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Russia plans to require long-staying foreigners to submit fingerprints and carry electronic migration cards as part of the country’s wide-ranging immigration reforms, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday. The Interior Ministry has drafted legislation requiring foreigners who intend to stay in Russia for more than 30 days to submit their fingerprints and other personal data,…

Putin, Lukashenko To Talk ‘Integration’ Amid Belarus Protests

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who is facing the largest protests of his rule, will discuss plans to further integrate their countries on Monday, the Kremlin said. Lukashenko’s visit will be the first to Russia by the Belarusian leader since protests broke out over his disputed election win last month. In…

Steven Seagal Vows to Get Tough on Lake Baikal Pollution

Hollywood actor and naturalized Russian citizen Steven Seagal is spearheading a campaign to protect Lake Baikal from pollution amid regional elections currently taking place in many regions. Seagal, 68, is known to support nationalist author Zakhar Prilepin’s For Truth party, whose platform includes criminalizing pollution. Seagal announced plans Friday to push for a law that would…

Ukrainian Captain’s Ship Stranded in Mediterranean After Migrant Rescue

BusinessBy admin September 11, 2020 Leave a comment

A Ukrainian captain’s tanker has been stranded in the Mediterranean for more than a month since rescuing 27 migrants off the coast of Libya. Volodymyr Yeroshkin’s vessel has been unable to dock in any European ports after picking up 25 men, a pregnant woman and a 15-year-old in an Aug. 4 rescue operation coordinated by…

Russia and Belarus discuss cooperation in gas sector

September 11, 2020, 14:20 A working meeting of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, with Vladimir Semashko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Russian Federation, and Viktor Karankevich, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Belarus, took place today in St. Petersburg. The parties reviewed current and prospective issues related to cooperation in the gas sector. Background The contracts between…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Sept. 11

Russia has confirmed 1,051,874 cases of coronavirus and 18,365 deaths. Sept. 11: What you need to know today Nearly half of Russians say they will never vaccinate against the coronavirus regardless of its country of production, according to a survey cited by the RBC news website Friday. Moscow authorities will no longer require a two-week home quarantine period for…

Nearly Half of Russians to ‘Never’ Vaccinate Against Coronavirus – Poll

Nearly half of Russians say they will never vaccinate against the coronavirus regardless of its country of production, according to a survey cited by the RBC news website Friday. The current share of coronavirus skeptics (45.6%) has increased from the last time Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) polled Russians at the height of the…

Russia’s Regional Elections, Explained

MoscowBy admin September 11, 2020 Leave a comment

Russians are heading to the polls through Sunday to elect new regional and city leadership. In a year that has seen a global pandemic, weeks of anti-Kremlin protests in the Far East and historically low approval ratings for President Vladimir Putin, the vote is set to be a key test for the country’s pro-Putin ruling…

North River Terminal Opens in Moscow After More Than A Decade

The North River Terminal in Moscow was begun in 1933 and opened in 1937. Designed by architects Alexei Rukhlyadev and Valdimr Krinsky, the terminal was on a waterway leading to the Moscow-Volga Canal. It was the 12th river terminal to appear in the city but by far the most impressive, with an enormous terminal building…

Russian Police Seek To Question Navalny in Germany

Russian police said Friday they were seeking to question opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Berlin after Moscow rubbished Germany’s declaration that he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. The 44-year-old Kremlin critic and anti-corruption campaigner fell ill after boarding a plane in Siberia and was hospitalized there before being flown to Berlin. Germany reported…

Putin Apologizes to Serbian Leader for ‘Basic Instinct’ Post

BusinessBy admin September 11, 2020 Leave a comment

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have apologized to Serbia’s president for a social media post by Russia’s diplomatic spokeswoman that appeared to mock him. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova sparked a rare spat between the allies when she posted a photo of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in the White House…

