November 17, 2020 PAO Severstal, one of the world’s largest vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, has been recognized as the leader among Russian mining companies in the 2020 International Corporate Human Rights Benchmark. With a score of 11 out of 26, the Company has also outranked major international metals companies such as ArcelorMittal,…
A group of conservative lawmakers has pulled for consolidation two overlapping child custody bills, one of which would have also banned transgender people from legally changing their gender, Russian media reported Monday. Lawyers, activists and President Vladimir Putin’s human rights council have criticized the transgender ban bill, co-authored by Senator Yelena Mizulina, who also spearheaded…
A Russia-brokered peace deal signed last week has ended six weeks of fierce fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh — but this peace hasn’t come without a price. As part of the deal, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh must return the Aghdam, Kalbajar and Lachin districts to Azerbaijan starting on Nov. 20,…
Fighting has come to an end in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region a week after Armenia agreed to sign a Russian-brokered peace accord sealing its defeat to longtime rival Azerbaijan. But despite Armenia ceding swaths of territory and the deployment of a Russian peacekeeping mission, a lasting solution to the decades-long conflict remains elusive. Return of…
On Nov. 15, Belarusian security forces detained over 1,200 protesters across the country in the latest weekly demonstration calling for President Alexander Lukashenko to step down and hold a new presidential election. Security forces also reportedly used tear gas and stun grenades on the protesters, and 23 journalists were reportedly among those detained. With Sunday…
A Siberian environmentalist has been detained on suspicion of poaching the world’s largest sheep, the argali, media outlets reported Monday. The Saylyugemsky National Park on the Russian-Kazakh-Mongolian border, which oversees the protection of the argali and snow leopards, said a group of hunters was caught Saturday and charged with administrative offenses. “They said they arrived…
Russia has confirmed 1,948,603 cases of coronavirus and 33,489 deaths. Nov. 16: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 22,778 new coronavirus cases and 303 deaths. The eastern Siberian republic of Buryatia became the first Russian region to impose a second coronavirus lockdown. Restaurants, malls and other places of mass gathering will be shut down for two weeks starting…
Moldova’s pro-European election winner Maia Sandu on Monday vowed balanced ties with the West and Russia as Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon conceded defeat and asked his supporters to refrain from violence. Sandu’s election is seen by analysts as a major blow to the Kremlin, which had pinned hopes on Dodon winning a new term. Russia had wanted polarized…
Almost a week into the latest truce between Armenia and Azerbaijan and there remains no flare-up of fighting. Russian peacekeeping deployments continue to establish their positions, while the exact role Turkey will play remains unclear. Political unrest heightens in Armenia with an alleged assassination plot against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Nov. 16: what you need…
The BBC’s Russian service has made a critically acclaimed documentary on the anti-gay crackdown in the republic of Chechnya available to Russian-speaking audiences. Oscar-nominated American filmmaker David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” traces a Moscow-based LGBT association’s attempts to exfiltrate gay Chechens to safety. The film pioneers deepfake face-swapping technology to disguise the identities of his…
Maria Plotkina and Arina Nuriahmetova were stressed young computer science teachers battling an entrenched system of learning when they decided to set up Geek Teachers to equip school teachers across Russia with the IT skills to bring the latest education technologies to the classroom. Four years later, their platform, which has over 13,000 online followers,…
Specialists of Orenburgneft, a part of Rosneft, finished the creation of the power generation centre at Garshinskoye field.
Uranium One (a company of ROSATOM) carried out the first shipment of wood pellets to an Italian consumer company. The vessel delivered over 3 thousand tons of the product. “The Italian solid biofuel market is showing stable growth,” said Andrey Shutov, President of Uranium One. “We aim to further strengthen the cooperation with our Italian…
Moldova held its presidential election Sunday in a vote that could push the ex-Soviet eastern European nation further away from Moscow’s orbit. Here’s all you need to know: Where is Moldova and why is it important? Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova is one of Europe’s smallest and poorest countries. With a population of almost…
Ryazan Oil Refining Company, a subsidiary of Rosneft Oil Company, increased the enterprise’s safety level by introducing a unified information system for product quality control.
Russian investigators do not believe that independent journalist Irina Slavina was driven to suicide by external factors that could carry criminal punishment, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday. Slavina, the editor-in-chief of the independent KozaPress news outlet, set herself on fire outside the Nizhny Novgorod police headquarters on Oct. 2 the day after security forces raided…
The eastern Siberian republic of Buryatia has become the first Russian region to impose a second coronavirus lockdown, shutting down restaurants, malls and other places of mass gathering for two weeks starting Monday. “We need to separate people as much as possible, to relieve the healthcare and testing systems,” Buryatia governor Alexei Tsydenov told reporters,…