Blog

Russia Plans Tourist Space Walks in 2023

Russia’s Energia space corporation said Thursday it will take the first tourist on a space walk in 2023, under the terms of a new contract with a U.S. partner. Energia has inked a contract with Space Adventures, which promises to take two space tourists to the International Space Station that year.  “We plan that one…

Russian Artists Call for Justice in “Theater Trial”

A verdict will be reached on June 26 in the so-called “theater trial.”

Four people, including director Kirill Serebrennikov, have been accused of embezzlement.

The case has drawn controversy as critics say the case is a political set-up.

Several prominent Russian cultural figures have released videos criticizing the case and defending those accused.

Activists Allege Cover-Up as Toxic Siberian Fuel Spill Reaches Arctic Ocean

Toxic fuel from a massive leak in Siberia may have already reached the Arctic Ocean despite officials’ claims of successful cleanup efforts, a Russian environmental activist said as he called on the international community to declare the accident a global disaster. More than 21,000 metric tons of diesel leaked into soil and rivers near the…

Russians Rushing Back to Work as Pre-Virus Life Returns

The majority of Russians have stopped working from home and almost immediately returned to offices and workplaces across the country following the relaxation of quarantine measures. Three in four workers who had switched to working from home have now returned, a survey by Work.Ru, cited by business daily RBC, reported Thursday. Some 68% are back…

Belarus President Accuses Russia, Poland of Election Interference

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday accused Russia and Poland of interfering in the upcoming presidential election, claims that were quickly denied by the Kremlin. The interference is coming from “those who live in Poland and those who incite from Russia,” Lukashenko said at a meeting with newly appointed government officials. Lukashenko said he would…

Russian Communist Unveils Stalin Statue on WWII Anniversary

A Russian communist businessman has unveiled a monument of Josef Stalin that local authorities dubbed illegal on the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II. The statue is being unveiled as Russia grapples with how to treat the Soviet leader’s legacy and amid a contentious worldwide debate over which historical figures deserve to…

Aeroflot Still Flying Abroad Despite Russia’s International Travel Ban – Vedomosti

Russia’s flagship carrier Aeroflot has been secretly flying passengers abroad for nearly a month despite state-mandated grounded flights due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday. Russia grounded nearly all international flights in late March to slow the coronavirus, allowing only special flights evacuating Russians from abroad and other government-authorized flights. Aeroflot…

Russia Peddles Putin’s WWII Essay to German Historians – DW

Russian diplomats have been accused of attempting to influence academic freedom by sending President Vladimir Putin’s recent essay on World War II to German historians for future research, the Deutsche Welle broadcaster reported Wednesday. Putin’s 9,000-word screed, published last week in a U.S. magazine, defends the Soviet non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany and blames Western powers for appeasing…

As Russia’s Constitution Reform Vote Kicks Off, Election Watchdog Decries ‘Manipulative’ Process

During a company-wide meeting this month at Moscow-region state-run television station Yegoryevsk Today, the chief editor issued a directive. Staffers were to de-register from the polling stations where they usually vote and re-register at the one in the town of Yegoryevsk. “There you can do what you wish, but tomorrow you need to be on…

U.S. Embassy in Moscow Flies Gay Pride Flag

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has hung a rainbow flag on its front facade, photos posted on social media Thursday show. Starting Thursday, Russians will vote on a set of constitutional amendments that would add language defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman to Russia’s basic law. The provision has been…

Russia’s Coronavirus Cases Pass 613K as Constitutional Vote Begins

Moscow lifted restrictions including compulsory travel passes on June 8, a move welcomed by residents who rushed out to enjoy the streets and parks. Many other regions are lifting lockdown restrictions as Russia is preparing to hold a July 1 national vote despite the pandemic.    President Vladimir Putin is seeking public backing for constitutional amendments that…

Explainer: What Are Russians Voting for in Putin’s Constitution Poll?