10th Energy of Victories national sports journalism festival contest launched

September 11, 2020, 10:00 Gazprom, the Russian Olympic Committee, and the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia announce the start of the 10th anniversary edition of the Energy of Victories national sports journalism festival contest for Russian-language mass media based in Russia and abroad. The primary goals of the contest are to promote the Olympic movement, sports, and healthy living, as well as to improve the quality of sports…

Microsoft Thwarts Russian, Chinese Hackers Targeting US Presidential Campaigns

Microsoft said Thursday it detected and thwarted cyberattacks in recent weeks from China and Russia targeting US presidential campaign staff. The attackers have been targeting staff from the campaigns of President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Microsoft said in a security blog. “In recent weeks, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting people and organizations involved in…

US Sanctions ‘Russian Agent’ for Trying to Damage Biden

The US Treasury slapped sanctions Thursday on Ukrainian politician Andrii Derkach, an alleged Russian intelligence operative who has stoked conspiracy theories advanced by the White House that purport to implicate Democrat Joe Biden in corruption. Derkach, who met with President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani several times over the past year as he searched for…

Russia Denies Claims of ‘Highly Improbable’ Coronavirus Vaccine Results

Russia has pushed back against claims its published research into a Covid-19 vaccine included “highly improbable” and “statistically unlikely” results. A group of scientists and doctors published an open letter to Russia’s Gamaleya research center, which is leading the Sputnik V vaccine’s development, and renowned British medical journal The Lancet on Wednesday outlining a number…

St. Petersburg Schoolchildren Screened for LGBT ‘Propaganda’

Teachers in Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg have been instructed to monitor their students’ social media profiles for the presence of “LGBT symbols,” the LGBT Network rights group said. Any such symbols would be considered violations of Russia’s 2013 law that bans the display of “gay propaganda” toward minors. This spring, teachers of grades…

Russian War Historian Jailed 12 Years for Treason

An amateur Russian military historian was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for treason this week, the latest in a string of treason and espionage convictions targeting a wide range of Russians. Andrei Zhukov was arrested in June 2018 on suspicions linked to “the history of the Russian Armed Forces and his…

Italy Probes Russian Glamour Model’s Death Near NATO Base

MoscowBy admin September 10, 2020 Leave a comment

Italian prosecutors are probing the mysterious drowning of a Russian glamour model while on a photo shoot near a major NATO base on Sardinia over the weekend. Coast guards found the naked body of Galina Fedorova, 35, on Saturday after she and a photographer reportedly went for a swim off the Italian island’s southern coastline…

Honoring British Righteous Among the Nations in Moscow

On Thursday Oct. 10 at 5 p.m. MSK (3 p.m. in London, 10 a.m. in New York) the Russian Jewish Congress together with the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Moscow and the British Holocaust Educational Trust are holding an online event dedicated to British citizens who have been given the title Righteous Among the…

Detained Belarus Opposition Leader Says She Was Threatened With ‘Dismemberment’

Maria Kolesnikova, the last member of a trio of women opposition leaders remaining in Belarus, alleged Thursday that security forces threatened her life as she was being detained on charges of attempting to seize power. Kolesnikova went missing Monday after witnesses described seeing masked men forcing her into a minibus in central Minsk. Investigators confirmed…

Campaigner for Kremlin Critic Navalny Beaten Up

Unidentified attackers beat up an activist campaigning for hospitalized Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk, his colleagues said Thursday. Alexei Baraboshkin, the local coordinator for Navalny, was “assaulted by unknown attackers” late Wednesday after receiving threats for several weeks, his campaign office wrote on Telegram. It posted a picture of…

Putin Vows to Open Inquiry Into Navalny Poisoning, Italian PM Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to set up a panel of inquiry into the suspected nerve-agent poisoning of prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in an interview published Thursday. Germany said last week it has “unequivocal evidence” that Navalny, 44, was poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok…

Rosneft introduces the use of neural networks in monitoring occupational safety and health

The experts at АО Novokuybyshev Refinery (a part of Rosneft’s Samara group of enterprises) have developed and introduced an innovative programme for monitoring occupational safety and health with the use of a learning neural network.

