Ukraine said Friday that renewed fighting with Russian-backed separatists was undermining a fragile ceasefire in the east of the country, and urged Western backers to intervene. The halt to fighting agreed last July raised hopes for a resolution to the bitter trench war that was sparked in 2014 by the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea and…
Russia’s top cellphone carrier MTS said Friday it has launched the country’s first pilot 5G network in Moscow. MTS said it opened 14 hotspots across the city’s main tourist attractions, including Lubyanka Square near Red Square, the Moscow City financial district and the VDNKh exhibition center. Participants of MTS’ pilot project with eligible smartphones will…
At the end of the 19th century, the director of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, had an idea for a ballet based on a tale by Charles Perrault called “La Belle au bois dormant.” Vsevolozhsky wrote the scenario and sketched the costumes for the ballet, which would be called “Sleeping Beauty,” and…
Germany has convicted two of its citizens on charges of violating the European Union’s arms embargo with Russia, the DPA news agency reported Friday. German investigators said the two defendants sold equipment for missile production to a Russian entrepreneur seven times between 2016-2018, bypassing export checks by using fictitious recipients, Deutsche Welle reported. The Russian…
Dozens of Russian non-profits have pleaded for President Vladimir Putin to strike down upcoming requirements to disclose their donors’ foreign funding, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday. The dormant rules set to reactivate this spring will leave the homeless, elderly, orphans and seriously ill without support due to fewer donations, said a group representing 57…
Belarus said on Friday it had requested the extradition of exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was forced from the country during a crackdown on critics of leader Alexander Lukashenko. Tikhanovskaya, who challenged Lukashenko in last year’s presidential vote that the opposition said was rigged, sought refuge in EU member Lithuania as the crackdown intensified on…
Russia’s ruling party is looking to ban the propaganda of polyamory and bisexuality as it weighs options to reverse its population decline and defend what it calls traditional values, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday. The ban was among a number of proposals floated at Thursday’s United Russia party conference on supporting families. The conference…
The Russian ruble and government bonds sank Friday morning on reports that the U.S. and U.K. are considering a second round of tough sanctions against Russia over the poisoning and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Washington and London could be prepared to slap asset freezes and travel bans on Russian oligarchs deemed supporters of the…
For activists preparing to mark International Women’s Day in Kyrgyzstan, recalling the ambush that broke up last year’s march is still traumatic. That day, a group of masked men charged the marchers, hitting them with sticks and trampling banners dedicated to equality. What followed shocked the activists even more. As the men strolled away, police…
ROSATOM has completed the scheduled milestone in development of Russian accident tolerant fuel. The Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR) in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region, has completed the second cycle of irradiation of the experimental fuel assemblies with VVER and PWR fuel rods in the MIR research reactor. Each fuel assembly contains 24 fuel…
The new U.S. envoy to the United Nations on Thursday accused Russia of seeking to stymie efforts to hold the government of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad accountable for its use of chemical weapons during its long civil war. “We all know the Assad regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons. So why hasn’t the Syrian government…
Russia on Thursday demanded an explanation from Facebook after the social media giant said it had derailed a campaign to mislead Russians protesting the arrest of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The U.S.-based social network said its automated systems detected and disabled 530 Instagram accounts being used in the campaign against protesters who took to the…
A Moscow court has overturned the guilty verdict against Yelena Misyurina, the doctor whose conviction in a high-profile medical negligence case sparked national controversy. Misyurina, 46, was sentenced to two years in prison in January 2018 over a botched bone marrow biopsy in July 2013 that damaged a patient’s blood vessels, leading to his death.…
All but nine Russian regions have begun administering coronavirus vaccines nearly two months into the country’s nationwide vaccination campaign, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Russia, the world’s fourth-most affected country by Covid-19, launched the campaign in mid-January with senior officials forecasting 60% herd immunity as early as August. “Some Russian regions, I think it’s nine,…
The Russian military will receive a pilot batch of the hyped Armata T-14 tanks next year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday. The Armata T-14, which is undergoing state tests amid multiple delivery delays since its first public display in 2015, will be Russia’s first main battle tank to be deployed in 40 years. “It’s…
A Russian court has sentenced a pro-Ukrainian activist from annexed Crimea to five years in a maximum-security penal colony and one year in prison on terrorism charges, Interfax reported. Oleg Prikhodko, 62, openly opposed Russia’s annexation of Crimea, hung the Ukrainian flag from his house and refused to switch his license plates to Russian ones,…
Russia is revoking residence permits and deporting, often informally and without written notice, foreign nationals for participating in recent political protests, the Meduza news website reported Thursday. The outlet said it spoke with four citizens of post-Soviet republics who faced deportation orders after attending demonstrations in support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the opposition…
Rosneft Oil Company has commenced vaccination of its employees to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 infection.
