Born in Konstantinovo, Ryazan, to a peasant family, Sergei Yesenin was at an early age sent to live with his grandparents, who were better off and played a major role in raising him. With his three grown-up uncles, a young Yesenin was taught how to swim, hunt and ride horses. His grandmother, a religious woman,…
Georgian composer Giya Kancheli died Wednesday at age 85. He had been gravely ill and was being treated abroad prior to his death. Kancheli is best known for composing the soundtrack for the 1977 comedy “Mimino” and the 1986 science fiction film “Kin-dza-dza!.” He also had a distinguished career writing music for theater, opera and…
North Korea needs to rein in its poachers in Russian waters, Russia’s Ambassador in Pyongyang has said in the wake of a recent flare-up between the allies. Russian guards have detained hundreds of North Korean fishermen in four roundups in recent weeks, one of which resulted in a North Korean man’s death. The detentions mark…
Russians view China most positively out of dozens of countries, according to a U.S.-based Pew Research Center report that shows global perceptions of China have declined in the past year. Chinese President Xi Jinping oversaw a massive military parade through central Beijing on Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sided with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in the domestic political storm raging in the United States, and briefly joked that Moscow would hack the U.S. presidential election in 2020. Putin said Trump, who faces an impeachment inquiry over accusations that he pressured Ukraine’s president to dig up dirt…
Many Russian hostels and hotels located in residential buildings are still open for booking despite a controversial ban that went into effect yesterday, according to media reports. Under the new law, it’s now illegal to provide hotel services in residential buildings, sparking concerns for the future of budget travel in Russia. Hoteliers previously warned that…
One of the oldest and largest Italian circuses has arrived in Russia’s northernmost city of Pevek after an epic cross-country trek — but their tour has raised concerns among Russians over the ethics of using wild animals as performers. The Togni circus, which includes human and animal performers, had come all the way from Kazan…
A Russian man is seeking more than $15,000 in damages from Apple after claiming that the U.S. tech giant drove him to homosexuality, the Govorit Moskva radio station has reported. The plaintiff, identified as D. Razumilov, alleges that he became “mired in same-sex relationships” this summer after receiving 69 GayCoins on a cryptocurrency payment app…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday took aim at teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, telling an energy forum he did not share the excitement about her United Nations speech last month. The 16-year-old Swede electrified the UN summit in New York when she denounced world leaders for failing to tackle climate change, unleashing the outrage…
A wave of resignations sweeping Russia’s health sector has reached the country’s capital this week after employees at one of Moscow’s best cancer hospitals threatened to quit in protest of its new leadership. Nurses, doctors, ambulance staff and paramedics across Russia have expressed their grievances by resigning or staging various forms of strikes since the…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that there was no evidence that Iran was responsible for an attack on Saudi oil infrastructure last month and that the United States had not presented any proof of Iran’s role. France tried to set up a meeting between the leaders of Iran and the United States after…
Ukraine has agreed to sign a peace plan with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine that it had previously rejected, marking the first major breakthrough since a lapsed 2015 peace accord and a step toward an international peace summit. Negotiators meeting in Minsk, Belarus on Tuesday agreed on a schedule to allow elections in eastern Ukraine’s…
State military shipping company Oboronlogistika has made 11 shipments to the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya and other parts of the region so far this year as part of its exclusive delivery agreement with the Defense Ministry. About 30,000 tons of goods were delivered, the company said. In 2018, the company’s total delivery volume amounted to 11,000 tons. Various…
Protesters in Russia’s Buddhist republic of Kalmykia took to the streets against the appointment as mayor of a one-time leader of separatist-held eastern Ukraine. Dmitry Trapeznikov, 38, briefly led the self-proclaimed Donetsk people’s republic in war-torn eastern Ukraine after his predecessor was assassinated last year. On Thursday, the Kalmyk governor announced that he appointed Trapeznikov…
Russia has placed 19th-century gates in St. Petersburg, a house from a Turgenev novel and other significant historical buildings on the market to save them from destruction. The cost to rent them? One ruble. Several “house for a ruble” programs have popped up across the country in an effort to save historic buildings that have…
Russian border guards opened fire on a North Korean fishing boat and detained 21 crew for alleged poaching in the Sea of Japan, the Federal Security Service was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Five people were injured in the incident, which caused a fire on board, the Interfax news agency cited the service as saying.…
