Year: 2020

One in four Russians believe that the global coronavirus pandemic is made-up, according to a survey by Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) cited by the RBC news website Thursday. Out of 30,000 Russians polled online since March, 23.2% called the pandemic “an invention by stakeholders.” Another 9.6% said its dangers are exaggerated. Among the…

Officials have predicted a higher death toll for May than April, attributing this to the deaths of hospital patients who were admitted during the peak of the epidemic several weeks ago. President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed a trend towards stabilization in the country’s virus situation and Thursday’s number of new cases was below 9,000…

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Wednesday said he is “healthy,” even demonstrating that his arms don’t have IV marks, after rumors that he was hospitalized with possible coronavirus. Kadyrov appeared in an Instagram-streamed interview with his aide Akhmed Dudayev, who heads the regional channel Grozny.TV, days after his own popular account was deleted from the…

Russia on Wednesday seized 40 tons of European cheeses smuggled into the country in breach of an embargo on EU food imports, the customs service said.  The cheese was found at a port near the northwestern city of St. Petersburg in four containers labeled as a component used to produce rubber. The shipment included Dorblu blue…

Russia announced on Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic has forced it to postpone two international summits set for St. Petersburg in July. Officials responsible for the BRICS and SCO summits “decided to postpone” both events scheduled for July 21-23 in Russia’s second city, according to a statement on the Kremlin website. The decision was made “taking into…

Russia’s head of coronavirus information has suggested that global anxiety over the pandemic is misplaced, his latest controversial comment after saying that the infection would kill as many people as it needs to. Doctor and television presenter Alexander Myasnikov was appointed in April to his new role of informing Russians about coronavirus treatment and prevention…

Moscow is ready to open non-food shops and certain service-sector businesses as well as begin allowing walks outside starting next Monday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Wednesday at a videoconference with President Vladimir Putin. Sobyanin had extended the Russian capital’s strict lockdown — including its controversial digital pass system — until May 31 even as Putin…

There have been 370,680 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 3,968 deaths. May 27: 3 things you need to know today Russia confirmed 8,338 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 370,680. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has proposed lifting some of Moscow’s coronavirus restrictions starting June 1. In a televised videoconference with President…

The Russian military announced Wednesday it had opened a field hospital in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan where authorities are struggling to contain a coronavirus outbreak. Army doctors built a 100-bed facility in Botlikh village and “medical staff are ready to receive and treat patients,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The top…

The United States on Wednesday accused Russia of intercepting one of its patrol planes over the Mediterranean Sea near Syria in an “unsafe, unprofessional” manner. The U.S. Navy released footage showing two Russian Su-35 fighter jets intercepting a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft from the U.S. 6th Fleet, which oversees operations in the region. The footage,…

A former Russian governor has sued President Vladimir Putin over what he believes is his wrongful dismissal following his series of questionable comments and incidents. Putin relieved Mikhail Ignatyev from his 10-year governorship of the republic of Chuvashia in January due to a “loss of trust.” Ignatyev made headlines that month for calls to “wipe…

Russia’s bicycle sales have spiked by 6,000% so far this month as Russians gradually emerge from self-isolation after more than six weeks of nationwide coronavirus lockdown, the online retail giant Wildberries told state media Wednesday. Overall, Russia’s largest online retailer said sporting goods sales jumped sixfold on May 1-24 compared with the same period in…

The leader of Russia’s Communist Party said he believes that an eventual vaccine against the new coronavirus is part of a capitalist plot to implant microchips into humans and ensure their “digital enslavement,” wading into a viral social media conspiracy theory. The false claims allege that U.S. billionaire Bill Gates plans to use microchip implants…

The number of new cases has been steadily dropping and authorities have begun easing lockdown measures in some parts of the country. Restrictions have been eased in many areas though hard-hit Moscow remains on a strict lockdown until at least the end of May. On Monday, President Vladimir Putin made a rare lockdown appearance in…

Russians’ trust in state institutions has fallen during the coronavirus outbreak while their sense of self-reliance is up, according to poll results cited by the RBC news website Tuesday. The results were published nine weeks into a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of Covid-19 that has caused significant damage to an economy already hurt…

