Bashneft’s products recognized as the best in Russia
Enterprises of Bashneft’s refining and petrochemical complex (a member of Rosneft Oil Company) won the 26th All-Russian contest “The Top 100 Best Goods of Russia-2023”.
Siberian Man Detained in Alleged Bomb Plot Against Military Office
Authorities in Russia’s third-largest city of Novosibirsk have detained a man they accuse of plotting to blow up a military enlistment office, state media reported Wednesday. According to the TASS news agency, 27-year-old Yevgeny Ryapolov is suspected of planting an explosive device inside a slow cooker, which was discovered near the enlistment office on Dec.…
Two Germans Face Trial in Russian Spying Case
Two German men will face trial in Berlin on Wednesday for allegedly stealing intelligence secrets and passing them on to Russia’s security services. The pair, named by prosecutors as Carsten L. and Arthur E., are accused of working together with a Russian businessman to “procure sensitive information” from the portfolio of Germany’s BND foreign intelligence.…
U.S. Intel Says 315K Russian Casualties in Ukraine – Congress Source
Some 315,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, nearly 90% of its pre-war force, a congressional source said Tuesday. The Russian military has also lost some 2,200 of the 3,500 tanks it had before the start of the conflict, the source said, citing a declassified…
Zelensky Makes Last-Ditch Plea for U.S. Aid as Russia Claims Advances
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held last-ditch talks in Washington to plead for continued U.S. aid Tuesday, as Russia claimed advances on the battlefront and scornfully dismissed the impact of Western help for Kyiv. After Zelensky met the leaders of both parties in the U.S. Senate, Democratic Majority leader Chuck Schumer warned that Ukraine needed the…
5 Things Russia Said at COP28
Delegates at the COP28 climate conference on Tuesday raced to hammer out a final agreement as the event barreled into overtime. A draft agreement released the day before sparked outrage among countries that insist on a rapid phase-out of coal, oil, and gas, as the text called for reduced “consumption and production of fossil fuels…
2 Elderly Russian Women Freeze to Death in Unheated Homes
At least two elderly women were found frozen to death in unheated homes in St. Petersburg and central Russia’s Sverdlovsk region, media reported Tuesday. In the Sverdlovsk region town of Sukhoy Log, located some 1,900 kilometers east of Moscow, animal rights activists discovered the body of a resident who lived in a wooden shack. “The…
In Putin’s ‘Favorite’ Jerusalem Church, Ukrainian Nuns Pray for Peace
JERUSALEM — On the doorstep of the Alexander Nevsky Church, the smell of burning incense mingles with the scents of the spice vendors in the heart of the Old City. This church, which stands among some of Christianity’s most holy sites, at first appears far removed from the Ukraine-Russia war. But upon a closer look,…
Finland to Partially Reopen Border With Russia
Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said his government will reopen two of the eight shuttered border crossings with Russia, the Nordic country’s Yle broadcaster reported Tuesday. Finland closed its entire border with Russia in November after accusing Moscow of funneling asylum seekers toward the country, an EU member state that joined NATO after Russia invaded…
Navalny’s Whereabouts Unknown After Possible Prison Transfer
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is believed to have been transferred from the prison in central Russia where he was being held, his allies told The Moscow Times, but his whereabouts remain unknown. “We don’t know where he could have been transferred,” Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh told The Moscow Times over text message Tuesday. “We currently have no…
RN-Vankor starts construction of a pipeline crossing over the Yenisey River for the Vostok Oil project
As part of the Vostok Oil project, RN-Vankor (part of Rosneft’s oil and gas production complex) started construction of an underwater section of the trunk oil pipeline across the Yenisei River.
