Year: 2021

Russia is creating a digital platform to collect satellite and drone data on its vast forests in the Far East with the aim of offering them on the carbon offset market, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The Lesvostok.rf system, when it launches later in 2021, will allow the government to lease sections of forest to enterprises, which…

French police have issued an arrest warrant for a driver at the Russian consulate in Strasbourg suspected of selling dozens of stolen bikes while on the job, sources close to the inquiry said Monday. The suspect, a Russian citizen in his 40s, does not have diplomatic immunity and was brought in for questioning on Feb.…

Alexei Navalny’s allies announced new protests in support of the jailed Kremlin critic Tuesday, holding off on setting a date until their online campaign reaches half a million potential participants. The team launched a website to gather signatures of supporters willing to take to the streets again after some of the largest rallies in Russia’s recent history…

France could start using Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in its national vaccination drive as early as June, France’s Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune told the France Info radio broadcaster Tuesday.  “The EU may use the Russian vaccine after it is certified [by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)] and France, in turn,…

Three Russian soldiers have died in a supersonic bomber accident at a military airfield near Moscow, state media reported Tuesday. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the deaths of three soldiers as a result of the Tupolev Tu-22M3 incident at the Shaykovka air base in the Kaluga region, the TASS news agency said. “An ejection seat went…

Norway said Tuesday it would block Rolls-Royce’s sale of a Norwegian engine maker to Russia over concerns that Moscow could get its hands on sensitive technology. The Scandinavian country, a NATO member, two weeks ago asked Rolls-Royce to temporarily halt the sale of Bergen Engines while it examined the consequences a sale would have on…

The vast Russian region of Siberia will face hot and dry weather this year leading to more forest fires, forecasters said on Tuesday, linking the blazes to climate change.  Devastating forest fires have ripped across Siberia with increasing regularity over the past few years, which the country’s weather officials and environmentalists have linked to climate…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused European Union leaders of “destroying” relations with Moscow, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday.  “There are no relations with the European Union as an organization. The entire infrastructure of these relations has been destroyed by the unilateral decisions of Brussels,” Lavrov was quoted as saying during a…

Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has launched a defamation lawsuit against author Catherine Belton over claims that he had bought the club at President Vladimir Putin’s orders. According to Belton’s critically acclaimed 2020 book “Putin’s People,” Abramovich allegedly bought Chelsea in 2003 at Putin’s direction as part of an effort to…

“At this moment, I imagine that I’m filming a Russian remake of Star Wars, where instead of imperial stormtroopers there are prisoners in pea jackets and hats with earflaps,” Navalny said.  “Defending the interests of the Emperor, space prisoners travel from planet to planet, suppressing the rebels. But wherever they are, at exactly 6:05 am…

President Vladimir Putin on Monday dismissed foreign criticism of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and said he would get vaccinated himself on Tuesday. Speaking at a televised meeting with health officials, the 68-year-old Russian leader described recent remarks in Europe questioning the need for the Russian vaccine as “strange.” “We are not imposing anything on anyone……

On a frosty March morning, a group of anti-Putin opposition activists gathered in a Soviet-era hotel on Moscow’s outskirts to plan their strategy for September elections to the country’s national parliament. Ten minutes later, the police arrived. Herded into police vans and shipped off to jail, around 200 attendees were charged en masse with participating…

The Leningrad region of Russia which surrounds its second-largest city St. Petersburg is facing shortages of the country’s homemade Sputnik V vaccine, local media reported Monday. While Moscow has boasted of its global deliveries of Sputnik V, which has been approved in over 50 countries, concerns over Russia’s capacity to produce enough doses for its…

Moscow said Monday it regretted that Washington did not respond to President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to organize public talks with U.S. President Joe Biden. “One more opportunity has been passed up to look for a way out of the dead end in Russia-U.S. ties,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.  “Responsibility for that rests…

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday approved sanctions over abuses in China, Myanmar and Russia, as the bloc expands measures targeting global rights breaches. The 27 nations are due to place four Chinese officials and one state-run entity on a blacklist over Beijing’s crackdown on the Uighur minority after ambassadors gave the go-ahead last…

Police in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg have broken up weeklong protests against the construction of a 5G wireless technology tower, local media reported Monday. Anti-5G activists set up tents to prevent works at the construction site in the Yekaterinburg district of Uralmash last Tuesday, arguing that the tower is unsafe for locals and illegal.…

The governor of Russia’s Penza region and a leading pharmaceutical executive have been charged in a large-scale bribery case, Russia’s Investigative Committee said Monday.   Ivan Belozertsev, Biotek pharmaceutical group founder Boris Spiegel and suspected accomplices were detained over the weekend on suspicion of exchanging bribes for lobbying Biotek’s interests.  Investigators said Belozertsev accepted money and…

The backer of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said Monday it had signed an agreement with an India-based pharmaceuticals giant for the production of up to 200 million doses of the jab a year. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, said in a statement it has partnered with the Virchow…

Russian lawmakers have moved toward easing visa rules for tourists and relatives of Russian citizens. The reforms introduced last week will allow foreign tourists with valid hotel bookings to stay in Russia for up to six months, up from the current maximum visa stay of one month.  Relatives of Russian citizens will be able to…

Most Russians who switched to remote working during the coronavirus pandemic have already returned to the office, according to a Rabota.ru survey of employees cited by the RBC news site. The poll found that just a quarter of Russians started working from home during the pandemic, and that more than half of those have now…

