Key Belarus Opposition Figure Charged With Graft and Fraud

Belarus authorities said Tuesday that opposition politician Viktor Babaryko — who until his arrest had intended to run against President Alexander Lukashenko in the August election — was charged with corruption and money laundering. For over three months Belarus has been gripped by historic protests against the re-election of strongman leader Lukashenko, 66, who secured a sixth term…

Ozon Shares Jump 40% on U.S. IPO

Shares in Russian online retail giant Ozon surged by more than 40% in the first minutes of trading after the most eagerly anticipated Russian initial public offering (IPO) in years. Ozon is the country’s second-largest e-commerce player and is placing itself to become Russia’s answer to Amazon with a plan to consolidate and dominate the…

Moscow Welcomes Winter’s First Snowfall

Cyclone Sara arrived in Russia from northern Europe late on Sunday, bringing the much-awaited first substantive snows of the season to Moscow. Muscovites streamed outside to enjoy the winter wonderland while they still can — because it’s already expected to disappear when warmer weather arrives later this week. Here’s a closer look at the magic…

Is the WHO Too Soft on Russia?

In May, as Russia was tentatively emerging from a nationwide lockdown and clocking up near-record numbers of new infections, Russian officials began mounting an aggressive public campaign to present Moscow’s handling of the coronavirus as faultless.  Central to that was boasting about the country’s low number of fatalities compared with Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere. …

Putin Still Won’t Congratulate Biden Despite Start of Formal Transition

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not congratulate U.S. President-elect Joe Biden despite news that the Trump administration has approved the formal presidential transition process, the Kremlin said Tuesday. Trump eased some lingering post-election uncertainty by tweeting late Monday that the agency that works with incoming administrations would begin work to assist Biden’s team. While the…

Yevgeny Lebedev Named ‘Baron of Hampton and Siberia’ in Britain

Queen Elizabeth II has granted Russian-British media mogul Yevgeny Lebedev the title of “Baron of Hampton and Siberia,” according to the British government’s official journal of record The Gazette. The British monarch conferred a lifetime peerage to Lebedev, 40, after his longtime friend Prime Minister Boris Johnson nominated him in July. Reports suggested that Lebedev’s…

Russian WWII Vet Given Presidential Medal for Raising Coronavirus Funds

President Vladimir Putin has awarded a Russian World War II veteran for raising funds to support the families of doctors who died from coronavirus, according to a government decree published Monday. Zinaida Korneva, 98, received the Decoration “For Beneficence” for her “great contribution to charitable and public activities,” the decree said. The medal recognizes charity…

Russian Peacekeeper Wounded in Deadly Nagorno-Karabakh Mine Blast

A Russian peacekeeper has been wounded and an Azerbaijani soldier killed in a mine explosion in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday. Four emergency workers from the unrecognized ethnic Armenian republic of Nagorno-Karabakh were also wounded in the region’s Tartar district, the Defense Ministry was cited as saying by Interfax.…