Moscow residents are most likely to back President Vladimir Putin and the pro-Putin ruling party despite their tepid support for both, an independent poll published Tuesday has said. The Levada Center polling agency’s latest results come four months ahead of key parliamentary elections in which the United Russia party seeks to maintain a supermajority despite historically low approval ratings.…
Russia has delivered its latest weapons batch to the mineral-rich and violence-racked Central African Republic, Moscow’s ambassador in Bangui told state media Monday. The shipment of 5,000 pieces of small arms is the third delivery in as many years. Moscow donated hundreds of weapons in 2019 and airlifted 10 BRDM-2 armored personnel vehicles as a…
Russia will not block access to Twitter but will continue slowing page loading speeds for the social media platform’s mobile app within its borders, state communications regulator Roskomnadzor said Monday. The regulator gave Twitter a May 15 deadline to comply with thousands of requests to remove content which it said violates Russian law — or…
A recent oil spill in northern Russia may be 4-5 times larger than originally estimated, authorities said as environmentalists warned that the pollution could reach the Arctic Ocean. Authorities in the republic of Komi declared an emergency last week after the oil spill at the Oshskoye field, operated by a subsidiary of oil giant Lukoil,…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday warned Western countries against staking claims in the Arctic, as global warming makes the region more accessible and a site of global competition. Lavrov’s comments came ahead of a ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council that comprises Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland…
Though warm summer temperatures are just taking hold of Moscow, the capital’s many grandiose fountains have already reclaimed their status as the favorite hangout spots for Muscovites and tourists alike. More than 600 fountains across Moscow have reopened for the season and will remain in operation until early October. Take a look at the capital’s…
Russia has registered cases of a rare and deadly fungal infection afflicting current and former coronavirus patients that has been on the rise in virus-stricken India, the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper reported Monday. Experts interviewed by the publication stressed that mucormycosis, which Indian doctors have dubbed “black fungus” due to its dark pigmentation, does not spread…
The United States’ consul general in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg has left her post as Washington cuts services at its remaining consulates and shrinks operations at its Moscow embassy. The U.S. in April suspended visa services as well as U.S. citizen services in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, leaving the U.S. Embassy in Moscow as the…
Manizha Sangin has never been your typical Russian popstar. A refugee from Tajikistan and outspoken pro-LGBT feminist, the art pop singer’s March selection by public vote on state television to represent her adopted country at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in the Dutch city of Rotterdam stunned Russia’s musical establishment. With Russia’s turn towards social…
Polish authorities said they have arrested a man suspected of spying for Russia, the Polish internal security agency said in a statement Monday. The 43-year-old is accused of “providing the Russian special services with information and materials in the military field and about Polish entities and citizens.” The ISA said its officers detained him on…
This past weekend in Moscow thousands of music fans cheered at a concert by Kino — a group that was disbanded 30 years ago after its leader, Viktor Tsoi, was killed in a car crash. The almost 3-hour concert was performed by the original band members, additional musicians, and the voice of Viktor Tsoi, which…
Around 100 Moscow metro employees have been dismissed after they appeared in an email database leak exposing half a million supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the independent Dozhd broadcaster reported Saturday. Vasily Shelyakov, the deputy head of the Moscow metro trade union, told Dozhd that the ex-staffers directly link their termination to last month’s…
Rosneft Oil Company continues to strengthen its position in international ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) ratings.
