Month: October 2020

Russia has applied to the World Health Organization for accelerated registration and prequalification of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the country’s sovereign wealth fund said on Tuesday. Russia announced in August it had registered the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, named Sputnik V after the Soviet-era satellite. On Tuesday, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which…

President Vladimir Putin has urged the government to improve abortion prevention strategies in an effort to reduce the number of terminated pregnancies and offset Russia’s population decline. Putin’s order was made public days after Poland’s top court deemed abortions performed in cases of fetal defects to be unconstitutional. For Poland, which already had some of…

A prominent Russian news anchor has sparked backlash after publicly backing the anti-mask movement and questioning the dangers of Covid-19 in a viral Instagram comment published just hours before the Russian government reinstated a countrywide mask mandate.    In his original post, businessman Yan Yanovsky complained that most spectators at Spanish opera singer Plácido Domingo’s recent performance at…

The grand mufti of Russia’s southern republic of Chechnya has joined a growing chorus of Muslim figures and countries condemning France over its assertion of the right to mock religion following the murder of a French schoolteacher. The Islamic world’s backlash came after French President Emmanuel Macron, reacting to the Oct. 16 beheading of teacher…

Russia has confirmed a record daily coronavirus death toll at 320 fatalities Tuesday as the country seeks to slow a record-breaking surge in cases with new restrictions.  The previous record death toll of 317 Covid-19 deaths was recorded less than a week ago last Wednesday. Tuesday’s increase brings Russia’s overall Covid-19 death toll, as reported…

In a video widely shared across Russian social media last week, dozens of bodies wrapped in black plastic bags line the walls of a decrepit basement in a hospital in Barnaul, the capital city of the Altai region in Siberia.  “The deceased Covid-19 patients were being stored in the basement of the hospital due to…

Russia has reinstated a nationwide mask mandate starting Wednesday amid a record-setting second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has announced. Russians will be required to wear masks in all crowded places, including public transport, taxis, parking lots and elevators, Rospotrebnadzor said Tuesday. Russia imposed a national mask mandate and other quarantine…

Medics in the Ural Mountains city of Kurgan have appealed for the Russian government to send in army medics to help the local health care system stretched thin by the coronavirus pandemic, BBC Russia reported Monday.  The national Covid-19 information center ranks the Kurgan region, with a population below 830,000, Russia’s eighth least-affected subject with…

A third attempt at halting weeks of fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh collapsed quickly on Monday with Armenia and Azerbaijan trading accusations of violating the U.S.-brokered ceasefire within minutes. As fighting over the disputed region enters its second month, international mediators are scrambling to bring a stop to frontline clashes and shelling of civilian areas that have…

The dispute between Turkey and Greece over energy-rich waters in the Mediterranean should be settled on the “basis of international law”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. The discovery of huge natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean has exacerbated tensions between Ankara and Athens following Turkish exploration operations in waters claimed by Greece…

Around 85% of Russian volunteers who receive the country’s highly touted coronavirus Sputnik V vaccine report no side effects, according to the developer of the adenovirus-based shot.  The state-run Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology became the first in the world to register a Covid-19 vaccine in August before final clinical trials began the…

Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said supporters launched Monday a nationwide strike after her deadline expired for strongman Alexander Lukashenko to step down. “Today the People’s Strike is beginning,” Tikhanovskaya said on her Telegram channel. “Employees of state factories and enterprises, transport workers and miners, teachers and students have gone on strike since this morning.” All…

Russia has confirmed 1,531,224 cases of coronavirus and 26,269 deaths. Oct. 26: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 17,347 Covid-19 cases Monday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,531,224 and setting a new record for daily infections. A total of 219 people have died in the past 24 hours. People with high temperatures will no longer be allowed…

Airstrikes by Damascus regime ally Russia killed 78 Turkey-backed rebels in northwestern Syria on Monday, a monitor said, in the bloodiest surge in violence since a truce almost eight months ago. More than 90 others were wounded when Russian warplanes targeted a training camp of the Faylaq al-Sham faction in the Jabal Duwayli area in…

Later this week, one of the fastest growing Russian businesses of the last decade will launch on the Moscow stock market  — the latest in a small flurry of Russian public offerings set to close out the year. Property developer Samolet was founded just eight years ago, but it has grown aggressively, building more than…

At least one out of every five Russian lawmakers currently have or have had coronavirus, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament told President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The 450-member State Duma went partially remote last month to limit the spread of Covid-19 after more than a dozen federal lawmakers were hospitalized with the…

Russia has opened a Defense Ministry representative office and donated 10 armored vehicles to the Central African Republic in Moscow’s latest effort to expand its influence on the continent, Reuters reported Saturday. The moves come amid President Vladimir Putin’s push to revive Soviet-era influence and challenge other powers’ foothold in resource-rich Africa. In the conflict-torn…

The voice on the other end of the line belonged to the man who introduced Vladimir Putin to his ex-wife and is godfather to their eldest daughter. It was warm and friendly and suggested I ask my questions now, despite a pending meeting.  “I fear if you try me later you won’t reach me,” Sergei…

Belarusian demonstrators flooded the streets of the capital Minsk on Sunday, the final day of an ultimatum set by the opposition for the embattled strongman leader to resign after months of mass protests. Videos taken by bystanders that were circulated by local media showed a convoy of buses carrying security personnel to the city centre…

Turkey on Saturday dismissed U.S. criticism that the Russian defense systems it has bought are not compatible with Ankara’s NATO commitments. The Pentagon on Friday strongly condemned the first test of a Russian-made S-400. “We have been clear and unwavering in our position: an operational S-400 system is not consistent with Turkey’s commitments as a…

