European Union leaders Thursday extended punishing economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine for another six months, an EU spokesman said. The sanctions, which target whole sectors of the Russian economy including its valuable oil businesses, were extended to mid-2021. The measures over Russia’s role in the conflict were first imposed after Malaysian…
Azerbaijan held a massive victory parade in Baku on Thursday in honor of its victory over Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The conflict, which lasted for 44 days and left 5,000 dead, ended in a Moscow-brokered peace deal in which Azerbaijan made heavy territorial gains. Over 3,000 military servicemen took part in the parade, whose…
Russia recorded more than 47,000 excess deaths in October — the sharpest monthly rise in fatalities since the start of the coronavirus pandemic — according to official statistics published Thursday. Russia’s state statistics agency (Rosstat) said Russia recorded more than 205,000 total fatalities in October — 30% more than during the same month last year.…
The United States slapped sanctions on a handful of companies and individuals connected to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Thursday, accusing them of “gross human rights violations” including “torture, extrajudicial executions and illegal abductions.” The network was implicated in the 2015 assassination of leading Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov and the torture and murder of…
The Netherlands is expelling two alleged Russian spies working as diplomats after “rolling up” a spy network that targeted hi-tech industries, Dutch security officials said on Thursday. The Russian officers from the civilian SVR intelligence service built up a “substantial” network of sources that could have damaged Dutch national interests, the Dutch General Intelligence and…
‘Cecil Beaton: Celebrating Celebrity,’ the first major show of one the greatest photographers of the 20th century in the Hermitage’s General Staff building brings together about 100 photographs and sketches by, highlighting his role as a herald of celebrity culture and its dedicated advocate. The display is a collaboration with Cecil Beaton’s Studio Archive and…
Ukraine has entered into talks with Russia and Kremlin-backed separatists over a new troop withdrawal and prisoner swap in Ukraine’s war-torn east, Kiev said Thursday. The announcement came a year after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a series of measures to relaunch a stalled peace process during talks in Paris brokered…
Russia has confirmed 2,569,126 cases of coronavirus and 45,280 deaths. Dec. 11: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 27,927 coronavirus cases and 562 deaths Thursday. All of Russia’s regions will start mass vaccination against the coronavirus by the end of this week, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova confirmed Thursday. Russia recorded more deaths in October than in…
President Vladimir Putin misspoke Thursday by asserting that treason charges against former journalist Ivan Safronov relate to his short-lived career at Russia’s state space agency Roscosmos this year. Putin, speaking to the presidential human rights council, claimed that Safronov is being prosecuted for passing secrets to the European special services while at Roscosmos and not…
December 10, 2020, 16:50 The Gazprom Management Committee approved the Company’s tax policy framework for the year 2021 and the 2022–2023 planning period. One of the key objectives of the tax policy is to continue the gradual transition to tax monitoring at the companies of the Gazprom Group. It was noted that the online interactions with the Federal Taxation Service have proven highly effective. As of today, seven subsidiaries…
December 10, 2020, 16:45 The winners of the occupational health and safety management contest for the subsidiaries of Gazprom in 2017–2019 were awarded at the meeting of the Company’s Management Committee. Among the gas production, processing and storage subsidiaries, Gazprom Dobycha Astrakhan emerged as the winner, Gazprom UGS took second place, and Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy won third place. Among the gas transportation…
December 10, 2020, 16:40 The award ceremony for the 2020 edition of Gazprom’s Science and Technology Prize took place at the meeting of the Company’s Management Committee. The paper entitled “Creating and implementing innovative analytics software tools for the assessment, shaping and effective management of geological exploration projects and portfolios at the licensed areas of the Gazprom Group” by NIIgazeconomika won the top prize at the…
Russian lawmakers have approved new restrictions on protests, prompting criticism from the opposition that they violate Russians’ constitutional rights. Deputies in Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, approved a pair of bills Wednesday that ban foreign funding for protest organizers as well as rallies outside law enforcement and security buildings. If they come…
A group of scientists from leading Russian universities has blasted the development process of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine as “completely unacceptable” and “ridiculous” in an open letter raising new concerns over a lack of sufficient data on its safety and effectiveness. The experts said Russia’s state-run Gamaleya Research Institute, which is developing the jab,…
President Vladimir Putin’s support among young voters has roughly halved in the past year, according to independent survey results released Thursday. If 36% of voters aged 18-24 said they would cast their ballots for Putin in 2019, only 20% expressed the same intention in November 2020, the Levada Center polling agency said. While sociologists have…
December 10, 2020, 14:45 The Eighth Season of the Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship has finished. This season, the first-ever Football for Friendship eWorld Championship united young athletes from 104 countries. Over 1 million people participated in the events of the Eighth Season. “Uniting friends – uniting the world” is the slogan of the Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for…
“75 Days, 80 Stories, Jan. 15.”That is the number of days Muscovites were in quarantine in the spring, the number of personal stories the Museum of Moscow and Triumf Gallery have collected, and the date that the on-site part of this exhibition will open (hopefully). The on-site show has four sections of works by artists…
A steady stream of videos depicting shocking atrocities by Azerbaijani soldiers against Armenian civilians and prisoners of war has emerged on social media. The videos, shot by soldiers and distributed on various Telegram news channels, depict a wide variety of torture, humiliations and mutilations of corpses. There have been several executions of captives shown, and…
The Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex and the Research Fleet Department of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have signed a contract on construction of two cross-functional research vessels with limitless navigation.
The son of a Russian oligarch lost $50 million in day trading while studying at university in the U.K., it emerged this week. Temur Akhmedov said the staggering losses were bankrolled by his father, Russian-Azeri billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov. After some initial success trading on the stock market, Temur hit a losing streak and started pouring…
The Russian Navy will participate in joint exercises alongside NATO members for the first time in 10 years, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing the Black Sea Fleet. The Aman-2021 multinational exercises will take place in February off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan. In addition to Russia, the exercises will also feature ships…
In one of the most famous tales from St. Petersburg — Nikolai Gogol’s “The Nose” — Major Kovalyov wakes up one day to find his nose has disappeared from his face. He learns that the anthropomorphic nose has developed a life of its own, eventually even surpassing him in rank. Now, another St. Petersburg man…
Authorities in southern Russia say they will deploy uniformed Cossacks alongside police officers on New Year’s Eve to enforce a ban on mass celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Krasnodar region Governor Venyamin Kondratyev called off Christmas and New Year celebrations to slow the spread of Covid-19 as the popular domestic tourism destination saw record-breaking…
Belarus will suspend departures from its ground borders due to the coronavirus situation, a government decree published Thursday says. Starting Dec. 20, Belarus will prohibit its citizens as well as foreigners with permanent or temporary residency to cross the border via automobile checkpoints, simplified checkpoints, checkpoints at railway stations or in river ports. Departures may…
Russian Communist Party members distributed anti-vaccination leaflets in Moscow falsely claiming there is no coronavirus pandemic, the Podyom Telegram news channel reported Wednesday. The leaflets, reportedly handed out to protesters outside the Moscow Mayor’s Office, called Covid-19 vaccination the “rebirth of fascism” and equated the jab to weapons of mass destruction. According to Podyom, they…