Day: June 15, 2020

Russian gas giant Gazprom will reimburse Poland’s PGNiG to the tune of $1.5 billion by July 1 for overcharging it for its supplies for years, the Polish company said on Monday following a court battle. On March 30, state-owned PGNiG won a case against Gazprom over its long-term contract for gas imports at an international…

Senior editors at Russia’s leading business newspaper quit Monday in protest against what they say is censorship under new ownership, as a months-long dispute between journalists and management came to a head. Vedomosti is one of the last major independent newspapers in Russia, where journalists are increasingly squeezed by curbs on press freedoms and pressure…

Senior editors at Russia’s leading business newspaper quit en masse Monday in protest against what they say is censorship under new management as a long-running dispute between journalists and management came to a head. Vedomosti is one of the few remaining independent news outlets in Russia, where journalists are increasingly squeezed by curbs on press freedoms and…

French police said Monday that dozens of reinforcements were being sent to the eastern city of Dijon after it was rocked by a weekend of unrest blamed on Chechens seeking vengeance for an assault on a teenager. Police sources said the unrest was sparked by an attack on a 16-year-old member of the Chechen community…

A Russian scientist has been charged with treason on allegations of passing state secrets to China, Reuters reported Monday. Valery Mitko, 78, president of the Arctic Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, faces up to 20 years in prison, his lawyer Ivan Pavlov was cited as saying. Pavlov said his client read lectures in China using…

There have been 537,210 cases of coronavirus infection reported in Russia so far and 7,091 deaths. June 15: 3 things you need to know today Russia more than doubled its official coronavirus death toll for April to 2,712 after changing how it classifies fatalities. Three more Russian cities, Penza, Chelyabinsk and Yakutsk, have canceled plans to hold Victory Day…

Russia could send Paul Whelan home to the United States as part of an exchange with Russian prisoners held in the U.S., officials and lawyers said after Whelan’s sentencing Monday. Whelan, a former Marine who also holds British, Canadian and Irish passports, was sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony for espionage in a…

Russia consecrated a massive new Orthodox cathedral dedicated to the country’s Armed Forces on Sunday. The grand ceremony featured Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov and other top officials. The cathedral drew controversy during the building stage for initial plans, which were…

Moscow’s Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center has sparked controversy with a job posting for a bartender that listed “Slavic appearance” as one of its requirements. The museum, a multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art complex that opened in 2012, blamed an HR contractor for violating its principles and said it has terminated its contract with the company. “I’m inclined to think…

Russia on Monday expelled two Czech diplomats, retaliating over the expulsion of two of its own embassy workers from Prague this month over a fake story about a poisoning plot. The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Czech envoy Vitezslav Pivonka and informed him that “two employees of the Czech Embassy in Moscow are declared personas non-gratae,”…

Russian officials have urged hotels to ban unmarried couples from checking in as a way of preventing the spread of coronavirus, the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported Saturday. Hotels would be required to “explain” why unmarried couples end up in the same room, said the state consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.  “The onus of obtaining proof…

A Russian court on Monday sentenced former U.S. marine Paul Whelan to 16 years in a penal colony for espionage in a verdict that has outraged Washington. Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty of receiving classified information as he stood in the dock with a sign that read “Sham trial!” and pleaded for U.S. President Donald…