Year: 2019

  • 3% of Russians Trust Officials’ Income Declarations – Poll

    3% of Russians Trust Officials’ Income Declarations – Poll

    Only 3 percent of Russians believe that government officials submit trustworthy income declarations every year, according to an independent Levada Center survey. The 2018 declaration showed President Vladimir Putin earning 8.6 million rubles ($134,000), or less than half of what he earned in 2017. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s yearly pay rose to 9.9 million rubles…

  • On This Day: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    On This Day: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Born on May 7, 1840, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky became the first Russian composer to break through into the international market with a lasting impact on music all over the world. Today he remains the most popular Russian composer of all time. Tchaikovsky was born in a small town in Vyatka Governorate (now Udmurtia) to a…

  • Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha Sets New Record in Downhole Splitter Drilling

    Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha Sets New Record in Downhole Splitter Drilling

    Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha LLC, a subsidiary of Rosneft Oil Company, has set a new penetration record in Fishbone downhole splitter drilling. The total length of the horizontal wellbore exceeded the previous record by over 800 metres and reached 6,052 metres. This is the most extensive horizontal part of a downhole splitter onshore. The start-up oil rate…

  • Putin Aide Says New Ukraine Leader Could Populate War-Torn Region With Jews

    Putin Aide Says New Ukraine Leader Could Populate War-Torn Region With Jews

    Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy could populate eastern Ukrainian land with Jews, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adviser Sergei Glazyev said in an opinion piece published Monday. Glazyev’s blog post on an obscure nationalist website appeared on the day that Zelenskiy, who is himself Jewish, met with top Ukrainian Orthodox Jewish Hasidic rabbis. Kremlin officials and Russian…

  • Moscow Kicks Off Fountain Season

    Moscow Kicks Off Fountain Season

    More than 500 working fountains are located across Moscow. Once used as sources of drinking water, they can be found anywhere from the city’s most photographed sightseeing spots to its quiet courtyards. Moscow city authorities traditionally open these fountains right before the start of warm weather in May. As a result, Muscovites see the launch…

  • Half of Russians to Attend Victory Day Parades – State Poll

    Half of Russians to Attend Victory Day Parades – State Poll

    Almost half of Russians plan to attend Victory Day military parades and commemorative processions this May 9, a state poll published on Tuesday shows. Every year on May 9, Russia celebrates Victory Day to commemorate the Soviet victory in World War II. In Moscow, the day is marked with a massive parade through the city…

  • Crimean Tatars to Erase Hitler Collaboration Chapter From History Textbook

    Crimean Tatars to Erase Hitler Collaboration Chapter From History Textbook

    Authorities in annexed Crimea will remove a chapter from a 10th grade history textbook that describes Crimean Tatars as collaborating with Hitler by the beginning of the next school year. The pro-Moscow council of the Crimean Tatar ethnic group asked de-facto authorities in February to remove the offending textbook from local schools and libraries. The…

  • Morgan Stanley to Shut Down Its Russian Banking Business

    Morgan Stanley to Shut Down Its Russian Banking Business

    Morgan Stanley is planning to send a formal notice to the Russian central bank that it will close down its banking operations in the country in the first quarter of 2020, its Russian unit said in its annual report. Morgan Stanley announced late last year that it was planning a voluntary shutdown of its banking business in Russia.…

  • Russian Airline Cancels Sukhoi Superjet Order After Fatal Crash Landing – Reports

    Russian Airline Cancels Sukhoi Superjet Order After Fatal Crash Landing – Reports

    Russian regional carrier Yamal Airlines said on Monday it was cancelling its planned purchase of 10 Sukhoi Superjet 100s, the same type of aircraft involved in a fatal crash landing the previous day, the state-run TASS news agency reported. Yamal announced its decision hours after Russia’s transport minister said there was no reason to ground…

  • Fewer Than Half of Russians Support Syria Campaign, Poll Says

    Fewer Than Half of Russians Support Syria Campaign, Poll Says

    The share of Russians who support President Vladimir Putin’s military intervention in Syria has dropped from more than half to less than half since August 2017, according to an independent Levada Center survey. Russia launched air strikes in Syria in 2015, helping regime forces take back most of the country in the eight-year-long civil war.…