Ukraine Says Suspects Russia Behind Massive Hacking Attack
Ukraine pointed the finger at Russia’s secret service over a massive hacker attack on Tuesday that disrupted services for the country’s main phone operator. Ukraine’s SBU security service said it had opened a criminal investigation and sent agents to the company’s offices. “The special services of the Russian Federation may be behind this hacker attack,”…
Moscow Prison Doctor Jailed 7 Years Over Fake Medical Releases
The former chief doctor of Moscow’s notorious Matrosskaya Tishina prison was sentenced to seven years in jail for selling fraudulent medical releases that allowed inmates to continue treatment in civil hospitals, media reported Tuesday. Alexander Kravchenko was accused of allowing the medical release of four prisoners “to reduce the number of prisoners,” according to the…
Detained U.S.-Russian Journalist Hit With Fresh Charges
Russian authorities have opened a new criminal case against detained U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, the state-affiliated news agency Tatar.Inform reported Tuesday. Kurmasheva, a journalist for the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was arrested in October in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, for failing to register as a “foreign agent.” The new…
Russian Anti-War Sociologist Fined for ‘Justifying Terror’
Anti-war sociologist and Marxist theorist Boris Kagarlitsky has been fined 600,000 rubles ($6,600) for “justifying terrorism” in comments he made about Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, independent media reported Tuesday. Kagarlitsky, founder and chief editor of the left-wing news organization Rabkor, was detained in July in connection with a since-deleted YouTube video about the 2022 Crimea…
Jailed Mother of Kadyrov Critic Denied Parole
A court in Russia’s republic of Chechnya on Tuesday denied a parole request for the mother of a prominent critic of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Zarema Musaeva, mother of activist Abubakar Yangulbaev and wife of the retired federal judge Saydi Yangulbaev, was handed a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence in July on charges of assaulting police officers and fraud. …
Russian Forces Claim ‘Significant’ Advance in Southern Ukraine
Russian forces in southern Ukraine have “advanced significantly” around the village of Novopokrovka in the Zaporizhzhia region, Kremlin-installed officials said Tuesday. “I’m in constant contact with our units… The situation is always tense, but not only do our guys continue to hold the line of defense, but they’re also gradually moving forward,” the Moscow-backed head of…
Putin Unveils 2 New Nuclear Submarines
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday promised to reinforce Russia’s “military-naval might” as he attended the inauguration of two nuclear submarines in the country’s Far North. The Russian leader took part in a flag-hoisting ceremony in Severodvinsk on the White Sea where the Krasnoyarsk and Emperor Alexander III were built over the past six years.…
Rising Egg Prices Show Cracks in Sanctions-Hit Russian Economy
Russians have voiced concern about the growing cost of a basic food staple — eggs — pointing to the fragile state of the sanctions-hit economy, as President Vladimir Putin seeks a fifth term in office. Putin has said he would run for re-election in March in a vote that falls over two years after he…
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Says She Hasn’t Given Up On a Democratic Belarus
“Lukashenko’s regime is very vulnerable,” says Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, “and because of that, its cruelty is becoming more and more extreme.” It has been three years since Tsikhanouskaya ran in the 2020 Belarusian presidential elections and mounted a historic challenge to longtime ruler Alexander Lukashenko that brought tens of thousands of citizens to the streets to call…
Siberia Gripped by Extreme Cold, Power Outages
Towns and villages across Siberia have been hit by a succession of power outages as freezing temperatures grip much of the region, Russian media outlets reported Monday. Temperatures over the weekend fell to as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in the Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Tyumen regions, as well as the republics of Buryatia and Khakasia —…
‘What Life Is This?’: Escaping Ukraine’s Occupied Territories
It was snowing heavily when Yulia* walked across the only open border between Ukraine and Russia last month, carrying her two cats and dragging a large suitcase behind her. She had left her village on the edge of Russian-occupied Melitopol, a city in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, more than 24 hours earlier, paying a Russian “carrier”…
RN-Yuganskneftegas delivers a 17% footage increase in development drilling
Specialists of RN-Yuganskneftegaz, Rosneft’s largest oil production asset, drilled more than 5.1 million meters of rock in the first nine months of 2023, which is 17% higher than in the same period of 2022.
