A Covid-denying rogue Russian monk who barricaded himself in a monastery last year with dozens of followers was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison on Tuesday. A Moscow court found Father Sergiy — whose secular name is Nikolai Romanov — guilty of inciting suicide, offending religious beliefs and vigilantism, Russian news agencies reported. He was…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his recently attained constitutional right to get re-elected in 2024 gives the country automatic “stability.” Putin reiterated that he is still undecided about running for his fifth overall presidential term during Tuesday’s appearance at an investment forum by video link. Constitutional amendments passed last year granted him the…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that military exercises and other moves by the West and Ukraine threaten Russia’s security, warning against crossing the Kremlin’s “red lines.” Addressing an investor conference via video link, Putin declined to say whether Moscow planned to move troops across Ukraine’s border — as the West has been alleging for…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for mutual recognition of vaccines against the coronavirus to help curtail the pandemic, as concern grows around the world about the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Speaking at a Russian investment forum by video link, Putin said that countries can “effectively battle” the coronavirus only by coordinating their actions. “I…
Russia is developing special AI-powered software that will be able to detect and prevent mass unrest as soon as next year, the Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday, citing the Emergency Situations Ministry. The futuristic technology uses machine learning to carry out a “multi-factor, comprehensive analysis of the likelihood of riots and unauthorized public events,” according…
For Russia, November 2021 was a grim month. Prosecutors launched an effort to close down Memorial, Russia’s top human rights organization. In Siberia’s coal-mining Kemerovo region, 46 miners and five rescuers died after a methane gas explosion at the Listvyazhnaya coal. Meanwhile, as Russians started to stock up ahead of the New Year holidays, prices…
At noon in London on Nov. 29, the first non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for ballets went on sale at Bonhams auction house. Three ballets performed by Natalia Osipova, a principal dancer at The Royal Ballet, will be up for auction until Dec. 10. The performances on sale, called “Natalia Osipova: Triptych,” consist of two pieces from…
Russia’s leading media conglomerate has launched a domestic rival to the hugely popular video-sharing app TikTok as Russia’s campaign to reduce the influence of foreign websites and technology advances. Gazprom Media, a subsidiary of state-owned gas giant Gazprom, launched the service, named “Yappy,” on Monday. It is currently available to download from both the Apple…
As many as 1,500 Russian tourists have been left stranded in South Africa as countries scramble to ban flights from the region over fears of the heavily mutated Omicron coronavirus strain, media reported Monday. Russia last week banned flights from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, Swaziland and Tanzania, as well as Hong…
November 30, 2021, 11:05 Alexey Oleynikov has been elected Director General of Gazprom Transgaz Tchaikovsky. Alexey Oleynikov was born in 1982. He graduated from Ural State Technical University, majoring in Gas Turbine & Steam Turbine Units and Engines. He has a PhD degree in Engineering. He has been employed with Gazprom for about 13 years. Between 2009 and 2017, he rose through the ranks from Electronics Engineer…
Russia has deported an American professor at a prestigious St. Petersburg university who was associated with a U.S. college that was blacklisted by the authorities earlier this year, media reported Monday. Michael Freese, a professor in St. Petersburg State University’s Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty, was banned from returning to Russia until 2026, according to the…
November 30, 2021 Severstal, one of the world’s largest vertically integrated steel and mining companies, has taken a strategic decision to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy portfolio, in part by increasing heat generation from biofuels at the operating boiler houses of Karelsky Okatysh, the leading iron ore mining and processing company…
November 30, 2021 Severstal, one of the world’s largest vertically integrated steel and mining companies, has engaged the services of EY to conduct an audit of compliance with ethical norms and standards. This is part of Severstal’s comprehensive programme to improve corporate processes in order to comply with global best ESG practices. Documentation and on-site…
The backers of the Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V said Monday that the jab is effective against the new Omicron coronavirus variant but they were also developing an adapted booster. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which supported the vaccine’s development by the state-run Gamaleya Center, said that the center “has already begun developing the…
ROSATOM, a global technological leader, will attend the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE) being held in Paris, France, between 30 November and 2 December 2021. WNE, the world’s largest exhibition dedicated to the civil nuclear sector, will bring together global leaders from across the nuclear industry. Following on from the COP26 summit, the theme of this…
