Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the deadly Novichok family, the German government said Wednesday, demanding explanations from Moscow. “The Russian government is urged to explain the incident … the substance in Navalny’s organism is undoubtedly from the Novichok family,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert in a statement. Prominent Kremlin…
On Wednesday, Germany said that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the deadly Novichok family. Novichok is a military-grade poison that was developed by the Soviet government toward the end of the Cold War. The news sent shockwaves around the West. Here’s an overview of how the world’s leading officials have so far…
The Soviet-designed nerve agent Novichok that Germany says poisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is a military-grade toxin banned as a chemical weapon after it was used in a previous attack in Britain. The newest class of nerve agent, the Novichok family of toxins was developed by the Soviet government towards the end of the…
Germany’s finding that Alexey Navalny was poisoned with nerve agent Novichok shows that only the Russian state could be responsible, the head of the opposition leader’s organization said on Wednesday. “Only the state (FSB, GRU) can use Novichok. This is beyond any reasonable doubt,” Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on Twitter,…
Eight years ago, Anton, a Russian programmer then in his mid-twenties, was lured to Minsk with an unbeatable offer from one of Belarus’ booming online games companies. He knew the country’s strongman president Alexander Lukashenko was no liberal, but having protested at the Bolotnaya Square demonstrations in Moscow in 2011-12 against Vladimir Putin’s return to…
Russia’s controversial constitutional reforms will make discussions with Japan on the dispute over a set of Pacific islands easier for Moscow, former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday. Russia and Japan are attempting to strike a formal peace treaty, which Tokyo insists on for the return of the Russian-held Kuril Islands. A set of constitutional…
Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko has thanked Russian television channel RT for providing “support” after some staff and presenters at Belarus’s state broadcaster quit in protest over his disputed re-election. “I am grateful to you for this support,” Lukashenko told an RT journalist in a video released by the channel. “This is worth a lot,” he…
Russia’s population could see its biggest decline in 14 years in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic has raised the country’s death rate amid falling birth rates, according to government forecasts reported by the RBC news website Tuesday. The Covid-19 outbreak will also push Russia’s poverty rate up from 12.3% in 2019 to 13.3% this year,…
Women wearing floor-length dresses in muted colors, men in frock coats and tailcoats, the sounds of romantic melodies, tea aroma from a wood-burning samovar and tourists with cameras… This was the scene at the Tainy Usadby (Secrets of the Manor) immersive festival, organized by the Crystal Elephant Cultural Development Club. It has been held since…
Russia has confirmed 1,005,000 cases of coronavirus and 17,414 deaths. Sept. 2: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 4,952 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 1,005,000 Elderly scientists who helped develop Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine have not reported adverse effects after being injected, the head of the research institute behind the…
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will visit Belarus on Thursday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday, after weeks of protests in Minsk against a disputed presidential election. Lavrov also confirmed that President Vladimir Putin would host Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow “in the next couple of weeks.” He made the announcements at the start of…
Elderly scientists who helped develop Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine have not reported adverse effects after being injected, the head of the research institute behind the inoculation told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency Wednesday. Sputnik V’s registration last month as the world’s first coronavirus vaccine before large-scale clinical trials has sparked questions over its…
Greece and Poland have updated their coronavirus travel restrictions to allow Russian citizens to cross their borders for two-week periods as Russia’s virus caseload topped the one million milestone. Poland’s government has removed Russia from its latest list of countries subject to a travel ban, meaning flights will be able to resume from Wednesday. According…