The mysterious deaths of nine young hikers in the winter of 1959 at a remote pass in the Ural mountains has fascinated Russia for decades and spawned countless theories from aliens to a botched nuclear test. Now research published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth and Environment has added weight to a natural explanation for…
Moscow police Thursday warned Russians supporting jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny against staging protests this weekend, saying demonstrators could face criminal responsibility. Tens of thousands of people across Russia rallied last weekend in support of the 44-year-old opposition leader, who urged supporters to protest against President Vladimir Putin’s 20-year rule. The opposition plans to hold…
Russia’s population decline has set a 15-year record amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to preliminary government data cited by the RBC news website Thursday. Russia’s population totaled 146.24 million as of Jan. 1, 2021, down from 146.75 million the previous year. The 510,000-person decline is the largest since 2005, when Russia’s population dropped by 564,500…
Three Russian political parties have merged into a single party ahead of this year’s State Duma elections in September, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday. The leaders of the A Just Russia, For Truth and Patriots of Russia parties signed a unification manifesto to form the new A Just Russia — For Truth…
A Moscow court has upheld opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s 30-day pretrial detention on charges of violating probation terms from a previous conviction he says was politically motivated, the Mediazona news website reported Thursday. Navalny was placed in custody until Feb. 15 upon his return from Germany, where he spent months recovering from Novichok nerve agent…
Background In September 2020, Gazprom and the Khabarovsk Territory approved the program for gas supply and gas infrastructure expansion in the region for a new five-year period, i.e. 2021–2025. The Company’s investments in the program will total RUB 5.49 billion – a 3.2-fold increase against the investments made in 2016–2020. Gazprom is planning to build 14 inter-settlement gas pipelines, 9.3 kilometers of gas pipeline branches, and six gas distribution…
VetroSGC-2 (a part of NovaWind JSC, ROSATOM’s company) obtained the permit for the construction of the Medvezhenskaya wind farm with a total capacity of 60 MW in the territory of Trunovskiy urban district, the Stavropol Krai. The receipt of the permit was preceded by a positive opinion of design document expert examination issued by the…
Over 3500 military personnel have started martial exercises across six regions in Russia, the state-run TASS news agency reported Thursday. “The exercise involves army control structures, communications brigades, tank, infantry, artillery, missile, air defense units,” TASS quoted the Western Military District press service as saying, adding that nuclear, chemical and biological protection troops; reconnaissance and…
A Russian court has fined Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and its Russian-language services for violating the country’s “foreign agent” law, the U.S.-funded news organization said Wednesday. Russia labeled RFE/RL and its regional affiliates as “foreign agents” in 2017 in retaliation to the U.S. requiring Kremlin-funded media to register under anti-propaganda laws. This year, RFE/RL said it…
Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s family members and allies have been detained on charges of violating coronavirus restrictions following widespread raids on their homes and offices, the head of Navalny’s anti-corruption outfit Ivan Zhdanov said early Thursday. The raids and detentions in more than 30 Moscow locations follow last weekend’s nationwide rallies demanding Navalny’s release…
Russia has confirmed 3,793,810 cases of coronavirus and 71,651 deaths. Jan. 28: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 19,138 new coronavirus cases and 575 deaths. Moscow has lifted some measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus as cases continued to recede over the past week, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Wednesday. The measures include the…
Populist Sadyr Japarov was sworn in as president of ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan Thursday, completing a remarkable transformation from prisoner to president in just a few months. Japarov, 52, was serving jail time on hostage-taking charges before being freed during a political crisis over a parliamentary vote in October, beginning a dizzying rise to the top…
A Siberian shaman has once again been committed to a mental hospital on the eve of his planned cross-country journey to expel Russian President Vladimir Putin from power, the hospital and activists said Wednesday. Alexander Gabyshev, who has been placed in a psychiatric hospital twice in the past two years, announced in January plans to…