  • 7.5K Russians Sentenced for Bribery in 2018

    7.5K Russians Sentenced for Bribery in 2018

    Almost 7,500 people have been found guilty on charges of bribery last year, more than half of them for giving or taking less than $150, according to data released by the Russian Supreme Court’s justice department. Anti-corruption activists say official figures vastly underestimate the prevalence of bribery in a country that ranks low in transparency…

  • Belarus In the Dark About When Clean Russian Oil Flows Will Resume

    Belarus In the Dark About When Clean Russian Oil Flows Will Resume

    Belarus has no idea when clean Russian oil will flow across it once more to customers in Europe after contamination rocked the pipeline, sources at Belarusian state oil firm Belneftekhim and in the trading sector said. Flows via the main route of the Druzhba pipeline were suspended in late April because tainted crude had entered…

  • What We Know About the Deadly Aeroflot Superjet Crash Landing

    What We Know About the Deadly Aeroflot Superjet Crash Landing

    Forty-one people on board a Russian Aeroflot passenger plane, including at least one child, were killed after the aircraft caught fire during a bumpy emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport Sunday. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case and was looking into whether the pilots had violated air safety rules. [embedded content]…

  • Russian Watchdog Warns State’s Role in Economy is Growing

    Russian Watchdog Warns State’s Role in Economy is Growing

    The process of strengthening the state’s role in the economy has switched gears, as the state is no longer simply setting the rules of engagement, but attempting to regulate the whole economic system of the country, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) watchdog warned in a report on competition in 2018.   The new trends are…

  • Three Killed in Russian Chemical Plant Blast

    Three Killed in Russian Chemical Plant Blast

    At least three people have been killed in a chemical plant explosion in central Russia, media reported and the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday. Three workers were killed and one hospitalized with injuries at the Azot plant owned by fertilizer producer Uralchem, Perm region’s 59.ru news website reported. The outlet quoted the regional safety administration…

  • Severstal aouces sale of Mii-Mill Balakovo

    Severstal aouces sale of Mii-Mill Balakovo

    May 6, 2019 PAO Severstal (the “Company”) one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, announces that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Abinsk Electric Steel Works LTD for the sale of Mini-Mill Balakovo. The consideration of the transaction will be $215 million. The transaction is expected to complete…

  • 41 Confirmed Dead After Russian Aeroflot Plane Lands With Fire On Board

    41 Confirmed Dead After Russian Aeroflot Plane Lands With Fire On Board

    Forty-one people were killed and at least nine were injured when a Russian Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet plane made an emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday due to fire on board. The plane, a one-year-old Sukhoi Superjet, departed from Sheremetyevo for Murmansk but shortly after taking off requested an emergency landing after experiencing equipment…

  • Russia’s Lavrov Urges U.S. to Cancel Plans to Oust Venezuela’s Maduro

    Russia’s Lavrov Urges U.S. to Cancel Plans to Oust Venezuela’s Maduro

    Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that Russia condemns what he called a campaign to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, arranged by the United States, and urged Washington to cancel its “irresponsible” plans. Lavrov made his statements at the start of a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza in Moscow. Lavrov is traveling on Monday…

  • Mark Galeotti: ‘The Vory: Russia’s Super Mafia’

    Mark Galeotti: ‘The Vory: Russia’s Super Mafia’

    In “The Vory: Russia’s Super Mafia,” Mark Galeotti draws on years of research to tell the grimly absorbing tale of Russia’s criminal underworld. Galeotti is a specialist in Russian history, security and crime who is a senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations (Prague); a regular contributor to international news outlets, and advisor to…

  • A Day in the Life of a Yandex Food Courier

    A Day in the Life of a Yandex Food Courier

    On April 16, 21-year-old Yandex Food courier Artyk Orozaliyev died after a 10-hour shift. Doctors have linked his death to exhaustion stemming from overwork. The incident triggered outrage on social media over the Russian company’s treatment of its couriers. Other Yandex Food couriers posted complaints of steep fines and harsh delivery timetables. We followed a Yandex Food…