Installation of the circular (polar) crane bridge has been completed in the power unit 2 reactor building at the site of the Rooppur NPP under construction (in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh). The “Energospecmontazh” JSC specialists have performed works on lifting and installing the polar crane bridge beams on the rail tracks at +38.50m elevation…
On November 29th, Uranium One Holding N.V. (a ROSATOM company) entered into an agreement with Alpha Lithium Corporation to establish a joint venture to develop the Tolillar lithium deposit in Argentina. The 27,500 hectares deposit is located in the Argentine province of Salta within the world famous “lithium triangle”. This region is rich with hydromineral…
Russia’s rollout of a nationwide QR code system that would restrict access to public places and transport to encourage vaccination is running into widespread opposition from anti-lockdown activists, even as Russia’s pandemic death toll continues to soar. With vaccine skepticism rife and only around 35% of Russians having received their jabs, moves to make jabs…
Russia said Monday it had carried out another successful test of its Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile, as world powers race to develop advanced weaponry. Russia, the United States, France and China have all been experimenting with so-called hypersonic glide vehicles — defined as reaching speeds of at least Mach 5. As part of “the completion…
On November 23-25, 2021, the annual conference of the design and engineering complex of nuclear industry was held in Moscow. It was organized by Atomenergoproekt JSC (part of Engineering Division of ROSATOM), which is the largest design organization of industry. The event, held in a hybrid format, was attended by more than 2,500 people, and…
The United States will expel at least 54 more Russian diplomats next year, Russia’s ambassador to Washington said Sunday as worsening relations have left both countries’ embassies and consulates badly understaffed and unable to provide routine services. Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said 27 Russian diplomats are scheduled to leave the U.S. with their families by Jan.…
Alexander Gradsky, one of Russia’s most famous singers, musicians, composers, and teachers died early Sunday morning in Moscow at the age of 72. Gradsky’s career spanned more than half a century and ranged from composing for and performing in the very first rock ‘n roll bands in the Soviet Union, performing in “The Golden Cockerel”…
Russian journalists have been barred from speaking with the survivors of one of the deadliest disasters to hit the coal-mining regions of Siberia in the past decade, the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported Sunday. Forty-six miners and five rescuers lost their lives after a methane gas explosion that filled the Listvyazhnaya coal mine in the…
Central African Republic universities will require students to study the Russian language, CAR media has reported as Bangui and Moscow continue to pursue activated military and economic cooperation. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra ordered universities to make Russian compulsory instead of Spanish as soon as next year, the Corbeau News Centrafrique news website reported Friday. Students will…
November 29, 2021, 10:00 3Q 2021 IFRS Results Today PJSC Gazprom issued its unaudited consolidated interim condensed financial information prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 Interim Financial Reporting (IAS 34) for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The table below presents the unaudited consolidated interim condensed statement of comprehensive income for the nine months ended September…
November 29, 2021 Karelsky Okatysh, a subsidiary of Severstal, one of the world’s leading steel and steel-related mining companies, signed an agreement with the Federal State Budgetary Institution State Natural Reserve Kostomuksha on the development of a Programme for Monitoring and Conservation of Biodiversity in JSC Karelsky Okatysh’s region of operation. It was previously reported…
November 29, 2021 Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and mining companies, implemented Clawbacks & Malus policy. The Policy has been developed to eliminate the risk of intentional occurrence of financial misstatements or other exceptional circumstances arising from the actions of key managers. Key TOP-management directors’ incentive arrangements are subject to “malus”,…
The Soviet Union’s successful war against Nazi Germany is hardly an under-researched subject. The literature on it is so rich and expansive as to make it difficult to say anything truly new on the matter. But Mark Edele, a professor of history at Australia’s Melbourne University, manages to do just that in “Stalinism At War,”…
This week I gave the fridge a very thorough going over, the kind of special operation where I take absolutely everything out, and give the shelves and drawers a good scrub, as well as the sticky collection of jars that crowd my top shelf. It did not surprise me to find three almost empty jars…
Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to ease tensions and resolve disputes left over from last year’s war over Nagorno-Karabakh. Putin gathered the leaders for a rare face-to-face meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi after a flare-up in fighting on the border between the…
Independent media outlets and journalists in Russia are being increasingly targeted with “foreign agent” and “undesirable” labels, threatening the existence of the free press day by day. Your donation to The Moscow Times directly supports the last independent English-language news source within Russia.
