Russian State TV Anchor Ignites Backlash With Anti-Mask Social Media Post

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…

New natural gas filling stations opened in Moscow

October 27, 2020, 11:30 Gazprom’s gas refueling network in the region has been expanded to seven facilities. Two stations of the network are the largest in Europe. Two more CNG filling stations will be opened this year. A ceremonial event celebrating the commissioning of two new infrastructure facilities for refueling motor vehicles with natural gas, eco-friendly vehicle fuel has taken place today in Moscow via…

Russia Reinstates Mask Mandate, Restricts Nightlife to Stop Virus Spread

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…

85% of Russian Coronavirus Vaccine Volunteers See No Side Effects – Developer

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 Says Nationwide Strike Underway

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…

Transaction on debut issue of Gazprom’s perpetual Eurobonds closed

October 26, 2020, 17:30 The following information is not intended for use by Canadian investors or within the territory of Canada due to the sanction restrictions. For more information, see the Base Prospectus regarding Eurobonds dated October 6, 2020 . A transaction on placement of a debut issue of perpetual subordinated Eurobonds of Gazprom expressed in US dollars and euros has been closed today. The volume of investor demand has…

The Belarus NPP has received permit to perform works on the stage-wise program for the power start-up of Unit 1

On October 23, 2020 the Board of the Ministry for Emergency situations of the Republic of Belarus, based on the resolution of the State Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Belarus, agreed  to amend the licenses of the State enterprise “Belorussian NPP” and JSC ASE EC, allowing to start works based on the stage-wise program for…

The Enduring Glamour of Mushroom Julien

Mushroom season continues its stately autumnal progress.  Having stocked the freezer with mushroom soup, mushroom lasagna, and mushroom pâté, I suddenly remembered that most quintessentially mushroom-y dish of them all; one  I’m guessing none of us has enjoyed in quite some time: Mushroom Julien.  This fixture of glitzy Soviet-era restaurants and theater buffets is another…

Russia Continued Developing Novichok After Program’s Official Closure, Investigation Says

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…

Years of ‘Stone Age’ Forced Sterilizations Claimed at Russian Institution

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…

Catholics Will Convert to Orthodoxy Over Pope’s LGBT Support, Russian Church Predicts

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…

ROSATOM and Apulia continue cooperation by testing lutetium-177 used in cancer treatment

Isotope JSC, official distributor of isotope products manufactured by ROSATOM’s enterprises, successfully delivered lutetium-177 produced according to EU GMP standards to Nuclear Medicine Department of Policlinico of Bari (Apulia, Italy) for quality evaluation. The activity was implemented within the scope of the Healthcare Memorandum of Understanding signed between Apulia Region and ROSATOM in November 2019.…

Russian Federation flag raised on board ROSATOM’s nuclear icebreaker “Arktika”

On October 21, the state flag of the Russian Federation was raised on board FSUE Atomflot’s (a ROSATOM company) universal nuclear-powered icebreaker “Arktika” in Murmansk. The list of event attendees included Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Yuri Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Alexey Likhachev, ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation…

2nd Coronavirus Wave Could Be 10X Worse in Russia’s Regions, Disease Expert Says

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,…

Gazprom and VNG discuss issues related to gas supplies

October 21, 2020, 15:55 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Ulf Heitmueller, Chairman of the Executive Board of VNG, took place today via a video conference call. The parties discussed relevant issues of cooperation. It was noted that the amounts of gas supplied by Gazprom to Germany in August, September, and the first 20 days of October 2020 were higher than the…

Russian Mayor Urges Kicking Maskless Passengers Off Public Transit

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…

Muscovites Bid Farewell to Warm Fall Weather

Independent journalism isn’t dead. You can help keep it alive. The Moscow Times’ team of journalists has been first with the big stories on the coronavirus crisis in Russia since day one. Our exclusives and on-the-ground reporting are being read and shared by many high-profile journalists. We wouldn’t be able to produce this crucial journalism…