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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 Deploys All Black Sea Submarines as NATO Kicks Off Drills

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…

Mexico Seizes ‘Fake’ Sputnik Vaccines Bound for Honduras

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…

Russia Says Prevented Repeat Arctic Oil Disaster

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…

Putin Invites Biden to Virtual Talks

MoscowBy admin March 18, 2021 Leave a comment

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…

Moscow to Probe ‘Russian Woman’ Eurovision Entry for ‘Illegal’ Lyrics

Russian investigators said Thursday they will examine the lyrics of the country’s entry to this year’s Eurovision song contest after it angered conservative groups. Manizha Sangin, known as Manizha, is set to perform the song “Russian Woman” at the annual competition in The Netherlands during May. It praises the strength of Russian women, urging them…

Taliban Urged Not to Launch Spring Offensive at Moscow Talks

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…

Key Navalny Supporters’ House Arrests Extended Into Summer

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…

‘It Takes One to Know One,’ Putin Fires Back After Biden’s ‘Killer’ Remarks

BusinessBy admin March 18, 2021 Leave a comment

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…

Comprehensive Program for reconstruction and re-equipment of processing facilities for years 2021–2025 approved

Background To date, Gazprom’s main processing facilities are the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant (GPP), the Orenburg gas processing and helium plants, the Sosnogorsk Gas Processing Plant, the Surgut Condensate Stabilization Plant, and the Urengoy Condensate Treatment Plant. The five-year Comprehensive Program for the reconstruction and re-equipment of gas and liquid hydrocarbon processing facilities was approved by Gazprom for…

Gazprom reviews hydrogen energy development areas

BusinessBy admin March 18, 2021 Leave a comment

March 18, 2021, 15:20 The Gazprom Management Committee addressed the issue of hydrogen production and utilization, as well as export of hydrogen and methane-hydrogen mixtures with the use of the existing gas infrastructure. It was noted that in recent times many countries view hydrogen energy as an area essential for the implementation of national low-carbon development strategies. At the same time, hydrogen is a secondary energy source, i.e. additional energy…

Belarus Opposition Leader Holds Online Vote on Regime Talks

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…

Kremlin Says Biden Does Not Want to Improve Ties With Russia

MoscowBy admin March 18, 2021 Leave a comment

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…

Siberian Concert Pianist’s Anti-Repression Speech Sparks Uproar

A Siberian pianist sparked an uproar Tuesday with a speech against “state repression” at a concert honoring Italian-born French concert pianist Vera Lotar-Shevchenko, who spent eight years in a Soviet gulag prison camp in Siberia. Timofey Kazantsev was nearly hauled offstage at the Novosibirsk Philharmonic after urging attendees to sign a petition demanding the release…

Russia to Slash Green Energy Funding by 22% – Kommersant

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…

G7 Says It Will Not Recognize Russia’s ‘Occupation’ of Crimea

MoscowBy admin March 18, 2021 Leave a comment

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…

Russian Artist Mixes Renaissance Beauty With Moscow’s Gritty Reality

Moscow-based artist Yevgeniy Naumuv aims to breathe new life into the city’s gloomy urban landscape by turning them into Renaissance-inspired artworks. A resident of the Vykhino neighborhood located in Moscow’s outskirts, Naumov defines his art style as “Vykhino Renaissance,” saying it reveals the romantic side of life in gray residential apartment blocks. The young artist…

Russia’s Washington Envoy to Return to Moscow Saturday – Embassy

BusinessBy admin March 18, 2021 Leave a comment

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…

One more batch of equipment shipped to Kudankulam NPP (India)

On March 16, 2021, the Industrial Ruby marine vessel left the port of St. Petersburg with a batch of equipment for Kudankulam NPP that is under construction in India. “This is the first of lot of equipment for Kudankulam Units 3 and 4 this year and the 24th under the project”, said Alexander Kvasha, First…

Austrian Leader Calls for Russian Vaccine’s Swift Approval in EU

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Wednesday appealed to European regulatory authorities to approve Russia’s Sputnik V and other safe coronavirus vaccines as soon as possible. With Sputnik V under review by the EU’s medicines regulator, reports suggested this week that EU officials are considering launching negotiations to buy doses from Russia. The vaccine’s developers announced…

Report on Extrajudicial Killings Prompts Chechen Calls to Ban Independent Newspaper