  • Trump Says Putin Not `Involved’ in Venezuela, Despite U.S. Claim

    Trump Says Putin Not `Involved’ in Venezuela, Despite U.S. Claim

    Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t seeking to “get involved” in the crisis in Venezuela, despite assertions by the American president’s top national security advisers that the Kremlin is offering critical support to Nicolas Maduro’s regime. “He is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela other than he’d like to…

  • Trump, Putin Discuss Possible New Nuclear Accord – White House

    Trump, Putin Discuss Possible New Nuclear Accord – White House

    U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than an hour on Friday, discussing the possibility of a new nuclear accord, North Korean denuclearization and the political situation in Venezuela, the White House said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters Trump and Putin talked about the possibility of a new…

  • Man Arrested for Vandalizing Soviet Monument Over ‘Wrong’ Tank Color

    Man Arrested for Vandalizing Soviet Monument Over ‘Wrong’ Tank Color

    A central Russian man has been detained on charges of vandalizing a monument of a Soviet tank because of its color. Authorities in Saratov were notified that red paint had been poured on the monument with a sign reading “I request that the T-34 is painted a respectable color” attached to it with Scotch tape.…

  • Bubonic Plague Scare Closes Russia-Mongolia Border, Trapping Russian Tourists

    Bubonic Plague Scare Closes Russia-Mongolia Border, Trapping Russian Tourists

    Two deaths linked to bubonic plague in Mongolia have caused authorities to place its border with Russia under “indefinite quarantine,” leaving Russian tourists stranded, The Siberian Times reported Friday. Experts say the direct descendants of the same bubonic plague that killed 50 million people in the 14th century still exist today, killing around 2,000 people…

  • Russian Nursery School Head Faces Dismissal for Abusing ‘Unpatriotic’ Kindergartener

    Russian Nursery School Head Faces Dismissal for Abusing ‘Unpatriotic’ Kindergartener

    The head of a kindergarten in southern Russia who was caught on camera shoving a 5-year-old boy to the ground for his alleged lack of patriotism will be fired after the national holidays, authorities said. Leaked footage of the woman telling the boy to “kiss the ground that feeds you” as she forces him to…

  • Russian Labor Day Detainees Declared ‘Prisoners of Conscience’

    Russian Labor Day Detainees Declared ‘Prisoners of Conscience’

    The scores of demonstrators arrested at Labor Day processions in Russia this week have been declared prisoners of conscience, the Amnesty International human rights organization said on Thursday. Russian riot police and national guardsmen detained 131 people during May Day protests on Wednesday, sometimes using extreme force to take anti-government activists into custody. Most of…

  • Ukraine’s Zelenskiy: Border ‘Only Thing Left in Common’ With Russia

    Ukraine’s Zelenskiy: Border ‘Only Thing Left in Common’ With Russia

    The Russian-Ukrainian border is the only thing left in common between the peoples of the neighboring countries, Ukraine’s President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in response to remarks from President Vladimir Putin. Between signing orders that expedite the Russian passport application process for certain categories of Ukrainians, Putin called Russians and Ukrainians “one people” with common…

  • UN Mission Criticizes Probe into Odessa Deaths

    UN Mission Criticizes Probe into Odessa Deaths

    The Ukrainian government has not duly investigated the dozens of deaths that took place when riots led to a trade union house fire in the port city of Odessa five years ago, the United Nations said Thursday. Forty-two people died in a fire after pro-Russian protesters were trapped in the trade union building on May…

  • Russia’s Lavrov Denies Moscow Asked Maduro Not to Leave Venezuela – Reports

    Russia’s Lavrov Denies Moscow Asked Maduro Not to Leave Venezuela – Reports

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed as untrue on Thursday assertions by U.S. officials that Moscow had urged Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro not to leave the country amid the continuing unrest there, the state-run RIA news agency reported. RIA also cited Lavrov as saying that Russia and the United States had irreconcilable positions on Venezuela but that…

  • On This Day: Catherine the Great

    On This Day: Catherine the Great

    On May 2, 1729, the woman who would become Catherine the Great was born as Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst in Stettin, Prussia (now known as  Szczecin, Poland) to a German family. After a largely uneventful childhood, at the age of 16 she married Karl Ulrich. Karl Ulrich was the only son of Charles Frederick, Duke…