Russia has confirmed 1,497,167 cases of coronavirus and 25,821 deaths. Oct. 24: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 16,521 Covid-19 cases Saturday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,497,167. A total of 296 people have died in the past 24 hours. A device that tests for the coronavirus based on the sound of a cough could appear at…

Russian military scientists continued working on the Novichok nerve agent’s development long after Moscow said it destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles, an international investigation said Friday.  The investigation comes amid mounting questions in the West over Russia’s alleged use of chemical weapons on foreign and domestic soil, accusations that Moscow denies. The European Union and…

Blooming algae was behind a recent mass death of sea animals that saw octopuses and seals wash up on the shore off a Russian peninsula, scientists said on Friday in the final conclusion to their probe. Locals in Kamchatka, a volcanic peninsula in Russia’s Far East, raised the alarm in September after the animals were found…

At least 15 women at an assisted-living facility in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg have been subjected to forced sterilization over the years, media outlets and officials reported this week.  One former resident died after undergoing the surgical procedure, her widower told national television. Law enforcement and health authorities in the Sverdlovsk region launched a…

Russia confirmed 17,340 new coronavirus cases Friday, setting a new one-day record as the country grapples with a second wave of the virus. This is the first time that Russia has confirmed more than 17,000 Covid-19 infections in a single day. Friday’s increase pushes the overall number of Covid-19 cases in Russia to 1,480,646, or…

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that a future military alliance with China can’t be ruled out but is not needed right now, the Associated Press reported. Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin said that Russia has stepped up military cooperation with China through joint military exercises and the sharing of sensitive Russian military technologies. …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that weeks of fighting over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh province had left close to 5,000 people dead as world leaders scrambled to broker a truce. The disputed region in Azerbaijan is controlled by Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan, who declared independence as the Soviet Union fell in a conflict that…

The EU and Britain imposed sanctions Thursday on senior Russian intelligence officers for their alleged role in hacking the computer network in the German parliament in 2015. The head of the GRU military intelligence agency, Igor Kostyukov, and intelligence officer Dmitri Badin have been banned from EU soil and are subject to an asset freeze.…

An oil slick has appeared in a bay near a ship repair plant on Russia’s Pacific coast, local media reported Thursday, marking at least the third oil spill to hit Russia this month. Aerial photographs showed a rainbow-colored area consistent with an oil spill on the water’s surface near the shipyard in the Far East city…

Russia has granted permanent residency to former U.S. spy agency contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden after his current permit expired, his lawyer told state media Thursday.  Russia granted Snowden, 37, asylum in 2013 after the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor exposed mass surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies around the world. He faces up to…

Pope Francis’ endorsement of same-sex civil unions will lead the Catholic faithful to convert en masse to Orthodox Christianity and Protestantism, a senior Russian Orthodox Church official said Thursday. Francis became the first pontiff to voice support for same-sex couples in a documentary that premiered in Rome on Wednesday. His stance marks a departure from…

At least 13 coronavirus patients were reported to have died when their oxygen supply ran out at a hospital in southern Russia last week.  Russia’s health watchdog said Wednesday that its affiliate in the Rostov region was looking into the reports that the patients died due to a lack of oxygen in their hospital on…

Coronavirus deaths are on the rise in Russia partly because of improved cause-of-death methodology, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday. Russia’s national coronavirus information center has confirmed a total of 25,242 Covid-19 deaths after reporting record daily fatalities of over 200 in 10 of the last 15 days. By comparison, daily Covid-19 deaths crossed the 200…

Russia has confirmed 1,463,306 cases of coronavirus and 25,242 deaths. Oct. 22: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 15,971 new Covid-19 cases Thursday, bringing its official number of cases to 1,463,306. A total of 290 people have died in the past 24 hours. A number of Russian regions risk facing a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic that…

Russia is moving toward opening a Defense Ministry office in Serbia to deepen military ties with its longtime ally, a move that risks straining relations with the West, Reuters reported Tuesday.  Serbia, which claims military neutrality, is an EU candidate country that also maintains close ties with Moscow. Belgrade suspended its military drills with all…

Russia’s nuclear-powered Arktika icebreaker will need to undergo a second test voyage to prove its capabilities after Arctic sea ice levels were too thin during its first test run. After reaching the North Pole on her maiden voyage, state nuclear-powered icebreaker agency Atomflot said the Arktika proved its ability to navigate in ice conditions, adding…

A number of Russian regions risk facing a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic that is 10 times worse than the first, a senior Russian vector-borne disease expert said Tuesday. “The situation in the regions is very different,” Alexander Lukashev, who heads the Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University’s (MSMU) Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology,…

Russia hosted the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan for separate talks this week as world powers seek to step up hitherto failed efforts to agree a lasting truce to halt fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan for separate talks on…

Public transport passengers “can and should” kick out fellow passengers who don’t wear masks, the mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg said Tuesday.  The Sverdlovsk region, where Yekaterinburg is the administrative center, is Russia’s fifth most-affected federal subject by the coronavirus pandemic. It has confirmed a total of 33,425 Covid-19 cases and 718 deaths…

Kyrgyzstan’s electoral authorities said Wednesday parliamentary polls annulled over unrest would be repeated in December as acting leader Sadyr Japarov moved to assure Russia of the two countries’ strategic partnership. The Central Asian country’s elections commission said the fresh elections would be held on Dec. 20, after a previous vote was annulled over political chaos…