Navalny Recovering From ‘Deadlier, Slower-Acting’ Novichok Variant – Reports

Leading Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a new, deadlier variant of military-grade nerve agent Novichok, the German weekly Die Zeit reported Wednesday. Hours after the Die Zeit report, The Insider news website reported, citing anonymous sources, that Navalny, 44, has almost completely recovered after falling violently ill on a flight in Siberia on Aug.…

Whistleblower: White House Stifled Reporting on Russian Election Interference

A senior US intelligence official said the White House ordered him to stop reporting on Russian election interference and highlight Chinese and Iran meddling instead, according to a whistleblower complaint revealed Wednesday. Offering explosive evidence to support Democratic allegations that President Donald Trump has manipulated intelligence to support his reelection effort, Department of Homeland Security…

Serbia Drops Out of War Games With Russia in Belarus

Serbia has dropped out of planned military drills in Belarus with Russia after pressure from the EU, the Balkan state’s defense minister said Wednesday. Serbia — an EU candidate country that also maintains close ties with Moscow — was due to participate in the ‘Slavic Brotherhood 2020’ exercise with Russian and Belarusian troops this month. “We are…

Belarus Jails Opposition Figure Kolesnikova as Nobel Winner Intimidated

Belarus investigators said Wednesday prominent opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak had been detained in a national security probe as Minsk ramped up a crackdown on a protest movement. The country’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crime, said in a statement the two were being held as an investigation continued into “calls urging action…

Russian Deputy Energy Minister Arrested for Alleged Corruption

A Russian deputy energy minister has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than 600 million rubles worth of public money, investigators announced Wednesday. Anatoly Tikhonov, one of eight deputies to Energy Minister Alexander Novak, is accused of misusing public funds worth around $7.9 million which had been intended for a new IT system, announced…

Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex Carries Out First Launch of Aframax Tanker Main Engine

The Zvezda Shipbuilding complex successfully carried out the first launch of the main engine of Vladimir Mohomakh Aframax tanker.

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Sept. 9

Russia has confirmed 1,041,007 cases of coronavirus and 18,135 deaths. Sept. 9: What you need to know today Russia has launched Phase 3 trials of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to determine the jab’s long-term safety and effectiveness, authorities said Wednesday. A group of prominent scientists and doctors has questioned the published results of the vaccine’s initial trials. Russia’s…

Russia Begins Final Trials of Sputnik V Coronavirus Vaccine

Russia has launched Phase 3 trials of its highly touted coronavirus vaccine to determine the jab’s long-term safety and effectiveness, authorities said Wednesday as questions surrounded the results of its Phase 1 and 2 trials. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said 31,000 out of the announced 40,000 volunteers have been recruited for the study, the state-run…

Unknown People Try to Enter Belarus Nobel Laureate Alexievich’s Apartment Amid Opposition Arrests

MoscowBy admin September 9, 2020 Leave a comment

Belarusian Nobel Literature Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich said unknown people tried to enter her apartment on Wednesday amid an intensifying crackdown by President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime over a disputed election. Alexievich, 72, is now the last free leading member of the Belarusian opposition’s Coordination Council still in the country after masked men detained lawyer Maxim…

Arkhstoyanie at Nikola-Lenivets Lazily Celebrates its 15th Year

In 1989 a group of artists led by Nikolai Polissky began to move to this beautiful land not far from Kaluga to the southeast of Moscow. The idea was to build an land art park: art objects made of various materials that would be set in the natural surroundings to show off art and nature…

‘Don’t Give In to Lies,’ Belarus Opposition Leader Tells Russians

Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya urged Russians on Wednesday to resist what she called state media efforts to smear her country’s post-election protests as anti-Russian. Tikhanovskaya, 37, made the comments a day after President Alexander Lukashenko’s interview with Russian state media, where he warned that “if Belarus collapses today, Russia will be next.” Moscow has been…

