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A court in Russian-annexed Crimea on Thursday sentenced a Jehovah’s Witness to six years in prison for organizing an extremist organisation, in the latest harsh sentence against the Christian movement. Crimea’s Supreme Court at an appeal hearing sentenced Artyom Gerasimov to six years in a penal colony, the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization said in a…

Russia plans to start clinical testing of a coronavirus vaccine on paid volunteers from the general public from next week, Vadim Tarasov, the director of the institute in charge of the study told The Moscow Times on Thursday.  According to Tarasov, there will be 50 participants, and those who complete the full trial will be…

Authorities have blocked access to a city in far northern Russia located near the site of last year’s mysterious nuclear testing accident as the coronavirus outbreak there intensified. The governor of the Arkhangelsk region signed an order to close public access to the city of Severodvinsk this Saturday, the city’s press service said Thursday. Severodvinsk…

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the military to set up a field hospital in a Far East Russian region he described as the latest coronavirus hotspot as Russia’s outbreak continues to shift outside Moscow. Putin shifted his focus to the remote Zabaikalsky region of 1 million residents some 5,000 kilometers east of Moscow two weeks…

Russian emergency workers and marine clean-up specialists on Thursday intensified efforts to clean up a major fuel spill that environmentalists say is the first such accident in the Arctic polar region. A diesel reservoir collapsed at a power station outside the northern Siberian city of Norilsk on Friday, releasing 15,000 tons of fuel into a…

For Sasha, a queer, non-binary person from Moscow, the clashes at home first started around age 13 or 14.  “It was basically made clear to me that I’ll never be accepted in my own family if I ‘keep having homosexual tendencies,’” Sasha, now 18, told The Moscow Times. For years they coped with the tension…

The city of Moscow will end up spending a total of 250 billion rubles ($3.1 billion) on fighting the coronavirus outbreak but will lose double that amount in revenue, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Thursday. The epicenter of Russia’s outbreak with over 40% of its 441,108 cases, Moscow allowed shops to reopen and residents to leave…

There have been 441,108 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 5,384 deaths. June 4: 3 things you need to know today Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has ordered to lift some of Moscow’s coronavirus restrictions starting June 1. All non-food shops and some service sector businesses will be able to re-open, he said. The city…

A US military plane carrying 150 donated ventilators to help coronavirus patients landed in Moscow on Thursday in the second such delivery to Russia, the U.S. embassy said. The plane brought the number of U.S.-manufactured ventilators sent by the United States to Russia to 200, after the first delivery arrived two weeks ago. U.S. ambassador…

A massive diesel spill into a Siberian river caused at least 6 billion rubles (more than $76 million) in damages to waterways above the Arctic Circle, Greenpeace Russia said Wednesday. President Vladimir Putin ordered a state of emergency Wednesday five days after more than 20,000 metric tons of diesel fuel spilled into rivers near the…

New infections have been steadily dropping since mid-May when officials were reporting daily increases of around 11,000 cases. Officials say Russia’s high virus count is the result of mass testing and that a steady decline in new infections and its low fatality numbers mean the country can begin to return to normal. Yet critics have…

Russia’s second-largest city St. Petersburg recorded almost 30% more deaths in May 2020 compared to its average May total over the past decade, official data said Wednesday. St. Petersburg saw 6,427 deaths in May this year, about 28% more than the nine-year average of 5,027 for May, according to civil registry data. The figures, first…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a state of emergency and criticized a subsidiary of metals giant Norilsk Nickel after a massive diesel spill into a Siberian river. The spill of over 20,000 tons of diesel fuel took place on Friday. A fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant near the city of Norilsk,…

President Vladimir Putin signed a nuclear deterrence policy document Tuesday which reaffirms Russia’s allowance of first nuclear strikes in retaliation to non-nuclear attacks. Its publication, which has until now has been classified, comes less than a year before the last major U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty is set to expire without extension. The world’s two…

Russian election officials say activists are not allowed to campaign against a package of constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to extend his 20-year rule into the next decade, the RBC news website reported Tuesday. Putin announced the vote will take place on July 1 after the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more…

Cities across the United States have been rocked by a week of protests against police brutality and injustice toward African-Americans that have at times turned violent and destructive. Multiple incidents involving police violence against demonstrators and journalists were broadcast live at riots nationwide following the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, in police…

