Day: March 18, 2019

  • Court in Chechnya Sentences Rights Activist to Four Years in Penal Colony

    Court in Chechnya Sentences Rights Activist to Four Years in Penal Colony

    A court in Chechnya on Monday sentenced Oyub Titiyev, a prominent human rights activist, to four years in a penal settlement after finding him guilty of possessing illegal drugs, a charge his supporters say was trumped up. Titiyev, who runs the office of the Memorial Human Rights Center in the southern Russian region, was detained in…

  • Court Returns Case of Detained American Teacher to Prosecutors

    Court Returns Case of Detained American Teacher to Prosecutors

    A court in Moscow has returned to the prosecutors a case against American national Gaylen Grandstaff who faces 20 years in Russian prison for ordering a cleaning product containing a chemical banned in Russia. The judge in the case has decided to release Grandstaff from the pre-detention facility before the second hearing. “The court returned…

  • Russia Secures $2Bln Fighter Jet Contract With Egypt — Reports

    Russia Secures $2Bln Fighter Jet Contract With Egypt — Reports

    Russia has signed a $2 billion contract for the supply of more than 20 Su-35 fighter jets to Egypt, the Kommersant news daily reported on Monday, citing two senior defense industry officials. Russia has become one of Egypt’s largest arms suppliers as Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has developed friendly ties with President Vladimir Putin. The…

  • Siberian City Holds Unauthorized Protest After Rape Blamed on Migrants

    Siberian City Holds Unauthorized Protest After Rape Blamed on Migrants

    Residents in the Siberian city of Yakutsk held an unauthorized rally on Sunday after unconfirmed reports alleged that Central Asian migrants raped a local woman. On March 17, a female Yakutsk resident was kidnapped and raped, then fled after her captor fell asleep, the Yakutsk Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. A source in the…

  • Russian Footballer Pogrebnyak Could Face Ban Over ‘Racist’ Comments

    Russian Footballer Pogrebnyak Could Face Ban Over ‘Racist’ Comments

    The Russian Football Union (RFS) is set to investigate controversial remarks made by veteran international striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, local media reported on Sunday. Pogrebnyak, who has 33 caps with Russia, came under scrutiny after he commented on the race of Brazilian-born, naturalized Russian striker Ariclenes da Silva Ferreira, also known as Ari, who has two…

  • Crimeans Mark Five Years of Russian Rule With Cossacks, Eagles and Bikers

    Crimeans Mark Five Years of Russian Rule With Cossacks, Eagles and Bikers

    Russia celebrated the fifth anniversary of its takeover of Crimea with pomp and pride this weekend. The festivities will reach their peak on Monday when Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to open two new power stations, sealing Crimea’s economic integration with Russia. Patriotic fervor ran high on the peninsula as a giant bronze double-headed eagle—an…