Belarus Opposition Lawyer Detained by ‘Masked Men’

One of the last remaining members of the Belarusian opposition’s Coordination Council at large, lawyer Maxim Znak, was detained by masked men on Wednesday, his colleagues said. Znak, who had worked as a lawyer for jailed presidential hopeful Viktor Babaryko, had been due to participate in a video call but did not show up, instead…

Putin Cancels Annual Q&A Marathon Due to Coronavirus

President Vladimir Putin has canceled his annual call-in session with the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, his spokesman announced Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin “has already been conducting the Direct Line the past few months,” referring to his several video addresses announcing support measures for Russians during the Covid-19 outbreak. “It would…

All Options Open on Sanctions Against Russia Over Navalny: German Minister

Germany will keep all options open on possible sanctions against Russia over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the country’s minister for Europe told AFP. “We have made it very clear that we will look at the entire set of instruments,” Michael Roth said in an interview, responding to a question on what action…

Navalny-Backed Opposition Candidates in Siberia Attacked With Foul-Smelling Chemical

Assailants have spilled a foul-smelling liquid at the office of Siberian opposition candidates backed by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny ahead of upcoming regional elections, the candidates said Tuesday. The attack is the latest attempt to disrupt the work of a coalition of opposition candidates planning to challenge pro-Kremlin incumbents in the Novosibirsk city council elections…

Leading Scientists Question ‘Highly Improbable’ Russian Vaccine Results Published in Lancet

BusinessBy admin September 8, 2020 Leave a comment

A group of prominent scientists and doctors has questioned the results of Russia’s research into a Covid-19 vaccine. The group said there are a number of unexplained apparent duplications in Russia’s data — published in scientific journal The Lancet on Friday — concerning the antibody response of volunteers who took part in early stage trials…

Rosatom took part at NENE conference in Slovenia

September 7th, 2020. Anton Moskvin, Vice president for marketing and business development at Rusatom Overseas participated in the 29th international Nuclear Energy for New Europe 2020 (NENE) conference held under the honorary patronage of Borut Pahor, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, in a hybrid format of both in-person and remote participation. In his…

Russia Says Ready to Help Ease Tensions in East Mediterranean

Moscow is prepared to help ease tensions in the eastern Mediterranean where Cyprus and Greece are embroiled in a standoff with Turkey over maritime and energy rights, visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday. “Russia considers that any further escalation would be unacceptable and calls on all parties to settle all conflicts exclusively through dialogue…

Belarus Leader Admits to Staying ‘Too Long’ in Power in Russian State TV Interview

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that his 26 years in office may have been excessive, but vowed to maintain his grip on power despite widespread protests against his rule. Lukashenko’s rare admission has been a rallying cry for hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who flooded the streets of Belarusian cities for the past month…

Belarus Opposition Figure Detained at Ukraine Border

Belarus said Tuesday that a leading opposition figure, Maria Kolesnikova, had been detained while trying to cross the Ukrainian border, but Kiev said she was being held after resisting a forced deportation. Kolesnikova played a major role in the campaign of opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory over President Alexander Lukashenko in a disputed…

Russian ‘Cossacks’ Hunt Down LGBT Youth During Pride Week

Dozens of men in Cossack military uniforms have been filmed patrolling the streets of Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg during its Pride Week, local media reported Monday. The group briefly detained at least one “absolutely heterosexual” student because he had dyed hair and wore an earring, according to the e1.ru news website. “Why’d you dress…

Russian Actor Yefremov Jailed for Fatal Car Crash

Mikhail Yefremov, a well-known Russian actor who cultivated an image of a jolly drunk throughout his 30-year career, was sentenced to eight years in jail Tuesday for driving drunk and killing a van driver in a head-on crash this summer. Yefremov’s jailing follows a whirlwind trial over the June 8 crash in central Moscow that…

Rosneft increases the reliability of oil pipelines

The experts of RN-Purneftegaz (Rosneft’s producing asset) reduced the accident rate at infield pipelines by 35 per cent in five years (2015-2019).

