Month: October 2020

Russia has confirmed 1,636,781 cases of coronavirus and 28,235 deaths. Nov. 1: What you need to know today Russia has confirmed 18,665 new cases and 245 new deaths. Over 150 patients were evacuated from a coronavirus hospital on Saturday in the Ural city of Chelyabinsk following an oxygen explosion and fire.  All of Russia’s regions are currently experiencing shortages of doctors to…

For several long years now, the European Union has been waging onerous trench warfare on two fronts. On the eastern front, Brussels has been in conflict with a malign Moscow since 2014: refusing to repeal sanctions against Russia, deflecting all the Kremlin’s new information attacks, and attempting to maintain a unified position among its disorderly…

Russia said Saturday it would provide “necessary” assistance to Yerevan in its conflict with Azerbaijan if fighting reached Armenian territory after its ally requested help. Earlier Saturday Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan formally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin “urgent” consultations on security assistance in its conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.…

Protesters gathered outside the French Embassy in Moscow on Thursday and Friday to picket against French President Emmanuel Macron. In comments that angered many Muslims this week, Macron defended the right to publish controversial cartoons as part of France’s secular tradition following the beheading of a French teacher who had shown a Charlie Hebdo cartoon…

At least one-third of Russians are actively preparing for a second coronavirus lockdown despite officials’ continued assurances that there are no plans to enact stricter measures, the RBC news website cited a survey as saying Friday. Russia has seen record-breaking surges in new coronavirus infections over the past two months as the outbreak gradually shifts from…

A Russian technology entrepreneur on Friday lost a UK libel case against a former MI6 intelligence officer whose dossier on Donald Trump’s alleged links to Moscow played into attempts to impeach the U.S. president. Aleksej Gubarev had sued Christopher Steele for defamation for claiming he had “knowing involvement” in the hacking of Democratic party emails…

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko ordered his security chiefs Friday to crack down on protesters and “take no prisoners” in his grimmest warning yet after months of demonstrations. The ex-Soviet nation has witnessed mass protests since the 66-year-old authoritarian leader claimed a landslide victory in August presidential elections that critics and Western leaders say was rigged.…

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny returned to his popular YouTube show for the first time after his poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent, accusing President Vladimir Putin of his attempted murder and vowing to return to Russia as soon as he recovers. Navalny, 44, appeared to his show’s 2 million subscribers on a video call from…

Belarus has seen weekly mass protests against the disputed presidential re-election of Alexander Lukashenko for nearly three months. On Monday, exiled Belarusian opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called for a national strike after the deadline she set for Lukashenko to resign and free all political prisoners expired the previous day. Here’s more of the latest news…

Russian MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov has joined a growing chorus of protests by prominent Muslims against French President Emmanuel Macron’s defense of secular values in the wake of two deadly terrorist attacks with a withering Instagram post. Macron became the target of widespread anger in the Islamic world for defending the display of cartoons of…

Russia has confirmed 1,599,976 cases of coronavirus and 27,656 deaths. Oct. 30: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 18,283 Covid-19 cases Friday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,599,976 and setting a new one-day record for infections. In the past 24 hours, 355 people have died.  All of Russia’s regions are currently experiencing shortages of doctors to…

Police in Russia’s republic of Tatarstan have shot and killed a teenager after he attacked a police station with Molotov cocktails and injured one officer with a knife while calling the officers “enemies of Allah,” authorities said Friday. Police said officers chased after the suspect who threw at least two Molotov cocktails at the station’s…

Azerbaijani forces were closing in on the key town of Shusha on Thursday evening — the capture of which could transform the conflict at a time when analysts fear a “war of attrition” could be about to set in as winter approaches the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region. Meanwhile talks in Geneva will attempt to move towards…

Russia’s coronavirus vaccine faces equipment shortages that could delay it from entering mass production, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday as reports suggested that developers have paused clinical trials due to the shortages. Staff at eight of the 25 trial clinics in Moscow said that they temporarily halted the vaccination of new volunteers with Sputnik V,…

Russia confirmed a record daily increase in coronavirus infections for the second consecutive day Friday, reporting more than 18,000 new cases for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 18,283 new coronavirus cases pushes the overall number of Covid-19 cases in Russia to 1,599,976, the world’s fourth-highest number. The new milestone…

Russia is open to Azerbaijan reclaiming seven areas surrounding the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh that Armenia has controlled for 26 years, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Azerbaijani forces have been making gains against Armenian separatist fighters since the heaviest fighting since a 1994 ceasefire over the South Caucasus region erupted last month. The Armenia-controlled districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh,…

Fighting continued Thursday in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region after the third attempt at a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan — a U.S. brokered deal — fell apart within minutes of coming into effect earlier in the week. Oct. 29: What you need to know today The leader of Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh said Azerbaijani forces…

The multimillion dollar settlement reached in the Baring Vostok civil case shows strong-arm tactics and criminalization of business disputes are still an effective ways to settle corporate conflicts in Russia, analysts told The Moscow Times. Warring parties in the most high-profile business dispute of recent years — between U.S. investor Michael Calvey’s Baring Vostok investment…

A multi-domed Russian Orthodox cathedral will be constructed at Moscow State University for students and staff, the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church announced Tuesday.  The new Saints Cyril and Methodius cathedral, designed by architect Dmitry Pshenichnikov, will be crowned by a 46-meter (150 feet) bell tower surrounded by more than a dozen domes. The…

Belarus has seen weekly mass protests against the disputed presidential re-election of Alexander Lukashenko for nearly three months. On Monday, exiled Belarusian opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called for a national strike after the deadline she set for Lukashenko to resign and free all political prisoners expired the previous day. Here’s more of the latest news…

