Putin Creates New Position for Chubais

Anatoly Chubais has been named President Vladimir Putin’s new point man on sustainable development and coordination with international organizations after stepping down as Rusnano CEO last week.  “Anatoly Borisovich Chubais will be appointed as special representative to the President of the Russian Federation for relations with international organizations to achieve sustainable development goals,” said the…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Dec. 7

Russia has confirmed 2,460,770 cases of coronavirus and 43,141 deaths. Dec. 7: What you need to know today Russia confirmed a new record of 29,039 coronavirus cases and 457 deaths Sunday. The maximum price of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine will be set at 1,942 rubles ($26), the state-run Interfax news agency reported Saturday, citing a top health official. Russian…

Who’s Afraid of Jennifer Psaki?

This week’s news that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden had chosen Jennifer Psaki as his administration’s press secretary sparked a flurry of excitement on Russian state media and social media alike. “We are looking forward to Jen’s return,” said Vladimir Solovyev, a controversial host on the state-run Rossia 1 broadcaster and one of Russia’s main spin…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Dec. 5

Russia has confirmed 2,402,949 cases of coronavirus and 42,176 deaths. Dec. 5: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 27,403 coronavirus cases and 569 deaths Friday. Kazakhstan will start producing Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine from Dec. 22, the country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Friday.  Ukraine won’t be purchasing Russia’s coronavirus vaccine due to its questionable efficacy, Ukraine’s…

5K Moscow Teachers, Doctors Sign Up for Coronavirus Vaccination on First Day

Moscow’s teachers, doctors and social workers are signing up at a rate of 1,000 per hour for the Russian capital’s coronavirus vaccination drive that kicks off Saturday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said. Online vaccination bookings for high-risk groups opened in the Russian capital Friday after President Vladimir Putin ordered large-scale nationwide immunization — hours after…

Russia Eyes ‘Prison-Free’ Cities

Russian authorities have said they want to relocate all prisons out of major cities, sparking concerns from activists that the move could violate prisoners’ rights and complicate visits by lawyers and relatives. Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko told state television that the mass prison relocation is part of the Federal Prison Service’s “transformation” toward “effective and…

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…