Millions of Russians are set to go to the polls starting Thursday to vote on a package of constitutional amendments proposed by President Vladimir Putin earlier this year. Putin unleashed a political storm in January with the plan to overhaul the Russian Constitution for the first time since 1993. His proposal triggered the cabinet’s resignation…

150K East Ukraine Residents to Vote on Putin’s Constitutional Reforms – Official

Nearly 150,000 residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine with Russian passports will join Russians in voting on a set of constitutional reforms that would allow President Vladimir Putin to extend his rule, a Russian official has said. From June 25 to July 1, Russians will vote on the constitutional amendments, which contain a controversial clause to…

Fugitive Oligarch Posts Unseen Photos of Putin’s Daughters

Previously unseen photographs of President Vladimir Putin’s rumored daughters have emerged in the archives of the fugitive tycoon once dubbed “Putin’s banker.” Sergei Pugachev, 57, is credited with helping Putin ascend to the presidency in 1999. He became a French citizen a decade later and left Russia in 2011 after falling out with some of…

The City That Builds Russia’s Nuclear Submarines Now Has Over 2,000 Covid-19 Cases

Two naval construction yards in a northern Russian city near the site of last year’s mysterious nuclear testing accident have become new hotbeds for the coronavirus. Severodvinsk is near the Nyonoksa testing site where an August 2019 explosion during a rocket engine test killed five nuclear workers and led to a radiation spike. The building of nuclear…

Chinese Expats Fake Coronavirus Tests to Leave Russia – Reports

The Chinese Embassy in Moscow has issued a warning after some of its citizens forged negative coronavirus test results to fly back home from Russia, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday. Russia temporarily banned Chinese nationals from entry in February in an effort to prevent the Covid-19 outbreak which originated in China from spreading.…

In Photos: Russia’s Post-Coronavirus WWII Parade Marks 75 Years Since Soviet Victory

Russia staged a grand military parade Wednesday to mark 75 years since the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. “It is impossible even to imagine what the world would be if the Red Army hadn’t come to defend it,” President Vladimir Putin said at the event. Russia was forced to postpone the…

Russia Grants Early Release to Jailed Danish Jehovah’s Witness

A court in western Russia has granted early release to the first Jehovah’s Witness to be convicted on extremism charges in the country, the religious group said Tuesday. Danish national Dennis Christensen was arrested in May 2017 at a prayer meeting in the town of Oryol south of Moscow and sentenced in 2019 for six…

Kyrgyz President Sits Out Moscow WWII Parade After Staffers Test Positive for Virus

Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Zheenbekov pulled out of attending Russia’s Victory Day parade after two members of his delegation tested positive for coronavirus upon arriving in Moscow, his press service said Wednesday. Zheenbekov was one of several leaders set to attend the parade on Red Square marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over the…

Russia Stages Grand WWII Parade Ahead of Vote on Putin Reforms

Columns of tanks and troops paraded through Moscow on Wednesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over grand World War II commemorations to stir up patriotic fervor ahead of a vote on extending his rule. Putin was flanked on Red Square by elderly war veterans in uniforms laden with medals as thousands of troops carrying…

EU Considers Blocking Russians Upon Reopening Borders – NYT

The European Union is considering barring Russian travelers from entering when it reopens its borders next week, The New York Times reported Tuesday. American and Brazilian visitors could also face the EU ban over the countries’ failures to control their Covid-19 outbreaks. The U.S., Brazil and Russia have the world’s highest Covid-19 caseloads with more…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | June 24

There have been 606,881 cases of coronavirus infection reported in Russia so far and 8,513 deaths. June 24: 3 things you need to know today Starting Tuesday, Moscow’s indoor dining, fitness clubs, swimming pools and public sports and recreation facilities will reopen after being closed for months due to the coronavirus. Russia held its landmark Victory Day parade on…

Putin’s Grand Plan for Arctic Shipping Might Wreck in Barents Sea

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) was again on the agenda as Russia’s Arctic Commission convened last week to discuss key developments in the country’s north. The Northern Sea Route covers the waters between the Novaya Zemlya archipelago and the Bering Strait. The shipping route’s development has been a top priority ever since President Vladimir Putin included…

Cubans Lured to Russia Through Old Alliances Left Stranded by Virus

Idalmis Moreno, a nurse with 15 years of clinical experience in her native Cuba, has spent two years trying to gain the migration status in Russia that would allow her to work.  Historical ties and visa-free travel between the countries have made Russia a popular destination for Cuban migrants. Some, like Moreno, arrive seeking employment…

