Moscow Security Forces Raid Jehovah’s Witnesses

Security forces detained several Moscow-based Jehovah’s Witnesses during raids in connection with a new extremism investigation into the religious group’s members, authorities announced Wednesday. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said Federal Security Service (FSB) agents, National Guardsmen and police officers assisted in the raids at 16 addresses in and around Moscow. The investigative…

Russia Places Top Navalny Aide on Interstate Wanted List

Russia has issued an interstate arrest warrant for Leonid Volkov, the regional network coordinator for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Interfax reported on Wednesday, citing the court press service.  Volkov, who is currently based in Lithuania, faces criminal charges in Russia for allegedly inciting minors online to participate in unsanctioned protests last month. Several of…

Russia Snubs European Security Panel in 30-Year First

The Russian military has turned down an invitation to attend a European security seminar for the first time in 30 years amid deteriorating ties with the West, Moscow’s arms control delegation in Vienna said Tuesday. The delegation’s Twitter account said Russian Defense Ministry officials opted out of the European Security and Cooperation Organization’s (OSCE) Military…

Russia Brands Navalny Team ‘Traitors’ for EU Sanctions Push

Russia on Tuesday accused allies of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny of treasonous behavior for urging the EU to sanction members of President Vladimir Putin’s circle, including oligarchs and bankers. Navalny’s right-hand man piled fresh pressure on the Kremlin by calling on supporters to stage courtyard protests on Valentine’s Day this Sunday, lighting their phone…

Russia Floats Pre-Emptive ‘Intimidation’ Strike to Counter U.S. Strategy

Russian military scientists have proposed a pre-emptive strike using manned and unmanned aircraft to counter the United States’ multidomain war-fighting strategy against adversaries, according to excerpts cited in an Armed Forces academic journal. The Russian Aerospace Force academics describe the Pentagon’s air, land, sea, cyber and space integration strategy to paralyze an enemy — known…

PIK reactor is put into energy operation mode

On February 8, 2021, on the Day of Russian Science, PIK neutron reactor was put into power operation at the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute in St Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics (PNPI) with president of the Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk and ROSATOM Director General Alexey Likhachev attending the launch. The unique features of neutron…

Valentine’s Day at the Hyatt Regency

The romantic months of February and March begin with Valentine’s Day this coming Sunday (Feb. 14). Even though Russians traditionally celebrate men on Feb. 23 (Defender of the Homeland Day) and women on March 8 (International Women’s Day), they have happily joined their foreign friends and added this celebration of couples in honor of St.…

In Photos: Record-Breaking Cold Grips Moscow

Much of Russia has been invaded by a blast of bitter winter weather this week — in the country’s northern regions, temperatures as low as minus 40 Celsius were recorded. Moscow, too, is experiencing some of the decade’s coldest weather, with temperatures plummeting to the low twenties. Here is a closer look at how Muscovites…

Navalny Allies Announce New Courtyard Protests

Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team has announced fresh protests for this Sunday, shifting their strategy from street demonstrations to neighborhood gatherings in an effort to avoid direct confrontations with riot police. Russian authorities clamped down on two weekend rallies held in Navalny’s support late last month. Videos showed riot police using force against those…

EU Accepts Russia’s Application for Sputnik V Approval

The European Union has approved Russia’s application to register its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the bloc, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.  The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is funding and marketing Sputnik V, filed for EU registration of the jab on Jan. 29. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had concluded its…

Russia Annoyed by EU Inclusion of Navalny Allies in Sanctions Talks

Russia has admonished the European Union for discussing potential sanctions with jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s close associates. On Monday, Navalny’s regional network coordinator Leonid Volkov and his Anti-Corruption Foundation executive director Vladimir Ashurkov joined a video call on the EU’s Russia policy, Volkov said on social media. Diplomats from Britain, the United States, Canada…

Russia’s Yearly Mortality Surges 20% in 2020

Russia recorded a 19.6% year-on-year increase in deaths last year, figures published by the federal statistics service showed Monday. Rosstat said a total of 2.12 million people died in 2020 — an increase of 323,000 compared to 2019, and the highest annual fatality count for at least 16 years. Speaking earlier Monday, Deputy Prime Minister…

Barbed-Wire Police Protest Lands Russian Performance Artist in Jail

A Russian performance artist has been jailed a second time for attempting to stage a barbed-wire stunt in protest of police overreach in central Moscow last month, the OVD-Info police-monitoring website reported Monday. Authorities detained Pavel Krisevich on Sunday immediately after he finished serving a two-week administrative arrest on charges of disobeying police orders with the stunt…

Russia Defends Expulsion of European Diplomats

The Kremlin defended Monday Russia’s shock expulsion of EU diplomats during the high-profile visit of the European Union’s top diplomat but insisted it remained interested in reviving relations with Brussels. Russia on Friday announced the expulsion of diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden during the rare meeting in Moscow between EU foreign policy chief Josep…

What Happened During Tense EU-Russia Talks?

