Year: 2020

Russia has reported its first two cases of coronavirus and said the infected people were Chinese citizens who had been isolated. As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 900 people continues to spread around the world, Russia has stepped up measures to tackle the health risk, including closing most entry points along its…

Controversial Canadian author and academic Jordan Peterson has been treated for addiction to anti-anxiety medication in Russia, his daughter has said. Peterson rose to fame in conservative circles in 2016 for opposing what calls “radical political correctness authoritarianism,” and his polarizing stances have drawn widespread controversy. He is estimated to have authored 50 books, including…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

President Vladimir Putin’s senior adviser on climate change has called for Russia to take urgent action toward climate change, including taking more substantive steps to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. Speaking at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday, Ruslan Edelgeriev said Russia failed to achieve Putin’s goal of reducing the share of fossil fuels…

A court in central Russia has jailed members of an anti-fascist activist group for up to 18 years on terrorism charges, the Mediazona news website reported Monday. Seven members of the group Set — Russian for “Network” — were detained in the city of Penza along with four other members in St. Petersburg in 2017.…

Two Russian children have been killed in a head-on speedboat collision in the Thai resort island of Phuket, authorities said Monday. The Phuket News outlet, citing a tourism police official, identified the victims as a 12-year-old boy and six-year-old girl. Russia’s Embassy in Thailand said one of the hospitals that treated the injured had confirmed…

A Boeing 737 airliner with 94 people on board made a hard landing in northwestern Russia on Sunday, carrier UTair said, but no one was badly hurt. It said the airliner, arriving at Usinsk airport in the Komi Republic about 1,500 kilometers from Moscow, made the hard landing because of wind shear — a sudden change of wind…

It’s a refurbished Soviet-style sanatorium, but there are no visitors, staff wear decontamination suits and riot police stand guard outside in temperatures of around minus 15 degrees Celsius. In the fenced-off complex in Siberia, 144 people have been put in quarantine under close observation for two weeks after the Russian military evacuated them this week…

A Moscow jury has acquitted a man accused of killing a gay man last year, the LGBT rights group Stimul reported Thursday. Security cameras captured 40-year-old Roman Yedalov’s stabbing death near central Moscow’s Kursky train station in June 2019. His boyfriend Yevgeny Yefimov, who survived the attack, recounted that the suspect had shouted homophobic slurs. …

A Moscow activist campaign is encouraging people to protect their privacy by covering their faces in bright, bold designs.  Police-controlled facial recognition technology has been expanding in Moscow’s wide-reaching surveillance network since 2017. While law enforcement says the technology helps catch wanted criminals, critics have spoken out against what they say is non-consensual identification and…

Foreign students will be able to work without obtaining a permit while studying in Russia under a new law President Vladimir Putin signed Thursday. Currently, international students are only allowed to work without a permit if the job is at their state-accredited university and they work in their free time or during the holidays. Foreign…

Russia’s Central Bank has cut interest rates for the sixth time in a row as it continues to respond to slower-than-expected inflation. Russia’s key rate will fall to 6% on Monday from its current level of 6.25%, the Bank said Friday. The latest decision, taken at a meeting of the Bank’s governing board in Moscow,…

Russia’s new prime minister earned more than $35 million from his two-year spell at Russian investment group UFG, his former colleagues have said, addressing questions which have been raised over how Mikhail Mishustin and his family came to obtain millions of dollars worth of assets. Mishustin worked at UFG between 2008-2010, in between his roles…

A group of men and women attacked an investigative journalist and a human rights lawyer in Russia’s republic of Chechnya overnight, the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper which employs the journalist said Friday. Yelena Milashina and lawyer Marina Dubrovina arrived in the Chechen capital of Grozny to attend the trial of a disabled blogger who was…

Russian lawmakers expect to vote on legislation that would allow dual Russian citizenship for foreigners as soon as this month, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday. Under current Russian law, foreigners wishing to become Russian citizens must first renounce their other citizenships. Authors of the bill expect the new amendments relaxing these rules to help…