Three people have been killed in a knife attack in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg, state and local media reported Monday. A man stabbed three passersby with a knife in a park near the Zheleznodorozhny railway station in the city of 1.3 million located 1,400 kilometers east of Moscow, the state-run TASS news agency reported,…
Over one-third of Russians refuse to get vaccinated against the coronavirus under any circumstances, the SuperJob.ru job portal said in a survey published Sunday. Last week, Greece opened to Russian tourists vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V jab, prompting one in five Russians to say they are ready to get vaccinated so they can travel, Superjob…
Young Russian schoolchildren were filmed holding mock weapons and marching in military formation at an event marking Soviet victory in World War II last Friday. Footage shared by the MBKh Media news website showed the children singing “We are Russians, God is with us” while marching around the schoolyard holding the weapons resembling Soviet submachine…
A Russian court on Monday postponed the first hearing in the “extremism” case against the political network of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, part of a campaign to outlaw the opposition to President Vladimir Putin. As the hearing got underway behind closed doors, the prosecution submitted additional documents and the proceedings were postponed until June…
Smetana, or Russian sour cream, never loomed large in my life until that life was transplanted into Russia. I knew smetana existed, of course, and I knew it had a far more glamorous European cousin called crème fraîche. And I knew that sour cream was an essential ingredient in everything from baked potatoes to cheesecake,…
Russia on Friday formally designated the United States and the Czech Republic as “unfriendly states” amid the biggest crisis in ties between Moscow and Washington in years. The Russian government released a decree signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that was accompanied by a list of “unfriendly states” that “have carried out unfriendly actions” against…
Authorities in the northern Russian republic of Komi have declared an emergency this week after roughly seven tons of crude oil spilled into local soil and waterways, threatening the area’s ecosystems and populated areas. The spill was likely the result of an accident at a pipeline operated by Russian oil producer Lukoil, officials have determined.…
Azerbaijani forces advanced significantly into territory along the border with Armenia this week, sparking a security crisis in which Russia — Armenia’s treaty ally and the broker of the ceasefire agreement between the two sides — has taken a conspicuously passive role. The details of precisely what happened remain unclear, but Armenia says that Azerbaijani…
India on Friday started inoculating its population with Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the jab’s developers said. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance the jab, said vaccination started in the southern city of Hyderabad on Friday, making Sputnik V the “first foreign-made vaccine that is used in India”. It said a first…
On May 15, the international community celebrates World Climate Change Day.
On May 13th the innovative anti-poaching Rhisotope Project was launched. The project which is based on nuclear science, has the potential to drastically reduce Rhino poaching. The project was initiated by the University of Witwatersrand (WITs) and is being implemented under a global collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Colorado State…
A Siberian muckraking journalist who investigated oil-theft schemes has been sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of blackmail and distributing pornography, authorities said Friday. Eduard Shmonin, 50, was arrested in 2017 after he released an investigative documentary alleging industrial-scale oil theft with Federal Security Service (FSB) and police involvement in the Khanty-Mansiisk autonomous…
Night in the Museum Moscow began to celebrate a Night in the Museum not long ago, but the event quickly became a favorite of Muscovites of all ages. There is something delightfully transgressive about being in a public place after hours, when the lights are usually off and the doors shut tight. Last year it…
Moscow city bailiffs have visited the offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) to take inventory of the news outlet’s equipment, the independent Meduza news website reported Friday. The U.S. government-funded news outlet has come under increasing pressure in Russia since being added to the country’s “foreign agents” registry in February 2020. By last month,…
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Friday to respond to what he said was the persecution of Moscow-friendly politicians in Ukraine, accusing the West of turning a blind eye to Kiev’s political “clean-up.” With tensions between Moscow and Kiev high, Ukraine this week placed Putin’s top ally Viktor Medvedchuk under house arrest on suspicion of high…
Russian oil giant Rosneft said Friday that its earnings were back in the black in the first quarter after oil prices recovered following Moscow’s production deals with OPEC. State-controlled Rosneft reported a net profit of 149 billion rubles ($2 billion) in the first quarter, compared with a loss of 156 billion rubles in the same period last year. It…