Chechen officials and members of the public are calling for the investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta to be banned after it reported on extrajudicial killings in the southern Russian region. The chorus of outrage grew after Novaya Gazeta on Monday published an ex-police officer’s eyewitness account of the torture and execution of 13 detainees in 2017.…

Russia Recalls Washington Envoy After Biden Comments

Russia said Wednesday it had summoned its Washington ambassador to Moscow for consultations on its ties with the United States, but stressed it wanted to prevent an “irreversible deterioration” in relations. The announcement from the Russian Foreign Ministry came after U.S. President Joe Biden said Russia would “pay a price” for meddling in U.S. elections…

Soviet Collapse Violated the People’s Will, Gorbachev Says

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the U.S.S.R., believes that the country’s collapse was a violation of “the will of the people” and a referendum to preserve the Soviet system was “necessary and just,” he told Interfax on Wednesday. “The destruction of the Soviet Union was nothing more than a violation of the will of…

Russia Bans Insults Against WWII Veterans

MoscowBy admin March 17, 2021 Leave a comment

Russian lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill that bans insults against World War II veterans, with offenders facing possible sentences of up to five years in jail. The move came after a judge last month ruled that jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny was guilty of defaming a World War II veteran who was among a…

Millennials on Exhibit at the Russian Museum

New materials meet new technology, street art and personal dreams at the new exhibition at the State Russian Museum devoted — for the first time in its history — exclusively to the works of Gen Y artists. Called “Millennials in Contemporary Russian Art” and hosted by the museum’s Marble Palace, the exhibition is an attempt to create…

Biden Agrees Putin Is a ‘Killer’

U.S. President Joe Biden has agreed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “killer,” adding that he will “pay” for interfering in the 2020 presidential election in an ABC News interview that aired Wednesday. His pre-taped remarks aired after the U.S. intelligence community’s first assessment of foreign interference in the campaign. The report said Putin likely…

Kremlin Denounces UK Plan to Increase Nuclear Arsenal

The Kremlin said Wednesday it regretted the UK’s decision to increase its nuclear arsenal, after Britain unveiled plans to bolster its stockpile from 180 warheads to 260 by the end of the decade. Britain on Tuesday published a document outlining a recalibration of its foreign policy that included the announcement to grow its nuclear arsenal,…

Russian Passport Holders in East Ukraine May Vote in Duma Elections – Deputy

Russian passport holders from separatist-held eastern Ukraine could be allowed to vote in this September’s legislative elections, a lawmaker told Interfax on Tuesday. “They are citizens of the Russian Federation who have gained all the rights and, accordingly, [can] participate in elections. That’s why Russia is obliged to give them the opportunity to express their…

Is Russia’s Twitter Clampdown a Harbinger of Wider Restrictions?

Russian internet activists fear the state’s slowdown of Twitter traffic could be the thin end of the wedge in a push toward Chinese-style censorship. While the U.S.-based microblogging service never made it big in Russia — used by only 3% of the population and a minnow compared with YouTube and Instagram — its targeting is…

What’s at Stake When Moscow Hosts Afghan Peace Talks?

Russia will attempt to insert itself into a faltering Afghanistan peace process Thursday when it hosts a conference that has drawn high-level delegations from the Taliban and Afghan government — as well as representation from Washington, Pakistan and China. The United States is supposed to complete a withdrawal of all its troops from Afghanistan by…

Russia Says Security Forces Thwart IS Terror Attack

BusinessBy admin March 17, 2021 Leave a comment

Russian security officers have detained an alleged Islamic State supporter who was plotting a terrorist attack in southern Russia, the state-run TASS news agency reported Wednesday. The unnamed suspect, a native of Central Asia, is accused of planning a terrorist attack at a shopping mall in the republic of Adygeya’s capital of Maykop, TASS cited…

Russia considers qualifying nuclear energy as “green” source of energy

On March 16, 2021, at the site of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, representatives of VEB.RF (state development corporation), the Bank of Russia (Russian Central Bank), the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Energy, and representatives of banking and business community discussed the draft national Taxonomy of…

Russia Orders Closure of Independent News Site’s Twitter Account

MoscowBy admin March 17, 2021 Leave a comment

Russia has demanded that Twitter delete the independent news website MBKh Media’s account for allegedly publishing an “undesirable” organization’s materials, the outlet said Wednesday. The reported demand comes a day after Russia’s state communications regulator Roskomnadzor threatened to block Twitter itself for failing to delete tweets containing child pornography, suicide and drug use. MBKh said…

