A court in annexed Crimea sentenced a Jehovah’s Witness to six years in prison on charges of extremism Thursday in the ongoing crackdown on the religious group in Russia. Sergei Filatov, the local branch leader, was among several worshippers swept up in raids in the Crimean town of Dzhankoy in 2018. Russia, which seized the…
Passerby, a new exhibition at Garage museum, presents a visual and social history of the humble shop mannequin. This mass-produced everyday object is revealed to be a surprisingly rich social phenomenon; the clothes mannequin is, on one hand, a disposable life-sized coat hanger, but in Passerby it is reimagined as an art object, a human…
Moscow authorities have drafted an emergency plan that envisions a shutdown of the Russian capital in case of a coronavirus outbreak, BBC Russia and the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday. Russia has confirmed seven coronavirus cases, two of whom have recovered last month, with the latest case reported Thursday. Temperature checks in arrivals for international…
Eric Liron, Rosneft’s Vice President for In-House Services, joined the annual round-table meeting of members of the international initiative the Methane Guiding Principles.
This unseasonably mild winter has caused the in Moscow Zoo bears to wake up earlier than usual, the city’s mayor’s office said Wednesday. Last year, the two Himalayan bears and one Kamchatka brown bear began coming out of hibernation in April. “Our zoologists were preparing for the bears to wake up earlier due to the…
The leaders of Russia and Turkey meet in Moscow on Thursday in a bid to ease tensions that have threatened to bring their two countries into direct conflict in Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would be looking for Russia’s Vladimir Putin to agree to a rapid ceasefire in Idlib, the northwestern province…
Russia’s oil giant Rosneft and the Russian government will join forces to develop gene-editing technology, according to a government decree published Wednesday. The deal, which President Vladimir Putin ordered in December, aims to accelerate Russia’s $1.6 billion program to create 30 new varieties of genetically modified crops and animals by 2027. Rosneft is tasked with…
False rumors about the new coronavirus circulating in Russia are being directed from abroad, President Vladimir Putin claimed Wednesday at a government meeting. He told ministers the country’s FSB security service had reported to him that false information was being planted to create panic, while in reality the situation is not critical. “As for these provocative fake…
A secret witness will implicate Kremlin-linked catering magnate Yevgeny Prigozhin in plans to influence elections abroad at a trial next month, Politico reported Wednesday, citing a U.S. prosecutor. The St. Petersburg-based Concord Management and Consulting firm goes on trial in the United States in April after it was charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S.…
Although competitive figure skating is a relatively young sport, Russia is already well-established as a powerhouse of the icy stage. In the lead-up to International Women’s Day and as skater Adelina Sotnikova has just announced her retirement, we look back on some of the women who have defined Russian and Soviet skating in the past…
At least 20 football fans have been detained in Moscow after mass brawls broke out over the weekend, the state-run TASS news agency reported Wednesday. Several clashes took place between fans of FC Spartak and FC Dynamo on the day of the Moscow derby Saturday. Footage showed scenes of violence on the Moscow metro and…
As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 3,000 people continues to spread around the world, Russia has stepped up measures to tackle the health risk, including closing most entry points along its 4,200-kilometer border with China and temporarily banning Chinese citizens from entering the country. Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus…
President Vladimir Putin’s new package of social spending initiatives will not be enough to hit the country’s ambitious poverty-reduction targets, a government watchdog has said. In its assessment of the government’s spending plans for the next few years, the Audit Chamber said the package of new measures, such as higher allowances for new mothers to…
Even skeptics can no longer ignore the effects of climate change in Russia. First, there’s the weather. Last year was the hottest on record; the ice in the Arctic is melting at a dramatic pace, as is the permafrost; while forest fires and flash floods have ravaged swathes of Siberia, and methane is spewing from…
A Russian passenger plane crash in Egypt was not an act of terrorism and the identities of its victims are unknown, an Egyptian appeals court ruled recently, according to the Kommersant business daily. Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed minutes after takeoff from the Egyptian resort Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg on Oct. 31, 2015, killing all…
Russia has banned the export of masks, respirators and hazmat suits to ensure access to the items for medics treating coronavirus patients and the public, under a decree published Wednesday. The ban covers 17 types of equipment including face masks, plastic shoe covers, gloves, surgical scrubs, gas masks, hazmat suits and “reusable anti-plague” suits. The ban…
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art is almost just as famous for its architecture as its art; first housed in a disused public bus garage from the 1920s, now it is in a former Soviet café in the middle of Gorky Park, an iconic cuboid of steel, glass and sharp corners. This famously austere space, however,…
East Siberian Oil and Gas Company (Vostsibneftegaz), Rosneft’s subsidiary, started new grant scheme for the realization of the most important scientific projects in the Krasnoyarsk Region.