Talks to end the five-year conflict in eastern Ukraine produced the first major breakthrough since a lapsed 2015 peace accord, paving the way for an international summit to cement progress. Negotiators meeting Tuesday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk agreed on a schedule under which elections will be held in the breakaway regions and a…
A Russian state journalist has sued the organizer of a training course for war correspondents over injuries he says he received during the training. Svyatoslav Pavlov’s gruesome account of the course at a military site in Crimea included scenes of ripped earlobes and bags placed over journalists’ heads causing asphyxiation. The courses are required for…
Russia’s lower chamber of parliament on Sept. 30 passed legislation that could allow dual citizenship for foreigners wanting to become Russian citizens, the RBC news website reported Tuesday. Analysts believe the new rules may increase the attractiveness of a Russian passport, as in the past foreigners applying for the documents have had to renounce their…
Belarus believes that its ally Russia’s terms of integration are “unacceptable,” its foreign minister has said following media reports that the two countries plan to form an economic confederacy in the next two years. Russia and Belarus, currently members of a largely symbolic union state, have been in talks to deepen their integration, a process…
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Maduro briefly discussed Caracas’ debt obligations to Russia last week during a visit to Moscow by the Venezuelan leader, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, without providing details. Close ally Moscow has acted as a lender of last resort for Caracas, with the Russian government and oil giant Rosneft providing at least $17…
The Russian former chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), who fled Russia in 2013, has told journalist and online personality Yury Dud that he will continue to support people who want to make Russia more democratic. Sergei Guriyev left the country for fear of being arrested over his support for…
Russian state experts confirmed that the slain father of three teenage daughters facing up to 20 years in jail for killing him had abused them, the sisters’ lawyers have announced Tuesday. The high-profile case has divided Russian society into those who say that Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan acted in self-defense and those who view them…
RN-Kart, the specialised catalyst production enterprise of Rosneft Oil Company, has performed industrial tests of the first batch of hydrotreating catalysts, which provide for the production of Euro V-compliant diesel, at the Company’s Ufa group of refineries.
The Labor Ministry has sent the Russian government a report outlining the pros and cons of introducing a four-day work week as discussions around shortening the work week have become increasingly widespread. The report, a response to the idea first proposed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev over the summer, was put together after consultations with…
In Russia, the first of the month is often marked with a slew of new laws and rules coming into effect. This October is no exception. Life will change for Russians in ways both big and small starting today. Here’s a look at some of the new rules and laws taking effect: Fire safety Starting…
A Russian football fan has been sentenced to one year in prison for punching a riot police officer in a brawl involving ultras at St. Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena earlier this year. Riot police charged a crowd of football fans outside the stadium during halftime of an Aug. 3 Russian Premier League match between FC Zenit…
Gennady Laguteev remembers the day a shell landed in his garden and destroyed his veranda. It was Aug. 5, 2014, just after the war between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces had erupted in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass. “I kept the chair I used to sit in out there, even though it was…
Russia remains a nation of heavy drinkers, but alcohol consumption has fallen 43% from 2003 to 2016, a key factor in the country’s rapid rise in life expectancy, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday. Alcohol consumption fell in the mid-1980s due to a campaign by the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, but rates exploded…
Russia’s Investigative Committee said Tuesday that one of its employees, senior investigator Vladislav Kapustin, was stabbed to death at the entrance to its central office in Moscow. “The attacker was arrested,” spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. A disheveled eyewitness told the Znak.com news website she was in the middle of a conversation with…
Russian border guards have detained 87 North Korean poachers and 11 small vessels in waters in the Sea of Japan which Moscow considers its own exclusive economic zone, the Interfax news agency said on Tuesday. It is the third such round-up of North Korean fishermen in recent weeks amid what the Kremlin has said is…
On September 29, one of the annual milestones was performed at Unit 1 of Rooppur NPP (General Designer is Atomstroyexport JSC, a part of ROSATOM) under construction in Bangladesh according to the Russian design – the reactor support truss was installed in the design position. The purpose of the support truss is to fasten the…
The Key Tax Principles have been published in order to comprehensively inform stakeholders about Rosneft business practices.
