Russia to Debut ‘Flight to Nowhere’

Russia’s Pobeda low-cost airline plans to debut its own “flight to nowhere” for cooped-up passengers looking to recreate the travel experience this month, popular Pobeda pilot and flight podcast host Alexei Kochemasov has said.  Passengers will take off from Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport, then land 1.5 hours later at… Vnukovo Airport. “We guarantee the crew’s…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Dec. 3

Russia has confirmed 2,375,546 cases of coronavirus and 41,607 deaths. Dec. 3: What you need to know today Russia confirmed a new record of 28,145 coronavirus cases and 554 deaths. Moscow will start vaccinating at-risk groups against the coronavirus this weekend, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Thursday. Online booking for health workers, teachers and social service workers deemed at higher risk of…

Moscow Announces Coronavirus Vaccination Drive

Moscow will start vaccinating at-risk groups against the coronavirus this weekend, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Thursday after President Vladimir Putin ordered large-scale immunization across the country. Online booking for health workers, teachers and social service workers deemed at higher risk of severe infection will open Friday, Sobyanin wrote on his website. “The vaccination centers will…

U.S. Rights Activist Faces Expulsion From Russia

A U.S. human rights activist who has defended the interests of Russian citizens in Europe’s human rights court faces expulsion from Russia, she has said. Authorities informed Vanessa Kogan that she “poses a national security threat” when they rejected her fast-track citizenship application and revoked her permanent residence earlier this week, Kogan told the Ekho Moskvy…

Turkey Backs Crimea’s Return to Ukraine – FM

Turkey is willing to support the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula’s return to Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday.  The statement comes amid an already uneasy relationship between Moscow and Ankara, which are traditionally partners but have recently been at odds over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Syrian conflict and Libya’s civil war. In October, Turkish…

Russia Reports Record 28K Coronavirus Cases

Russia reported more than 28,000 coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the latest record amid the second wave plaguing the country’s major cities and far-flung regions. Health officials reported 28,145 new infections across every Russian region Thursday, bringing the total caseload to 2,375,546. Russia has…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Dec. 2

Russia has confirmed 2,347,401 cases of coronavirus and 41,053 deaths. Dec. 2: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 25,345 new coronavirus cases and a new record of 589 coronavirus deaths. Russia’s Accounts Chamber Chairman and famed liberal economist Alexei Kudrin was diagnosed with coronavirus, said the message published on his social media Monday.  Russia’s food retailers have…

Blame Climate Change for Historically Warm Fall in Russia’s Biggest Cities, Experts Say

Global climate change is behind this year’s extraordinarily warm autumn in Moscow and St. Petersburg, experts interviewed by The Moscow Times said.  Russia’s two largest cities experienced the warmest autumn temperatures of their recorded histories in 2020, official weather services reported Tuesday.  And it’s only the beginning, experts say.  Over the next 10 years, Russia…

What’s Next for Nagorno-Karabakh?

The Azerbaijani takeover of Lachin, the last of three districts handed back by Armenia under a deal to stop fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, ends the first stage of a Russian-brokered peace process. But the decades-old dispute over Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke away from Azerbaijan during a war in the 1990s, is far from…

Authorities Probe Navalny’s Coronavirus Interview for ‘Extremism’

Russian authorities are probing opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s comments during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic for inciting extremism, news agencies quoted law enforcement sources as saying Tuesday. Moscow investigators are reportedly examining whether Navalny’s April 27 interview with the liberal Ekho Moskvy radio station contained calls for a violent overthrow of the Russian…

Turkey, Russia Seal Deal for Karabakh ‘Peacekeeping Center’

Turkey and Russia have agreed to monitor a truce over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region from a joint peacekeeping center, Ankara’s defense ministry said on Tuesday. The deal comes after days of talks between Turkish and Russian officials about how the two regional powers would jointly implement a Moscow-brokered ceasefire signed this month between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Technical…

Putin Moves to Ban Dual-National Officials

President Vladimir Putin has taken steps toward banning Russian government officials with access to state secrets from holding foreign passports as part of his recent changes to the Constitution. Putin on Monday submitted a bill to Russia’s lower house of parliament that would amend the Labor Code to ban military and civil servants with access to…

Moscow Sees Warmest Fall on Record

Fall 2020 in Moscow will be declared the warmest on record for the capital, according to Russia’s state weather service. The average temperature in Moscow for September, October and November was 3.2 degrees Celsius, which is 4.4 C above normal. “This autumn in Moscow will be the warmest ever,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted…

Russia’s Sputnik V Coronavirus Vaccine ‘Reasonably Effective’ – British Experts

Russia’s highly touted Sputnik V vaccine is “reasonably effective” at preventing the coronavirus based on preliminary results from its mass trials but questions over its data still remain, British vaccine experts told Canada’s CBC News broadcaster Saturday. Sputnik V’s developers announced the vaccine’s 95% efficacy last week, citing data obtained 21 days after volunteers received the second…

Pull Russian Troops Out of Moldova, New President Says

Russia should withdraw its peacekeeping force from the self-proclaimed Transnistria republic, Moldova’s pro-European president-elect said Monday. Maia Sandu, who defeated Moldova’s pro-Russian incumbent earlier in November on a platform of balancing the ex-Soviet country’s ties between Moscow and the West, said the Russian troops should be replaced by civilian observers from Europe. Russia deploys around…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Nov. 30

Russia has confirmed 2,295,654 cases of coronavirus and 39,895 deaths. Nov. 30: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 26,338 new coronavirus cases and 368 deaths. Universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg will switch students to remote learning until early February to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov said Monday. Nov. 27…

St. Petersburg Developer’s Stepson Run Over by Military Vehicle at Birthday Party

The stepson of a St. Petersburg construction mogul was run over and killed by an armored vehicle at a military re-enactment celebrating his stepbrother’s birthday, media reported Sunday. The armored personnel carrier allegedly started moving with Andrei Kozhevin, 38, lying in its path after the driver “thought” he received a takeoff signal, according to the Life Shot tabloid. Kozhevin…

QAnon Gains Traction in Russia

Ever since the U.S. presidential election was called for Joe Biden, Tatiana Abdullina has been watching the twists and turns of outgoing President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results from her home in Volchansk, a town of 10,000 in Russia’s Ural Mountains. The mother of four is convinced the legal manoeuvres will be successful,…

Obama Blackface Skit on Kremlin-Funded TV Sparks Outrage

A Russian late-night television sketch featuring a racist impersonation of former U.S. President Barack Obama by an actress in blackface has sparked controversy after airing on a Kremlin-funded network over the weekend. After lampooning Obama’s recently published memoir during his Saturday evening political satire show Mezhdunarodnaya Pilorama (“International Saw-Panorama”), host Tigran Keosayan segues to an…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Nov. 28

Russia has confirmed 2,215,533 cases of coronavirus and 38,558 deaths. Nov. 28: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 27,100 coronavirus cases and 510 deaths on Saturday Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero will produce 100 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine as part of the agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), its developers announced Friday.…

Moscow Reports 300% Spike in Coronavirus Deaths

Moscow reported a 300% month-on-month increase in coronavirus deaths for October, the Russian capital’s health department said late Thursday. In September, the city’s health department said Covid-19 was the direct cause of death among 543 Muscovites. As the second wave of the virus escalated in October, Moscow’s health department said coronavirus was the main cause…