Russia’s Only Female Cosmonaut Inspires New Barbie

Russia’s only active female cosmonaut has inspired the latest astronaut Barbie doll from Mattel’s campaign to inspire women, the country’s space agency announced Tuesday. Anna Kikina, 36, is set to become the fourth Russian woman to go into space with a fall 2022 mission to the International Space Station a decade after her admission to…

Putin Likely Authorized Anti-Biden Influence in 2020 Campaign, U.S. Intelligence Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin likely authorized influence operations against then-President Donald Trump’s Democratic opponent Joe Biden during the 2020 election campaign, the U.S. intelligence community said in its first assessment on the matter Tuesday. Biden defeated Republican Trump in November, and Putin was one of the only world leaders to wait until the Electoral College certified his…

Level of APG Utilisations at Samotlorneftegaz Exceeds 98.5%

BusinessBy admin March 16, 2021 Leave a comment

Rosneft is actively working to increase the level of utilisation of associated petroleum gas (APG) in the Nizhnevartovsk region

Gazprom and Shell expanding cooperation

March 16, 2021, 17:30 Today, Gazprom and Shell signed an Agreement of Strategic Cooperation for a five-year period. The signing ceremony was held via a video link in the presence of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell. The newly signed document expands the interaction between the two companies. Particular attention…

Hollywood Backs Campaign to Drop Charges Against Pussy Riot

A group of high-profile Hollywood celebrities has signed a letter calling on the Russian government to halt the prosecution of punk protest group Pussy Riot members Maria Alekhina and Ludmila Shtein, entertainment news site Deadline reported on Tuesday. The activists face up to two years in prison for Instagram posts demanding the release of political…

Share of Apolitical Russians Hits Post-90s High – Levada

The share of Russians who say they’re not interested in politics has reached its highest level of the modern era, a survey by the independent Levada Center polling agency said Tuesday. According to the poll, nearly one-third of Russians, or 27%, said they are not interested in politics at all, compared to 12% of Russians…

Russian Freediver Claims New Record in Icy Lake Baikal Plunge

Russian freediver Alexei Molchanov claimed to have set a new Guinness World Record on Tuesday after plunging 80 meters in the icy waters of Lake Baikal in Siberia. Clad in blue diving gear, Molchanov dropped into a hole in the Baikal ice before coming back up smiling, winking and forming the OK sign with his…

Russia Threatens to Block Twitter Within 30 Days

Russia will block Twitter within a month if it fails to delete banned content, authorities told state media Tuesday. Vadim Subbotin, the deputy chief of Russia’s state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor, issued the warning a week after the country began slowing down the social media platform’s speed over the dispute. The agency acted amid tensions with western…

Explainer: Sputnik V’s Road to the European Market

While Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine has already been authorized by over 50 countries worldwide, it has yet to make its way into one of the world’s largest markets, the European Union. On March 8, an official at the EU’s medicines regulator was quick to dismiss the idea of granting emergency authorization for Russia’s vaccine,…

Apple Allows Russia to Pre-Install Domestic Apps on Devices

BusinessBy admin March 16, 2021 Leave a comment

Apple has agreed to pre-install Russian apps on all its devices activated within the country starting April 1, the Vedomosti business daily reported Tuesday. The Russian-developed software will include messengers, internet browsers, antivirus software, email, food delivery and taxi-hailing apps, Vedomosti reported. According to the agreement, all users who turn on an Apple device purchased…

Subsidiary of TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM contracts supplies of nuclear fuel components for research reactor in Egypt

Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP, an enterprise of TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM) and the Egyptian Atomic Energy Agency (EAEA) signed the contractual documents for supplies of another batch of the low-enriched fuel components to Egypt in 2021. The supplies are carried out under the long-term frame contract for exports of Russian-made nuclear fuel components…

Russian Journalists Air ‘Silent Broadcasts’ to Dodge Prosecution

Russian journalists in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk have started airing “silent broadcasts” as a way to avoid prosecution, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news outlet reported Monday. The live-streams of protests without commentary follow the detentions of several journalists in recent months for “participation in unsanctioned rallies,” RFE/RL’s Siberian affiliate Sibir.Realii reported. …

Russia Slams U.S. Over Brazil Coronavirus Vaccine Pressure

Moscow has accused the United States of targeting its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine by pressuring Brazil to reject it, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund that markets the jab worldwide said Monday. An annual U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report published in January said officials had worked to dissuade Latin American countries from accepting aid from…

