Day: February 25, 2021
-
Thousands Rally in Armenia After PM Warns of ‘Coup Attempt’
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan defied calls to resign and accused the military of an attempted coup on Thursday, as divisions over his handling of last year’s war with Azerbaijan brought thousands to the streets. Hours after the general staff of Armenia’s military made a shock call for the government to step down, Pashinyan rallied…
-
Russian Pranksters Trick Amnesty Heads in Navalny ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ Call
A pair of notorious Russian pranksters duped top Amnesty International directors into saying their widely panned move to revoke jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s “prisoner of conscience” status caused damage. Amnesty was hit with widespread backlash for the decision Wednesday, with critics saying the group had caved in to a “targeted campaign” to discredit Navalny…
-
In Photos: Russia’s Imperial Capital Embraces ‘Snowpocalypse’
While the first day of calendar spring is just around the corner, the brutal Russian winter has yet to ease its grip. This week, abnormally cold temperatures have been recorded across the country — with Russia’s second-largest city St. Petersburg battling one of the heaviest onslaughts of snow. Within days, Russia’s imperial capital was covered…
-
Moscow City Hall Develops App to ‘Replace’ Skype, Slack – RBC
Moscow authorities have developed an internal messaging app intended as a “full replacement” for workplace communication platforms like Slack, Skype and Telegram, the RBC news website reported Thursday. The app’s appearance comes as Russia slams what it calls censorship and discrimination of government-affiliated accounts by western social media platforms. Earlier this week, President Vladimir Putin…
-
Anti-Putin Shaman Charged With Sword Attack on Police
A Siberian shaman who was re-committed to a mental hospital ahead of his planned journey to expel President Vladimir Putin from power has been charged over a sword attack on a police officer, authorities announced Thursday. Investigators in the Far East republic of Sakha said a 51-year-old resident resisted detention on Jan. 27 after the…
-
German Man Charged for Spying at Bundestag for Russians — Prosecutors
German prosecutors said Thursday they have filed spying charges against a German man suspected of passing on data from parliament to Russian secret services. The suspect, named only as Jens F., worked for a company that was contracted by the Bundestag to carry out regular checks on electric equipment in parliament. “Against this background, the…
-
Armenia PM Takes to the Streets to Denounce ‘Coup Attempt’
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the military of an attempted coup and brought supporters to the streets on Thursday, as months of tensions over its defeat in last year’s war with Azerbaijan came to a head. Thousands marched through the streets of the capital Yerevan in support of Pashinyan, with the opposition urging him…
-
Moscow To Expand Metro Facial Recognition Network
Moscow authorities have allocated more than $10 million to purchase and install across the city’s sprawling metro system high-definition cameras that can recognize faces and track fast movements, Russian media reported Thursday. Russia’s capital Moscow in recent years has developed a vast network of some 100,000 facial recognition cameras, sparking concerns from activists over state…
-
A Vote on Restoring a Secret Police Chief’s Statue Opens Old Wounds in Russia
On the night of Aug. 23 1991, as a coup attempt by communist hardliners bent on preserving the dissolving Soviet Union collapsed, Sergei Stankevich rushed to the KGB headquarters on Moscow’s Lubyanka Square. With victorious anti-coup Muscovites preparing to pull down the statue of Soviet secret police founder Felix Dzherzinsky outside the building, Stankevich —…
-
Russian Imprisoned for Handing ‘State Secrets’ to China
A Russian national has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for treason by handing state secrets to China, a court in Siberia announced Thursday. Vladimir Vasilyev, 52, had pleaded guilty to passing state secrets to China’s intelligence services, the state-run TASS news agency quoted an unnamed law enforcement source as saying. He is at…
-
Rare Deer Mauled to Death by Stray Moscow Dogs
Several spotted deer at Moscow’s Losiny Ostrov (Elk Island) forest preserve have been mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs, park management told Russian media Thursday. Environmental activists reported 10 killings over the long holiday weekend, blaming the park’s new administration for making cuts to the ranger service that left approximately 150 spotted…
-
Russia’s Wildberries Launches in France, Italy and Spain
Russia’s top online retailer, Wildberries, launched in three major European countries Wednesday. The company has started selling in France, Italy and Spain, it said in a statement sent to The Moscow Times. The move follows other recent expansions, including into Germany, and means Wildberries is now active in all four of the EU’s largest consumer…