Author Archives: admin

Notre Dame Fire Symbolizes Europe’s Decline, Russian Commentators Say

Russian condolences poured in after a fire tore through the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris late on Monday, but some commentators in the country said the inferno symbolized the decline of Europe. Firefighters doused the smoldering ruins of the eight-centuries-old Gothic cathedral with water on Tuesday as investigators tried to establish…

Russian Court Sentences Norwegian National to 14 Years for Espionage

A Russian court found a Norwegian man guilty on Tuesday of espionage on Russian nuclear submarines and jailed him for 14 years in a verdict that could strain ties between Russia and its NATO-member neighbor. Frode Berg, a retired former guard on the Norwegian-Russian border, was detained in Moscow in December 2017 and tried behind…

Russian Lawmakers Approve New Internet Isolation Law

Russia’s lower house of parliament approved on Tuesday the third reading of a draft law that aims to increase Moscow’s sovereignty over its internet segment and defend against foreign meddling, Interfax reported. The bill must now be approved by parliament’s upper house and the presidency before passing into law. The bill’s authors said earlier that…

Stalin’s Approval Rating Among Russians Hits Record High – Poll

A record 70 percent of Russians approve of Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s role in Russian history, according to a poll published by the independent Levada Center pollster on Tuesday. Stalin’s image has been gradually rehabilitated in the 2000s from that of a bloody autocrat to an “outstanding leader.” President Vladimir Putin has revived the Soviet…

Russia to Send Soldiers to Central African Republic as Part of UN Force

Russia will send up to 30 military personnel to Central African Republic as part of a UN mission to help stabilize the country, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The decree said the Russian contingent would include military observers, staff officers and military communications specialists. Moscow has already sent military…

Calls to Ban Plastic Bags Mount in Russia as Trash Crisis Deepens

Russian lawmakers have stepped up calls to ban plastic bags over the past week amid mounting concerns about pollution and Russia’s national waste crisis. Moscow’s plan to export its waste to surrounding regions has riled Russian citizens in recent months, while nationwide trash reforms threaten to shut down garbage collectors in nine regions. In the…

Russia Has Ceased ‘All’ Cooperation With NATO, Foreign Ministry Official Says

Russia has stopped all cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in an interview with state media on Monday. The Western alliance suspended military and civilian cooperation with Russia in the spring of 2014 in response to Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Several disputes, including a naval…

‘Weakling Chicks’ Are Replacing ‘Real Men,’ Russian Church Official Says

Russia’s “real men” are being replaced by “scrawny chickens,” a Russian Orthodox official said on Monday as heated debates surround the concept of toxic masculinity and the #MeToo movement in the West. Many Russian women raise their children independently due to the country’s high divorce rate — in 2016, Russians were 1.6 times more likely…

Russia’s Trash Reform Risks Shutting Down Collectors in 9 Regions

Trash collection companies in at least nine Russian regions are at risk of shutting down over unpaid bills, the Vedomosti business daily reported on Monday. The difficulties are blamed on nationwide reforms tasking regions with choosing operators to collect waste that took effect on Jan. 1. The reforms have been criticized for increasing the costs of…

Opposition Leaders Arrested in Ingushetia After Violent Protests

At least two opposition leaders in Russia’s republic of Ingushetia have been arrested on charges of attacking police shortly after being released from detention following protests against a divisive border-change deal. Thousands took to the streets in Ingushetia last month over a land swap deal signed last fall with the neighboring republic of Chechnya in…

Russia’s Rusal to Build Aluminum Plant in U.S.

Russia’s biggest aluminum producer Rusal has agreed on a joint project to build a rolling mill in the U.S. just three months after the Trump administration lifted sanctions on the metals giant. In April 2018, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, Rusal and other companies in which he owns stakes, citing…

Alleged Islamic State Members Killed During FSB Raid in Siberia

Two suspected Islamic State members were killed during a shootout in the Siberian town of Tyumen following a raid by the Federal Security Service (FSB). Russia‘s National Anti-Terrorism Commitee released footage in the early hours of Saturday showing security measures around the streets where the raid took place. According to the committee, the FSB obtained…

Putin’s Salary Halved in 2018, Kremlin Says

President Vladimir Putin earned less than half in 2018 than he did the previous year, the Kremlin announced on Friday. Putin earned 18.7 million rubles ($291,000) in 2017, the state-run RIA Novosti news outlet quoted a Kremlin announcement as saying. His pay in 2018 fell to 8.6 million rubles ($134,000). Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s yearly…