ROSATOM summed up results of participation in the 28th UN Conference on Climate Change
ROSATOM emphasizes the need to develop nuclear energy to achieve carbon neutrality. Representatives of ROSATOM took part in the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) which was held in Dubai this year. Within the framework of the conference, ROSATOM organized a series of events designed to…
Binance Discontinues Trading Pairs With Ruble
The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance said Monday that it will no longer support person-to-person trading with the Russian ruble starting in January, as the company continues to gradually withdraw from Russia. Binance said users can choose to withdraw their rubles via its fiat partners, convert them into cryptocurrency or trade them on the Binance…
Russia Greenlights Presidential Election in Occupied Ukraine
Russia’s Central Election Commission has given the green light on holding next year’s presidential election in partially occupied Ukrainian regions, Interfax reported Monday. Russia’s Armed Forces and the Federal Security Service (FSB) had previously said that they “deem it possible” for the vote to go ahead in areas where fighting continues, nearly two years into Russia’s war…
Navalny Missing for 6 Days After ‘Serious Health-Related Incident,’ Team Says
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s whereabouts and condition have been unknown for nearly a week after he reportedly suffered a serious health incident, his team said on Monday. “It has already been the sixth day since we haven’t known where Alexei is or what’s happening to him,” Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on X (formerly…
Siberian Ex-Lawmaker, Aluminum Magnate Jailed 12 Years for Murder – Interfax
A once-powerful Siberian businessman and former regional lawmaker has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on his third murder charge dating back to the 1990s, Interfax reported Monday. Anatoly Bykov chaired the Rusal aluminum giant’s Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant until his firing in 2000 and served as a lawmaker in the Krasnoyarsk regional legislature from 1997-2016. Prosecutors…
Russian Military Detains Deserter in Armenia – NGO
Human rights activists have raised alarm over the detention of a mobilized Russian soldier on charges of desertion in Armenia, saying the move amounts to a violation of the ex-Soviet republic’s sovereignty. Russian military police in Armenia detained Dmitry Setrakov, who fled the country to avoid serving in the Russian military, the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor…
Authors Oxana Shevel and Maria Popova Write the History of Ukraine-Russia Relations
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago, scholars and journalists have rushed to make their contribution to the growing number of titles seeking to shed light on this devastating conflict. “Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States” by Maria Popova, Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University, and Oxana…
Russia Detains U.S.-Russian Citizen for ‘Rehabilitating Nazism’
Russian authorities have placed a man with dual U.S.-Russian citizenship in pre-trial custody for “rehabilitating Nazism,” the St. Petersburg court said Saturday. “[Yury] Malev was detained on Dec. 8… and charged the same day. He admitted partial guilt,” the court said on Telegram. Malev was charged with rehabilitation of Nazism, which carries up to five…
Putin to Bet on Ultra-Conservatism, Economy and Victory in Ukraine in 2024 Election Campaign
In a choreographed and widely predicted move, President Vladimir Putin announced Friday that he will run for a fifth term in the 2024 presidential election next March. The 71-year-old, who has been in power since 2000, is expected to run virtually unopposed apart from a few handpicked challengers following the adoption of wartime censorship and…
The Cuisine of Russian Emigration
“You can’t carry your homeland with you on the soles of your boots,” French revolutionary Georges Danton told friends when they suggested he flee France shortly before his arrest. You may not be able to take your homeland with you, but you can take your cuisine. We saw this time and again in the 20th…
White House Mocks Putin Re-Election Bid
The White House mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Friday that he would run for re-election in 2024, suggesting that the result was highly unlikely to be in doubt. “Well, that’s going to be one humdinger of a horse race, isn’t it?” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One…
Fourth Russian Region Outlaws ‘Coercion’ Into Abortion
