Day: January 19, 2021
-
Biden State Pick Calls For Extending New START With Russia
Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, said Tuesday the incoming administration would seek to extend New START, the last U.S. arms pact with Russia, which expires February 5. “I think we’re going to seek an extension,” Blinken said in response to a question at his Senate confirmation hearing. “I know we…
-
Navalny Targets ‘Billion-Dollar Putin Palace’ in New Investigation
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny accused President Vladimir Putin of using fraudulently obtained funds to build an opulent billion-dollar estate in an investigation published Tuesday, after authorities jailed him on charges he says are politically motivated. The Praskoveyevka estate on the Black Sea coast in southern Russia cost 100-billion rubles ($1.35 billion) to build and…
-
Zvezda Shipyard Commences Construction of Second ARC 7 LNG Carrier
The Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex has commenced the construction of the second LNG carrier tanker of the ARC 7 ice class.
-
Kremlin Dismisses Calls to Free Navalny, Warns Against Protests
The Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed Western demands to release Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying his calls for mass protests over his arrest were “troubling”. Legal pressure is ramping up against President Vladimir Putin’s best-known domestic critic, who is due in court on defamation charges on Wednesday, as his allies in Russia call…
-
Putin Takes Icy Dip in Orthodox Christian Ritual
Russian President Vladimir Putin took a dip in freezing water on Tuesday to mark the Orthodox Christian feast of the Epiphany. Video shared by Kremlin pool reporters from the state-run RIA Novosti news agency showed Putin wading into the water in blue swimming trunks and dunking three times while crossing himself before hastily exiting the…
-
Rosneft Enterprises Release over 65 Million Fry into Russian Rivers in 2020
Over 2020, subsidiaries of Rosneft Oil Company have released more than 65 juvenile fish of various species into the river systems of Russia.
-
Orenburgneft Reduces Power Costs by More Than 1 Billion Roubles Per Annum
Orenburgneft JSC, a subsidiary of Rosneft Oil Company, has reduced its operating expenses on power supplies by more than 1 billion roubles per year due to the construction of grid infrastructure and switching to a lower tariff.
-
Parler Partly Online With Russian Tech Firm’s Backing – Reuters
Parler, the social network popular with Trump supporters, has partially reappeared online with tech support from a Russian-owned technology company, Reuters reported Monday. Google and Apple removed Parler from their app stores after Trump, who is serving his last day in office, was banned from various platforms following the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S.…
-
Russia ‘One Step Closer’ to Year-Round Sailing in Melting Arctic
A powerful Russian icebreaker has crossed the Northern Sea Route for the first time at this time of year as ice coverage shrinks in the rapidly melting Arctic. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker Christophe de Margerie made it through the Chukchi Sea and into the Bering Strait on Saturday, Jan. 16, after 10 days…
-
Russians Celebrate Epiphany With a Bone-Chilling Bath
Russians celebrate the feast of the Epiphany every year on Jan. 19 by bathing in ice-cold lakes and rivers to celebrate the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. The Orthodox Christian tradition is popular with believers and non-believers too, as a freezing ice bath is believed to be good for you. Here’s a look…
-
Could Navalny’s Detention Derail His Movement?
The arrest and detention for thirty days of prominent opposition activist Alexei Navalny is threatening to upend Russian politics in an already fraught year that will include parliamentary elections in September. Since rising to prominence for his anti-Kremlin activism, Navalny — who was poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok in August last year and had…
-
Russian Police Officer Suspected of Leaking Navalny Poisoners’ Data – RBC
A Russian police officer is under suspicion of leaking the travel data of security officers allegedly behind opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s poisoning, the RBC news website reported Tuesday. The arrest in the central city of Samara comes less than a month after a media investigation named several alleged Rusian Federal Security Service (FSB) chemical-weapons experts…