There have been 432,277 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 5,215 deaths. June 3: 3 things you need to know today Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has ordered to lift some of Moscow’s coronavirus restrictions starting June 1. All non-food shops and some service sector businesses will be able to re-open, he said. The city will…

Russia saw its first coronavirus infection in mid-to-late January, a Moscow city official has said, contradicting official reports which say that Russia’s “patient zero” appearing in March. The statement comes amid reports that China, the country where the pandemic originated, withheld critical information about the new coronavirus from the World Health Organization in the early…

A legal agreement was reached Wednesday between France’s far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen and a Russian firm suing it over a massive unpaid loan, a Moscow court said. “An amicable agreement was reached between the parties. The judge approved it,” a court spokeswoman told AFP after the first hearing into the…

Russian air strikes have hit Syria’s last major rebel bastion for the first time since a March ceasefire came into force, a war monitor said on Wednesday. The Russian strikes on Tuesday evening and at dawn on Wednesday hit an area of the northwest where the boundaries of Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces meet, the…

One person has died in a fire at a hospital in Russia’s second city St. Petersburg, emergencies services and hospital staff said Wednesday. Bedsheets caught on fire in one of the buildings of the Botkin hospital around 6:00 a.m., first responders told the state-run TASS news agency.  “The patient was alone in the room. There…

New infections have been steadily dropping since mid-May when officials were reporting daily increases of around 11,000 cases. Officials say Russia’s high virus count is the result of mass testing and that a steady decline in new infections and its low fatality numbers mean the country can begin to return to normal. Yet critics have…

Wildfires in Russia have burned across a combined area the size of Greece so far in 2020, surpassing official estimates threefold, Greenpeace Russia said as it braces for blazes to erupt this week and peak next month. Russia’s Federal Forestry Agency has identified 12.3 million acres of wildfires raging across the country’s forests so far…

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday demanded that Washington “take urgent measures” to stop police violence against journalists, including one for Russian state media. “We are outraged about the ongoing violence used by American law enforcement against international media covering the protests in the U.S., including Russian,” the ministry said in a statement. “We demand that…

A Russian court on Tuesday committed to a mental asylum a Siberian shaman critical of Vladimir Putin, a move rights groups condemned as a repressive move to silence a dissenter. Alexander Gabyshev, a self-styled shaman from Yakutsk, northern Siberia, last year set out to walk from his home to the Kremlin to “banish” the Russian…

It took less than a week after he said Russia’s coronavirus crisis had peaked for President Vladimir Putin to fast-track a vote on constitutional reforms allowing him to serve more Kremlin terms. By pushing ahead with the public vote on July 1 — despite Russia still recording thousands of new cases every day — Putin is looking to…

A video backing constitutional reforms that President Vladimir Putin is putting to a national vote next month sparked widespread criticism Tuesday for its anti-gay message. In the video made by a media group called Patriot linked to U.S.-sanctioned Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, a small boy from a Russian orphanage finds out he is being adopted by…

Local authorities in Siberia have declared a state of emergency after 20,000 metric tons of diesel fuel seeped into a river sparking concerns from environmentalists.  The World Wildlife Fund environmental group on Tuesday praised local efforts to contain the spill with a floating dam, blocking dangerous pollutants from flowing into a lake near the Arctic…

A Russian regional leader who is accused of widespread human rights abuses at home has turned the tables on his accusers with criticisms of police violence in the protest-hit United States. The United States sanctioned Ramzan Kadyrov 10 years into his iron-fisted rule over the republic of Chechnya, designating him as a human rights abuser in…

The Russian military will march asymptomatic troops and those who have developed immunity to coronavirus at its landmark parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II later this month, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to hold the previously postponed Victory Day parade on…

Russia will launch a 5 trillion ruble ($73 billion) recovery plan next month to offset economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. The program of increased spending will last until the end of 2021 with the aim of bringing Russia’s unemployment…

There have been 423,741 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 5,037 deaths. June 2: 3 things you need to know today Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has ordered to lift some of Moscow’s coronavirus restrictions starting June 1. All non-food shops and some service sector businesses will be able to re-open, he said. The city will…

Russian scientists are working on a coronavirus treatment involving ultraviolet light brought inside the body, a potentially dangerous method that has been promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump suggested in April that UV light could be used inside the body to treat the fast-spreading and sometimes-deadly virus, prompting warnings from scientists about the dangers…

