Day: June 24, 2020

Nearly 150,000 residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine with Russian passports will join Russians in voting on a set of constitutional reforms that would allow President Vladimir Putin to extend his rule, a Russian official has said. From June 25 to July 1, Russians will vote on the constitutional amendments, which contain a controversial clause to…

Previously unseen photographs of President Vladimir Putin’s rumored daughters have emerged in the archives of the fugitive tycoon once dubbed “Putin’s banker.” Sergei Pugachev, 57, is credited with helping Putin ascend to the presidency in 1999. He became a French citizen a decade later and left Russia in 2011 after falling out with some of…

Two naval construction yards in a northern Russian city near the site of last year’s mysterious nuclear testing accident have become new hotbeds for the coronavirus. Severodvinsk is near the Nyonoksa testing site where an August 2019 explosion during a rocket engine test killed five nuclear workers and led to a radiation spike. The building of nuclear…

The Chinese Embassy in Moscow has issued a warning after some of its citizens forged negative coronavirus test results to fly back home from Russia, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday. Russia temporarily banned Chinese nationals from entry in February in an effort to prevent the Covid-19 outbreak which originated in China from spreading.…

Russia staged a grand military parade Wednesday to mark 75 years since the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. “It is impossible even to imagine what the world would be if the Red Army hadn’t come to defend it,” President Vladimir Putin said at the event. Russia was forced to postpone the…

A court in western Russia has granted early release to the first Jehovah’s Witness to be convicted on extremism charges in the country, the religious group said Tuesday. Danish national Dennis Christensen was arrested in May 2017 at a prayer meeting in the town of Oryol south of Moscow and sentenced in 2019 for six…

Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Zheenbekov pulled out of attending Russia’s Victory Day parade after two members of his delegation tested positive for coronavirus upon arriving in Moscow, his press service said Wednesday. Zheenbekov was one of several leaders set to attend the parade on Red Square marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over the…

Columns of tanks and troops paraded through Moscow on Wednesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over grand World War II commemorations to stir up patriotic fervor ahead of a vote on extending his rule. Putin was flanked on Red Square by elderly war veterans in uniforms laden with medals as thousands of troops carrying…

The European Union is considering barring Russian travelers from entering when it reopens its borders next week, The New York Times reported Tuesday. American and Brazilian visitors could also face the EU ban over the countries’ failures to control their Covid-19 outbreaks. The U.S., Brazil and Russia have the world’s highest Covid-19 caseloads with more…

There have been 606,881 cases of coronavirus infection reported in Russia so far and 8,513 deaths. June 24: 3 things you need to know today Starting Tuesday, Moscow’s indoor dining, fitness clubs, swimming pools and public sports and recreation facilities will reopen after being closed for months due to the coronavirus. Russia held its landmark Victory Day parade on…

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) was again on the agenda as Russia’s Arctic Commission convened last week to discuss key developments in the country’s north. The Northern Sea Route covers the waters between the Novaya Zemlya archipelago and the Bering Strait. The shipping route’s development has been a top priority ever since President Vladimir Putin included…

Idalmis Moreno, a nurse with 15 years of clinical experience in her native Cuba, has spent two years trying to gain the migration status in Russia that would allow her to work.  Historical ties and visa-free travel between the countries have made Russia a popular destination for Cuban migrants. Some, like Moreno, arrive seeking employment…