Russia plans to test its unmanned “doomsday nuke” in its Arctic waters this fall, one year after a fatal nuclear-powered missile accident led to a radiation spike in a nearby city and grabbed international headlines. The nuclear-powered Poseidon underwater drone will be test-launched from the Belgorod submarine, an unnamed defense industry source told the state-run RIA…

More working-age Russians have died in early 2020 than in the early months of 2019, a senior health expert said Tuesday amid questions over Russia’s relatively low coronavirus death toll. “Over three months in January-March 2019 in Russia, 36,584 working-age people died, while in [the same period of] 2020 it was 37,346,” Interfax quoted the…

Russia recently sent fighter jets to Libya to support Russian mercenaries fighting for strongman Khalifa Haftar, the U.S. military command for Africa (Africom) said Tuesday, in a major escalation in the long-running conflict The military fighter aircraft left Russia and first stopped in Syria where they “were repainted to camouflage their Russian origin” before arriving…

Russia has begun manufacturing the prototype of its first strategic stealth bomber, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday, as the country presses ahead with the modernization of its military. Quoting defense industry sources, TASS said the state-controlled United Aircraft Corporation was overseeing the project. It said material was being shipped for the project and that…

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to hold its landmark parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II next month as the country appeared to have stabilized its coronavirus outbreak. Putin postponed the May 9 parade celebrating Victory Day due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus within…

Hundreds of relatives of former Chechen separatist fighters have signed an open letter accusing the investigative Novaya Gazeta newspaper of lying about their alienation from society. State television in Russia’s republic of Chechnya on Monday published the scathing reaction to research into the lives of separatists’ widows and children across the North Caucasus. The research,…

At least four people were killed after a strong wind storm hit Russia’s fifth most-populous region, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday, citing the regional prosecutor’s office.  Wind gusts reached up to 28 meters per second in the Sverdlovsk region Monday, toppling trees and causing widespread blackouts that left 130,000 residents without power. Footage…

The number of new cases has been steadily dropping and authorities have begun easing lockdown measures in some parts of the country. Restrictions have been eased in many areas though hard-hit Moscow remains on a strict lockdown until at least the end of May. On Monday, President Vladimir Putin made a rare lockdown appearance in…

There have been 362,342 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 3,807 deaths. May 26: 3 things you need to know today Russia confirmed 8,915 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 362,342. President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to hold its landmark parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory…

A military helicopter crashed Tuesday at an airport in Russia’s remote eastern Chukotka region, killing all four people on board, the governor said. The helicopter of the Russian Defense Ministry went down in the main airport in Chukotka near Anadyr, which has mixed military and civilian use. “There were three crew members and one technician on…

Russia’s veteran international striker Pavel Pogrebnyak has been hospitalized with the coronavirus, his wife and lifestyle guru Maria Shatalova said Monday. Pogrebnyak’s current team, FC Ural Yekaterinburg, had said that the 36-year-old had mild Covid-19 symptoms and was “feeling good” when it announced Friday that he fell ill.  Shatalova said earlier that she believes her…

Forces backing Libya’s unity government said Monday that hundreds of Russian mercenaries fighting for their rival, military commander Khalifa Haftar, had been evacuated from combat zones south of the capital Tripoli. The claim comes after a series of setbacks for Haftar’s year-long offensive to seize the capital from the UN-recognized Government of National Accord. “An…

A makeup artist in eastern Moscow has been seeing clients despite testing positive for the coronavirus, Russian media reported last week. Irina Subbotina began working from home in late March when President Vladimir Putin declared a nationwide “non-working period” to slow the spread of Covid-19, the Baza Telegram channel said. She tested positive for the…

Russian prosecutors on Monday demanded 18 years in prison for a former U.S. marine facing espionage charges, his lawyer said, as the high-profile trial that has strained ties with Washington drew to a close. Paul Whelan’s lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told reporters that the prosecutor had requested 18 years “in a harsh regime colony” for his…

A provincial leader outside Moscow was heard telling his subordinates to alter his region’s coronavirus data in an audio recording leaked Monday that he later confirmed to be authentic. The Lipetsk region, which has a population of 1.1 million, had reported 1,696 total cases and five deaths from Covid-19 as of Monday, less than half…

