Day: October 12, 2020

Russia is unlikely to participate in the Moon-orbiting station planned by the United States, a Russian official said Monday, marking the probable end of the type of close cooperation seen for two decades on the International Space Station (ISS). The proposed new station, called the Gateway, “is too U.S.-centric, so to speak,” Dmitry Rogozin, the head…

The mass death of sea creatures in Russia’s Kamchatka region was caused by toxins from microalgae rather than man-made pollution, a senior Russian scientist said on Monday, citing preliminary findings of an investigation. Locals on the volcanic peninsula in the Pacific raised the alarm in September as surfers experienced stinging eyes and sea creatures, including…

The European Union on Monday agreed to move ahead with sanctions against Russian officials over the nerve agent poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, further complicating already fraught ties with Moscow. Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg agreed to sanctions proposals made last week by France and Germany, which said Russia was responsible for the poisoning…

Belarusian police on Monday threatened to fire live bullets at protesters, claiming that opposition demonstrations against strongman Alexander Lukashenko were becoming ever more radicalized. “Law enforcement officers and internal troops will not leave the streets and will use riot control equipment and lethal weapons if need be,” the interior ministry said in a statement on…

In a yard filled with abandoned plane parts next to Moscow’s main Sheremetyevo Airport, handlers are putting a pack of energetic sniffer dogs through their paces.  The small, fox-like canines are Shalaikas, a cross between Arctic Nenets herding dogs known as Laikas and Southern Turkmen golden jackals. Russia hopes it will soon be able to…

Russia on Monday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately start observing a ceasefire agreed over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region as intense fighting between the two Caucasus rivals cast fresh doubt over the accord. Armenia and Azerbaijan have for the last two weeks engaged in bitter clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region of Azerbaijan controlled by Armenians…

Russia said on Monday it was expelling two Bulgarian diplomats in a tit-for-tat move after two Russians were ordered out of the EU country on accusations of spying for the military. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Bulgarian ambassador Atanas Krystin was summoned to be informed that the two Moscow-based diplomats had been declared…

Russian-British media mogul Yevgeny Lebedev is seeking to be the first member of the House of Lords with “Moscow” as his territorial designation, The Daily Mail newspaper reported Sunday.  Queen Elizabeth II conferred a lifetime peerage to Lebedev, 40, the extravagant friend of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and owner of Britain’s Independent and Evening…

A Russian military transport helicopter has been filmed dispersing protesters rallying against Russia’s expansion into northeast Syria on Sunday, local independent media reported.  Dozens of residents of Ayn Diwar village near the Turkish border took to the streets to oppose the Russian forces’ fifth attempt to establish a military outpost there, according to the North…

Foreign-born parents of Russian citizens over 18 years old can now obtain Russian citizenship through a simplified naturalization procedure, according to a new amendment that comes into force Monday.  All alien parents residing in Russia at the time of application can now forgo the five-year residence requirement. Previously, only parents of children with disabilities were…