The United States has imposed sanctions on two Russians over their alleged involvement in the Internet Research Agency, a Russian organization accused of interfering in U.S. elections. The Internet Research Agency is believed to be financed by billionaire restaurateur Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as President Vladimir Putin’s “chef.” A U.S. special counsel indicted Prigozhin and 12…
A veterans’ hospital in Russia’s fourth-largest city has banned a transgender hairstylist from volunteering to give free haircuts to its elderly patients. A local charity in Yekaterinburg had put out a call for stylists, makeup artists and hairdressers to provide beauty services to the hospital’s patients at no cost. Marta Katasrofa, a transgender hairdresser, was…
As part of its exploration campaign, Rosneft Oil Company has successfully completed the drilling of the first prospecting and appraisal well at the Vostochno-Pribrezhny license block on the shelf of Sakhalin Island, resulting in the discovery of a new oil field.
Russia plans to build its own reusable Argo rocket to compete with Elon Musk and supply the International Space Station (ISS) by 2024, the RBC news website reported Monday. Russia has previously accused Musk’s SpaceX of squeezing it out of the carrier rockets market with the company’s relatively low-cost Falcon 9 rockets. Last year, Russia’s…
Nothing says “Russia” quite like a festival dedicated to Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace.” Held at the Ostafyevo Estate south of Moscow — where Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol and Vasily Zhukovsky have all visited — the festival paid tribute to Russian literature and history over the weekend. Costumes not required, but encouraged. Here’s…
The Kremlin said on Monday that Washington would need Russian consent to publish transcripts of phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Congress is determined to get access to Trump’s calls with Putin and other world leaders, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee’s chairman said on Sunday, citing concerns that the Republican…
Tigers and tigers and tigers, oh my! The streets of Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East roared to life as residents young and old dressed up to celebrate their very own Tiger Day, an annual parade to raise awareness of the plight of the Amur tiger. The Amur tiger is one of the world’s most endangered…
Every year thousands of performers and visitors descend upon Scotland in late summer to attend the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s biggest festival of performance arts, from stand-up comedy to opera. This year among the nearly 4,000 shows were several from Russia including “Forest,” a work of physical theater directed by Dmitry Melkin and performed…
A majority of Russians charged under a law banning “blatant disrespect” toward the authorities have been disrespectful toward President Vladimir Putin, according to research by the Agora human rights group. Sept. 29 marked six months since Russia imposed up to 300,000 rubles in fines and 15 days in jail for repeated “blatant disrespect” toward government…
At least 600 people gathered to protest police brutality in the Far East Russian republic of Buryatia on Sunday following the detention of an anti-Putin shaman’s supporters and a disputed local vote. Demonstrations erupted in the city of Ulan-Ude this month to demand the release of the shaman’s detained supporters as well as a rerun…
In the two weeks since attacks blamed on missiles or drones shut down half of Saudi Arabia’s oil output, the country that has arguably moved most deftly to position itself for any upside is Russia. Within hours of the attacks, Moscow’s state arms exporter said it would hold talks with countries in the Middle East…
The head of Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA has called for a full overhaul in the country’s sports management that would include the dismissal of state officials involved in an ongoing doping scandal. RUSADA finds itself on the brink of suspension for the second time over alleged manipulation of anti-doping laboratory data which has sparked concern…
On Saturday morning film and theater director, screenwriter and writer Mark Zakharov died of complications from pneumonia. He was 85 years old. Mark Zakharov was the artistic director of the Lenkom Theater in Moscow since 1973 and defined not only the theater’s repertory but the style and spirit of the late-Soviet era. He gathered a…
Russian authorities have extinguished the remaining forest fires in Siberia that covered an area the size of Belgium and caused at least $100 million worth of damage at their peak. Huge swathes of Siberia and Russia’s Arctic have been engulfed in wildfires this summer, with smog reaching major cities in the area. Major social media…
