Day: June 26, 2019

Europe’s top human rights body has confirmed Russia’s return as a member after the country was suspended for five years over the annexation of Crimea. Russia was suspended from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in 2014, leading Moscow to halt its annual payments to the organization in 2017. PACE voted this…

Moscow and St. Petersburg are becoming more affordable for expats, according to new rankings from a global consulting firm. Moscow placed 27th and St. Petersburg 75th out of 209 cities worldwide for the most expensive locations to work abroad in Mercer’s 2019 ranking, dropping by 10 and 26 spots from last year respectively.  “Despite moderate…

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will have an hourlong meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit on June 28 in Osaka in Japan, a Kremlin aide said on Wednesday, in their first official encounter for almost a year. The meeting will take place amid growing tension over Tehran. Trump threatened…

Two Russian paratroopers have drowned after a failed parachute landing attempt, the country’s military was quoted by news agencies as saying on Wednesday. It was unclear if the paratroopers died during the snap combat readiness inspections currently taking place in Russia’s central, eastern and southern military districts. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday that…

Iran “won’t be alone” if the United States decides to launch a military strike on the Islamic republic, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump targeted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials with sanctions on Monday. The dramatic step to increase pressure on Iran follows Tehran’s…

Alexei Mordashov’s children are quickly climbing the ranks of the world’s wealthiest, even as one of them just emerged from his teens. The country’s fourth-richest man transferred some of his holdings last week in European tour operator TUI AG, worth $890 million, to his sons Kirill, 20, and Nikita, 19. In February, he gave them…

Tourists could be barred from visiting Russia’s Lake Baikal in order to protect its ecosystem, a senior aide to President Vladimir Putin has said. Pollution has plagued Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest and oldest freshwater lake, for at least two decades. Scientists recently warned that government proposals risk exacerbating the problem.  “We’ll have to artificially…

Russian senators have voted unanimously to uphold President Vladimir Putin’s suspension of a landmark nuclear arms control treaty with the United States on Wednesday. The U.S. will withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty on Aug. 2 unless Moscow ends violations, which Russia denies, of the 1987 pact. Putin signed a decree suspending Russia’s…

Russia has agreed to pay Kazakhstan a fixed per-barrel rate of compensation for tainted oil, industry sources said on Wednesday, a breakthrough in an oil contamination crisis that disrupted Russian and Kazakh flows earlier this year. It is the first such deal and could serve as a template for other agreements, including with Western buyers…

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the Russian air force plane that landed in Venezuela this week was carrying a rotation of military specialists but that their number in the country had not increased, the state-run TASS news agency reported. The plane landed on Monday in Venezuela’s main airport, according to a Reuters witness…

If there’s one thing Russia’s good at, it’s rolling out the tanks for a grand display of military might and armed excellence. The 2019 Army forum, held Tuesday in the outskirts of Moscow, was no different. Here are a few of the fiercest fighters that the Defense Ministry put on display:

One in 10 Russians say they have been tortured by law enforcement officials, a survey by the independent Levada Center pollster said. Russian law enforcement has been rocked with several torture scandals, with victims including LGBT people in Chechnya, Jehovah’s Witnesses and prisoners. In 2018, United Nations human rights investigators called on Russia to halt frequent torture…

Regional authorities in Russia’s Arctic have introduced stricter environmental regimes on Kolguev Island to protect the island’s bird and wildlife species. The small island located in the southeastern Barents Sea, north of the Nenets coast, is considered a crucial area for migrating birds. It is also inhabited by several endangered species. The Kolguevsky Nature Reserve was…

Russian authorities are taking steps toward banning Georgian wines amid an escalation in tensions between the ex-Soviet neighbors over the past week, the Kommersant business daily reported on Wednesday. Violent protests erupted in Georgia’s capital last week after a Russian lawmaker addressed the Georgian parliament in Russian from the speaker’s chair. On Monday, Russia’s state consumer…

Moscow will respond in kind to any steps NATO takes over Russia’s decision to suspend a 1987 nuclear missile treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday, according to the state-run RIA news agency. NATO defense ministers will discuss later on Wednesday their next steps if Moscow keeps a missile system that the…

Russians are increasingly likely to rally over social than political issues, according to a newly released study of protests in the first three months of 2019. Freedom of assembly has been gradually restricted in Russia since a wave of mass protests in 2011-2012 against President Vladimir Putin. Observers say that nonpolitical demonstrations have become more frequent…