Day: February 26, 2020

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

Belarus has for the first time arrested a Jehovah’s Witness at Russia’s request, the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia organization said Tuesday amid an ongoing crackdown on the religious group across Russia. More than 300 believers have been charged or convicted since Russia banned the religious group as an “extremist” organization in 2017. Russian authorities have…

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Wednesday Moscow would suspend flights between Russia and South Korea from March 1 over coronavirus fears, except those operated by Aeroflot and Aurora. Golikova said Russia would also stop issuing visas to some Iranian citizens from Feb. 28 and was advising Russians against travelling to Italy. Flights…

President Vladimir Putin’s longtime aide Vladislav Surkov has spoken out for the first time since his dismissal last week. Putin formally sacked Surkov seven years after he began supervising the Kremlin’s policy on Ukraine, a period that included the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in the country’s east. Surkov’s former aide Alexei…

Maria Sharapova, the Russian five-time Grand Slam champion who became one of the highest-paid sportswomen in the world, announced her retirement at the age of 32 on Wednesday. Florida-based Sharapova, whose Wimbledon victory in 2004, aged 17, propelled her to superstardom, broke the news in an article for magazine Vanity Fair. “I’m new to this, so please…

Polar bears in Russia’s Arctic are increasingly turning to cannibalism as growing human activity and development in the region shrinks their hunting grounds, scientists at the Russian Academy of Sciences said Wednesday. While cannibalism is a recognized part of polar bears’ natural behavior, its frequency has climbed sharply in recent years, Ilya Mordvintsev, a senior…

China’s Embassy in Russia has demanded authorities in Moscow end what it said are discriminatory anti-coronavirus measures against Chinese nationals, saying they are damaging relations and alarming Chinese residents of the Russian capital. The complaint, detailed in an embassy letter to the city’s authorities and published by the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper late on Tuesday, deplored what it called “ubiquitous monitoring”…

The United States announced Tuesday it was imposing sanctions on 13 foreign entities and individuals in Russia and other countries for supporting Iran’s missile program as President Donald Trump also extended Crimea-related sanctions. The State Department said the action placed new sanctions on three Chinese firms, a Chinese individual and a Turkish company. It did…

A former U.S. Marine faces up to 10 years in Russian prison for allegedly assaulting police officers during a drunken night out last year, charges that his defense denies, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Trevor Reed, 28, who was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2016, traveled to Moscow last May to visit his…

The Russian Orthodox Church has begun installing video surveillance cameras at its Moscow churches to comply with government anti-terrorism orders, Interfax reported Tuesday.  The Moscow Patriarchate’s move follows a September 2019 decree signed by then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev requiring all religious organizations to install security and surveillance systems as part of the government’s anti-terrorism campaign.…