The EU has begun analyzing clinical trial data for Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine — the first step in a process which could lead to the vaccine’s approval for use across the 27-member bloc. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Thursday it had begun a so-called “rolling review” of Sputnik V, in which it will analyze…
Air fares have more than doubled for flights from Russia to some of the few countries around the world that remain open for tourism, price data from travel agents has shown. The average price paid for a return flight from Moscow to all destinations was 15,700 rubles ($212), at the beginning of March, the Kommersant…
Slovakia has found itself in a diplomatic row after its prime minister made an offhand joke about paying for Russian coronavirus vaccine shipments with Ukrainian territory. Kiev demanded an apology after Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovič said in a radio interview Wednesday that he promised Russia southwestern Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region in exchange for Sputnik V…
A Russian fighter jet on Wednesday was scrambled to escort nuclear-capable, long-range U.S. bombers flying over the Baltics, the Russian military said. The U.S. Air Force said earlier that one bomber had flown over the capitals of NATO members Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in a show of solidarity with allies. Russia’s National Defense Management Center…
Facebook on Wednesday said it derailed a deceptive campaign to use hundreds of bogus Instagram accounts to mislead people in Russia protesting the arrest of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The network of Instagram accounts used hashtag and location “poisoning” typically associated with spam or financial scams to drown out posts by protesters, according to Facebook…
Austria’s former foreign minister who danced with President Vladimir Putin at her wedding has been nominated for a seat on oil giant Rosneft’s board of directors, a government decree said Wednesday. In 2018, Karin Kneissl, then Austria’s foreign minister, made headlines when she invited Putin to her wedding and danced with him. The 56-year-old left…
March 4, 2021 PAO Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, announces that it will be hosting its Capital Markets Day in a live, interactive on-line format on Thursday 11 March 2021. The event will start at 12:00 pm GMT / 15:00 MSK. Sakari Tamminen (Senior Independent Director), Alexander…
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny quipped that “everything is fine” and made jokes about prison life Wednesday as he sent his first message from a detention center outside Moscow. In the message posted on Instagram, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic said he was being held in the Kolchugino detention center in the Vladimir region northeast…
Gulag History Museum The Gulag History Museum has been awarded the 2021 Council of Europe Museum Prize. The prize, which has been awarded since 1977, is given yearly to a museum that has made a significant contribution to understanding the European cultural heritage and has promoted respect for human rights and democracy. Speaking on behalf…
Prominent U.S. investor Michael Calvey, who is facing embezzlement charges in Russia, said on Wednesday he wanted to continue working in the country pending the outcome of his trial. In a case that has rattled Russia’s business community, the founder of Baring Vostok private equity group and several other executives, including French banker Philippe Delpal,…
Residents of Russia’s northwestern Leningrad region were fortunate to have a rare glimpse at the aurora borealis, the natural phenomenon also known as the northern lights. The aurora could be seen in the parts of Lake Ladoga both on Monday and Tuesday night and was visible enough to be captured by local Instagrammers. Resulting from…
Russia has fined the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty media outlet more than half a million dollars so far for violating the country’s controversial “foreign agent” law, Interfax reported Wednesday. RFE/RL has accused the Russian authorities of trying to squeeze it out of the country with “disastrous” foreign agent labeling requirements and fines of up…
Russia has confirmed 4,278,750 cases of coronavirus and 87,348 deaths. March 3: What you need to know today Russia on Wednesday confirmed 10,535 new coronavirus cases and 452 deaths. Health authorities in Angola, Congo and Djibouti have authorized Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, its developers confirmed Wednesday. Around 4 million Russians have been vaccinated against the coronavirus so…
Russia has declared an independent doctors’ union linked to opposition leader Alexei Navalny a “foreign agent,” Interfax reported Wednesday. The Doctors’ Alliance headed by Navalny’s ophthalmologist Anastasia Vasilyeva rose to prominence last year for criticizing the government’s coronavirus response and distributing aid to underfunded regional doctors. Vasilyeva is currently under house arrest for calling on supporters to…
Today celebrates World Wildlife Day, established by the UN General Assembly in 2013.
