A Russian couple has been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for blowing a secret agent’s cover in their wedding photos, the state-run TASS news agency reported Thursday. Baltic affairs expert Antonina Zimina and her husband Konstantin Antonets were charged with treason after Zimina’s old classmate, a Federal Security Service (FSB) counterintelligence officer, appeared in their…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has returned an 18th-century Orthodox Christian icon to Bosnia and Herzegovina embassy after reports said the religious artifact originated from rebel-held eastern Ukraine. Lavrov received the 300-year-old icon as a gift from Milorad Dodik, the Serb chair of Bosnia’s three-man presidency, during his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Dec.…
Moscow set a new single-day record of more than 8,000 coronavirus cases as national deaths and infections shattered previous records Thursday. The latest record comes as Moscow prepares to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s without its traditional mass festivities due to the pandemic. Of the 8,203 newly infected residents in the Russian capital, official data…
A cat that was rescued from a central Russian waste processing plant has been named an assistant to the regional environment minister, the administration said Wednesday. Widely circulated surveillance footage this week showed a plant worker retrieving the cat from a tied plastic bag on a conveyor belt. Veterinarians said the healthy and well-fed cat…
Russia has confirmed 2,933,753 cases of coronavirus and 52,461 deaths. Dec. 24: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 27,250 new coronavirus cases and 549 deaths Wednesday. Argentina gave “emergency” authorization to Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, becoming the first Latin American country to do so. The first 300,000 doses of the vaccine are set to reach…
Argentina’s health ministry said Wednesday it has given the controversial Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine “emergency” authorization, making the country the first in Latin America to do so. The first shipment of the 25 million doses of the vaccine bought by the Argentine government is due to arrive on Thursday. The authorization for the Gam-CovidVac…
Lawmakers in Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, have passed over a dozen laws this week that expand the government’s powers while imposing new restrictions on free speech and information access. State Duma deputy Dmitry Vyatkin authored many of the bills, which have moved through parliament at breakneck pace in what observers call…
Russia’s leading media holding, which is controlled by state energy giant Gazprom, will launch an app similar to the video-sharing social network TikTok, the group’s CEO said Wednesday. The Kommersant business daily cited Gazprom-Media CEO Alexander Zharov as saying the holding had purchased a service called “Ya Molodets” (“I am great”). Zharov said the app…
Moscow opposition deputy Yulia Galyamina will walk free after receiving a suspended sentence under Russia’s law criminalizing multiple protest violations, the Mediazona news website reported Wednesday. Galyamina, a member of north-central Moscow’s Timiryazevsky District council, is accused of demonstrating against local elections in the summer of 2019 and against Russia’s constitutional reforms this summer. She…
Russian lawmakers took first steps Wednesday to formally allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036. Current law limits the Russian presidency to two consecutive terms, requiring Putin, 68, to step down in 2024. But a clause within a set of constitutional reforms approved in a nationwide vote this summer allows Putin to…
RN-Krasnodarneftegaz, a subsidiary of Rosneft Oil Company, will quadruple the funding for its land remediation programme.
Rosneft Oil Company top executives, HSE executives, the interregional trade union organisation management, directors and HSE managers of the Company’s enterprises have participated in an extended meeting on accident-free production in the Company’s operations.
Rosneft and specialists of the Siberian Federal University have developed the technology of production of environmentally friendly drilling fluids based on seed oils and containing biodegradable components.