Russia Begins Coronavirus Vaccine Rollout

Russia has begun releasing its coronavirus vaccine to the general public, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday as developers prepare to conduct large-scale clinical trials while administering the shot to civilians. Its developer has said that a yearlong mass vaccination campaign would begin as soon as the Sputnik V vaccine entered civil circulation. “The first batch…

Explosion Opens New ‘Pit to Hell’ Crater in Russian Arctic

An explosion believed to have been caused by subterranean gases has opened up a massive hole in the ground in Russia’s Arctic, the latest natural phenomenon to affect the fast-warming region amid a record-setting summer. Russian scientists discovered the 50-meter crater on an expedition to the Yamal Peninsula above the Arctic Circle in July, according…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Sept. 7

Russia has confirmed 1,030,690 cases of coronavirus and 17,871 deaths. Sept. 7: What you need to know today Saudi King Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Monday the possible joint production of a Russian coronavirus vaccine, the Kremlin said. Russia’s coronavirus cases continue to rise as the country confirmed 5,185 new coronavirus infections Monday, bringing the country’s official number of…

Putin, Saudi King Discuss Joint Vaccine Production – Kremlin

Saudi King Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Monday the possible joint production of a Russian coronavirus vaccine, the Kremlin said. In early August, Russia said it had developed the world’s first vaccine against the virus and claimed that more than a billion doses had been pre-ordered by 20 countries, including Saudi Arabia. Russia’s sovereign wealth…

Russian FM Meets Syria’s Assad on Rare Visit

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad discussed economic cooperation Monday with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as Moscow’s envoy made his first visit to war-torn Syria since 2012, the presidency said. Assad said “the Syrian government was determined to continue working with Russian partners” to implement signed agreements, and encourage the “success of Russian investments in Syria,”…

Navalny Comes Out of Coma, Berlin Hospital Says

Prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been taken out of his medically induced coma and is being gradually taken off a ventilator, the Charité hospital in Berlin where he has been undergoing treatment for the past two weeks said Monday. German authorities have said that Navalny, Russia’s de facto opposition leader, was poisoned with a…

Explainer: What is Nord Stream 2 and Why Might Navalny’s Poisoning Stop Its Completion?

The confirmation that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok has heightened calls for Germany to review its support for Nord Stream 2 — Gazprom’s mega gas pipeline project linking the two countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not rule out consequences for the project if Russia fails to thoroughly investigate the incident,…

Gerard Depardieu Converts to Orthodox Christianity

MoscowBy admin September 7, 2020 Leave a comment

French actor and naturalized Russian citizen Gerard Depardieu has continued his religious journey by converting to Orthodox Christianity, the Valeurs Actuelles weekly news magazine reported Saturday. One of France’s most prolific actors and a popular figure in Russia, Depardieu was granted Russian citizenship in 2013 as he sought to avoid tax hikes in his native…

On and Off the Trans-Siberian Train: The Dropouts

It’s day 14 of our travel, and we leave Baikhal to Irkutsk after a-four-day stay on a beautiful island of Olkhon. As we get inside Bukhanka, a cramped old Soviet mini bus that takes us from the island back to Irkutsk, we start talking to a young couple. The oddity of this encounter is that…

Belarus Opposition Leader ‘Kidnapped’ By Masked Men – Reports

Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova has been kidnapped by masked men in central Minsk, media reported Monday, citing eyewitnesses. Kolesnikova, 38, was one of a trio of women who united to challenge Lukashenko in last month’s presidential elections after other opposition candidates were either jailed or driven to flee Belarus. She is the only member…

Russia’s ‘Basic Instinct’ Dig Provokes Spat With Ally Serbia