Moscow hotels have the highest occupancy rates in Europe, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday, citing data from consulting company Cushman & Wakefield. Unlike other European cities, the Russian capital has remained relatively open with only limited restrictions imposed when new coronavirus infections began to soar in the fall. Since late January, most restrictions have…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has named another relative to a high-level government post in the southern Russian republic that enjoys federal subsidies while maintaining relative autonomy from Moscow, state media reported Tuesday. Kadyrov’s third cousin Khas-Magomed Kadyrov, 30, follows in the footsteps of two Kadyrov daughters in their early 20s as well as two nephews…
Elemash Machine-building plant (an enterprise of ROSATOM’s TVEL Fuel Company in Elektrostal, Moscow region) has launched a production site for fuel fabrication for the CFR-600 reactor, China’s flagship project in the field of fast neutron reactors. The enterprise has modernized the whole shop-floor for fast reactors, which involved development and installation of unique equipment. The…
The Moscow metro plans to implement contactless fare payment using facial recognition technology at all metro stations by the end of the year, Interfax reported Tuesday, citing metro security service head Andrei Kichigin. To use the FacePay system, passengers must have a Russian bank account that has their biometric data on file, according to Kichigin.…
A top aide of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called for sanctions on top Russian oligarchs in an interview with AFP, as the United States followed the EU in imposing sanctions on some officials. Leonid Volkov also said Navalny’s anti-corruption movement was hoping to unseat “at least 60 to 70” deputies from President Vladimir Putin’s United…
Russia has warned the United States not to “play with fire” after it imposed sanctions Tuesday in response to the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The U.S. froze assets and criminalized transactions with seven senior Russian officials, including the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), and blacklisted 14 companies and entities for export…
European Council chief Charles Michel said Tuesday the EU has no plans to lift punishing sanctions against Russia that were imposed over the conflict in Ukraine. Ukraine has been fighting Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions following Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia…
Outdoor sports lovers from around the world arrived in Siberia last month for the annual Lake Baikal winter games. Each year, racers brave ice, wind and snow — not to mention bone-chilling temperatures — as they ski, bike and skate across the world’s largest freshwater lake. Here’s a look at some of the frozen feats…
Russian law enforcement is investigating the theft of radio equipment from a launch site at the Baikonur cosmodrome, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday. Traces of a break-in at launch pad No. 110 were first discovered on Feb. 19. The launch pad’s entrance was broken open and radio parts containing rare earth metals…
The United States and the European Union have imposed new sanctions on senior Russian officials over the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, officials announced Tuesday. President Joe Biden’s first Russia sanctions since taking office in January are coordinated with EU actions against four top Russian justice and law enforcement officials. A senior U.S.…
Non-renewable energy was used to move frozen wind turbines back online in Texas during last month’s deep freeze, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. An unprecedented winter storm in the southern U.S. state knocked out half of its wind power as well as natural gas and coal capacities. Pundits and state officials said that iced-over…
A year after the coronavirus pandemic plunged the global economy into turmoil and sent stock markets tumbling, Russia has emerged as one of the world’s best performers. Russia’s economy shrank by just 3.1% in 2020 — far less than advanced economies — and could reach its pre-pandemic size within the next 12 months. The most…
Armenia has faced days of political crisis after its prime minister’s remarks on a Russian missile system that Yerevan used during last fall’s war against Azerbaijan sparked demands for his resignation. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan clashed with the general staff of Armenia’s armed forces after he claimed that Iskander missiles supplied by Russia — Armenia’s…