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow will temporarily resume routine U.S. citizen services and processing of immigrant visas in priority and urgent cases after Russia paused a ban on it hiring foreign nationals, the Embassy said Friday. On Wednesday, the Embassy halted most of its consular services to U.S. nationals and Russians seeking a visa after…
Russia has declared The Moscow Times’ Russian-language partner VTimes a “foreign agent” on Friday amid what critics call the Kremlin’s ongoing crackdown on free speech and independent media. The designation puts the independent news site’s future in jeopardy as it risks cratering its advertising budget and levying steep fines for auditing violations. VTimes was launched…
The Volgodonsk Branch of JSC “AEM-technology” (part of the machine-building division of ROSATOM – Atomenergomash) started stamping pipe blanks – the Bends of the main circulation pump (MCP) for Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam NPP (India). The work was carried out in two stages at the thermal press site of Atommash. At first,…
Moscow residents are more likely to approve of President Vladimir Putin and their mayor than of their city’s municipal authorities, according to an independent poll published Friday. The Levada Center polling agency said both Putin and Mayor Sergei Sobyanin shared a 41% approval rating among Muscovites. That compares to 13% approval for the Moscow City…
Moscow has reported 3,818 new coronavirus cases Friday, the highest daily count since January, as Russia returned from an extended non-working period designed to prevent a third wave of the pandemic. Nationwide, Russia confirmed 9,462 new cases and 939 deaths across all but one region Friday. The country has one of the world’s highest Covid-19…
Greece will open to tourists who have received Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine from Friday, the country’s tourism minister has said. The Mediterranean country, a popular tourist spot for Russians, is the first European country to open its borders to Sputnik V recipients. The country will no longer require vaccinated tourists to quarantine for seven…
Russian troops have blocked and turned around a U.S. military convoy in northeast Syria, the Russian military said Thursday, accusing it of violating deconfliction arrangements in the country. The Russian Defense Ministry’s Syria reconciliation center said six American MRAP-type armored vehicles drove “along an uncoordinated route and without prior notice” in the Kurdish-held Syrian province…
Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday jointly called for an end to fighting between Israel and Palestinians. “In light of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it was stated that the primary task is to stop violent actions on both sides and ensure the safety of the civilian population,”…
Rosneft Aero, the operator of Rosneft Oil Company’s aircraft fuelling business, has received a certificate of compliance with international quality management system standards ISO 9001:2015.
May 13, 2021, 17:30 The Gazprom Management Committee took note of the information about the prospects for the expansion of the gas supply and gas infrastructure network in Russian regions through 2030. It was noted that Gazprom, being a socially-oriented company, pursues the creation of the conditions for connecting the residential and industrial consumers to gas as one of its key activities. Gazprom is actively developing the gas supply…
May 13, 2021, 17:15 The Gazprom Management Committee reviewed the operating results of the Gazprom Group entities and organizations for the 2020–2021 autumn/winter period and discussed the measures to be taken for ensuring uninterrupted gas supplies to consumers in the upcoming 2021–2022 autumn/winter period. It was noted that the autumn/winter period of 2020–2021 was marked by lengthy cold spells in the area covered by Russia’s Unified Gas Supply System (UGSS).…
Maezawa, 45, who made his fortune in online retail, said he plans to document the mission and share it with the world on his YouTube channel with over 700,000 subscribers. The Roscosmos space agency said Maezawa would make the flight from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with production assistant Yozo Hirano aboard a Soyuz MS-20…
Far to the east of Moscow, a group of young people are hard at work in a cemetery. The Tekutyevsky Cemetery is in the very center of old Tyumen, the first settlement in Siberia that was founded in 1586 as part of the Russian Empire’s expansion eastward. Burials there were conducted from 1885 to 1962.…
Muslims across Russia celebrated Eid al-Fitr on Thursday, bringing the holy month of Ramadan to a close and marking the end of the traditional fasting that goes along with it. With over 10 million believers across the country, or about 10% of its overall population, Russia’s Muslim population is the largest in Europe. Eid al-Fitr,…
A Belarusian court jailed a drummer for six years on Thursday after his band played at mass protests in the wake of disputed presidential elections last year, a rights group said. Belarus was for months gripped by weekly demonstrations demanding the resignation of strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed a landslide victory in the August vote…