A Moscow court ruled on Tuesday that the city’s facial recognition system does not violate the privacy of its citizens, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs told Reuters — a blow to activists who had hoped to ban the technology’s use. Lawyer and activist Alena Popova and opposition politician Vladimir Milov of the Solidarnost…
Russian tech giant Yandex’s taxi service shares passengers’ ride history with law enforcement authorities, according to the testimony of an ex-policeman on trial for wrongfully detaining an investigative journalist. Igor Lyakhovets was among the several police officers who had arrested journalist Ivan Golunov on drug charges in June 2019. An unprecedented public outcry led to…
March 4, 2020 PAO Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, announces plans to invest 6.7 bn roubles in IT and digital projects, a 7% increase on 2019 investment levels. In 2020, the Company will work on developing new solutions for managing material flows and optimising the quality of…
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
An elite Dutch military unit was on hair-trigger alert to deploy to separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine to secure the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash site until a last-minute stand-down order in 2014, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported Tuesday. The report comes one week ahead of the first hearing in a key trial of three Russian…
The Moscow metro has begun random checks of passengers’ temperatures at station entrances to check for the coronavirus, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Monday as he announced a slew of measures to prevent its spread. Russia has reported a total of six coronavirus cases, among them two Chinese citizens who have since recovered. The latest patient,…
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
A Russian man has been jailed for nine years for stabbing to death a popular Instagram influencer who modeled herself on Audrey Hepburn. A Moscow court on Monday convicted Maxim Gareyev for the murder of 25-year-old Yekaterina Karaglanova, a medical student whose naked body was found with more than 19 knife wounds in a suitcase…
Russian President Vladimir Putin mockingly suggested on Tuesday that participants in unsanctioned protests were welcome to go to prison and “get shaved.” In the latest in a series of interviews with state-run news agency TASS, Putin said opposition supporters who take part in unapproved rallies should expect to be given jail time. “If you have…
Russia’s main opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Tuesday that authorities had frozen all of his bank accounts and those of his family, including his elderly parents. “All accounts have been blocked,” Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner who has emerged as President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, said on Twitter. His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh told AFP that…
The Russian Navy has dispatched a fourth warship to Syria’s Mediterranean coast as tensions over the northwestern province of Idlib spiral with Turkey, amateur ship spotters reported Monday. The large landing ship Novocherkassk was photographed crossing Turkey’s busy Bosphorus strait days after Russia sent two warships equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles toward the Syrian coast.…
In the New Tretyakov Gallery, a boxy structure designed in the 1960s that is the epitome of Soviet modernist style, there is a small model of Vladimir Tatlin’s “Monument to the Third International.” Designed in 1919-20 but never built, the monument exists only in miniature form. Its double helixes spiral upward above girders and arches…
The Russian police force’s official gazette has interviewed an expert who claims to be able to identify criminals based on their name, birth date and other traits. Psychologist Boris Khigir claims his method, which he says is based on personal observations and statistics, has an 80% accuracy rate. Critics have questioned the reliability of criminal…
Little Big, the self-described punk-pop-rave juggernaut behind the infectious Skibidi Challenge, will represent Russia at the Eurovision song contest this spring, organizers announced Monday. The choice represents a break with Russia’s reliance on more traditional pop stars to bring home the trophy and hosting rights for the first time in more than a decade. This…
March 3, 2020 PAO Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, announces its plans to invest plan approximately 1.1 billion roubles in environmental projects in 2020. The investment will cover a full environmental refurbishment programme at Severstal’s main assets to further reduce the Group’s environmental impact. 671 million roubles…
Russian Cossacks have been told by one of their leaders not to kiss icons or clerics’ hands to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The order was issued by Gennadiy Kovalev, head of the Council of Cossack Hetmans (leaders) of Russia which represents several thousand Cossacks, traditional militia units that once protected Russia‘s borderlands. Kissing icons…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted to parliament a number of constitutional changes, including amendments that mention God and stipulate that marriage is a union of a man and woman. Putin in January unleashed a political storm by proposing an overhaul of the Constitution, the first changes to the basic law since 1993. Shortly afterward,…
Latvia said Monday a citizen thought to be working for Russia has been arrested for trying to recruit a secret service officer to spy for Moscow. “The agent… contacted the Latvian officer to try to recruit him into handing over classified material that could then be used by Russia’s secret services against Latvia but the agent has been…
A Moscow court has ordered a lower court to review the four-year prison sentence of activist Konstantin Kotov, who was convicted of “multiple breaches” of Russia’s protest law, Interfax reported Monday. Kotov, 34, in September became the second person ever to be found guilty of taking part in multiple unsanctioned protests. The Moscow City Court…
The trial of a retired Austrian army colonel accused of spying for Russia for decades opened on Monday and was ordered to be held behind closed doors on national security grounds. The 71-year-old defendant, who has not been named, is accused of having provided “comprehensive information” on a range of military aspects to Moscow, above…
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the U.S.S.R., celebrates his 89th birthday today. He is best-known for his policy of reforming the Soviet political and economic system (“perestroika”), as well as for his expansions of freedom of speech and press (“glasnost”). Abroad, he is remembered for his efforts to withdraw the Soviet Union from its…