Bochvar institute (research facility of TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM) has developed fuel rod design based on nitride uranium-plutonium fuel (MNUP-fuel) for the BREST-OD-300 fast neutron reactor. This fuel rod project will be applied for commercial manufacturing of nitride fuel to be launched as part of the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex, which is under construction…
March 2, 2021 Published in corporate Gazprom Magazine Issue 1–2, interview conducted by Olga Zhivaya Igor Krutikov, Director General of Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk, answers questions from Gazprom Magazine Mr. Krutikov, for the last few years, the creation of the Yakutia gas production center has been an area of close focus. What does this project mean to you personally? First of all, it is a tremendous experience: a cutting-edge industrial…
March 1, 2021 – Designed to survey the Arctic region of the Earth, the first Arktika-M series hydrometeorological satellite was launched into a highly-elliptical orbit (HEO) at 12:15 pm on February 28. The satellite’s onboard control complex was developed by Moscow Experimental Design Bureau “Mars”, a ROSATOM subsidiary. The control complex will be responsible for…
Azerbaijan had deployed an Israeli-made defense system to shoot down a Russian-made missile that Armenia launched in the closing days of last fall’s war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Middle East Eye news website reported Monday. An unnamed official said Yerevan had launched a Russian Iskander missile “directly into the capital” of Azerbaijan…
In 2020, Bashneft, a subsidiary of Rosneft Oil Company, invested 5.6 billion roubles in environment-oriented projects across the territory of its operation.
Slovakia on Monday received a first shipment of Russian vaccines as it battles the world’s highest Covid death rate, the second EU state after Hungary to receive the Sputnik doses. “You can see behind me the first shipment of the two million Sputnik V vaccines,” Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic told reporters at a press…
The Kremlin has dismissed research findings which showed Russians were more likely to be financially suffering as a result of the coronavirus than households in other countries. A Nielsen survey, published Monday, found 53% of Russian respondents said they were worse off as a result of the crisis — that was twice the level recorded…
Two UN human rights experts called Monday for an international investigation into the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, and demanded his “immediate release” from a Russian penal colony. Agnes Callamard, the UN’s top expert on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, and Irene Khan, the expert on freedom of opinion and expression, made the call…
Two UN human rights experts called Monday for an international investigation into the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, and demanded his “immediate release” from a Russian penal colony. Agnes Callamard, the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, and Irene Khan, the top expert on freedom of opinion and expression, stressed the…
Siberia is not generally known as a holiday resort. In tsarist and Soviet times, Siberia was where criminals and political convicts were sent, and it was also a region of rich natural resources. In 1912 the Sheregeshev brothers discovered iron ore in the mountainous region of Gornaya Shoriya to the south of present-day Kemerovo. At…
A U.S. warship docked in Sudan Monday a day after a Russian frigate arrived in the same key Red Sea port where Moscow is planning to establish a naval logistics base, an AFP correspondent said. The arrival of the guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill to Port Sudan follows Washington’s delisting of Khartoum as state…
A second Russian police officer has been suspected of leaking security officers’ travel data from the day of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s poisoning, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday. A major media investigation in December published the names of Federal Security Service (FSB) chemical-weapons experts who it said tailed Navalny for years, including on the…
In accordance with a now-established custom, Kyrgyzstan’s president performed his first foreign visit by going to Russia and paid tribute to President Vladimir Putin. The trip produced little of substance beyond mutual commitments of goodwill. That was important enough in and of itself, however, since Sadyr Japarov’s credentials with Moscow have to date not looked…
Nearly two out of three Russians believe the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus is a bioweapon created by humans, a survey by the independent Levada Center polling agency said Monday. According to Levada’s results, 64% of Russian respondents said Covid-19 was artificially created as a new form of biological weapon. That compares with 23% who…