With less than a month before Joe Biden moves into the White House, Moscow on Wednesday accused the incoming U.S. administration of “Russophobia” after the president-elect promised to punish Russia for a major cyber attack. Biden is expected to take a tougher stance against Russia than Donald Trump, whose ascent to the U.S. presidency in…
Ruslan Shaveddinov, an associate of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, has returned to Moscow following a year of forced military service in the Arctic, the Mediazona news website reported. Shaveddinov worked for Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) which leads investigations into corrupt individuals among the Kremlin’s ruling elite. In December 2019, men in uniform broke…
The medical journal The Lancet has published Tuesday a case report detailing Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s treatment in Germany following his poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent. Doctors at Berlin’s Charité clinic, where Navalny was flown two days after falling suddenly ill on a flight in Siberia in August, diagnosed him with severe poisoning.…
Encrypted messaging app Telegram will launch pay-for services in 2021, its Russian-born founder Pavel Durov said Wednesday, as the growing company needed “at least a few hundred million dollars per year.” “Telegram will begin to generate revenue, starting next year,” Durov said in a statement. “We will be able to launch countless new features and…
In a year when the coronavirus pandemic dominated news headlines worldwide, Russia also embraced the prospect of Vladimir Putin as president until 2036 and faced fallout from the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Political unrest at home and abroad gathered steam as the first wave of Covid-19 infections abated, while a huge Arctic fuel…
Colombia has expelled two alleged Russian intelligence officers working under diplomatic protection earlier this month, media reported Tuesday. Colombian authorities said the Russian diplomats violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations but would not detail why they left, according to Reuters. The news agency reported that President Ivan Duque declined to reveal additional information, telling…
Russian lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday to ban the public dissemination of data about security and law enforcement members. The move follows leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s viral YouTube video of a phone call with one of his alleged poisoners. That agent and other purported Federal Security Service (FSB) agents’ identities were revealed by the…
Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has sued Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and a close ally for defamation, a Moscow court said Tuesday. The lawsuit appeared Tuesday on the website of a Moscow court, which later told the Russian news agency TASS that the claim sought 5 million rubles ($66,000) each from Navalny and his ally…
Moscow said Tuesday it had dispatched 300 Russian military instructors to the Central African Republic at the CAR’s request after an alleged attempted coup ahead of upcoming elections. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Russia had “promptly responded” to a request and sent “an additional 300 instructors to train the military personnel of the national army”…
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed into law a bill granting lifetime immunity from criminal prosecution to Russian presidents and their family members. The law comes amid swirling questions over Putin’s future after his current term limit expires in 2024 and is part of sweeping constitutional reforms allowing Putin to ignore current limits and run for…
Famed Russian documentary film director Vitaly Mansky has been detained outside the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in central Moscow for staging a single-person picket with a pair of blue boxers, reports said Tuesday. Mansky, 57, staged the protest after leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny published a viral video of his phone talks with whom…
Hardly ever before has a ship with such a peculiar shape been rolled out of St. Petersburg’s Admiralty Shipyard. On Dec. 18, the stout, 83-meter-long vessel Severny Polyus, or North Pole, made it onto the waters of the Neva River. The launch is met with great expectation by Russia’s Arctic research community. Once completed, the…
In a year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, some of the largest and most protracted protests in post-Soviet history also grabbed headlines. People took to the streets to protest issues including electoral fraud, corruption and territorial disputes. Gathering despite government-imposed public assembly restrictions, protesters across the region faced off against police — with thousands being injured…
Rosneft Deutschland GmbH, a Rosneft subsidiary, started deliveries of two new grades of the company’s proprietary polymer-modified bitumen product (PMB), Alfabit, to Switzerland
Russia’s leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny has delusions of grandeur and persecution, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday after Navalny said he tricked an intelligence officer into admitting an attempt to poison him. Peskov said he allowed himself to “indulge a personal point of view” after Navalny’s video of a phone call with an alleged…
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law Tuesday that allows former presidents to become senators for life when they leave office. The law is the latest legislative change regarding Russia’s ex-presidents amid continuing questions over Putin’s future after his current term limit expires in 2024. The law is also part of sweeping constitutional…
