Day: September 3, 2020
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Navalny Ally Says Poisoning ‘New Chapter’ in Kremlin Crackdown
Alexei Navalny’s top ally said Thursday that the Russian opposition leader’s poisoning opened a “new chapter” in a crackdown on dissent and accused the Kremlin of seeking to avoid responsibility for the attack. Allies like Ivan Zhdanov put the blame for the 44-year-old Navalny’s poisoning with a Novichok nerve agent squarely on President Vladimir Putin’s…
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Belarus Leader Replaces Security Chiefs as Russian Prime Minister Visits
Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday replaced his security chiefs and said progress was being made on plans to bring Moscow and Minsk closer. Lukashenko, who is under huge pressure from protesters to step down after last month’s disputed election, replaced the heads of the KGB security service, the security council and the state control…
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Don’t Blame Us for Navalny Poisoning, Russia Says
There is no reason to accuse Russia of poisoning prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin said Thursday, as the fallout from the case raises the threat of new Western sanctions against Moscow. Germany said Wednesday that Berlin has “unequivocal” proof that Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok family. Britain in…
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Chemical Arms Watchdog Voices ‘Grave Concern’ Over Navalny Case
The head of the world chemical arms watchdog expressed “grave concern” on Thursday after Germany said Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had been poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director-General Fernando Arias added that the Hague-based body was ready to help any member country that asked for…
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Navalny Case Poisons Ties Between Germany, Russia
German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced mounting pressure Thursday to toughen her ambivalent stance toward Russia following her announcement that Berlin has “unequivocal” proof that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a deadly nerve agent. The Navalny case is only the latest in what Berlin has seen as a series of bitter provocations by…
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Lukashenko Says ‘Intercepted Call’ Shows Germany ‘Falsified’ Navalny Poisoning Claims
Germany “falsified” its statement that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned, Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko told Russia’s visiting prime minister Thursday, citing an intercepted conversation. The German government said Wednesday that Navalny, 44, who remains in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator two weeks after falling ill on a flight, was poisoned…
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A New Russian Law Could Ban Trans People From Officially Changing Their Gender
When Irma Veller, a 44-year-old transgender woman, found out about a new Russian law that would bar transgender people from changing their gender on their birth certificates, she decided it was finally time to leave the country. “I understood that my life is of no value here anymore,” Veller told The Moscow Times last week…
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Europeans Turned Off Visiting Russia by High Costs, Low Awareness – Survey
Europeans avoid Russia because of low awareness of the country as a tourist destination and high costs of travel, according to a survey by the Moscow-based NAFI research center. Two-thirds of those polled told NAFI they had not encountered media information about tourist attractions in Russia. “The lack of information contributes to the spread of…
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Almost All Arctic Wildfires Producing Record CO2 Emissions Are in Russia – EU
This year’s Arctic Circle wildfires, still ablaze, have already surpassed the record set in 2019 for CO2 emissions, adding to the carbon pollution humanity needs to curtail, the European Union’s Earth observation program said Thursday. Uncontrolled forest fires across one of the planet’s coldest regions has sent a quarter of a billion tonnes of CO2 spiraling…
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‘Paradise Without Cocaine.’ Ousted Kremlin Aide Surkov Publishes Poem
Vladislav Surkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longtime aide and Ukraine pointman, who was dismissed in February, has penned a poem on the virtues of freedom and loneliness. In his poem, Surkov, 55, a noted lyricist and rap aficionado, reflected on being ousted after seven years of deciding Russia’s Ukraine policy and cultivating the image of…
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Russia Plans to Resume Egypt, UAE, Maldives Flights Amid Pandemic
Russia has added Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives to the list of countries it plans to restart flights with five months after closing its borders due to the coronavirus pandemic, a government decree said Thursday. Russia grounded most international flights in late March to slow the spread of Covid-19. Russia gradually lifted…