Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine frequently discussed the movements of the Buk missile system that investigators believe was used to down Flight MH17 in July 2014, the Dutch Nieuwsuur current affairs program reported Sunday, citing leaked recordings of their phone calls. Nieuwsuur obtained tapes of thousands of phone calls made by MH17 suspect Sergei Dubinsky…
A historic St. Petersburg factory building has caught fire and is on the brink of collapse, with at least one firefighter dead and two others gravely injured, state media reported Monday. The six-story Nevskaya Manufaktura building, located on the right bank of the Neva River in Russia’s second city, was engulfed in flames around 12:30…
A Russian feminist and LGBT activist accused of distributing pornography for posting what supporters call “body-positive” drawings on social media went on trial Monday. Yulia Tsvetkova, 27, faces up to six years behind bars in a case that has prompted nationwide pickets and online flashmobs in her support. The trial is taking place in the…
An associate of the late Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was likely strangled to death at his London home three years ago, the BBC reported Saturday, citing a U.K. coroner ruling. Nikolai Glushkov, who was granted political asylum in Britain in 2010 after he was accused of defrauding Russia’s Aeroflot airline during his time as its…
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted off onboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft, becoming the first human to journey into outer space. A major milestone for humanity and a triumph for Moscow in the U.S.-Soviet space race, the event’s anniversary is celebrated annually as Cosmonautics Day in Russia. Special events are being held…
The Kremlin on Sunday said it was not moving toward war with Ukraine as Russia increased its military presence on the border with Ukraine’s eastern breakaway territories. In recent weeks fighting has intensified between Ukraine’s army and pro-Russian separatists controlling two regions in the country’s east, raising concerns of major escalation in the long-running conflict. …
At the beginning of Maria Kuznetsova’s second novel, Natasha, a young mother in New York, chats with her grandmother Larissa in Ukraine via Skype. Larissa has the following advice for her granddaughter who is struggling to adapt to her new parental responsibilities: If you train that girl to sleep in your arms, she will become…
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Saturday for a peaceful resolution of Ukraine’s tensions with Russia based on respect of its territorial integrity. Flanked by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul that Turkey aims “to ensure the Black Sea remains a sea of peace and cooperation” as U.S. warships were due to…
“What am I, chopped liver?” Such a marvelous phrase with so many applications. Tyrion, our black lab bounds towards my husband nine times out of ten, even though I’m the one with a full pocket of treats. “What I am I, Tyrion? Chopped liver?” I ask him. It turns out that Tyrion actually loves chopped…
Russian security agents on Friday raided the home of the editor of an online investigative journal that recently published articles on the security services, his editorial team said. Operatives of the FSB security agency searched the apartment of Roman Anine, his Vajnye istorii investigative news website colleagues said. They cited his lawyer saying that Anine…
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to remove Vyacheslav Bitarov from his post as head of the republic of North Ossetia, replacing him with former Sevastopol governor Sergei Menyailo, the Kremlin said Friday. Bitarov becomes the latest regional head to lose his post this week, joining the republic of Tuva’s head Sholban Kara-ool and Ulyanovsk…
Ukraine said on Friday it would not launch an offensive against pro-Russia separatists controlling two regions in the east, as fears grow of a major escalation in a long-running conflict. The statement came after fighting between the Ukrainian army and separatists intensified in recent weeks and Russia massed troops on the border. “The liberation of the temporarily occupied…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed condolences to Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her husband, Prince Philip, the Kremlin said Friday. The Duke of Edinburgh, the longest serving royal consort in British history, died Friday at age 99. He was discharged from hospital in March a month after treatment for an infection and…
The United States plans to send two warships to the Black Sea in a show of its support for Ukraine amid Russian militarization along its border, Turkey’s foreign ministry was reported as saying Friday. Turkey’s statement confirms reporting that the U.S. Navy was considering Black Sea deployments to send a message to Moscow. The White…
Rosneft Oil Company continues to strengthen its position in leading international ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) ratings
Following weeks of bitter winter weather that held its grip on Russia’s capital despite the start of calendar spring, Muscovites finally have a chance to enjoy some warmer temperatures and sunshine. This winter season was marked by record-setting snowfalls and some of the coldest temperatures Moscow has seen in recent years, making the springtime’s arrival…