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a holiday in Siberia with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, piloted an all-terrain vehicle through thick woodland and traversed a swaying rope bridge, Kremlin footage showed.  Putin routinely appears on state television participating in various outdoor pursuits to project the image of a healthy and robust leader capable of leading the…

Russia’s ambassador to the United States landed in Moscow on Sunday after being recalled for emergency consultations over the worst crisis in relations with the United States in years. U.S. President Joe Biden on television earlier this week called the Russian leader a “killer” spurring a terse quip from Vladimir Putin who responded that, “it…

Russia has confirmed 4,456,869 cases of coronavirus and 95,030 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. According to figures published by state statistics agency Rosstat, Russia’s real coronavirus death toll stands at 131,118, with the virus present in another 69,314 deaths. March 21: What you need to know today Russia on Sunday confirmed 9,299 new coronavirus cases…

The United States sentenced a Russian and a North Macedonian on Friday to prison for their roles in a vast cybercrime operation. Sergey Medvedev, 33, of Russia and Marko Leopard, 31, of North Macedonia, were sentenced to ten and five years respectively, according to a Justice Department statement. Both had previously pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy in…

Russian police on Friday raided the Moscow offices of an opposition movement and media outlet backed by exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky in the latest move against the former oligarch, the groups said. The raids on Open Russia and MBKh Media came after police last weekend arrested around 200 opposition politicians and municipal councillors at…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized U.S. leader Joe Biden’s remarks describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “killer,” the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported Friday.   Biden ignited a diplomatic crisis with Moscow on Wednesday when he answered “I do” after being asked in an ABC News interview if he thinks Putin is a “killer,”…

Bulgarian prosecutors on Friday said six people had been arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia, including several defense ministry officials in the EU and NATO member state. The officials are accused of passing classified information to the head of the alleged spy ring, an ex-intelligence officer. His wife, who has joint Russian-Bulgarian nationality, “played…

Russia’s Central Bank said Friday it has raised its key interest rate for the first time since 2018 as rising inflation and food prices forced a shift toward tightening its monetary policy. The benchmark was raised to 4.5% from a record low of 4.25%, the bank said in a statement. It marks the first rate…

The developer of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said Friday it had signed a partnership with an India-based drugmaker for the production of 200 million doses of the two-dose jab.  The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which backed the development of Sputnik V, said in a statement it had partnered with Stelis Biopharma “to produce and…

Russia has deployed all six of its Black Sea Fleet submarines as NATO drills kicked off in the area, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Friday. “All Black Sea Fleet submarines are performing their tasks outside their bases,” said Vice-Admiral Igor Osipov, the fleet’s commander-in-chief.  “None of the submarines are at their base,” RIA…

Mexican authorities have seized a shipment of purported Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines from a private airplane bound for Honduras, which Russia says were fake doses. The batch of 1,155 vials containing the equivalent of 5,775 doses was hidden inside two coolers aboard the plane at an airport in the southern state of Campeche, the customs…

Russian scientists have prevented a repeat of last year’s oil spill disaster near the Arctic city of Norilsk using satellite data, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences said Thursday. The May 2020 leak of 21,000 tons of diesel from a fuel tank is described as the Arctic’s worst ecological disaster and has…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called on U.S. President Joe Biden to hold virtual talks after the American leader described him as a “killer.” Speaking on the sidelines of an event marking seven years since Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Putin invited Biden to hold a “live-broadcast” or “online” discussion in the coming days.  “I…

Mediators in Moscow on Thursday urged the Taliban not to launch a spring offensive, as international efforts for a peace deal intensify ahead of a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan. The conference in Moscow came as part of intensifying negotiations between the Afghan government, the Taliban and the United States to negotiate…

A Moscow court has extended the house arrest of four prominent activists and supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny into the summer, the Mediazona and OVD-Info police-monitoring websites reported Thursday. Ten Navalny supporters are accused of “inciting mass violations” of coronavirus restrictions by calling on supporters nationwide to protest his jailing in late January and…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired back at his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden’s assertion that he is a “killer” by saying “It takes one to know one.” Biden set off a storm of condemnation from Moscow on Wednesday when he agreed with the assessment that Putin is a “killer” in an ABC News interview, adding that…

Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on Thursday urged Belarusians to vote online to support her call for international negotiations with President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. Tikhanovskaya said the first results of the vote through the website belarus2020.org/home would be announced next Thursday, the anniversary of Belarus’s independence declaration in 1918. “Each of you knows that our country is in…

Russia said Thursday U.S. President Joe Biden had no interest in improving ties with Russia after he referred to Vladimir Putin as a “killer,” sparking the biggest crisis in years between the former Cold War rivals. Russia’s relationship with the West has eroded over a spate of disagreements, but relations plunged to new depths Wednesday…

Russia plans to cut state funding for the green energy sector by nearly a quarter, or 22%, the Kommersant business daily reported Thursday.  The government’s budget for its 2025-2035 renewables program will be cut from 400 billion rubles ($5.4 billion) to 313 billion rubles ($4.3 billion), unnamed sources told Kommersant, citing a March 11 meeting…

The G7 group of leading economic powers said on Thursday it would not accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, in a statement marking seven years since the takeover. “We unequivocally denounce Russia’s temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. Russia’s attempts to legitimize it are not, and will…

Russia’s ambassador in the United States will depart Washington Saturday for urgent consultations in Moscow, the embassy said, warning that bilateral ties were on the brink of “collapse.” Moscow’s strained relationship with Washington hit a new low Wednesday when Russia called back its ambassador over comments made by U.S. President Joe Biden who likened his Russian counterpart…