Month: March 2021

The top Pentagon general called counterparts in Russia and Ukraine Wednesday as the U.S. Defense Department expressed concerns about a reported buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine’s border and in Crimea. U.S. troops in Europe were on an elevated “watch condition” as Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley spoke to General Valery Gerasimov, the Russian…

A court in St. Petersburg on Wednesday jailed a man for a year for having attacked a riot police officer during a rally in support of imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Yevgeny Tugankov became the third Russian to receive a prison sentence over the nationwide protests that took place in late January and early February…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny announced Wednesday that he has gone on hunger strike in protest of conditions that he says are causing his health to deteriorate. Navalny’s lawyers warned last week that his life may be in danger after he reported suffering from weeks of severe back pain and a loss of sensation in…

Italy expelled two Russian officials on Wednesday after an Italian navy captain was caught red-handed by police selling secret documents to the Russians. The Italian frigate captain was arrested on spying charges after officers tailing him saw him late Tuesday in Rome in a “clandestine meeting” with a Russian military officer, according to a police…

UN experts expressed concern on Wednesday over reports of “grave human rights abuses” by Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic, where they have supported the embattled government’s military. “The experts have received, and continue to receive, reports of grave human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, attributable to the private military personnel…

The speaker of Russia’s upper-house Federation Council on Wednesday criticized the lyrics to the country’s selection for the Eurovision song contest as “nonsense” and demanded a review of how it was chosen. Russia announced earlier this month that it would send Tajik-born singer-songwriter Manizha to this year’s Eurovision contest in the Netherlands, where she will perform…

A Lithuanian court on Wednesday extended a prison sentence for a former Soviet tank officer convicted for his role in a deadly military assault on Lithuania’s independence bid in January 1991. The Vilnius appeals court extended the sentence for Yuri Mel from seven years to 10 years behind bars, meaning that he would not be…

Three out of four Russians view China favorably, an independent poll said Tuesday, a 10% jump from last year as Moscow’s ties with the West grow increasingly strained. The Levada Center polling agency said 75% of Russian respondents view China in a positive light, up from 65% in 2020. Only 14% said they view China…

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the prospect of jointly producing Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, the Kremlin announced late Tuesday. The leaders spoke as Russia awaits European Union approval of its Sputnik V vaccine in the next two months. The EU’s medicine regulator plans…

Russia has approved what it says is the world’s first coronavirus vaccine for pets, the state veterinary service said Wednesday. Carnivac-Cov underwent clinical trials on dogs, cats, mink and other animals starting in October, Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary Supervision, Rosselkhoznadzor, said in a statement. Mass production of the injectable suspension could be launched as…

NATO warplanes performed 10 interceptions of Russian fighter jets and bombers exhibiting “an unusual peak” of flights across Europe, the Western military alliance said in a statement Monday. NATO shadowed six groups of Russian warplanes in less than six hours as Russia staged large-scale military drills across the country. “NATO fighter jets scrambled 10 times…

Russia’s ambassador to the United States plans to return to Washington soon following talks in Moscow on the future of bilateral ties after U.S. President Joe Biden called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “killer.” Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, who was recalled for emergency consultations on March 21, told the state-run TASS news agency Monday that…

Austria said on Tuesday it was negotiating with Russia over the possible purchase of 1 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine — which has yet to be approved by EU regulators. Though EU member Hungary is already administering Sputnik V and a total of 57 countries have authorized its use, according to the Russian…

A court in Russia-annexed Crimea said Monday it has jailed a Jehovah’s Witness for six and a half years on charges of organizing an extremist group in the country’s latest prison sentence against members of the Christian denomination. The Sevastopol-based Gagarin district court said in a statement that it found the defendant guilty and sent…

A year ago today Russia went into its first — and only — coronavirus lockdown.  It was first officially declared a “nationwide non-working week,” designed to keep as many people at home as possible and keep Russia’s infection rate low, President Vladimir Putin outlined in an address to the nation days before swathes of the…