A civilian aircraft with 172 passengers on board made an emergency landing at the Russia-controlled Khmeimim airbase early Thursday after Syria’s air defense nearly hit it, Russia’s Defense Ministry was reported to have said. The Syrian air defense was trying to repulse an Israeli attack near Damascus, Interfax said Friday. Syria’s defense ministry said earlier…

Russia has reported its first two cases of coronavirus and said the infected people were Chinese citizens who had been isolated. As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 400 people in China continues to spread around the world, Russia has stepped up measures to tackle the health risk, including closing most entry points…

Russia has returned 26 children of Islamic State fighters from Syria, the state-run TASS news agency reported Friday. Russia has worked to bring back women and children linked to Russians who fought for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq under a program led by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday denounced U.S. foreign policy in Venezuela, criticizing U.S. “provocations” and attempts to create what he called a pretext for military intervention. Lavrov’s censure of Washington, on a low-profile visit to Mexico, came at an awkward time for the host nation. Mexico’s government has been going out of its…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

Citizens of 53 countries will be able to apply for simplified, low-cost electronic visas to visit Russia starting next year, a senior official has said in an interview published Thursday. The 16-day e-visas will go into effect Jan. 1, 2021, for citizens of the European Union and different countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East…

Citizens of 53 countries will be able to apply for free and simplified electronic visas to visit Russia starting next year, a senior official has said in an interview published Thursday. The 16-day e-visas will go into effect Jan. 1, 2021, for citizens of the European Union and different countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle…

Nearly half the landowners in Moscow’s luxury suburb of Rublyovka are linked to Russia’s ruling elite, the Proekt news website has said in a massive investigation published Thursday. Altogether, it said the 800 Kremlin functionaries, governors and mayors own an estimated 1.3 trillion rubles ($20.75 billion) in properties dotting the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway in western Moscow.…

The capital of Russian-annexed Crimea is facing a water shortage with enough supply to last 100 days, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday, citing regional and local officials. Crimea received 85% of its water from Ukraine’s Dnieper River via the North Crimean Canal until 2014, when Russia annexed the peninsula and Ukrainian authorities blocked the…

Russian and Turkish “military specialists” were killed by militants who staged more than 1,000 attacks in the last two weeks of January in the de-escalation zone in Syria’s Idlib province, Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. Russia’s rare admission of casualties comes as the UN Security Council meets to discuss the violence in Idlib, the last major…

Russia’s energy exports to the United States have reached an eight-year high in October 2019, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data cited by the RBC news website Thursday. Russia exported 20.9 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products to the U.S. in October 2019, the highest one-month total since November 2011. Russia also…

Russia’s state-controlled telecommunications provider is proposing a 260-billion-ruble ($4.1 billion) online ecosystem to “protect users from foreign influence,” the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday. Rostelecom’s so-called roadmap reportedly envisions the creation of state-run messengers, gaming services, browsers and operating systems. The telecom provider’s ambitious proposal also includes state-controlled content recommendation systems and speech and gesture…

The United States on Wednesday stepped up warnings to Russia over its Syria policy, saying Moscow was trying to challenge the U.S. presence in northeastern Syria by violating the terms of a de-confliction agreement and was also helping escalate the fighting in the northwestern province of Idlib. James Jeffrey, U.S. special envoy for Syria engagement…

Russia is alarmed by the U.S. Navy’s decision to deploy low-yield nuclear missiles on submarines since they heighten the risk of a limited nuclear war, a Russian official said on Wednesday. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the deployment of the W76-2 warhead in the name of strengthening deterrence had caused Russia great concern over…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

An Italian court froze assets belonging to a Kremlin adviser’s sister as part of his ownership dispute over a Russian bank with Michael Calvey, a prominent American investor who’s awaiting trial in Moscow on embezzlement charges. A judge in the Tuscan city of Lucca ruled last month that Artem Avetisyan’s sale of real estate holding…

The number of hate crimes against members of Russia’s LGBT community increased in 2019, according to an annual report by the prominent SOVA Center nonprofit, which tracks xenophobia and racism in the country. At the same time, the SOVA Center noted Tuesday that the number of crimes against ethnic and religious minorities, as well as…