  • Russian Arctic Researchers Evacuate Station as Polar Ice Cracks

    Russian Arctic Researchers Evacuate Station as Polar Ice Cracks

    Researchers from the Russian Hydrometeorological Institute, Roshydromet, had to flee from their Arctic station on Monday when the ice floe they were working on started to vanish from under their feet. The scientists, who are studying pollution in Russia’s Arctic region, had been on the ice for more than a month when the emergency struck…

  • First Russian to Referee Champions League Final

    First Russian to Referee Champions League Final

    Former women’s national football team defender Anastasia Pustovoitova will be the first Russian national to referee a Champions League final after the UEFA selected her to officiate the women’s final later this month. Olympique Lyonnais play FC Barcelona Femenino in Hungary on May 18. No Russian — male or female — has refereed a Champions…

  • Russia’s Oil Flows to Europe Drop Amid Contamination

    Russia’s Oil Flows to Europe Drop Amid Contamination

    Russia halted oil flows along the Druzhba pipeline to Eastern Europe and Germany last week because of contaminated crude, a move that helped lift global oil prices to a six-month high and left refiners in Europe scrambling to find supplies. Below are details about the problem and action being taken: What happened? At least 5 million…

  • Popular Russian Political Blogger ‘Stalingulag’ Reveals His Identity

    Popular Russian Political Blogger ‘Stalingulag’ Reveals His Identity

    The author of a popular anonymous political blog in Russia has revealed his identity as a financial trader with a neuromuscular disorder from the North Caucasus, confirming previous media investigations. Stalingulag has entertained his readers with frank and vulgar commentary on current events in Russia on the Telegram messaging service since 2016. His writing style…

  • Navalny, Khodorkovsky Aides Jailed After Violent Arrests

    Navalny, Khodorkovsky Aides Jailed After Violent Arrests

    Update: The St. Petersburg city court has ruled to uphold Shurshev’s and Pivovarov’s jail sentences on Thursday evening, Open Russia tweeted. Two aides to opposition leader Alexei Navalny and exiled former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky have been jailed for 10 days following May Day protests that ended in mass arrests on Wednesday. The violent detention…

  • Russia Denies Reports of Soldiers Killed in Syria

    Russia Denies Reports of Soldiers Killed in Syria

    The Russian military has denied reports that four of its soldiers were killed in Syria. Arab media reported earlier that four Russian servicemen may have been killed by Turkish-backed rebels in the northwestern Syrian province of Hama. “Not one Russian soldier has died in the Syrian Arab Republic in recent memory,” the Russian Defense Ministry…

  • Tension Grows Between U.S. and Russia Over Venezuela Standoff

    Tension Grows Between U.S. and Russia Over Venezuela Standoff

    The United States and Russia traded warnings against interfering in Venezuela on Wednesday, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Moscow of stopping President Nicolas Maduro from leaving the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Pompeo by phone that further “aggressive steps” in Venezuela would be fraught with the gravest consequences,…

  • Czech Court Says Hotel Owner Rightly Banned Russians Over Crimea

    Czech Court Says Hotel Owner Rightly Banned Russians Over Crimea

    A court in the Czech Republic has ruled that a hotel owner acted legally when he refused accommodation to Russians over the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Tomáš Krčmář protested Moscow’s takeover of Crimea in spring 2014 by initially banning all Russian tourists, then making them sign a letter stating that they oppose the annexation.…

  • Russia Celebrates the Absurd and Illogical at Annual Monstration

    Russia Celebrates the Absurd and Illogical at Annual Monstration

    On Wednesday, Russians holding bright posters with absurd slogans paraded city streets across the country for one of the best-known and oddest modern Russian demonstrations: the Monstration. The first Monstration was held far from the Russian capital city in Novosibirsk in the mid-2000s, and has since spread to Moscow itself. A Monstration is similar to…

  • The second Novovoronezh NPP-2 power block delivers its first megawatts into the Unified Energy System of Russia

    On May 1, 2018, the power startup of the Novovoronezh NPP-2 (Novovoronezh city, the Voronezh Region, an affiliate of the Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company, a part of the Electric Power Division of the Rosatom State corporation) 2nd power block took place. The innovative 3+ generation VVER-1200 power block was synchronized with the grid and achieved the…