Lawmakers in western Russia’s Kursk region passed a law Friday banning the act of “coercing women” into undergoing an abortion amid increasing concerns about a looming nationwide ban. “Let today’s bill be the first step [toward a comprehensive solution to Russia’s demographic problem],” the Kursk region’s parliament wrote on the messaging app Telegram. The new…
World Olympic Body Clears Russian Athletes to Compete in Paris as Neutrals
Olympic officials on Friday announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to compete at next year’s Paris Games as neutrals and outside of team events, but only if they have not actively supported Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said only eight athletes from Russia and three from Belarus currently…
Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for U.S.-Russian Journalist Masha Gessen
Russian authorities on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian-American journalist and writer Masha, who earlier this year was charged with spreading “fakes” about Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Russia’s Interior Ministry lists the 56-year-old by the full name Maria Alexandrovna Gessen, as well as her date of birth, gender and nationality. The ministry does not provide…
‘Urban Madmen’: Russia’s Environmental Activists Targeted With Soviet-Style Punitive Psychiatry
“Three guys from the staff attacked me and started pulling off my clothes. Just like that. They told me to step on the scales — I said I refused medical intervention. And they started tearing my clothes off, injuring me, hitting me several times, threatening that they would put me in a straitjacket and inject…
Words of the Year 2023
Слово года 2023: Word of the Year 2023 In the Before Times I wrote my favorite column of the year in early December, when a group of Russian language fanatics headed by Mikhail Epstein, a linguist and professor of Russian language and literature, would cast their votes for the words that best captured the spirit…
Moscow Bans QR Codes in Billboards Over Navalny’s Anti-Putin Campaign
Authorities in Moscow have banned billboards containing QR codes after allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny used the matrix barcodes to conceal their newly launched anti-Putin campaign ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Navalny on Thursday urged supporters to vote for any candidate besides Vladimir Putin during the race, which is scheduled to take…
Russia Opens Probe Into Emergency Landing of Airliner
Russia opened an investigation Friday after a passenger aircraft was forced to land due to a technical malfunction, the latest incident to highlight safety concerns in Moscow’s aviation industry. Sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine have effectively cut Russia off from Western plane manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, making it difficult for Russian airlines to import…
Vladimir Putin Announces 2024 Re-Election Bid
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday announced that he will run for re-election in 2024, state media reported. The announcement follows months of speculation over whether the 71-year-old, who has been in power since 2000, plans to seek six more years in office after constitutional amendments in 2020 reset his term count. Putin told Lieutenant…
Russia Announces 3-Day Vote for 2024 Election
Russian election officials announced Friday that the 2024 presidential race will be held over three days, the first time that multi-day voting has been used for a presidential election. “Three-day voting is already becoming a tradition in our electoral system,” said Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) chairwoman Ella Pamfilova. “It was first used during the [Covid-19]…
Finland Refuses Russian Nationalist Fighter’s Extradition to Ukraine – Reports
A court in Finland has refused to extradite a Russian nationalist fighter to Ukraine and ruled to release him from detention, Finnish media reported Friday. Since 2016, Ukrainian authorities have sought the arrest of Yan Petrovsky, a Russian-Norwegian national, on terrorism charges, accusing him of assisting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine as a member of…
Crimea Gas Pipeline Fire Leaves 30K Residents Without Heating
Around 30,000 residents of annexed Crimea face power outages after a gas pipeline caught fire overnight, Russian state media reported Friday. Eyewitnesses filmed the flames erupting from the gas pipeline in the eastern port city of Kerch, which connects to mainland Russia via the Crimean Bridge. Svyatoslav Brusakov, the Russian-installed mayor of Kerch, said up…
A new swimming facility was built in Samara with Rosneft’s support
A new swimming facility was opened in Samara with the support of Samaraneftegas.
