Bike Riding in Moscow: Not For the Faint-Hearted

This year, the annual bike parade advocating for better conditions for bike riders in Moscow was not allowed by the authorities. Instead, the city government organized a festival that was more of a party than a demonstration for bike rights. We took a ride with Valery Larionov, a bike activist, to see how safe and…

On This Day: Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in the southern Russian city of Kislovodsk in 1918. He studied both mathematics and philosophy, literature and history before serving in the Great Patriotic War (the Soviet part of World War II) as an officer, later decorated for personal heroism. But despite his record, his criticism of Josef Stalin’s conduct of…

Russia Builds 3 New Churches a Day, Orthodox Leader Says

Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill has claimed that Russia constructs three new churches per day less than two weeks after mass protests erupted over the construction of a new cathedral in Yekaterinburg. The Orthodox Church’s influence has grown in recent years as it has received increased support from the Kremlin. Last year, Patriarch Kirill announced…

PhosAgro Board Elects Independent Director Xavier Rolet as Chairman

Moscow – PhosAgro (“PhosAgro” or “the Company”) (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, announces that its Board of Directors has elected Independent Director Xavier Rolet as its Chairman. The Board of Directors also re-elected as its Deputy Chairman Andrey G. Guryev, Vice President of the Russian Union…

Kremlin Rebuffs Call to Release Detained Ukrainian Sailors

The Kremlin on Monday rebuffed a call by an international maritime tribunal for Russia to release 24 Ukrainian sailors, saying the court had no jurisdiction over the strait where Russian security forces captured them. The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on Saturday said Moscow should release the sailors immediately and that both nations…