The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell paid a three-day visit to Moscow for talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, marking the first visit by a senior EU envoy to Russia since 2017. Borrell’s decision to go ahead with the Moscow visit despite last week’s jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and Russia’s harsh crackdown…

Russian State TV Attempts ‘Putin Palace’-Style Exposé on Navalny’s German Apartment

Russian state television has filmed what it called an exposé into opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s villa in Germany where he lived while recovering from nerve agent poisoning last year. The detailed segment, interspersed with scenes from Navalny’s viral video investigation into President Vladimir Putin’s alleged Black Sea palace, ran during one of the country’s most-watched…

Hungary Approves Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine

Hungarian health authorities have approved Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, the government said Sunday, with 40,000 doses of the jab already to be given. Official testing has been completed “and the vaccine may be administered”, Miklos Kasler, the human resources minister who is in charge of health, said on social media. The government had announced…

North Meets South in Mini Golubtsy

Since antiquity cooks have tucked meat and grains in vegetable leaves: wrapping food in pickled fig leaves was common in both Greece and Rome. The Byzantines used vine leaves as their primary wrapper, and this mania in Asia Minor for stuffing one food into another led to the ubiquitous dolmas, small vine leaf logs stuffed…

Nornickel Fined Record $2Bln for Arctic Oil Disaster

A Russian court fined mining giant Nornickel 146 billion rubles ($2 billion) Friday for its role in the worst oil spill in the country’s modern history. Some 21,000 tons of diesel fuel poured into the ground and waterways surrounding Nornickel’s base — the city of Norilsk inside the Arctic circle in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region —…

Russia Slams Biden’s ‘Very Aggressive Rhetoric’

The Kremlin on Friday slammed Joe Biden’s “very aggressive rhetoric” after the new U.S. president said Washington’s relationship with Moscow would change and demanded opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s release.  “We’ve already said that we will not heed patronizing statements of this sort. We will not do it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.  “This is…

Who Has Been Jailed Over Russia’s Pro-Navalny Protests?

More than 10,000 people across Russia have been detained in recent rallies demanding the release of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and criticizing Russia’s ruling elite.  The mass protests, which were not authorized by the government, saw a widespread crackdown and harsh treatment of protesters by baton-wielding officers that has sparked outcry from the West.  …

Russia to Try Navalny on WWII Veteran Slander Charges

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is on trial Friday charged with defaming a World War II veteran, days after his jailing under a years-old fraud conviction sparked international outcry. Navalny was charged with “discrediting the honor and dignity” of the 95-year-old veteran after describing him and others who appeared in a pro-Kremlin video as “the…

Biden Says No More U.S. ‘Rolling Over’ to Russia

President Joe Biden said Thursday the United States will no longer be “rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions” and demanded release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In toughly worded remarks pivoting from his predecessor Donald Trump’s muted approach to Moscow, Biden warned of “advancing authoritarianism” in China and Russia. The speech…

Navalny’s Team Announces No More Protests Until Spring

Alexei Navalny’s supporters will stop staging protests demanding his release until at least this spring, a key aide of the imprisoned Kremlin critic said Thursday. Leonid Volkov, head of Navalny’s regional network of campaign-style offices, announced he would not be calling supporters to take to the streets for a third successive weekend of protests across…

Top U.S. Diplomat Raises Navalny, Jailed Americans With Russia

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced concern over jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny and imprisoned Americans in a telephone call Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly voiced alarm over Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic whose doctors say he was poisoned and who was promptly detained…

Yves Rocher Rebuffs Criticism Over Role in Navalny Affair

French cosmetics company Yves Rocher dismissed Thursday as unjustified criticism against it over its role in a 2014 fraud trial against Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. A Russian court found Navalny guilty in 2014 of defrauding the Russian subsidiary of Yves Rocher in a ruling later declared “arbitrary” by the European Court of Human Rights.  Navalny…

‘No Repressions’ Against Pro-Navalny Protesters, Kremlin Says

There has been “no repression” against Russians detained while protesting in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin said Thursday amid mounting criticism of the harsh law enforcement tactics used against peaceful demonstrators. Independent monitors estimate that more than 10,000 people and dozens of journalists have been detained nationwide during the protests on…

Severstal publishes Positio Paper o Climate Chage

February 4, 2021 Severstal’s Board of Directors held on 3 February 2021 approved the Company’s Position paper on Climate Change. The document is signed by CEO of Severstal Alexander Shevelev. Severstal’s position on Climate Change PAO Severstal is a vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining company with its major assets in Russia. Severstal is committed…

Severstal publishes 2020 Aual Report

February 4, 2021 PAO Severstal (MOEX: CHMF; LSE: SVST), one of the world’s leading steel and steel-related mining companies, has published its Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2020 on the Company’s corporate website. The full report is available at: https://www.severstal.com/files/55798/Annual_Report_2020_ENG_final_light.pdf

Severstal aouces 2021 capital ivestmet programme

February 4, 2021 PAO Severstal (“Severstal”; “the Company”), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, today announces its capital investment programme for 2021. Severstal plans to invest approximately $1.35 billion in 2021, focusing on a number of major projects in its Russian Steel and Resources divisions, as well as on…

Severstal reports Q4 & FY2020 fiacial results

February 4, 2021 PAO Severstal (MOEX: CHMF; LSE: SVST), one of the world’s leading steel and steel-related mining companies, today announces its Q4 & FY2020 financial results for the period ended 31 December 2020. CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR Q4 AND FY2020 $ million, unless otherwise stated Q4 2020 Q3 2020 Change, % FY 2020 FY…

Is Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine Set for EU Take Off?

Some European leaders seem to be warming to the idea of deploying Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine as the EU struggles with supply shortfalls.   But how likely is it that Moscow’s jab will be going into arms across the 27-nation bloc after trial results showed it to be 91.6% effective? Is anyone using it? Hungary…

Top Navalny Aide Urges EU to ‘Go After’ Putin’s Money

A top aide of Alexei Navalny on Wednesday vowed to fight on despite the Russian opposition figure’s imprisonment, saying the EU should respond by targeting President Vladimir “Putin’s money.” Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s regional network coordinator, told AFP he expected the jailing would boost the Kremlin critic’s approval rating and followers despite a crackdown on protests.…