EU Border Agency Deploys Guards at Finland-Russia Frontier
The European Union’s border protection agency has deployed some 50 guards to watch Finland’s border with Russia, it said on Thursday, as Helsinki accuses Moscow of orchestrating a surge in migrants. “Currently we deploy 55 officers in Finland, a majority of them are border guard officers performing surveillance of the border,” Frontex spokesman Piotr Switalski…
Putin Hails Ties With Iran in Meeting With Raisi
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised his country’s relations with Iran at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, as the two discussed the Israel-Hamas war. Since launching its assault on Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has sought to deepen its economic and political ties with Tehran, both of which have been sanctioned…
Russia Outlaws U.S.-Based RAND Corporation as ‘Undesirable’
Russia’s Justice Ministry has added the U.S. global policy think tank RAND Corporation to its list of “undesirable” organizations, banning its activities and putting staff at risk of jail in Russia. RAND’s designation, dated Dec. 6 on the ministry website, is not accompanied by a statement explaining Moscow’s decision to blacklist the research and development nonprofit.…
Russian Soldier Killed in Training Ground Explosion
A member of Russia’s National Guard was killed and two others were wounded in an explosion at a training ground in central Russia, authorities said Thursday. An explosive device “self-detonated” during shooting drills at the Dubrovichi aviation training ground in the Ryazan region, the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The Investigative Committee, which…
U.K. Accuses Moscow of Cyber Campaign Against Top Politicians
The British government on Thursday accused Russian security services of engaging in a sustained cyber espionage campaign against top politicians, journalists and NGOs. Russia has been suspected of meddling in U.K. politics before, including the divisive 2016 Brexit referendum, however, the Conservative Party-led government has been criticized for failing to investigate. In the latest claims,…
ROSATOM and DP World to create a global logistics operator
The parties agreed to jointly develop logistic integration amongst BRICS members and partner countries. ROSATOM and DP World have signed an agreement on strategic cooperation in the global market aimed at increasing the efficiency of international trade, primarily among the BRICS countries and their partners, and at creating seamless, sustainable global transportation and logistics supply…
Russia Says Arrested Belarusian for Siberia Railway Sabotage
Russia on Thursday arrested a Belarusian man for allegedly placing explosives on two trains on a key part of a Siberian railway near the Chinese border, on Ukraine’s orders. The arrest came around a week after authorities reported traffic complications in a tunnel on the Baikal-Amur mainline, some 5,500 kilometers east of Moscow. Ukrainian sources…
Families Ask Putin to Return Mobilized Troops From Ukraine
The families of mobilized Russian soldiers on Thursday asked President Vladimir Putin to return their loved ones from the front in Ukraine, more than a year after the men were recruited. “We’re against legalized slavery,” said members of Put’ Domoi (“Way Home”), a group of soldiers’ wives and mothers calling for an end to mobilization, in…
Kremlin Says Hopes U.S. Congress Will Block Future Ukraine Aid
The Kremlin said Thursday that it hopes U.S. lawmakers will continue to block White House requests for emergency aid to Ukraine amid a funding row between Republicans and Democrats over border security issues. Republican senators earlier blocked $106 billion in emergency aid primarily for Ukraine and Israel as conservatives balked at the exclusion of immigration reforms…
Navalny Urges Supporters to Vote for ‘Anyone But Putin’ in 2024 Election
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Thursday that Russians should vote against Vladimir Putin in the 2024 presidential election. “You can do this by voting for any other candidate,” Navalny said in a statement posted on his website. Russia’s upper house of parliament earlier on Thursday officially set March 17 as the date for next…
New Aid Pledges to Ukraine at Lowest Level Since War Began – Study
Ukraine’s allies have drastically scaled back their pledges of new aid to the country, which have fallen to their lowest level since the start of the war, the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine aid tracker showed Thursday. “The dynamics of support to Ukraine have slowed,” the Germany-based institute said, adding that new military, financial and humanitarian aid…
Russia Accuses Ex-Soldier of Helping Ukraine Organize Arson Attacks
Russia’s Security Service (FSB) on Thursday said it detained two people suspected of organizing several arson attacks on behalf of Kyiv and transferring money to the Ukrainian military. A 21-year-old ex-soldier in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad was accused of being paid by the Ukrainian special services to recruit potential arsonists inside Russia. “The suspect involved several…
Russia’s Monthly Income From Oil Exports Surpasses Pre-War Levels – Bloomberg
Russian oil exports have generated $11 billion through a shadow fleet and obscure entities in the year since G7 countries set a price cap on one of Russia’s largest sources of income, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing trade data. In December 2022, the group of rich countries imposed a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil, while…
School Shooting in Western Russia Leaves 2 Dead
A Russian teenager has shot dead a classmate and injured five others before killing herself at a school in western Russia, investigators said Thursday. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said a 14-year-old student who brought a pump-action shotgun to the school was among the dead. The Investigative Committee said it had launched a…