Russia was holding fresh military exercises on Tuesday in the Arctic, a territory of growing importance for Moscow as it vies for regional dominance with rivals including the United States. Tensions between the West and Russia have led both sides to beef up their militaries in the remote High North, an area believed to be…

Lawyers from the Russian Bar Association have called on lawmakers to impose regulations on websites’ recommendation algorithms, the Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday.  The proposed regulations would apply to social networks, news aggregators, streaming services and online marketplaces, Kommersant cited the lawyers as saying in their proposal to the State Duma and Federation Council.  Algorithms…

Two Russian soldiers have been fined for washing their shoes in holy water, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday. Video of the two Navy servicemen boasting of washing their feet in “their [worshippers’] holy water” at a Russian Orthodox chapel in Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad sparked backlash last fall. The men, who are natives…

The Kremlin said Tuesday it hopes Moscow will not be forced to block Western tech giants in the country but stressed that the companies had to abide by Russian law. Russian authorities have in recent months ramped up pressure on foreign social media platforms, particularly those hosting content supporting jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. “No…

Moscow police are inspecting prominent talk show host Vladimir Solovyov’s remarks calling Hitler a “very brave man,” the RBC news website reported Monday. The Interior Ministry’s northern Moscow department said it had asked the state-run media holding All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) for copies of Solovyov’s show that aired last month, RBC reported.…

Siberian scientists have blocked the publication of a “bombshell” pollution report out of fear of angering voters ahead of this fall’s legislative elections, the Tayga.info news website reported Friday. The Russian Academy of Sciences’ (RAS) Siberian branch reportedly determined that 78% of Russia’s two dozen most polluted cities are located in Siberia and linked the…

A Russian-controlled court in Crimea said Monday it has jailed an elderly woman for 12 years after finding her guilty of spying for Ukraine. The Sevastopol city court said in a statement that the woman — identified only by the initial D., her birth year of 1955 and residence of the town of Bakhchysarai —…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Monday that he risks being sent to “torture-like” solitary confinement after he received several reprimands at a notoriously harsh penal colony. Navalny, 44, is serving a sentence of two and a half years for violating parole in an old fraud case while recovering abroad from poisoning that he blames…

Russian environmentalists have raised the alarm over plans to mine gold near UNESCO-protected territory on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Far East, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news outlet’s Siberian affiliate reported Monday.  Russia’s Federal Subsoil Resource Use Agency reportedly plans to open a 61-square-kilometer site in the Milkovsky district of Kamchatka for gold prospecting…

Russia acknowledged Monday that it was developing ties with Myanmar but said it was “very concerned” by an increase in civilian casualties at protests against military rule. More than 100 people including children were killed by security forces in Myanmar on Saturday in the deadliest weekend since February’s military coup. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told…

Russia has agreed a deal for more than 60 million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to be produced in China from May, the jab’s developer said on Monday. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has financed the development of the vaccine, said it and Shenzhen Yuanxing Gene-tech Co. “have agreed to cooperate on production…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s ally Ivan Zhdanov said Monday that his father has been arrested for corruption, blaming the Kremlin for the arrest and linking the criminal case to his own political activity. Zhdanov, who heads Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) which is famous for viral video investigations into senior officials’ allegedly illicit wealth, said…

Italy should recognize Crimea as Russian territory before being allowed to export parmesan into the country again, the head of Russia’s cheesemakers union said Sunday. Russia banned wholesale imports of fresh EU food produce including parmesan in retaliation to Western sanctions over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.  Italian Ambassador to Moscow Pasquale Terracciano on…

Russia has launched large-scale military exercises involving more than 12,000 servicemen in eastern Siberia, Interfax reported Monday, citing the Eastern Military District’s press service.  The drills will involve up to 3,000 weapons and pieces of military equipment, 60 aircraft and helicopters and more than 10 drones. They will be led by the Eastern Military District’s…

The prime minister this month announced snap parliamentary polls that he said were “the best way out of the current internal political situation.” In a visit to northwest Armenia on Sunday, Pashinyan told villagers he will “resign in April” ahead of the vote. “I will resign not to resign, but in order for early elections to take…

