Day: June 19, 2020

Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov on Friday backed compatriots involved in clashes in French city Dijon this month, saying they were protecting one of their own because police failed to act. Kadyrov’s message came as French police carried out raids and made several arrests of Chechens after several nights of violence blamed on members of the…

Russia on Friday said the new space strategy unveiled by the U.S. this week was “aggressive,” accusing Washington of seeing space as a place to wage war.  “The document confirms the agressive course by Washington in the space sphere,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Space is seen by the U.S. side as an…

The Russian Premier League emerges from its coronavirus lockdown Friday with Rostov forced to field a team of inexperienced youngsters at Sochi with their main side in quarantine. Rostov had tried to get the game postponed after six players tested positive for Covid-19. But hosts Sochi pushed for the fixture to go ahead as they…

Russian authorities plan to build a “flexible pipeline” to pump out toxic fuel collected from the site of the largest-ever oil spill in the Arctic. More than 21,000 metric tons of diesel leaked into soil and rivers after a fuel tank collapsed on May 29 at a power plant near the Siberian city of Norilsk.…

The European Union has agreed to extend punishing sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine by six months, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday. The sanctions, which target whole sectors of the Russian economy including its valuable oil businesses, were due to expire this month but “would be extended by six months,” said Merkel…

Moscow’s main streets were hit with some unusually heavy traffic — literally — Thursday evening as military vehicles and tanks rolled toward Red Square in a rehearsal for next week’s Victory Day parade. The parade, which will take place June 24, was postponed from its original date of May 9 due to the coronavirus. Muscovites…

Russians voting on constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to extend his rule are putting their lives at risk because the coronavirus pandemic is still widespread, a regional health official has warned. The vote for Putin’s reforms, which he already signed into law in March, was postponed from its original date in April…

President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday accused foreign powers of seeking to destabilize Belarus as he intensifies a crackdown on the opposition ahead of August’s election. In power since 1994, Lukashenko is seeking a sixth term in the Aug. 9 presidential election.  Several of his critics including former banker Viktor Babaryko, seen as Lukashenko’s leading election…

A former Russian governor who sued President Vladimir Putin over his dismissal has died at age 58 from coronavirus complications, Interfax reported Thursday. Mikhail Ignatyev was hospitalized in critical condition with pneumonia in both lungs and placed on oxygen support last month. He became the first ex-governor to sue Putin over what he said was…

Russia’s constitutional amendments will bring back the Soviet era and end Russia being “ruled by Uncle Sam,” the governor of a southern Siberian region has said in support of the reforms. The amendments, which President Vladimir Putin signed into law in March and Russian voters are expected to back in a July 1 vote, reset…

French police carried out raids in the eastern city of Dijon on Friday after several nights of violence blamed on members of its Chechen community, officials said. “The police operations are aimed at finding weapons, ammunition and narcotics,” said Bernard Schmeltz, the government’s top official for the region. Around 140 officers took part in the…

There have been 569,063 cases of coronavirus infection reported in Russia so far and 7,841 deaths. June 19: 3 things you need to know today Dozens of Russian World War II veterans who plan to attend the rescheduled Victory Day parade on Red Square on June 24 are self-isolating outside Moscow in order to protect President Vladimir Putin from…

Sergei Khrushchev, the son of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, has died in the United States at age 84, his granddaughter told the RBC news website Thursday. Sergei Khrushchev has held both U.S. and Russian citizenships since 1999, eight years after moving to Providence, Rhode Island, and resided permanently in the U.S.  His granddaughter Nina…

President Vladimir Putin’s close associates are the biggest beneficiaries of the country’s 2 trillion ruble ($28.7 billion) waste disposal reforms, according to an analysis of contracts by Russia’s Important Stories investigative website published Thursday. Companies linked to close Putin associates Sergei Chemezov, Arkady Rotenberg and Yury Kovalchuk, as well as former prosecutor general Igor Chaika,…

Belarussian authorities on Thursday detained President Alexander Lukashenko’s rival ahead of August’s election as Minsk intensified a crackdown on the opposition. The detention of Viktor Babaryko, a 56-year-old former banker, on suspicion of financial crimes came after authorities jailed other critics including prominent opposition politician Mikola Statkevich ahead of an election in which Lukashenko is…