Russia said Tuesday it was hitting several EU representatives with tit-for-tat sanctions in response to penalties imposed by the bloc over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Foreign Ministry said that in response to “confrontational” EU actions, it had “decided to expand the list of representatives of EU member states and institutions who will…
Russia’s federal media watchdog has accused YouTube of circulating more fake news than any other foreign platform on the Russian internet, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited the agency as saying Monday. “About 60% of fakes are related to the Covid-19 virus,” said Roskomnadzor, the federal agency responsible for regulating communications, information technology and…
The U.S. Commerce Department has added 45 Russian and 58 Chinese companies it claims have ties to those countries’ militaries Monday, restricting exports of certain goods and technology to the designated entities. The number of Russian aviation, rocket and nuclear companies with alleged military ties is nearly double that of the initial draft list reported…
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s associate Lyubov Sobol has been detained outside the home of an alleged chemical weapons expert implicated in his poisoning, media reported late Monday. Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) lawyer Sobol said she wanted to speak with alleged Federal Security Service (FSB) agent Konstantin Kudryavtsev, whom Navalny said he had tricked into admitting…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Monday said Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s phone call with a suspected FSB agent discussing his poisoning was a “provocation” carried out with help from foreign security services. In a statement to Russian news agencies, the FSB described the call “about the alleged actions against” Navalny as a “planned provocation…
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Monday rejected a claim that the country had sent troops to the Central African Republic after an alleged attempted coup. “We are not sending troops, we are complying with all UN resolutions,” the Interfax news agency cited Bogdanov as saying. The CAR government said earlier Monday that Russia,…
A Russian scientist who was said to have worked on a coronavirus vaccine was found dead with a stab wound outside a St. Petersburg high-rise, authorities and local media said over the weekend. The body of geneticist and molecular and cellular biologist Alexander Kagansky, 45, was found in the courtyard of a 16-story apartment block…
On Jan. 1, the Russian government is set to significantly reel back important environmental regulations protecting Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake that is home to creatures found nowhere else on earth. It’s a move that could lead to the biggest environmental crisis in Baikal’s history, environmental experts and activists say. With the clock…
Leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny said Monday that he tricked one of the several security officers linked to his poisoning into outlining the details of the operation in a phone call. A media investigation said last week that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) chemical weapons experts shadowed Navalny on dozens of his trips since…
As the year of the coronavirus draws to a close and Russia’s total number of cases approaches 3 million, it’s time to look back at how the world’s largest country handled the pandemic. From the step-by-step closure of its borders at the beginning of the year to the mass roll-out of its domestically developed Sputnik…
Russia will halt all flights with Britain from midnight Tuesday, joining the growing list of countries to suspend air travel with the country amid concerns of a more-infectious coronavirus strain found there. Nearly 30 other countries have banned travel to and from Britain due to the mutation. Russia’s travel ban will last for one week,…
The Kremlin on Monday denied any role in recent cyber attacks on the United States, saying American accusations that Russia was behind a major security breach lacked evidence. U.S. lawmakers over the weekend urged a tough response to a huge cyber attack on government agencies and criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to point the…
At just 6 years old, Anastasia Radzinskaya has made the Forbes list of high-earning YouTubers once again. Hailing from southern Russia, Radzinskaya broke the internet with her videos of unboxing toys, visiting amusement parks and having playdates. She ranks in 7th place on this year’s Forbes ranking with estimated earnings of $18.5 million, a four-spot…
Public schools across Moscow have received a survey that measures their teachers’ political activity and loyalty to the authorities, the independent Dozhd broadcaster reported Sunday. The survey asks teachers whether they participated in pro-Kremlin or opposition rallies in recent years, as well as whether they backed coups to achieve political change, Dozhd reported. The teachers…
80 Russian IT companies have taken part in Rosneft Pitch Day, an online exhibition of domestic IT solutions for digitalisation and automation experts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hailed the country’s “courageous” spies as he visited the headquarters of the Foreign Intelligence Service to mark its 100th birthday. Putin, who has spent most of the coronavirus epidemic at his residences outside the Russian capital and on the Black Sea, visited the SVR headquarters in southern Moscow amid…