By the end of 2020, the volume of hydrogen production at Rosneft’s facilities, including foreign assets, was about 400,000 tonnes
Employees of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Arctic Research Centre of Rosneft have commenced a study of the polar bear population on Alexandra Land in the Franz Josef Land archipelago within the territory of the Russian Arctic National Park
Russia’s Constitutional Court on Friday ordered stronger laws to punish repeat domestic violence offenders, saying both the penalties as well as protection for victims were insufficient. Activists have been lobbying for stricter legislation and measures to prevent domestic violence, which has been rampant in Russia for years. The ruling follows an appeal filed by a…
British defense analysts said Thursday they have identified Russian ballistic missile systems deployed alongside over a dozen tank and rocket launcher units on the Ukrainian border amid concerns of renewed hostilities. Military monitors and the White House say Russia has amassed the largest concentration of forces near eastern Ukraine since the conflict between Ukrainian forces…
A three-man crew docked at the international Space Station Friday after a flight honouring the 60th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person in space. A Soyuz capsule carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei docked at 11:05 GMT, footage broadcasted by NASA TV showed. …
The case of the core melt localization device or the so-called core catcher has been installed in the design position under the reactor pit of power unit No.4 of Kudankulam NPP which is under construction in India under VVER-1000 Russian design. “The installation of the core catcher in the design position is an important step…
With clients like Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber, Olesya Kondratyeva is one of the most in-demand nail technicians among LA’s countless bloggers and influencers. With its glitzy celebrity culture, laid-back pace, palm trees and sunshine, Los Angeles is a far cry from her birthplace Tver, a Russian city of 400,000 northwest of Moscow. Kondratyeva, 28,…
The U.S. Defense Department will not confirm reported plans to send warships to the Black Sea in support of Ukraine amid Russia’s militarization along its border, Russian state media reported Friday. CNN reported Thursday that the U.S. Navy was considering Black Sea deployments in the next few weeks to “send a specific message to Moscow…
The developer of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine has confirmed the jab is less effective against the South African variant of the virus, but claimed that the Russian-made vaccine still offers better protection against virus mutations than its rivals. In an interview with state-run news agency Interfax, Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya Institute which…
A pair of notorious Russian pranksters who regularly target Kremlin opponents and world leaders with prank calls have failed in their latest trick, a senior aide to jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Thursday. Vovan and Lexus, the moniker used by bloggers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, have made international headlines for duping figures…
The exhibition of painter Robert Falk (1886-1958) in the New Tretyakov Gallery begins with a comment about the leader of the U.S.S.R. “Nikita Khrushchev was not prepared for this kind of painting,” it reads. The painting in question was “Nude in an Armchair.” In 1962 the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist…
Sputnik V’s official Twitter account on Thursday accused the Slovak Drug agency SUKL of a “disinformation campaign” against the Russian vaccine after the watchdog said the batch of 200,000 vaccines the country received differed from those reviewed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the medical journal The Lancet. On Wednesday, media reported that SUKL…
The outbreak of major hostilities in eastern Ukraine would mark “the beginning of the end” for Kiev, a top Kremlin official warned Thursday as alarm continues to grow over troop buildup in the region. “I support the assessments that also exist inside Ukraine that the beginning of hostilities is the beginning of the end of…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy traveled to the country’s eastern frontline on Thursday, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Vladimir Putin to reduce Russia’s troop buildup near Ukraine. Zelenskiy’s frontline visit came as fighting between the Ukrainian army and separatists has intensified in recent weeks and Russia has built up troops along the border, raising fears…
Russia’s acute migrant shortage linked to the coronavirus exodus is keeping the country from achieving its “ambitious” goals, the Kremlin said Thursday. “We’re very, very short of these migrants to implement our ambitious plans,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We have to build more than we’re building now, but we need working hands to…