Police in Belarus on Saturday detained more than 100 people, including five journalists, a rights group said, as the opposition resumed rallies against strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Protests erupted in the ex-Soviet country last August after Lukashenko claimed a sixth presidential term in a vote the opposition and Western diplomats said was rigged. But they died…

Police in Belarus detained dozens of protesters and at least five journalists on Saturday, a rights group said, as the opposition restarted rallies against strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko’s rule. Protests erupted in the ex-Soviet country last August after Lukashenko claimed a sixth presidential term in a vote the opposition and Western diplomats said was rigged. news Belarus…

Several German lawmakers have once again fallen victim to a cyberattack, local media said Friday, with security experts pointing the finger at Russian hackers. Hackers used phishing emails to gain access to the computers of at least seven federal MPs and 31 lawmakers in regional parliaments, according to Der Spiegel weekly. A spokesman for the…

The Ukrainian military said that four soldiers were killed in shelling it blamed on Moscow-backed separatists in the east of the country on Friday, further undermining a ceasefire brokered last year. “Unfortunately, from the beginning of 2021 we see an increase in escalation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a statement in Telegram late on…

Russia and Myanmar are deepening their defense ties as Moscow’s military supplies continue to pour into the country, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Friday at a meeting with the country’s commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing. Fomin’s visit marked the first high-profile visit to Myanmar by a foreign official since the country was rocked by…

Almost $300 million worth of Russian oil products are waiting to enter the Suez Canal, which remains closed following the grounding of the Ever Given tanker. But Moscow is hoping it can turn the freak grounding into long-term gain.  Efforts to dislodge the vessel are now in their third day and those tasked with moving…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny fears losing his leg in a penal colony where he is serving two and a half years, he said in an Instagram post Friday. Navalny’s lawyers warned this week that his life may be in danger because of four weeks of severe back pain and loss of sensation in one…

An independent Russian journalist and elections expert has reported receiving threats toward his family and surveillance over his article about a regional elections official seeking re-election to the State Duma this September.  Vasily Weissenberg, an expert at the independent Golos election monitor, had published an article about Andrei Gibert, the head of the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district’s…

Russian conservationists hailed Friday a rare sighting of an Amur leopard mother with three cubs in the Far East as proof of the efficiency of the country’s efforts to boost the population of the endangered species. Scientists in a Russian national park located in the Primorye region on the border with China obtained the stunning…

A fake “TikTok for Business” website has appeared in Russia that hijacks popular accounts with a fraudulent content monetization scheme, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday. This is the first time that the widespread social media entrapment method has involved the popular Chinese short-video app, the newspaper cited the Infosecurity cybersecurity company’s leading analyst Alexander…

Maria Alyokhina is no stranger to being prosecuted for her politics. The veteran Pussy Riot member is best known for her role in the group’s “Punk Prayer,” the provocative February 2012 protest in neon balaclavas at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. She and fellow activist Nadya Tolokonnikova would spend two years in a prison colony…

France on Friday accused Russia of using its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine as a tool to spread Moscow’s influence and message rather than as way to fight the global health crisis. “In terms of how it is managed, it (the Sputnik V vaccine) is more a means of propaganda and aggressive diplomacy than a means of solidarity…

Russia’s second coronavirus vaccine triggers antibodies in all recipients, according to early-trial study results involving 100 volunteers published Thursday. EpiVacCorona, a two-shot peptide vaccine developed by the Siberia-based Vektor Institute, came under scrutiny this week after Phase 3 trial participants claimed that it does not produce an immune response. No peer-reviewed research on the jab has…

Russia in 2020 saw record high average temperatures and a record drop of summer ice cover on its Arctic maritime route, the country’s weather monitoring institute Rosgidromet said Thursday. Russia’s average annual temperature last year was 3.22 degrees Celsius higher than the average for the period of 1961-1990 and more than one degree higher than…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is in great pain, his lawyer said Thursday after visiting him in prison, adding that allies feared for his life. “He is suffering from strong back pain and pain in his right leg,” lawyer Olga Mikhailova said in remarks on Dozhd television, adding that his condition was “extremely unfavorable”. “Everyone…