Moldova’s pro-European presidential hopeful Maia Sandu won a surprise first-round victory, a major setback for Moscow-backed incumbant Igor Dodon that suggests a tight second round later this month. The small former Soviet country voted under the watchful eye of Russia, which wants polarized Moldova to remain in its sphere of influence as several nearby Kremlin-aligned governments…
Armenia and Azerbaijan failed to strike another ceasefire in talks brokered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as Baku pledged to “fight to the end” to recapture territory which has been controlled by Armenia-backed separatists since 1994. Meanwhile, Yerevan formally opened consultations with Moscow over when Russia would come to the…
Belarus faced harsh criticism at the UN on Monday, with diplomats slamming arbitrary detentions and torture allegations in the response to months of protests against President Alexander Lukashenko. During a review of Belarus’s rights record at the United Nations in Geneva, many diplomats urged Belarus authorities to halt the crackdown on demonstrators, who since August have…
Russia has confirmed 1,655,038 cases of coronavirus and 28,473 deaths. Nov. 2: What you need to know today Russia has confirmed 18,257 new coronavirus cases and 238 additional deaths. Only 36% of Russians are ready to vaccinate against Covid-19, according to the results of an independent Levada Center poll published by Russia’s Open Media news Monday. The share of Russians unwilling to…
New coronavirus cases are spiking in 40% of Russian regions, Russia’s top public health official said Monday amid reports of hospital bed, staff and drug shortages hitting far-flung areas outside Moscow. Infections are on the decline in only two regions, Anna Popova, who heads Russia’s consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said during a Covid-19 government task…
Russia’s attempt to overturn its four-year ban from international sport got underway in Lausanne Monday, the latest chapter of a long-running and controversial saga over state-sanctioned doping. Global anti-doping body WADA in December last year declared the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to be non-compliant after being accused of manipulating testing data. The ban meant the…
Russia’s Arctic Laptev Sea has not yet frozen for the first time since records began, according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Centre. The sea, which is known as the “birthplace of ice,” thawed much earlier in 2020 than in any previous year since 1979, and has not yet re-frozen as of late…
Masked assailants murdered Russian meat magnate Vladimir Marugov with a crossbow at his countryside estate outside Moscow in the early hours of Monday morning, Russia’s Investigative Committee reported. Marugov and his partner were in an outdoor sauna hut on the estate about 25 miles west of the capital when the attack happened. The woman managed…
Samotlorneftegaz, an enterprise of Rosneft’s oil production complex, together with the Institute for Biology of the Tomsk State University, has successfully launched the Air Probe (Aeroshchup) technology for cleaning hydrocarbons off the bottom of reservoirs through flotation and airlifting.
Ryazan Oil Refining Company, an enterprise of Rosneft Oil Company’s refining complex, has celebrated 60 years of its operation. In October 1960, the first batch of motor gasoline was produced at the crude distillation unit
More Russians distrust their homegrown coronavirus vaccine now than they did in the summer, a new independent poll cited by Russia’s Open Media news website said Monday as authorities raise hopes of mass vaccination in the coming months. The share of Russians unwilling to vaccinate against Covid-19 has risen to 59% in October from nearly…
Можно? How do you approach a stranger on the streets? How do you ask to take a photograph without speaking the language? What seem to be barriers at first make it easier in the end. You just ask. It’s easier to speak a few words, but it works just as well without. You show the…
Fugitive U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden said Monday he had applied for Russian citizenship but would keep his U.S. nationality. The former American intelligence contractor, who revealed in 2013 that the U.S. government was spying on its citizens, has been living in exile in Russia since the revelations. Snowden’s tweet comes weeks after he was granted…