners…

Russian doctors are more likely to trust the homegrown Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine than they were last year and trust their country’s jab significantly more than they do foreign vaccines, according to an independent survey published Thursday. Out of the nearly 2,000 Russian doctors surveyed by Levada and the professional community of medics Vrachi.rf, 69%…

Smartphones, tablets and computers sold in Russia must now come with pre-installed domestic software and apps from Thursday in a new law seen by critics as another attempt to curb online freedom. The initiative was introduced in an effort to promote the country’s tech companies but critics say it is another bid to tighten state control of Russia’s…

Allies of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny expressed concern for his health Thursday, after his announcement in an Instagram post that he is going on hunger strike until prison authorities allow his doctor to treat severe back and leg pain. For the 44-year old anti-corruption activist — who fell ill last summer after an…

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny on Wednesday announced he is launching a hunger strike from the prison colony where he is serving a 2.5-year sentence to demand proper medical treatment. The Kremlin critic was sent to one of Russia’s most notorious penal colonies on returning to Russia from Germany, where he spent months recovering from…

In 2012, Lyudmila, a Ukrainian teacher living in Kiev, was overjoyed when she inherited her grandmother’s small house set on half an acre of land overlooking Kerch, a picturesque city on the Black Sea in Crimea.  Last week, she received a letter saying she will have to sell her land to the Crimean authorities, which…

U.S. visas and services for American citizens will only be available in Moscow after the U.S. slashed operations at its remaining Russian consulates, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan announced Thursday. High tensions and Russia’s 2017 personnel cap on the U.S. diplomatic mission previously prompted the State Department to consider closing the two remaining U.S.…

Russian diplomats in North Korea are growing increasingly frustrated with the “severe conditions” in which they have found themselves as anti-coronavirus measures cut off the secretive country from the rest of the world. In a Thursday statement, Russia’s Embassy in Pyongyang said diplomats in the country are facing an acute shortage of essential goods sparked…

Protests broke out in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi over Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner’s visit to celebrate his birthday, Georgian media reported late Wednesday. Footage showed crowds chanting outside a central Tbilisi hotel where the media personality and state-run television talk show host was said to have been gathering with dozens of guests on the eve…

The top Pentagon general called counterparts in Russia and Ukraine Wednesday as the U.S. Defense Department expressed concerns about a reported buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine’s border and in Crimea. U.S. troops in Europe were on an elevated “watch condition” as Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley spoke to General Valery Gerasimov, the Russian…

A court in St. Petersburg on Wednesday jailed a man for a year for having attacked a riot police officer during a rally in support of imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Yevgeny Tugankov became the third Russian to receive a prison sentence over the nationwide protests that took place in late January and early February…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny announced Wednesday that he has gone on hunger strike in protest of conditions that he says are causing his health to deteriorate. Navalny’s lawyers warned last week that his life may be in danger after he reported suffering from weeks of severe back pain and a loss of sensation in…

Italy expelled two Russian officials on Wednesday after an Italian navy captain was caught red-handed by police selling secret documents to the Russians. The Italian frigate captain was arrested on spying charges after officers tailing him saw him late Tuesday in Rome in a “clandestine meeting” with a Russian military officer, according to a police…

UN experts expressed concern on Wednesday over reports of “grave human rights abuses” by Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic, where they have supported the embattled government’s military. “The experts have received, and continue to receive, reports of grave human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, attributable to the private military personnel…

The speaker of Russia’s upper-house Federation Council on Wednesday criticized the lyrics to the country’s selection for the Eurovision song contest as “nonsense” and demanded a review of how it was chosen. Russia announced earlier this month that it would send Tajik-born singer-songwriter Manizha to this year’s Eurovision contest in the Netherlands, where she will perform…

A Lithuanian court on Wednesday extended a prison sentence for a former Soviet tank officer convicted for his role in a deadly military assault on Lithuania’s independence bid in January 1991. The Vilnius appeals court extended the sentence for Yuri Mel from seven years to 10 years behind bars, meaning that he would not be…

Three out of four Russians view China favorably, an independent poll said Tuesday, a 10% jump from last year as Moscow’s ties with the West grow increasingly strained. The Levada Center polling agency said 75% of Russian respondents view China in a positive light, up from 65% in 2020. Only 14% said they view China…

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the prospect of jointly producing Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, the Kremlin announced late Tuesday. The leaders spoke as Russia awaits European Union approval of its Sputnik V vaccine in the next two months. The EU’s medicine regulator plans…

Russia has approved what it says is the world’s first coronavirus vaccine for pets, the state veterinary service said Wednesday. Carnivac-Cov underwent clinical trials on dogs, cats, mink and other animals starting in October, Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary Supervision, Rosselkhoznadzor, said in a statement. Mass production of the injectable suspension could be launched as…