Geologists at Vostok Oil, Rosneft’s largest oil and gas project, proved oil saturation of the Nizhnekhetskaya Formation during a geologic survey at the Lodochnoye field and explained the need for its inclusion in the main development targets.
Bashneft (an enterprise of Rosneft Oil Company) has reduced its carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from furnaces at the Ufa refining complex, by five times at the selective oil treatment unit and by 17 times at the hydrotreatment unit.
Go skating at VDNKh Winter begins on Friday at 5 p.m. — or at least the rink at VDNKh Park opens, which is a sure sign that winter is here. The rink is the largest in Moscow, if not the world, at 53,000 square meters (that’s 570,487 square feet or almost the size of 12…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Friday that Ukraine is ready for any escalation in tensions with Russia, and that his administration had uncovered a plot for a coup in early December. The comments come as Russia musters military units on its border with Ukraine. Moscow has dismissed growing Western claims that Russia may be preparing to invade…
Belarus’s strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko told migrants on the border with Poland Friday that he would not try to stop them from reaching the European Union, urging Germany to take them in. In footage released by state media, Lukashenko was shown visiting a center near the Polish border hosting hundreds of migrants — mainly Kurds…
With December just around the corner, snow is falling across Russia’s 11 time zones, bringing one of the year’s most picturesque seasons with it. During this time of the year, some Russians are kicking off the winter swimming season, while others stay fully bundled up until the frost starts to melt again. But climate change…
At least 50 miners and rescuers died Thursday after smoke filled a coal mine in Siberia, the latest in a string of disasters to hit Russia’s mining industry in recent decades. Though dozens of those still trapped inside were believed to have perished, authorities said one survivor was recovered from the site early Friday. Several…
Russian financial markets have tumbled in a day of global market turmoil following the discovery of a new coronavirus strain, dubbed the “worst ever” by scientists. The ruble sank 2% against major currencies by Friday lunchtime in Moscow trading, hitting a seven-month low of 75.7 against the U.S. dollar and 85.2 against the euro. The…
More than 50 people have died Thursday after smoke filled a Siberian coal mine in the latest disaster to hit Russia’s mining industry. Senior managers at the mine in Russia’s Kemerovo region have been detained for suspected safety violations. Russian news agencies quoted local authorities as saying 52 people died, including miners and six rescuers…
A second former head of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s regional headquarters has fled Russia following the jailing on retroactive “extremist” charges of one of his colleagues, he said Thursday. Sergei Boyko headed Navalny’s headquarters in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, where he also served as city council deputy. Boyko said his decision not to…
November 25, 2021, 21:40 The awarding of the winners and laureates of the 11th Energy of Victories national sports journalism festival contest, organized by the Russian Olympic Committee and the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia with the backing of Gazprom, took place today in Moscow. The winners are as follows: The Lev Rossoshik Prize for Best Article (federal media): 1st place – Konstantin Stolbovsky, Telesport Media…
Defenders of Russia’s most prominent rights group Memorial urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to dismiss a case to shut it down, saying the move would mark a dark day for the country. In court for alleged violations of its designation as a “foreign agent,” Memorial is facing its biggest threat since being founded by…
Russian lawmakers have voted to strip their veteran opposition colleague of immunity as he faces charges of illegally killing an elk, the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said Thursday. Communist Party deputy Valery Rashkin was detained in late October with fragments of an elk carcass and blood-stained knives in the trunk of his car. Rashkin,…
Kiev warned Russia on Thursday against invading Ukraine, saying it would “pay dearly” for any such attempt, as the West fears Moscow might be plotting to send troops across the border. Western countries have this month raised alarm over reported Russian military activity near Ukraine, with the United States saying it has “real concerns” over…
Some 230 migrants forced their way through the border from Belarus with the help of Belarusian border guards but were immediately sent back across, Poland said on Thursday. “They destroyed the fence and a group of 232 people made their way several meters into Polish territory,” border guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska told Polish news agency…