Russia Will Raise Taxes on Top Earners, Putin Announces

Russia will hike taxes for the country’s top earners from next year, President Vladimir Putin announced in a speech to the nation Tuesday afternoon. In a lengthy address in which Putin discussed Russia’s fight with the coronavirus and hailed the success of the country’s health system in mobilizing for the epidemic, Putin announced the surprise…

Putin Declares Coronavirus Under Control Ahead of Constitutional Vote

President Vladimir Putin hailed Russia’s progress on fighting the coronavirus pandemic and announced new economic and social support measures ahead of a vote on constitutional reforms that would allow him to extend his rule until 2036. Starting Thursday, Russians will begin to go to the polls to approve or reject the package of constitutional amendments…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | June 23

There have been 599,075 cases of coronavirus infection reported in Russia so far and 8,359 deaths. June 23: 3 things you need to know today Starting Tuesday, Moscow’s indoor dining, fitness clubs, swimming pools and public sports and recreation facilities will reopen after being closed for months due to the coronavirus. More than one-quarter of Russians know at least…

Russia Keeps U.S. Investor Calvey Under House Arrest Despite Cancer Revelation

A court in Moscow on Tuesday upheld U.S. investor Michael Calvey’s house arrest on fraud charges despite the revelation that he has a malignant tumor. Calvey faces embezzlement charges that he says are being used to pressure him in a business dispute. A Moscow court had ruled last month to extend the house arrest of…

Russia Investigates Toy Protests Against Vote on Putin’s Term Limits

Criminal investigators in St. Petersburg have attempted to question an activist who used children’s toys to protest against a vote on constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to extend his rule into 2036. Sonya Ulyasheva, a spokeswoman for the Vesna democratic movement, had posted photographs of the toy protests as on offshoot of the #MiniProtest…

Coronavirus Frontline Doctors Ordered to Vote on Changes Allowing Putin to Stay in Power

Russian health workers treating coronavirus patients across the country say they are being pressured by their superiors to vote on constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power through 2036. “We simply don’t have a choice,” a doctor at the Syktivkar Republic Infectious Diseases hospital in Russia’s remote northern republic of…

Russia’s Coronavirus Death Spike Explained by Methodology, Statistics Chief Says

Russia’s state statistics agency published higher coronavirus death figures for April than previously reported because it receives more complete data than the national coronavirus crisis center, its chief has said. The Federal Statistics Service, or Rosstat, more than doubled April’s death toll to 2,712 earlier this month after including cases where Covid-19 may not have directly…

U.S. Ex-Marine Whelan Will Not Appeal Russian Espionage Verdict: Agencies

A former U.S. marine convicted of espionage in Russia this month will not appeal, his lawyer told news agencies Tuesday, and hopes instead to be exchanged in a prisoner swap. “(Paul) Whelan will not appeal. He does not believe in Russian justice,” his lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told Interfax.  “He hopes that in the near future…

Russia ‘Accidentally’ Recognizes Gay Marriage

Russia appears to have recognized a gay marriage by sending a tax return to a prominent LGBT rights activist who had married his husband in the United States, the activist said Monday. This is at least the second time Russian officials have unintentionally recognized a gay marriage due to a legal loophole in the country’s…

Russia’s Coronavirus Cases Approach 600K Ahead of Victory Day Parade, Constitutional Vote

Moscow lifted restrictions including compulsory travel passes on June 8, a move welcomed by residents who rushed out to enjoy the streets and parks. Many other regions are lifting lockdown restrictions as Russia is preparing to hold a July 1 national vote despite the pandemic.    President Vladimir Putin is seeking public backing for constitutional amendments that…

Russia to Replace Helicopters With Drones in Inhospitable Arctic

Russian companies are racing to send drones into the Arctic as the country expands its foothold in the forbidding region and climate change gradually opens shipping lanes, experts told Forbes magazine. Manned crews in the Arctic face aircraft icing, volatile sea ice and extreme temperatures without support or communications infrastructure, the U.S. defense think tank…

Defense Lawyers Want Wider Probe of MH17 Theories

Defense lawyers for a Russian suspect on trial over the downing of flight MH17 called Monday for more investigation of alternative theories including that a Ukrainian fighter jet was to blame. Prosecutors in the trial in the Netherlands say the Malaysia Airlines plane, which was shot down in 2014 and all 298 people on board…