A Russian court on Monday quashed the jail sentence of an aspiring actor whose conviction for injuring a police officer on the sidelines of an opposition protest triggered a public outcry over alleged police brutality and judicial injustice. Footage of Pavel Ustinov’s arrest on Aug. 3 showed four national guardsmen in riot gear suddenly grabbing him…
Soaring high above Moscow on the top of Europe’s tallest skyscraper OKO but grounded by its most ancient culinary roots is Ruski, the very successful joint venture of two Moscow restaurant giants, Chaikhonka and GINZA. On the tower’s 85th floor, Chef Alexander Volkov-Medvedev is reinventing Russia’s oldest methods and recipes with the help of the…
September 30, 2019 PAO Severstal has launched its own “Open Innovations” platform (//innovations.severstal.com/en), designed to complement the Company’s open innovations initiatives and tools. The site hosts Severstal’s initiatives for cooperating with startups, innovative teams and industry experts, as well as indicating priority areas for cooperation and specific tasks that need to be tackled today. The…
Thousands of Russians rallied in Moscow on Sunday to demand the release of protesters jailed in what Kremlin opponents say is a campaign to stifle dissent. The protesters were arrested during demonstrations that began in July against the exclusion of many opposition candidates from a local election, and allegations of police brutality and what many…
This summer, after a Russian biochemist announced plans to follow in the footsteps of a rogue Chinese researcher and produce genetically modified children, a 150-year-old academic journal that reflects the current scientific consensus called on the world to stop him. “Time is of the essence,” Nature said. The dangers of altering human DNA that will be…
Russia has delivered its second batch of weapons to the Central African Republic (CAR) in two years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. Russia has stepped up its activities in Africa in recent years with military support, nuclear energy and other services in exchange for mining rights. Moscow donated hundreds of weapons and sent…
A paper trail linked to the suspect in the killing of a Georgian citizen in Berlin suggests Russia provided “active support” to the suspect, according to an international team of investigators. Germany last month arrested a man who goes by the name Vadim Sokolov on suspicion of killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who fought alongside anti-Moscow separatists…
The Mother and Child (Mat i Ditya) group was founded in 2006 as one of the first private medical practices in Russia to provide exemplary, state-of-the-art services in gynecology, childbirth, neo-natal care and pediatrics. It was the “love child” of Dr. Mark Kurtser, a medical doctor and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and…
State Duma deputy and notorious anti-gay crusader Vitaly Milonov wants to ban gender-inclusive Barbie dolls from Russia, referring to them as “freak dolls.” Toy manufacturer Mattel unveiled a gender-inclusive line of its iconic Barbie dolls Wednesday, to allow children “to express themselves freely.” The dolls, which are designed without stereotypically male or female features, come…
At 15 years old, Margarita Naumenko is one of the youngest participants in Russia‘s Fridays for Future climate protest movement. Each week, she stands in downtown Moscow with other young activists chanting, brandishing posters and demanding the government take action on worsening climate change threats. Her parents support her decision to protest, Naumenko said, but they…
Former French President Jacques Chirac, who led France from 1995 to 2007, died Thursday at age 86. Chirac’s political career spanned decades and he had dealings with every Russian and Soviet leader since Brezhnev. In a message of condolence Thursday, President Vladimir Putin said that he admired Chirac’s “intellect and deep knowledge as well as…
People identified as Federal Security Service (FSB) officers have questioned an eco-activist in Russia’s Arctic city of Murmansk ahead of Friday’s authorized Climate Strike protest there, the activist has said. Russia was largely absent from the Global Climate Strike last week, where 4 million people in 200 countries took to the streets calling for global…
Russia‘s parliament will ask its Foreign Ministry to consider revoking broadcaster Deutsche Welle’s right to work in the country for allegedly breaking laws on political impartiality, a senior lawmaker said on Friday. Vasily Piskarev said a parliamentary investigation had found evidence that Germany’s publicly funded international broadcaster had urged Russians to attend an unauthorized protest this…