Russian Mother With Tattoos, Piercings Ruled Unfit for Custody – Reports

A court in southern Russia’s republic of Dagestan has ruled a mother of three unfit for custody due to her “immoral” tattoos and piercings, according to media reports. The summer 2020 ruling against Nina Tseretilova is based on Instagram posts submitted by her ex-husband during their custody battle, the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid reported Friday. “It…

Russia Confirms First S. African Coronavirus Strain Cases

BusinessBy admin March 15, 2021 Leave a comment

A more contagious strain of the coronavirus first discovered in South Africa has been detected in Russia, the country’s health authorities said Tuesday. The officials said two people have been found to have the variant out of over 8,000 tests conducted among Russians arriving from abroad and those with atypical presentations of the disease. According…

Severstal completes first delivery of large-diameter pipes to South America

March 16, 2021 PAO Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, has delivered an order of large-diameter pipes (LDP) to Peru, in the Company’s first ever shipment to South America. The products were produced at Severstal’s Izhora Pipe Plant, located in St. Petersburg, Russia. Pipes were manufactured in line…

Tearis ad Severstal provide update o the status of their welded pipe plat i West Siberia

BusinessBy admin March 15, 2021 Leave a comment

March 15, 2021 With reference to their joint venture announced in February 2019, Tenaris and Severstal inform that, although they continue to have a strong interest in the venture, they have agreed to put on hold the construction activities on their welded pipe plant in Surgut, West Siberia, while they assess the impact of the…

FIFA Probes 3 Russian Players Over Suspected Doping Violations

FIFA has opened disciplinary cases against three Russian football players suspected of violating anti-doping rules in 2013, Interfax reported Monday, citing the Russian Football Union’s press service. The players, two of whom are men and the other a woman, do not play on the Russian national teams, Interfax cited the RFU as saying in a statement. The…

Kremlin Critic Navalny Moved to Notorious Prison Colony

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been moved to the IK-2 penal colony in the Vladimir region to serve his two-and-a-half year sentence, his Instagram account confirmed Monday. Navalny’s whereabouts had been unknown since Friday, when his team said he was moved from a pre-trial detention center outside Moscow where he was being quarantined. Reports citing…

Navalny Moved to Notorious Prison Colony

BusinessBy admin March 15, 2021 Leave a comment

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been moved to the IK-2 penal colony in the Vladimir region, the state-run TASS news agency reported Monday, citing an official court letter it obtained. Navalny’s whereabouts had been unknown since Friday, when his team said he was moved from a pre-trial detention center outside Moscow where he was…

The Engineering Division starts vaccination of employees at overseas construction sites against COVID-19

The Engineering Division of ROSATOM has started vaccination of employees at overseas construction sites against coronavirus infection. The first to receive a batch of Sputnik V medication were the employees of Rooppur NPP construction site (the People’s Republic of Bangladesh). A team of medical workers from Federal Medical and Biological Agency arrived in Bangladesh the…

Rights Groups File Syria Torture Case Against Russian Mercenaries

Three campaign groups announced on Monday a landmark legal case in Moscow against Russian mercenary group Wagner over the torture of a detainee in Syria, aiming to hold to account a murky fighting force with Kremlin links. The legal push against private military contractor Wagner Group follows a wave of torture-related cases in Europe against Syrian…

Russian Investigative Paper Novaya Gazeta Says Targeted in ‘Chemical Attack’

The prominent Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta said Monday that its offices in Moscow had been targeted with a “chemical attack.” “In the morning a chemical attack was carried out on the building where our editorial office is located,” the independent media outlet’s editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov said in a statement. He added that law enforcement…

Ex-Chechen Policeman Testifies to ‘Worst Crime of Post-War Chechnya’ – Novaya Gazeta

MoscowBy admin March 15, 2021 Leave a comment

The investigative Novaya Gazeta newspaper on Monday has published a former Chechen police officer’s testimony to the extrajudicial killings of dozens of detainees four years ago. The account of Suleiman Gezmakhmayev, a former staff sergeant of the Akhmad Kadyrov Police Patrol Service Regiment, adds damning evidence to Novaya’s investigations claiming that Chechen security officials executed 27…

In Photos: Russia Burns the Winter Blues Away With Maslenitsa Festivities

In Russia, the last week of the pre-Lenten season is traditionally marked by the Maslenitsa folk festival. Best known for its signature food, bliny (thin pancakes), Maslenitsa week signifies the bridge between winter and spring and culminates with weekend open-air festivals in cities and villages across Russia. Here is a closer look at how Russians…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | March 15