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “expressed concern” over a spike in tensions in east Ukraine and discussed jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny in a phone call on Thursday, the Kremlin said. The call came as clashes between pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian forces have increased in recent weeks and a Russian military…
A Russian court has handed week-long sentences to several supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny after they traveled to his penal colony to demand he receives proper medical treatment. Police on Tuesday detained nine Navalny supporters outside his prison in the town of Pokrov around 100 kilometers east of Moscow for violating public order. …
The centuries-old rivalry between Russia’s two largest cities took a new turn when St. Petersburg residents found photos of Muscovites climbing on top of their city’s many statues. St. Petersburg tour guide Violetta Vitovskaya on Tuesday shared a photo that shows Moscow parkour athlete Akmal Shakurov standing atop a 100-year-old statue on the historic Rosenstein…
Wednesday marked one week since Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny declared a hunger strike in prison to demand medical treatment for severe back pain and numbness in his legs. Since then, the Kremlin critic’s lawyers say his health has deteriorated even further, prompting Western leaders to urge Russia to take action. Navalny was jailed in January…
April 8, 2021, 13:45 The Gazprom Management Committee addressed issues associated with arranging and holding the Company’s annual General Shareholders Meeting. Endorsements were given to the proposals to hold the annual General Shareholders Meeting of Gazprom in the form of absentee voting and to set the deadline for ballot submission as June 25, 2021. In addition, the Management Committee approved the proposals on: the format and…
Ultranationalist supporters of separatists in eastern Ukraine disrupted a movie screening at the Artdocfest film festival in Moscow on Wednesday night, the organizers said on Instagram. This was the second major attack this year on Artdocfest, a popular Russian documentary film festival which has been the target of conservative and nationalist-oriented groups in recent years.…
Germany said Thursday it would talk to Russia about purchasing doses of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine pending approval from European regulators, without waiting for coordinated EU action. Amid divisions in the bloc over Sputnik, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Germany was prepared to go it alone without the other 26 members if it meant…
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has recalled the “strong impression” that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stance on the Syrian civil war at the G8 summits left on him in a new interview. Russia was one of the G8 group of leading economic powers until 2014, when its membership was suspended indefinitely over its annexation of Crimea…
Zoom will sell directly to Russian government agencies, the Kommersant business daily quoted the company as saying after controversy over reports that the video-conferencing platform had restricted premium access to state-affiliated entities. The Kremlin urged Russian companies Wednesday to switch to alternative virtual meeting platforms after Kommersant reported that Zoom had banned its distributors from…
The health of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is deteriorating as he keeps up his hunger strike in prison, his lawyers said Wednesday, with U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration saying it is “disturbed” by the reports. Last Wednesday President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent, who is serving two and a half years on embezzlement charges, launched…
April 7, 2021, 20:30 The new gas pipeline will improve the reliability of power supplies in the Chechen Republic. The regional Program for gas supply and gas infrastructure expansion is run on schedule. An opening ceremony for the Mozdok – Grozny gas trunkline took place today in Grozny. Taking part in the event were Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Ramzan Kadyrov,…
Russia’s media watchdog on Wednesday warned U.S.-funded Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe it had 60 days to pay more than $70,000 in fines over non-compliance with its “foreign agent” law. The statement came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday expressed support for Radio Liberty /Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) and other U.S. international media.…
Updated at 6:44 p.m. on April 7 to add statement from Sputnik V’s official Twitter account. The European Union’s medicines regulator will investigate whether the developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine went against global ethical and scientific standards in clinical trials, the Financial Times reported Wednesday. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) last month launched…
Germany’s Bavaria region has signed a provisional agreement to buy doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine once it is approved by European regulators, state premier Markus Soeder said Wednesday. The southern state has “signed a memorandum of understanding today […] for the supply of Sputnik,” Soeder told reporters in Munich. If the Sputnik vaccine is…