President Vladimir Putin has fired the head of Russia’s prison system, the Kremlin announced Thursday, a month after a series of explosive videos showing rape and torture inside a prison hospital leaked online. Putin replaced Alexander Kalashnikov with Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Gostev as head of Russia’s Federal Prison Service (FSIN), with the change effective immediately.…
November 25, 2021, 13:55 Overall amount of Gazprom’s investments to be used in 2022: RUB 1,757.7 billion. Gazprom’s borrowings for 2022: RUB 272.789 billion. Final investment program and budget will be approved by the Gazprom Board of Directors. The Gazprom Management Committee took note of the information about the Company’s preliminary operating results for 2021, the projected investment program and budget (financial plan) for 2023–2024, and the…
On Monday Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art announced the construction of a major new exhibition space that will both transform Gorky Park and revive one of the park’s original structures. Designed by Japanese architecture firm SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates), the new structure, called the Hexagon, will be built on the site of…
Russian police will probe Netflix for allegedly streaming content that contains so-called “gay propaganda” without labeling it properly, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday. The Interior Ministry confirmed to the newspaper that it will look into a complaint against the U.S. streaming platform filed by Olga Baranets, the so-called “public commissioner for the protection of the…
A mining fire in Siberia’s Kemerovo region has killed at least 11 miners and injured dozens more, regional authorities said Thursday. At least 285 miners were inside when the blaze erupted at the Listvyazhnaya coal mine in Kemerovo — also known as Kuzbass — 3,600 kilometers east of Moscow, Governor Sergei Tsivilev wrote on his Telegram channel. The emergency…
Russia on Thursday successfully placed into orbit a military satellite believed to be part of the Kremlin’s early warning anti-missile system. A Soyuz rocket carrying a classified payload blasted off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia in the early hours of Thursday morning, the Defense Ministry said. At 01:09 GMT a rocket was launched…
The immune response generated by Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine could fade significantly six months after vaccination, a new study published in leading medical journal The Lancet has found. Researchers in Argentina studied antibody levels among 602 healthcare workers in what is the first independent peer-reviewed study of the vaccine’s longer-term ability to protect against…
A poet who was until recently Kazakhstan’s longest-serving political prisoner has died less than two months after he was set free. He had spent 15 years behind bars for a crime he always insisted he had not committed. Aron Atabek died on Nov. 24 in a hospital in his hometown of Almaty after his heart…
Russian lawmakers are seeking to recognize those vaccinated against the coronavirus with foreign jabs, the Izvestia daily reported Thursday. The major changes would be added to a legislative package mandating digital Covid passes showing its holder’s vaccination status or recent recovery from the virus as the country battles its latest and deadliest wave of the…
The Rosatom Technical Academy under the support of JSC Rusatom Service has organized a two-week training course for specialists from the People’s Republic of Bangladesh “Technological Aspects of AES-2006 (VVER-1200). Development of Nuclear Curricula on VVER Technology”. The course was held online in support of the ROSATOM activities on the Rooppur NPP construction. More than…
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday that the country needed to further develop its armed forces in the face of “increased NATO activity” on its borders. “The difficult military and political situation in the world and the increased activity of NATO countries near the Russian borders require further quality development of the armed…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has received an experimental nasal coronavirus vaccine days after receiving a booster shot as authorities continue to struggle to convince people to get vaccinated. Putin said on Sunday he had had a third Covid-19 vaccine dose, noting that the injection of the one-dose Sputnik Light booster was painless. The president also volunteered to…
The Kremlin said Wednesday it opposes U.S. President Joe Biden’s “divisive” democracy summit after Russia did not appear on the list of invitees. Around 110 countries have been invited to the virtual summit, including the United States’ major Western allies, and snubbing Russia and China. The long-advertised meeting will take place online on Dec. 9…
Popular rapper Morgenshtern has left Russia after the country’s top investigator accused him of drug dealing, the Ura.ru news website reported Wednesday. Alisher Valeyev, who goes by the stage name Morgenshtern, reportedly boarded a train from the western Russian border city of Smolensk to Minsk, the capital of neighboring Belarus, with his wife and bodyguards. Earlier…