Russia’s Good Year at the Awards

Despite concerns over censorship, the film and performing arts in Russia remain largely free of government interference. While the government can certainly impact the film industry and theater through funding and sometimes, with film, by withholding screening permits, there are many independent companies that can produce whatever they want. Now that the awards season for…

Russian Military Pairs Stealth Drone With Manned Fighter Jet

Russia’s Defense Ministry has released footage of its stealth drone flying with a fighter jet a week after unveiling the unmanned aircraft’s maiden flight. The Okhotnik (“Hunter”) combat drone is equipped with a jet engine, anti-radar skin coating and can speed up to 1,000 kilometers per hour, according to the Defense Ministry. The Okhotnik’s design…

Putin Reserves Key 5G Frequency for Military Use, Media Reports

Russia risks falling behind the rest of the world in next-generation 5G technology after President Vladimir Putin has reserved its most popular frequency range for the military and intelligence services, Russia’s Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday. With speeds at least 10 times faster than 4G technology, 5G is expected to power internet-connected products ranging from…

Baring Vostok Executive Calvey to Stay Under House Arrest

Russia softened its stance in a high-profile legal standoff that has shaken foreign investors when a court Thursday freed jailed French private equity executive Philippe Delpal from custody and placed him under house arrest instead. Delpal was one of several executives at private equity group Baring Vostok, including U.S. citizen Michael Calvey, who were detained…

On This Day Rock Legend Viktor Tsoi Died

Viktor Robertovich Tsoi was born and raised in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. The Russian rock legend and frontman of the group Kino was the only child of Valentina Tsoi, a Russian school teacher, and Robert Tsoi, a Soviet-Korean engineer. Tsoi’s roots go back to Songjin, or what today is known as Kimchaek, North Korea, where…

Kremlin Hails Emergency Landing Pilots as Heroes

The Kremlin will bestow state awards on two pilots who made a successful emergency landing of a passenger plane with 233 people on board near Moscow on Thursday. The Health Ministry said 23 people had suffered injuries but that nobody had been killed when the Ural Airlines Airbus 321 came down in a field southeast…

Armed FSB Officers Search Office of Russian Rights Group

Russian security officers armed with automatic rifles searched on Wednesday the Moscow offices of a rights group that represents the interests of Russian nationals in the European Court of Human Rights, the group said. Members of the Federal Security Service (FSB) searched an office used by Justice Initiative and its partner organisation Astreya and confiscated…

‘Top 100 Influential Russian Muslims’ Ranking Released by Local Media

A Russian media outlet has for the first time compiled a ranking of the country’s 100 most influential Muslims, with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov featured alongside tycoons, government officials and spiritual leaders. An estimated 20 million Muslims make up Russia’s second-largest religious minority, comprising about 14% of the overall population. Seven of Russia’s 85…

On This Day Writer Dmitry Merezhkovsky Was Born

Dmitry Merezhkovsky was born in St. Petersburg in 1866 in a family of a government official. In his teen years, and with his mother’s support, he was already writing poetry and contemplating the religious questions that would come to occupy him throughout his life. From 1884 to 1889, he studied philology and history at the…

The Kremlin Sees Signs of Foreign Interference All Around

During a recent session of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, officials whipped themselves into a frenzy over a worrisome development: foreign powers trying to meddle in the country’s elections. The elections in question were for the Moscow City Duma, a toothless body with little or no ability to influence affairs in Russia’s…

Russian Scientists Told to Beware Foreign Contacts, Academic Says

Russian authorities have recommended for scientists to avoid communicating with their foreign colleagues, a prominent academic has complained in an open letter. The Russian Science and Higher Education Ministry reportedly distributed a decree in July advising scientists to brief the ministry in detail about upcoming meetings with foreign counterparts and to seek approval from bosses…

Russia Dodges Bad Data With Less Frequent Publications

At least three state-backed agencies have reduced the frequency of their publications of economic and polling data over increasingly worrisome figures this year. Low oil prices and Western sanctions, as well as Russia’s expenditures on its military campaign in Syria and a reported backing of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, have put a dent in many…

Russian Fighter Jets Push NATO War Plane Away

Russian fighter jets pushed away a NATO war plane after it tried to approach Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s plane over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea, TASS news agency reported. The plane was flying from Kaliningrad to Moscow and was carrying a TASS reporter on board, the report said.

Gazprom Dobycha Nadym taking part in large-scale environmental project on Vilkitsky Island

Background Gazprom Dobycha Nadym is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom. The company’s key activities are production and treatment of gas and gas condensate. Gazprom Dobycha Nadym was the first gas production company in the north of Western Siberia. It was created to develop and operate the Medvezhye oil, gas and condensate field. It is now also involved in production at the Yubileynoye, Yamsoveyskoye, and Bovanenkovskoye fields. The company holds the license…

Moscow’s 50,000-Strong Opposition Protest, in Quotes

An estimated 50,000 people took to the streets of Moscow on Saturday in one of the largest protests in Russia since 2012. They rallied against the authorities’ blocking of opposition candidates from local elections next month and the heavy police crackdowns during recent demonstrations.  Chants calling on Russia to free its political prisoners could be…

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Simplifies Citizenship Process for ‘Persecuted’ Russians

Ukraine’s new president has made it easier for Russians facing “political persecution” to become Ukrainian citizens in an ongoing passport battle between the countries. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last month ordered an overhaul of the process for granting Ukrainian citizenship in response to Russia expanding the number of Ukrainians who can apply for fast-track Russian passports.…

Moscow Art Group Takes St. Petersburg By Storm

In late July, the internationally acclaimed art group AES + F launched a new exhibition, “Predictions and Revelations,” featuring eight of their biggest projects from the last two decades. The eye needs time to adjust before it can take in the enormous digital collage installation that greets the visitor to the exhibition “Predictions and Revelations”…

Record Protests Rock Moscow

An estimated 50,000 protesters took to the streets of Moscow on Saturday, Aug. 10, in one of the largest protests in Russia since 2012. They rallied against the barring of opposition candidates from local elections next month and police crackdowns at recent rallies. 256 were detained in a march after the demonstration.

On This Day: The Kursk Submarine Disaster

On Aug. 12, 2000, the nuclear submarine Kursk sank, killing all on board: 118 crew members.  President Vladimir Putin, then in his first term as president, was faced with intense criticism over his handling of his first national disaster.  The catastrophe took place in the Barents Sea on the first Russian naval annual exercise that…

Russia’s Muslims Celebrate Kurban Bairam

Muslims in Russia celebrated the religious holiday of Kurban Bairam, or Eid al-Adha, on Sunday. The holiday, whose name means “Festival of the Sacrifice,” commemorates the prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. During the festival of Kurban Bairam, considered one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar, large groups…

Yamburg sports and technical club wins silver in Nether-Polar Cross

Background Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom. It operates in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area. The company is focused on gas and gas condensate production. Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg holds licenses for the development and production of hydrocarbons from the Yamburgskoye and Zapolyarnoye fields and is preparing for commercial production the Severo-Kamennomyssky, Kamennomysskoye-Sea, Obsky, Chugoryakhinsky, Tazovsko-Zapolyarny and Yuzhno-Parusovy subsurface areas, and, as part of joint ventures, the Parusovy,…