Anti-Kremlin Activist, Pussy Riot Member Jailed for 15 Days for ‘Public Swearing’

Anti-Kremlin activist and Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov has been sentenced to 15 days in jail on charges of public swearing after he was attacked outside a Moscow police station, the Mediazona news website, which he publishes, reported Monday. Verzilov disappeared early Sunday after unidentified men broke down his apartment door and arrested him. He reappeared…

Russia’s Coronavirus Recovery Plan Has No Space for Renewables

One of the first wind power stations in Russia sits on the Commander Islands — a group of scrubby, sparsely inhabited mountainous rocks 100 miles off the country’s eastern coast in the Bering Sea. Started with a donation of two turbines from Denmark in the 1990s, the mini wind farm was designed to halve the…

Moscow Braves a Summertime Flood

As if a global pandemic and months of quarantine weren’t enough to drown our spirits, Moscow was hit with heavy rains and hail over the weekend, leading to flash floods that flooded streets and passageways. While two people are reported to have been hit by lightning during the storm, Muscovites nonetheless trudged through the weather…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | June 22

There have been 592,280 cases of coronavirus infection reported in Russia so far and 8,206 deaths. June 22: 3 things you need to know today Dozens of Russian World War II veterans who plan to attend the rescheduled Victory Day parade on Red Square on June 24 are self-isolating outside Moscow in order to protect President Vladimir Putin from…

Wizz Air Opens First Russian Base With 5 European Routes

One of Europe’s largest low-cost carriers Wizz Air said it plans to open its first base in Russia with five European routes from St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport starting this September. Pulkovo this year became Russia’s first airport to permit “seventh freedom flights,” which allow international carriers to operate flights outside their country of registration. Russia…

Putin Hails Russian War Dead at Giant New Army Cathedral

President Vladimir Putin paid homage to Russia’s World War II dead on Monday as he visited an enormous new Orthodox cathedral built to honor the military. Nearly 100 meters (330 feet) high and crowned by six golden domes, the Cathedral of the Armed Forces in a military theme park outside Moscow is now Russia’s third-largest…

Prosecutors Seek 6-Year Jail Term for Russian Director

Russian prosecutors on Monday called for a six-year prison sentence for acclaimed director Kirill Serebrennikov, accused of embezzling public funds in a case that has stirred criticism at home and abroad. Serebrennikov is charged with creating an organized criminal group with his colleagues and embezzling more than $2 million of state funding for a theatre…

Russia Jails 2 Anti-Fascists, Ending Terror Case Plagued by Torture Claims

A court in St. Petersburg has sentenced two members of an anti-fascist activist group on terrorism charges, the final verdicts in a case the authorities say has prevented high-profile attacks and rights groups condemn as fabricated, the Mediazona news website reported Monday. Eight members of the Set activist group — Russian for “Network” — were…

Arctic Temperatures Hit Record High in Russia Amid Heat Wave

Russia recorded an all-time heat record above the Arctic Circle on Saturday as Siberia continues to swelter under a historic heatwave, according to Russian weather data. The extreme weather in the town of Verkhoyansk comes as Siberia has seen a prolonged heatwave linked to wildfires, a massive oil spill thought to have been caused by…

N.Zealand Freezes Assets of Alleged Russian Cyber Criminal

New Zealand police revealed Monday they had frozen NZ$140 million (US$90 million) in assets linked to a Russian man accused of laundering money for organized crime using cyber currency. Police said they acted after discovering funds belonging to Alexander Vinnik, who is in custody in France facing fraud charges, were being held in a New…

‘We’ll See’: Putin Says He’s Open to Seeking Fifth Term

President Vladimir Putin could seek another term in office if Russians vote next week in favor of constitutional amendments that would “zero out” his previous four terms, he said in a new interview ahead of the vote.  Putin’s changes to the country’s basic law, which he and Russia’s Constitutional Court approved in March, contain a…

Russia Passes 580K Coronavirus Cases as Death Toll Tops 8K

Moscow lifted restrictions including compulsory travel passes on June 8, a move welcomed by residents who rushed out to enjoy the streets and parks. Many other regions are lifting lockdown restrictions as Russia is preparing to hold a July 1 national vote despite the pandemic.    President Vladimir Putin is seeking public backing for constitutional amendments that…