  • Russia Warns U.S. Over ‘Aggressive’ Moves in Venezuela

    Russia Warns U.S. Over ‘Aggressive’ Moves in Venezuela

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone that further “aggressive steps” in Venezuela would be fraught with the gravest consequences, Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Lavrov also condemned what he called the United States’ “interference” in Venezuela’s internal affairs as a breach of international law, adding that…

  • Putin Signs Internet Isolation Bill Into Law

    Putin Signs Internet Isolation Bill Into Law

    President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a bill that seeks to establish Russia’s “internet sovereignty” into law. Deputies first submitted the measures to tighten state control over the internet in December, citing the need to respond to an “aggressive” U.S. national cybersecurity strategy. It has drawn fierce criticism from civil society groups over fears that it…

  • Pussy Riot Activists Granted Asylum in Sweden

    Pussy Riot Activists Granted Asylum in Sweden

    Sweden has granted asylum to two members of the anti-Kremlin activist group Pussy Riot, the country’s media reported on Wednesday. Artist Lusine Dzhanyan and her partner Alexei Knedlyakovsky have sought asylum for themselves and their two children in Sweden since 2017, saying they had received harassment and death threats in their home country. Their initial…

  • Pompeo to Speak With Russian Counterpart on Venezuela – Bolton

    Pompeo to Speak With Russian Counterpart on Venezuela – Bolton

    U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to speak with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday amid tensions over the political situation in Venezuela, White House national security adviser John Bolton said in television interviews. Pompeo on Tuesday accused Russia of intervening when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was prepared to leave the country in the…

  • Over 100 Activists Detained at Russia’s Labor Day Marches

    Over 100 Activists Detained at Russia’s Labor Day Marches

    More than 120 people have been detained during May Day marches in seven Russian cities on Wednesday. May 1 marks Labor Day in Russia, where official parades and organized street demonstrations celebrating workers and laborers are held across the country. Traditionally, official May Day celebrations in Russia are seen as a source of pride rather…

  • On This Day: In 1918 Soviet Russia Celebrated May 1

    On This Day: In 1918 Soviet Russia Celebrated May 1

    On this day in in 1918, the Soviet government marked May 1 as Day of International Solidarity with Workers. Its origins date back to Australia in 1856, when workers demonstrated for an 8-hour work day. This demand was picked up by anarchist organizations in the U.S. on May 1 in 1886. Demonstrations and marches in…

  • Moscow’s Labor Day Parade Draws 100K Marchers

    Moscow’s Labor Day Parade Draws 100K Marchers

    May 1 marks Labor Day in Russia, one of the country’s major public holidays. Cities across the country hold official parades, organized street demonstrations and marches on this day, which celebrates workers and laborers. More than 100,000 people attended this year’s parade in Moscow, according to police estimates. Here’s a look at the celebrations throughout…

  • Russia Says a Local Firm Deliberately Contaminated Oil Pipeline

    Russia Says a Local Firm Deliberately Contaminated Oil Pipeline

    Months of work are needed to restore clean oil supplies via a key Russian pipeline to Europe, Belarus said on Tuesday, as Moscow suggested a deliberate act was behind the contamination that prompted some countries to release state oil reserves. Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia and other countries halted oil imports via the Druzhba pipeline last…

  • Russia Says U.S. Claim It Told Venezuela’s Maduro Not to Flee Is Part of ‘Information War’

    Russia Says U.S. Claim It Told Venezuela’s Maduro Not to Flee Is Part of ‘Information War’

    Russia‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday rejected a suggestion by Washington that it had persuaded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro not to flee in the face of street protests, calling the assertion part of an information war. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was prepared to leave the country on Tuesday morning in the face of a…

  • Putin Sacks Russian Envoy to Belarus Amid Oil Row

    Putin Sacks Russian Envoy to Belarus Amid Oil Row

    Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly sacked Moscow’s ambassador to Belarus, Mikhail Babich, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, amid a row over contaminated oil and a wider political discord between the ex-Soviet countries. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has generally been more closely aligned with Moscow than any other ex-Soviet leader, while the lack of tolerance for…

  • Notice on holding the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of PJSC PhosAgro