Russia’s military said it has recruited dozens of volunteers among its ranks for two-month clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine set to begin Wednesday. Bioweapons researchers are working with health officials on developing a coronavirus vaccine, one of 47 that Russian officials say are in various stages of development. The military said preclinical trials for…

New infections have been steadily dropping since mid-May when officials were reporting daily increases of around 11,000 cases. Officials say Russia’s high virus count is the result of mass testing and that a steady decline in new infections and its low fatality numbers mean the country can begin to return to normal. Yet critics have…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated the children’s ombudswoman for giving birth to her seventh child last week and complimented on her “form.” The Kremlin’s ombudswoman for children’s rights Anna Kuznetsova confirmed she had given birth to her son on Friday after Putin extended his congratulations. “How do you manage to keep such a…

Russia will not conduct major military exercises near the borders with NATO member countries this year, a senior military official said Monday, according to Interfax. Sergei Rudskoy, chief of the main operational department for Russia’s General Staff, also accused the United States and NATO allies of continuing to carry out war games near Russia’s borders.…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday proposed his plan to include Russia in an expanded G7 summit in a phone call with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said. It said Trump “informed” Putin of his plan to hold a rescheduled G7 “with possible invitation of the leaders of Russia, Australia, India and South Korea,” without…

After two long months of being prohibited from taking walks due to the coronavirus, Moscow’s 12.7 million residents were finally allowed to enjoy the outdoors on Monday as authorities pointed to a stabilization in new cases. Shopping malls and parks also reopened as city officials hoped to give a much-needed boost to the local economy.…

Russian oil giant Rosneft, run by a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, is wielding growing influence over Russia’s remaining independent media outlets, already squeezed by tightening press freedoms and pressure from the Kremlin. Now, reporters at the country’s top liberal business daily Vedomosti — shaken in March by an announcement from owner Demyan Kudryavtsev…

Russia’s public vote on a set of constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power through 2036 will take place on July 1, Putin said at a meeting with officials. “Indeed, July 1 looks like quite a suitable date to hold the Russian vote on the constitutional amendments,” Putin said during…

There have been 414,878 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 4,855 deaths. June 1: 3 things you need to know today Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has ordered to lift some of Moscow’s coronavirus restrictions starting June 1. All non-food shops and some service sector businesses will be able to re-open, he said. The city will…

The Kremlin said Monday it had not received details of a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to include Russia in an expanded G7 summit later this year. The U.S. leader on Sunday described the G7 “a very outdated group of countries,” saying he would like to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India to join…

Public trust in President Vladimir Putin dropped to a new low in May as more Russians said they were ready to take to the streets to protest falling standards of living, according to independent poll results. One-quarter of respondents named Putin when asked to identify which politicians they trust the most, the Levada polling agency…

Moscow space officials on Sunday said they were puzzled by “hysteria” around the successful SpaceX flight as Elon Musk taunted Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to beat it to Mars. On Saturday, SpaceX made history by becoming the world’s first commercial company to send humans into orbit, leading Russia to lose its long-held monopoly on space travel.…

Violent clashes have erupted in major U.S. cities and outside the White House between law enforcement and protesters taking to the streets against police brutality.  The nationwide wave of outrage was triggered following the death last Monday of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, after being arrested by Minneapolis police. The officer who knelt on…

Russia will begin rolling out its first approved drug in the fight against coronavirus which it describes as “a game changer” starting next week, Reuters reported on Monday, citing the country’s sovereign wealth fund.  Russia has raced to develop a vaccine and other treatments for the coronavirus as the deadly pandemic has battered its economy and…

The controversy over the drug hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine — made famous during the pandemic by U.S. President Donald Trump — came to a head last week after the World Health Organization suspended a multinational trial into its effectiveness in treating Covid-19 patients. Shortly after, Belgium, France and Italy — three of the countries hardest hit by…

Authorities have predicted a higher death toll in May compared to April, attributing this to deaths among patients who were hospitalized during the peak of the epidemic several weeks ago. Officials in Moscow — the worst-hit city in Russia — on Thursday released details of mortality statistics for April in an effort to quash claims…

Shopping malls and parks are set to reopen in Moscow on Monday as the Russian capital eases coronavirus restrictions despite having the world’s third-largest caseload. The relaxation of the confinement orders in Moscow, the epicenter of Russia’s outbreak with a population of more than 12 million, comes after President Vladimir Putin announced the epidemic had…