An international group of scientists has reiterated “serious concerns” over what they call a lack of transparency, missing data and questionable findings in the clinical research behind Russia’s homemade Sputnik V vaccine. In an open letter to The Lancet — the leading medical journal which published Russia’s interim research showing an efficacy of 91.6% for…
Vitalik Buterin, the Russian-born co-founder of the Ethereum digital currency and the world’s youngest crypto billionaire, has donated more than $1 billion to coronavirus-stricken India’s relief fund. The Russian-Canadian programmer moved $1.2 billion worth of dog-themed SHIB meme tokens on Wednesday and about $600,000 in Ether and Maker tokens last month, Forbes reported, citing Buterin’s…
Only 16% of Russians viewed last month’s nationwide protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny positively, according to a poll by the independent Levada Center published Thursday, a signal of flagging momentum for his embattled opposition groups. Navalny’s team had called on supporters to take to the streets on April 21 to demand proper…
Russia has confirmed the first cases of the Indian coronavirus mutation within its borders among a group of Indian students, the Kommersant business daily reported Thursday, citing the regional consumer protection watchdog. The national headquarters of Rospotrebnadzor later denied the presence of the Indian strain among the students. The news comes amid heightened fears worldwide…
An influential Russian feminist activist and sex blogger, Tatiana Nikonova, has died from an unknown illness at age 43, a message on her website said Wednesday. Nikonova had advocated gender equality, sexual literacy and adolescent sex education, and supported the LGBT movement since 2001. She launched a feminist blog in 2012 and had since gained…
The European Union claims Russia is seeking “de facto integration” with separatist-held eastern Ukraine through its actions, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing a document shared with member states. Kiev has been at war with pro-Russia rebels in the eastern breakaway region called Donbass since 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea. Tensions flared this year with a spike…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday called for an urgent meeting of the Middle East Quartet in order to halt violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking alongside United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Lavrov said: “Today we’ve come to the common opinion that the most pressing task is to convene the Quartet of international…
A British police officer poisoned in the Novichok nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy is suing the force he worked for at the time, his lawyers said on Wednesday. Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who left the police in October last year, became critically ill following the Novichok poisoning attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal…
Slovakia’s health minister said Wednesday that the EU member would start offering Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in June, months after Bratislava’s purchase of the coronavirus jabs triggered a government crisis. The announcement comes a day after the health ministry said it would suspend first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as it investigates a fatal blood…
A former student opened fire at a high school in the Russian city of Kazan on Tuesday, killing seven students and two adults and injuring more than 23 people in one of the country’s worst shooting incidents in recent history. Officers detained the gunman at the scene, whose official motive remains unclear. Here’s what we…
Russia’s Arctic and Far North regions could become arable in as soon as 20 to 30 years as climate change accelerates permafrost melt, opening up vast swathes of land to agriculture, the country’s environment minister said Tuesday. Some 60-65% of Russia’s territory is covered in permafrost, the upper layer of soil that stays frozen year-round.…
The first field studies of the polar bear population this year have been completed as part of Rosneft Oil Company’s corporate environmental programme.
Ukrainian lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top ally in Kiev, has slammed a treason investigation against him, calling it a “political reprisal.” The 66-year-old business tycoon, who counts the Kremlin chief among his personal friends, is a hugely controversial figure in Ukraine for his ties to Russia, which has backed separatists…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday urged Israel and the Palestinians to halt fighting in a call with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the world needs to give Israel a “strong” lesson. “Serious concern was expressed about the continuing clashes and the growing number of people killed and wounded,” the Kremlin said in…
Every year audiences in Wiesbaden, Germany come together to watch films from their neighbors to the East. The GoEast Film Festival shows about 100 films from almost 40 countries in Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. This year the festival audiences on- and offline saw an enormous variety of films in every…
The former opposition mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city has been sentenced to nine days in jail for promoting this year’s nationwide pro-Navalny protests on his Twitter, the MBKh Media news website reported Wednesday. Mass protests calling for the release of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny were held across Russia on Jan. 23, Jan. 31 and…