NATO warplanes performed 10 interceptions of Russian fighter jets and bombers exhibiting “an unusual peak” of flights across Europe, the Western military alliance said in a statement Monday. NATO shadowed six groups of Russian warplanes in less than six hours as Russia staged large-scale military drills across the country. “NATO fighter jets scrambled 10 times…

Russia’s ambassador to the United States plans to return to Washington soon following talks in Moscow on the future of bilateral ties after U.S. President Joe Biden called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “killer.” Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, who was recalled for emergency consultations on March 21, told the state-run TASS news agency Monday that…

Austria said on Tuesday it was negotiating with Russia over the possible purchase of 1 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine — which has yet to be approved by EU regulators. Though EU member Hungary is already administering Sputnik V and a total of 57 countries have authorized its use, according to the Russian…

A court in Russia-annexed Crimea said Monday it has jailed a Jehovah’s Witness for six and a half years on charges of organizing an extremist group in the country’s latest prison sentence against members of the Christian denomination. The Sevastopol-based Gagarin district court said in a statement that it found the defendant guilty and sent…

A year ago today Russia went into its first — and only — coronavirus lockdown.  It was first officially declared a “nationwide non-working week,” designed to keep as many people at home as possible and keep Russia’s infection rate low, President Vladimir Putin outlined in an address to the nation days before swathes of the…

Russia was holding fresh military exercises on Tuesday in the Arctic, a territory of growing importance for Moscow as it vies for regional dominance with rivals including the United States. Tensions between the West and Russia have led both sides to beef up their militaries in the remote High North, an area believed to be…

Lawyers from the Russian Bar Association have called on lawmakers to impose regulations on websites’ recommendation algorithms, the Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday.  The proposed regulations would apply to social networks, news aggregators, streaming services and online marketplaces, Kommersant cited the lawyers as saying in their proposal to the State Duma and Federation Council.  Algorithms…

Two Russian soldiers have been fined for washing their shoes in holy water, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday. Video of the two Navy servicemen boasting of washing their feet in “their [worshippers’] holy water” at a Russian Orthodox chapel in Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad sparked backlash last fall. The men, who are natives…

The Kremlin said Tuesday it hopes Moscow will not be forced to block Western tech giants in the country but stressed that the companies had to abide by Russian law. Russian authorities have in recent months ramped up pressure on foreign social media platforms, particularly those hosting content supporting jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. “No…

Moscow police are inspecting prominent talk show host Vladimir Solovyov’s remarks calling Hitler a “very brave man,” the RBC news website reported Monday. The Interior Ministry’s northern Moscow department said it had asked the state-run media holding All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) for copies of Solovyov’s show that aired last month, RBC reported.…

Siberian scientists have blocked the publication of a “bombshell” pollution report out of fear of angering voters ahead of this fall’s legislative elections, the Tayga.info news website reported Friday. The Russian Academy of Sciences’ (RAS) Siberian branch reportedly determined that 78% of Russia’s two dozen most polluted cities are located in Siberia and linked the…

A Russian-controlled court in Crimea said Monday it has jailed an elderly woman for 12 years after finding her guilty of spying for Ukraine. The Sevastopol city court said in a statement that the woman — identified only by the initial D., her birth year of 1955 and residence of the town of Bakhchysarai —…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Monday that he risks being sent to “torture-like” solitary confinement after he received several reprimands at a notoriously harsh penal colony. Navalny, 44, is serving a sentence of two and a half years for violating parole in an old fraud case while recovering abroad from poisoning that he blames…

Russian environmentalists have raised the alarm over plans to mine gold near UNESCO-protected territory on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Far East, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news outlet’s Siberian affiliate reported Monday.  Russia’s Federal Subsoil Resource Use Agency reportedly plans to open a 61-square-kilometer site in the Milkovsky district of Kamchatka for gold prospecting…

Russia acknowledged Monday that it was developing ties with Myanmar but said it was “very concerned” by an increase in civilian casualties at protests against military rule. More than 100 people including children were killed by security forces in Myanmar on Saturday in the deadliest weekend since February’s military coup. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told…

Russia has agreed a deal for more than 60 million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to be produced in China from May, the jab’s developer said on Monday. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has financed the development of the vaccine, said it and Shenzhen Yuanxing Gene-tech Co. “have agreed to cooperate on production…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s ally Ivan Zhdanov said Monday that his father has been arrested for corruption, blaming the Kremlin for the arrest and linking the criminal case to his own political activity. Zhdanov, who heads Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) which is famous for viral video investigations into senior officials’ allegedly illicit wealth, said…