2 March, 2020 – The largest wind farm in Russia began supplying electric power and capacity to the Wholesale Electricity and Capacity Market. The Adygea Wind Warm is the first completed project of NovaWind JSC (the ROSATOM division responsible for wind energy projects). The Adygea Wind Farm with a total capacity of 150 MW consists…
The two capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg, are hosting some must-see events in March that should appeal to every taste, be it a predeliction for contemporary feminist body decoration or fin de siècle sensibilities. Here are our picks for Moscow. Golden Mask: Feb.-April Golden Mask is Russia’s largest festival devoted to theater, which plays an…
Russia killed civilians in air strikes in Syria last year while rebels allied to Turkey carried out murder and pillage in Kurdish areas, U.N. investigators said on Monday — actions it said could amount to war crimes by both Moscow and Ankara. A report by a U.N. commission found that Russia — the Syrian government’s main ally against rebels…
Russian billionaire banker Oleg Tinkov has posted bail in London to avoid extradition to the United States on allegations of underreporting his income on his tax returns, the TCS financial group that he founded confirmed Monday. TCS said Friday that Tinkov is attending February-April court hearings in London initiated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.…
As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 3,000 people continues to spread around the world, Russia has stepped up measures to tackle the health risk, including closing most entry points along its 4,200-kilometer border with China and temporarily banning Chinese citizens from entering the country. Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus…
A Russian national who is quarantined in a Moscow hospital after recently returning from northern Italy, a hub for the coronavirus outbreak, has the coronavirus, the state-run RIA Novosti reported. The man is the first known Russian national to test positive for coronavirus while in the country. The patient, 29-year-old Moscow resident David Berov, traveled…
Russian Olympic figure skating champion Adelina Sotnikova has announced her retirement over health concerns, the state-run TASS news agency reported Monday. Sotnikova clinched Russia’s first-ever ladies singles gold at the Sochi Games at the age of 17 in 2014. The 23-year-old hasn’t competed since the 2015 Russian Championships. “I’m done with professional sport… because I…
Craftsman Sergei Murza runs his fingers over the pink satin of a pointe shoe he has just finished making. Then he gives it the final test: the ballet slipper balances perfectly on its tip. Murza produces the shoes in the Moscow workshop of Grishko, a company born in the chaos of the collapse of the…
Istanbul police on Sunday released the editor-in-chief of the Turkish edition of Sputnik, the Russian news website said, as tensions escalated between Ankara and Moscow. Sputnik Turkey’s editor-in-chief Mahir Boztepe was detained and taken to the Istanbul police headquarters but released a couple of hours later, the website said. The Ankara public prosecutor’s office launched…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Chavushoglu agreed on the need to create a “favorable atmosphere” to improve working relations between their countries, the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday. “The ministers have declared in favour of the adoption of measures to create a favourable atmosphere that will facilitate the effectiveness of…
Turkey said on Sunday it had destroyed air defense systems, more than 100 tanks and downed two planes belonging to the Syrian army as part of an operation it launched after an airstrike killed dozens of its soldiers last week. Tensions in northwest Syria have escalated sharply as fighting between Turkey-backed rebels and Russian-backed Syrian government…
Ukraine said on Sunday it had held talks with the Kremlin on swapping all remaining prisoners from the conflict in east Ukraine, and the next exchange might take place later this month. Russia‘s President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed in December to send prisoners home, and scores were handed over just before…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that current oil prices were acceptable and that Russia had the tools to react to any negative effects of the spread of the coronavirus on the global economy, but offered a chink of light to OPEC as the producer group pushes for deeper supply cuts. Putin added that he sees the…
OPEC could agree on deeper oil supply cuts this week, with or without Russia‘s support, to halt the slide in crude prices triggered by the global spread of the coronavirus, said two sources familiar with the talks. Moscow is resisting further output curbs, arguing that reduced production by the Saudi Arabia-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting…
French President Emmanuel Macron urged his Russian and Turkish counterparts on Saturday to halt hostilities in Syria and agree to a lasting ceasefire, his office said. Macron told the Russian and Turkish leaders in separate phone calls that he was “deeply concerned about the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe” caused by the Syrian offensive and its allies…
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
In what has become an annual Russian tradition, thousands rallied across the country on Saturday to march for Boris Nemtsov, a key opposition figure shot and killed five years ago this month on a Moscow bridge just steps from the Kremlin. While the killer has been found guilty and sentenced to prison, Nemtsov’s family and…
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
Three people have died at a Moscow birthday party after around 30 kilograms of dry ice meant to create special effects was tipped into a pool, investigators and reports said Saturday. The party at the Moscow pool complex late Friday was to mark the birthday of Ekaterina Didenko, a popular Instagram influencer focusing on pharmaceutical…
In 2018, the controversial Russian art project “DAU” scandalised Germany with its plans to rebuild the Berlin Wall and offer visitors an immersive experience of daily life behind the Iron Curtain. Eighteen months later, “DAU” has again caused shock and outrage in the German capital with the world premiere of its film “DAU: Natasha” at…
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin of Russia were quick to hold telephone talks and plan a summit as soon as next week in Moscow, with Russian officials striking a conciliatory tone. The two men — both leading post-imperial societies they took over in the wake of economic crises — have since 2016 forged…