Winter is high season for tourism around Lake Baikal in Siberia, but the coronavirus outbreak has curtailed its main source of income: Chinese holidaymakers. They account for more than two-thirds of foreign tourists to the world’s largest freshwater lake, a significant part of the around two million Chinese who visited Russia last year, spending more…

A new $231 billion tax regime for the Russian Arctic is to provide for an unprecedented wave of investments in icy drilling. The new legislation was hammered through the government on Jan. 30. It will give national oil companies incentives for major investments in Arctic oil, the country’s new Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says. “These…

Scores of Russians began two weeks of quarantine and coronavirus tests in a camp in Siberia on Wednesday after being flown home from China’s Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of an outbreak of the fast-spreading disease. Russia, which has restricted crossings along its 4,300 km (2,670-mile) land border with China, last week reported its first…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

Fifty Russian citizens have been awarded compensation totaling more than 1 million euros ($1.1 million) for police brutality and illegal searches, according to four European human rights court rulings issued Tuesday. Russia paid more than 600 million rubles ($9.5 million) to its citizens in compliance with European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings in 2019,…

The Taiga forests of Siberia have expanded north toward the Arctic as a result of warming temperatures over the past four decades, a team of Russian and Finnish scientists has said. Climate change is heating Russia at a rate more than twice the global average, thawing what was once permanently frozen ground in the Arctic…

Two Jehovah’s Witnesses have been convicted of extremism in Russia’s Far East, the group said Tuesday amid what activists say is an escalating crackdown on the religious group. The ruling to hand the two worshippers in the Khabarovsk region a two-year suspended sentence comes after Russia’s Supreme Court declared the Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist” organization…

Update: According to a journalist who spoke to prominent Ukrainian anti-corruption worker Yelena Tregub, the NV news website misquoted Pompeo. “When the international community sees Crimea as lost, it’s important to keep the issue and fate of Crimean Tatars in public eye and the U.S. plays a role in this,” BuzzFeed journalist Christopher Miller quoted Tregub as…

Russia plans to start deliveries of its S-400 air defense system to India late next year, a Russian official said Wednesday of the arms deal that risks landing Delhi under U.S. sanctions. India, the largest purchaser of Russian military hardware, agreed on the roughly $5 billion deal in 2018. The U.S. has said countries trading…

Russian priests should refrain from the practice of blessing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction that can inflict indiscriminate loss of life, according to new guidelines being discussed by the Russian Orthodox Church. During two decades in power, President Vladimir Putin has aligned himself with the Orthodox Church, which has also developed closer ties…

Russia on Tuesday accused Norway of restricting its activities on a remote chain of islands in the Arctic and said it wanted talks with Oslo to have the issue resolved. The archipelago of Svalbard, about 850 kilometers (500 miles) north of mainland Norway, is seen as a potential flashpoint between Moscow and the West as climate…

A Chechen emigre and vocal critic of the southern Russian region’s ruler has been stabbed to death in the northern French city of Lille, Agence France-Presse reported Monday. Local media initially reported that the body of an as-yet-unidentified man with multiple stab wounds was discovered in a hotel room last Thursday. An unnamed source close…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

Turkey urged Russia on Tuesday to rein in Syrian government forces in the northwestern province of Idlib, a day after eight Turkish personnel were killed in an attack Ankara blamed on Russian-backed Syrian troops. The two countries back opposing sides in the war, with Russia supporting President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey backing rebels who once…

Two Russian warships will conduct missile drills near Norway’s northernmost gas pipeline to Europe, the VG news website reported, citing the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS). A notice to airmen (NOTAM) is set for an area in the Norwegian Sea west of Helgeland, the Norwegian Joint Headquarters at Reitan near Bodø confirmed. The area with warnings to…

Russia, Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), are considering a new round of oil production cuts, as they scramble to respond to falling oil prices amid the coronavirus outbreak. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with the King of Saudi Arabia on Monday evening to discuss the market situation,…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Venezuela on Friday in a show of support for President Nicolas Maduro, a socialist who Washington wants out of power. Russia has helped Maduro weather a political crisis as the United States has targeted Caracas with sanctions and, like dozens of other countries, recognizes opposition politician Juan Guaido…