UN Committee Sides Against Russia in First Domestic Violence Ruling

Russia has breached the rights of a Chechen domestic abuse victim, a United Nations women’s rights panel ruled on Friday in what has been called the UN’s first decision on domestic violence in the country. Domestic violence complaints have skyrocketed since President Vladimir Putin passed a 2017 law decriminalizing first-time abuse where beatings resulted in…

Russia Fines Facebook For Failing to Provide Information on User Data

A court in Russia fined Facebook on Friday for failing to tell authorities where it stores Russian user data, Russian news agencies reported, a ruling that highlights wrangling between tech giants and Moscow as it ramps up internet controls. The court fined Facebook 3,000 rubles ($47) for not providing information in line with legislation that…

Moscow Real Estate Prices Among World’s Fastest-Growing

Moscow’s real estate costs rose at some of the highest rates in the world last year, the global real estate and investment firm CBRE Group said Thursday. The city of some 12.5 million people has seen its cost of living fall this year and it ranked outside the world’s 50 most expensive cities last year.…

Russia to Send ‘Outstanding Citizens’ to Space for Free

Russia’s state space agency plans to send “outstanding citizens” to the International Space Station (ISS) at no cost in exchange for their achievements, the agency’s head announced on Thursday. The Roscosmos space agency plans to send tourists to the ISS in late 2021 under a deal signed with the U.S. tourism firm Space Adventures. Dmitry…

Cosmonautics Day: Russia’s Space Exploration In Photos

Three years later, Belka and Strelka gained a place in history as the first animals to survive space orbit. Accompanied by a rabbit, 42 mice, two rats, flies and several plants, the duo and all their traveling companions made it safely back to earth.

Sergei Preobrazhensky, Nikolai Sitnikov / TASS

Richest 3% Russians Hold 90% of Country’s Financial Assets – Study

The wealthiest 3 percent of Russians owned 89 percent of all financial assets in 2018, according to joint research by the Higher School of Economics and the state-run VEB Bank. This is the first time a comprehensive study of wealth inequality has been attempted in Russia, the Kommersant business daily reported on Friday. Last month,…

Russians Not Under Threat in Sudan Following Military Coup, Embassy Says

Russians traveling in Sudan are not in danger after the ouster of the African nation’s longtime leader and ongoing unrest, the Russian Embassy in Khartoum said Thursday. An estimated 140 Russian citizens are registered as residing in Sudan, where a military coup overthrew President Omar al-Bashir, a close ally of Russia, after 30 years of…

Russian Lawmaker Spotted ‘Ghost-Voting’ for Internet Isolation Law

Russian State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has presumably cast a vote for a controversial bill tightening internet controls while on a working trip to his home region. Shrugging off an outcry from opposition politicians and rights activists, the 450-seat lower chamber of parliament voted in a second reading to pass a largely unchanged version of…

‘Brazen’ Import Ban Prompts Belarus to Close Russian Pipeline

The president of Belarus has ordered the closure of a Russian oil export pipeline for repairs in retaliation to Moscow’s “brazen” import ban. Belarus and Russia have seen a new flare-up in bilateral tensions barely two months after an amicable meeting between their presidents in Sochi. In late March, the two countries’ Foreign Ministries exchanged…

Russian Footballer Exits Car, Assaults American Pedestrian in Moscow

A star Russian football player has sparked national outrage this week after stepping out of his Mercedes at a traffic light to beat up a pedestrian who had bumped against his car. The victim is reportedly a U.S. citizen who is working as a translator in Russia’s capital. The incident took place in the aftermath…

Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund Says Planning Joint Deal With Baring Vostok

Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF plans a joint investment in the next couple of months with Baring Vostok, the private equity group whose executives are facing charges in Russia of fraud, RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters. A Moscow court on Thursday ruled that Michael Calvey, the U.S. citizen who heads Baring Vostok, should be…

Russia’s Hypersonic Ballistic Missile and Laser System in Final Tests, Putin Says

Russia is entering the final testing phase of its nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile dubbed Satan-2, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Russia announced plans in 2013 to develop the ICBM to replace a Cold War standby known in the West as “Satan,” or the RS-20B Voyevoda in Russia. Putin unveiled Satan-2 with an array of other…