Russia has confirmed 2,848,377 cases of coronavirus and 50,858 deaths. Dec. 20: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 28 948 new coronavirus cases and 511 deaths Sunday. The conditional mortality rates increased to 1.79%, according to the data from the operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus. Dec.18 — St. Petersburg-based Greenpeace energy campaigner Rashid Alimov, 40,…
Donald Trump’s outgoing administration is planning to close the two remaining US consulates in Russia, the State Department confirmed Saturday, as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office amid high tensions with Moscow. The US will close its consulate in the far eastern city of Vladivostok and suspend operations at its post in Yekaterinburg, a department…
The aim was to transfer this information to Russian military intelligence, prosecutors said, adding that the diplomat also paid a Bulgarian official with access to classified information to provide him with the sensitive data. The spying row has soured relations between the two former allies, which have maintained their close cultural, historical and economic ties…
Russia was “pretty clearly” behind a devastating cyberattack on several U.S. government agencies that also hit targets worldwide, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Microsoft said late Thursday that it had notified more than 40 customers hit by the malware, which security experts say could allow attackers unfettered network access to key government systems and electric…
Russia has confirmed 2,791,220 cases of coronavirus and 49,762 deaths. Dec. 19: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 28 209 new coronavirus cases and 585 deaths. The total number of infected people in Russia has reached 2 819 429. The conditional mortality increased to 1.79%, according to the data from the operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus.…
Moscow political operatives plan to engage apolitical youth in Russia’s 2021 legislative elections through TikTok, the Meduza news website reported Friday, citing unnamed sources close to the Kremlin. The popular short-form video app will presumably help Kremlin-backed candidates fend off challengers promoted by opposition figure Alexei Navalny. In the lead-up to next year’s vote, Navalny…
Moscow prosecutors have requested a three-year jail sentence for opposition municipal deputy Yulia Galyamina for multiple violations of Russian protest law, Galyamina said Friday. Galyamina was arrested alongside 140 others this summer for rallying against a package of constitutional amendments which among other changes pave the way for President Vladimir Putin to stay in power…
The Russian National Guard has signed a cooperation agreement with Belarus’ police force to combat “terrorism and extremism,” Interfax reported Friday. The agreement comes amid months of opposition protests in Belarus against the country’s disputed presidential election. Belarus’ Moscow-backed President Alexander Lukashenko has accused the opposition of being backed by the West and has jailed…
Leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny said German prosecutors interrogated him and his wife at Moscow’s request Thursday despite Russian authorities refusing to launch a criminal investigation into his poisoning. Navalny is undergoing rehabilitation in Berlin after recovering from what European scientists established was poisoning with a Novichok nerve agent in Siberia this summer. Russia…
A group of children that went missing in the caves near the Moscow region city of Domodedovo were found alive by rescuers late Thursday, Interfax reported. On Thursday morning a group of 10 people, eight of whom were children ages 9 to 12, entered the Syanovskiye cave system. They were supposed to return around 7:00…
Finland’s Nordea Bank plans to permanently cease its activities in Russia, the bank’s Russian branch announced Thursday. Nordea Bank “will concentrate its activities in the Scandinavian region, therefore it was decided to partially close the international network, including the Russian branch,” its statement said. In the third quarter of 2020 Nordea ranked 95th in the…
European officials have tipped off the United States that sanctioned Russian aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska continued to pull the strings at companies he had divested from, Bloomberg said in a report that has since been denied by the firms. U.S. lawmakers raised concerns about Deripaska’s influence over aluminum giant Rusal and its parent company En+ early…
European home improvement stores continued to sell illegally logged wood from the Russian taiga after the alleged smuggler’s arrest back home, the British environmental nonprofit Earthsight said in a report Wednesday. More than 20 European companies were said to have bought 30 million euros ($36.7 million) worth of suspect wood from companies associated with timber…
A Moscow court fined Google on Thursday for not taking down online content banned by the Russian authorities, the latest in a series of escalating penalties against the U.S. tech giant. Google was found guilty of repeatedly failing to delete search results “containing information prohibited in Russia” and was fined 3 million rubles (around $41,000),…
Sport’s highest court on Thursday banned Russia from the international stage for two years including the rearranged Tokyo Olympics and Beijing Winter Games but the halving of the initial punishment was described by a leading U.S. official as “a catastrophic blow to clean athletes and the integrity of sport.” The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s…