A Russian warplane has intercepted a Norwegian electronic warfare aircraft over the Barents Sea near the Arctic, state media cited the military as saying Wednesday. Citing Russia’s National Defense Management Center, Interfax said the Russian military detected an “air target” approaching the Russian border from Norway. “The [Russian Navy’s] Northern Fleet air defense forces’ MiG-31…
Slovakia’s State Institute for Drug Control has told the country’s Health Ministry it has been unable to evaluate the risks and benefits of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine due to a lack of data and inconsistencies in dosages, the watchdog’s spokeswoman Magdaléna Jurkemíková told The Moscow Times on Wednesday. Slovakia, one of Europe’s hardest-hit countries by…
Russia will not invite foreign dignitaries to its annual World War II victory parade on Red Square next month, the Kremlin announced Wednesday. “This year is not a [major] anniversary year, so we don’t intend to invite foreign participants,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “The rest will probably involve the usual invitations,…
Russia’s Central Bank chief has urged the government to “abandon” price caps on food products “as quickly as possible,” arguing the restrictions could do long-term damage to the Russian economy. Speaking at a Moscow Exchange forum on Tuesday, Elvira Nabiullina doubled down on her calls for the government to ditch its attempts to control surging…
In early March, with Russia’s domestic Covid-19 vaccination campaign stalling, prominent tech and publishing entrepreneur Ilya Krasilschik took to social media to urge his followers to get their coronavirus jabs. “We are living through a national catastrophe,” wrote Krasilschik in a widely publicized Facebook post. “Go and get vaccinated.” Krasilschik is one of few Russian…
Dubai announced Tuesday it will deport the Russian organizer of and 11 Ukrainian women involved in a salacious photoshoot on a high-rise balcony. The swift deportation is rare for the Muslim sheikhdom, where cases of public debauchery and producing pornography usually go to trial, according to the Associated Press. Those arrested had faced up to…
The Kremlin urged Russian companies Wednesday to develop alternatives to Zoom and a lawmaker warned it could be blocked in the country, after media said the service had restricted access to government agencies. The U.S. company has emerged as the global leader in video-conferencing applications, becoming ubiquitous as companies and schools moved online after the…
The Russian ruble has slid to its lowest level against the dollar in five months as fears of a possible escalation of conflict in eastern Ukraine grow. The ruble has lost 2% against the U.S. dollar since the start of the week and is now trading at 77.7 against the currency — its lowest level…
Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov will likely not return to Washington in the near future, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday, citing a top diplomatic official. Antonov was recalled to Moscow last month following U.S. President Joe Biden’s televised remarks calling his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “killer” who would…
Serdar Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan’s president-in-waiting and son of the incumbent, on March 30 embarked on a four-day trip to Russia as part of an official government delegation. The outing looked like yet another dress rehearsal. Official readouts of meetings in Moscow allude to mostly humdrum business, although there are hints of noteworthy developments. The delegation was…
Russia has amassed the largest concentration of troops on its border with Ukraine since the eastern Ukraine conflict first erupted in 2014, The Insider investigative news website reported Wednesday, citing military analysts. Recent Russian military movements and an increase in clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists have raised fears of an escalation in the long-simmering…
RN-Nyaganneftegaz, an enterprise of Rosneft oil production complex, invested more than 1.7 billion roubles in environmental protection and remediation measures in 2020.
Updated at 11:00 a.m. on April 8 to add Zoom statement. Video conferencing platform Zoom has banned its distributors from selling services to government agencies and partly state-owned companies in Russia and neighboring countries, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday. Zoom has emerged as a leading virtual meeting platform since millions were forced into self-isolation…
Acclaimed Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky has pulled his latest film from the country’s prestigious White Elephants Awards in protest at plans to honor opposition leader Alexei Navalny at the event. In a message on Facebook, the 83-year-old said he had asked that “Dear Comrades!” — nominated for best film and also shortlisted for the 93rd…
Russia said talks aimed at salvaging an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme got off to a “successful” start on Tuesday, with the U.S. expected to join indirectly for the first time since President Joe Biden’s arrival in the White House. Biden has said he is ready to reverse the 2018 decision of his predecessor…