A satirical magazine that mocks religion, politics and culture like France’s Charlie Hebdo would not be able to exist in Russia, the Kremlin said Thursday after France saw its second deadly terror attack in two weeks.  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Thursday’s killing of three people in a Nice church — which came after a Chechen…

Alleged Russian agents offered to send 10,000 soldiers to Catalonia during its failed bid for independence from Spain in 2017, Spanish and European media reported Wednesday. The claims are based on audio recordings from one of the 21 Catalan businessmen detained this week on suspicion of corruption and incitement of public disorder, according to Politico…

An annual commemoration held in honor of victims of Stalinist repressions has moved online Thursday due to the coronavirus pandemic, its organizers said. Participants of the “Returning the Names” ceremony traditionally gather outside the former KGB headquarters in central Moscow every Oct. 29 to read the names, ages and professions of those who died in Stalin’s…

Alexander, a German citizen, first met Anna on Valentine’s Day during a break from his studies in Russia’s grand imperial capital St. Petersburg. She had offered to show him around her home city during his two-week course after they connected on the Couchsurfing platform. As they ate dinner at a Soviet-style restaurant with rugs decorating…

Russia has gradually moved to re-open its borders after grounding nearly all international flights this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Aug. 1, Russia resumed direct flights to Tanzania, Turkey, and the U.K. Nearly four months later, regular international flights now connect Russia with more than 10 countries and additional air links with Cuba,…

Russia confirmed a new record of 17,717 coronavirus cases and 366 deaths Thursday as the second wave of the disease overwhelms the country’s regions outside Moscow. The latest record increase in infections smashes the previous single-day highs set last Friday and this Monday by at least 370 cases.  Russia’s overall Covid-19 caseload now stands at…

A disgruntled Russian PR executive had provided some of the key unverified allegations for a controversial report at the heart of 2016 U.S. election meddling claims known as the Steele dossier, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. British counterintelligence specialist Christopher Steele’s report that leaked in 2017 alleged, among other things, that Russian security services…

Prominent American political strategist Vitali Shkliarov has returned to the United States from Belarus where he was detained in late July and accused of mobilising protesters, his lawyer and officials said Wednesday. Shkliarov was among several prominent figures seized in Belarus amid a crackdown on opponents of strongman president Alexander Lukashenko, whose victory in the…

Russia has reportedly set up a small military outpost on the border of Armenia in an apparent attempt to keep Azerbaijan’s offensive from spilling over into Armenian territory. Foreign journalists have documented the small post, consisting of a few tents and with a Russian flag flying above it. It is located next to Tegh, the…

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, many of Russia’s regions have been rocked by the shock of the extra spending needed to combat the virus — and a new debt crisis is looming. Regional debt has always been a major headache for the Kremlin. While the federal government earns buckets of money from the…

The Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, a flagship model of Soviet aviation, flew its final passenger flight on Wednesday, Russian airline Alrosa said.  The three-engine medium-haul aircraft carried out its first commercial flight in 1972, and was the workhorse of the Soviet and then Russian domestic aviation from the 1980s to the mid-2000s. “We are saddened to…

The Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) has agreed to release Russian political operatives accused of vote meddling, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.  The agreement between Libya’s internationally recognized government and Moscow was made last week and the prisoners are expected to return to Russia in the coming days, Bloomberg cited unnamed sources close to the negotiations…

Russia has confirmed 1,563,976 cases of coronavirus and 26,935 deaths. Oct. 28: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 16,202 Covid-19 cases Wednesday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,563,976. A record 346 people have died in the past 24 hours. Moscow has extended its requirement for 30% of all businesses’ employees to work remotely through Nov. 28, while…

Two senior health officials in southern Russia have left their positions after the start of investigations into the deaths of several coronavirus patients due to an oxygen shortage in a hospital, authorities said Tuesday. Russia’s health watchdog said last week it was investigating claims by hospital workers and officials in the city of Rostov-on-Don that…

Fighting continued Wednesday in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region after the third attempt at a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan — a U.S. brokered deal — fell apart within minutes of coming into effect earlier in the week. Oct. 28: What you need to know today Azerbaijan said Wednesday an Armenian missile strike on its Barda…

Russia reported 346 deaths from Covid-19 Wednesday, the highest single-day death toll amid a record surge in cases as authorities strive to promote prevention methods while avoiding a total lockdown. The new figure smashes the previous record of 320 Covid-19 deaths set only 24 hours ago. Wednesday’s increase brings Russia’s overall Covid-19 death toll, as…

A new source of methane discharge has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean near eastern Siberia, raising concerns of a “new tipping point” that could speed up the pace of global warming, The Guardian reported Tuesday.  Scientists found the potent greenhouse gas bubbling from a depth of 350 meters in the Laptev Sea, with surface-level…

Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has called Monday’s general strike aimed at putting pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko a “collective success” and vowed to continue calling for his resignation.  Tikhanovskaya had given Lukashenko until Sunday to quit, halt violence against protesters and release political prisoners, warning he would otherwise face a general strike from Monday.…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, his ministry said Tuesday. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook that the minister, 70, “feels well” but that planned visits and meetings will be postponed to a later date. On Monday, Lavrov was on a working…

Azerbaijan accused Armenia of a missile attack that killed four civilians Tuesday, as Washington urged the two sides to abide by a ceasefire aimed at halting weeks of fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh. With clashes over the disputed Caucasus region entering a second month, international mediators are pushing to bring a stop to frontline clashes and shelling…

“Very nice!” Kazakhstan is adopting its fictional resident Borat Sagdiyev’s famous catchphrase as its new tourism slogan alongside the release of the comedy-slash-mockumentary’s sequel. The lean-in attitude marks a reversal from the confrontational stance the Central Asian country adopted upon the release of the first Borat movie in 2006.  Back then, Kazakh authorities banned the…