    Notice on holding the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of PJSC PhosAgro

    PJSC PhosAgro (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR) (“PhosAgro”, the “Company”), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, hereby informs / notifies its shareholders that the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders is to be held on 24 May 2019, Form of the Extraordinary General Meeting: joint attendance of shareholders for discussion of the agenda…

  • Russia Accuses Venezuelan Opposition of Resorting to Violence

    Russia Accuses Venezuelan Opposition of Resorting to Violence

    Russia‘s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday accused the opposition in Venezuela of resorting to violence in what it said was a brazen attempt to draw the country’s armed forces into clashes. The ministry made the allegation after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido called for a military uprising to oust President Nicolas Maduro and armed factions exchanged…

  • Garbage Protesters in Russia’s North Brace for Showdown as Troops Descend

    Garbage Protesters in Russia’s North Brace for Showdown as Troops Descend

    National Guard troops have been sent to a northern Russian region at the heart of longstanding resistance to importing Moscow’s trash, the investigative Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported on Tuesday. Residents have opposed plans to build the 10.5 billion ruble ($160.7 million) Shiyes landfill in Arkhangelsk region since last summer. Arkhangelsk is one of dozens of…

  • Gulag Documentary Takes Russian YouTube by Storm

    Gulag Documentary Takes Russian YouTube by Storm

    Russia’s online community has been abuzz over the past week with praise for popular YouTuber Yury Dud’s documentary about life in the land of the gulag labor camps. It’s a departure for the 32-year-old sports editor, whose 5.1 million subscribers tune in to watch him interview personalities from all walks of life about their personal…

  • Children of Gazprom Transgaz Nizhny Novgorod employees awarded at national arts festival

    Children of Gazprom Transgaz Nizhny Novgorod employees awarded at national arts festival

    News from projects and regions April 30, 2019, 15:10 On April 21, the 19th Plasticine Crow National Children’s Arts Festival concluded in Saransk with a big gala concert. The team of the Torbeyevskoye Gas Pipeline Operation Center, branch of Gazprom Transgaz Nizhny Novgorod, had taken part in the festival. The final round of the competition included 54 concert numbers by young performers aged between…

  • European Court Awards Russian Activists $34K for Rights Violations

    European Court Awards Russian Activists $34K for Rights Violations

    Europe’s human rights court has awarded opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s aide and an activist $17,000 each for violations of their rights and freedoms by the Russian government. Elvira Dmitriyeva, Navalny’s coordinator in the city of Kazan, was fined in 2017 for organizing and campaigning for participation in an unauthorized public event. Grigory Kablis’ social media…

  • Muscovites React to Multi-Million Dollar Fountain Restoration

    Muscovites React to Multi-Million Dollar Fountain Restoration

    The Stone Flower fountain is one of the more famous attractions in Moscow’s VDNKh exhibition park. The fountain, which was built in 1954, recently underwent renovations. But do Moscow’s residents know how much it really cost? According to a government tender, the restoration of the fountain cost 1.2 billion rubles ($18.6 million). For comparison, the…

  • Restoring Repin: Criminal Sentenced As Work Continues

    Restoring Repin: Criminal Sentenced As Work Continues

    In May 2018, disaster struck in the Tretyakov Gallery. On a Friday evening just before closing time, a man ran into the almost empty hall of works by Ilya Repin, picked up a metal stanchion and bashed the glass-enclosed painting, “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan November 16, 1581.” The assailant broke through the…

  • Moscow Marches Toward Victory Day Parade

    Moscow Marches Toward Victory Day Parade

    Each year on May 9, Russia and a handful of former Soviet countries celebrate Victory Day, which marks the day after Nazi Germany surrendered and Soviet forces took control of Berlin. The end of the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in Russia, is still celebrated as the country’s most important public…

  • On This Day: Nicholas II Signs Decree for “Tolerance Development”

    On This Day: Nicholas II Signs Decree for “Tolerance Development”

    On April 30, 1905, Emperor Nicholas II issued a decree on “Tolerance Development.” It would be the first in a series meant to reform relations between Russia’s church and state. This Edict of Toleration — a declaration made by a ruler or government that protects practitioners of a religion from persecution — gave the religions…