Authorities in Russia have opened an investigation into a street party that saw dozens gather in the center of Novosibirsk despite an anti-coronavirus lockdown in the Siberian city. The local investigative committee said it was launching the probe after photos and videos were posted online of young Russians dancing as music played from loudspeakers in…

Western Siberia is experiencing abnormally high May temperatures, with some areas above the Arctic Circle breaking record-highs, The Siberian Times and The Washington Post reported last week. Weather experts say temperatures in the region have been between 3 degrees Celsius and 6 degrees Celsius above average since January. The trend picks up from 2019, which…

The strongman leader of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, was receiving treatment for a suspected coronavirus infection, news agencies reported Thursday citing sources, though his aides did not confirm it. One of Russia’s most high-profile virus cases, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, returned to work this week after receiving treatment for the illness in hospital. Overall, 118,798…

There have been 353,427 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 3,633 deaths. May 25: 3 things you need to know today Putin congratulated Muslims across Russia on the Eid al-Fitr holiday, a feast marking the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan, calling for charitable donations “under current conditions of a spreading dangerous disease.” Authorities in Moscow…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 335,882 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 3,388 deaths. May 24: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 8,599 new coronavirus infections Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 344,481. Russia has…

The strongman leader of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, was receiving treatment for a suspected coronavirus infection, news agencies reported Thursday citing sources, though his aides did not confirm it. One of Russia’s most high-profile virus cases, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, returned to work this week after receiving treatment for the illness in hospital. Overall, 107,936…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 335,882 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 3,388 deaths. May 23: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 9,434 new coronavirus infections Friday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 335,882. Russia has the second-highest…

The strongman leader of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, was receiving treatment for a suspected coronavirus infection, news agencies reported Thursday citing sources, though his aides did not confirm it. One of Russia’s most high-profile virus cases, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, returned to work this week after receiving treatment for the illness in hospital. Overall, 107,936…

The U.K. has reiterated calls for the release of Yury Dmitriyev, a Russian historian who discovered Stalin-era mass graves and is currently being held in pre-trial detention on charges many say are politically motivated. Dmitriyev, 64, is the head of the Karelian branch of Memorial, an independent NGO that researches Soviet political repression and human…

The Open Skies Treaty, which the United States plans to quit, was agreed just after the Cold War to allow signatories to avoid nasty surprises by monitoring rival militaries. It was signed in 1992 and came into force in 2002, allowing 35 countries — including the United States and Russia — to fly unarmed surveillance…

President Vladimir Putin warned Friday that a second wave of the coronavirus epidemic could hit Russia this fall as he noted that the country’s current outbreak is stabilizing. Russia appears to have flattened the curve with fewer than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases reported each day for the past week, totaling 326,448 infections since the first…

Russia is expected to register a spike in mortality for the month of May, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Friday, as the country battles a coronavirus outbreak. “There will be a significant mortality increase in May” despite doctors trying to “save the maximum number of patients,” Golikova said, without referring specifically to deaths…

One out of seven healthy Russians may have been infected with the coronavirus, according to a Moscow-based private lab analysis of voluntary testing published Friday. Out of more than 40,000 people tested between Monday and Thursday in most Russian regions, the Invitro lab said 14% had antibodies. Nearly half of Invitro’s tests were submitted in…

As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country. There have been 326,448 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 3,249 deaths. May 22: 3 things you need to know today 1. Russia confirmed 8,894 new coronavirus infections Friday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 326,448. Russia has the…

President Vladimir Putin submitted legislation Thursday adding patriotism and war history to Russia’s education law. Putin’s amendments seek to add “a sense of patriotism and citizenship, respect for the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland and the achievements of the Fatherland’s heroes” to the law’s current definition of upbringing. His proposals, which need votes…

On April 20, around 2,000 protesters gathered in Freedom Square in the heart of Vladikavkaz, the sleepy capital of Russia’s mountainous North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia.  Flouting the self-isolation regime imposed weeks before to combat the tiny autonomous region’s escalating coronavirus outbreak, demonstrators reeled off their demands: an end to lockdown, emergency financial support,…