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Russians are less likely to take to the streets today than they were a year ago as their living standards gradually improve, the independent Levada Center pollster has said. The polling agency asked respondents if they think mass protests against Russians’ decline in living standards and in defense of their rights are likely to take…

Russia said Thursday it has sent test kits for the novel coronavirus to countries including Iran, North Korea and ex-Soviet states. The state health watchdog said in a statement that Moscow had sent 800 test kits to ex-Soviet states including Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, as well as to Iran, North Korea and Mongolia. Russia ally Iran…

Russia’s state-run RT broadcaster is willing to publish director Woody Allen’s memoir after the controversial book was dropped by its U.S. publisher, its editor-in-chief has said. Publisher Hachette canceled publication of the book earlier this month after a protest by Allen’s son, the journalist Ronan Farrow, led to mass staff walkouts at its New York…

A US ex-marine stood trial in Moscow Wednesday on charges that he had attacked police officers, and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Trevor Reed, 28, allegedly attacked police called by friends after he became very intoxicated and risked walking into traffic. While being driven to a police station, he reportedly grabbed…

As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 4,000 people continues to spread around the world, Russia has stepped up measures to tackle the pandemic, including closing most entry points along its 4,200-kilometer border with China, ordering people returning from high-risk areas to self-quarantine and temporarily banning Chinese citizens from entering the country.  There…

Russia has declared the European Endowment for Democracy grant-making foundation an “undesirable” organization Wednesday, making it the 20th foreign group facing limitations for its work in the country. The European Union founded the Brussels-based EED in 2013 to support pro-democracy movements and independent media outside its borders that cannot obtain funding otherwise. “This organization’s activities…

Moscow plans to earmark 8.5 billion rubles ($135.7 million) for the construction of a new coronavirus hospital as the Russian capital continues to detect new cases, the Znak.com news website reported Wednesday. The funds will go toward constructing the building on the city’s outskirts and will not be used for the purchase of medical equipment, Znak…

Russian lawmakers have backed a set of constitutional amendments Wednesday that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036. Putin, who has dominated the Russian political landscape either as president or prime minister for the past 20 years, is constitutionally mandated to step down in 2024. He paved the way for running…

President Vladimir Putin insisted on Wednesday that Russia will weather the economic storm triggered by its oil standoff with Saudi Arabia and come out “stronger.” “I am sure that Russia will get through this turbulent period with dignity, calmly,” Putin said during a meeting with investors.  “There are all the chances for Russia’s key industrial sectors…

Tatler has become Russia’s first magazine to feature a transgender woman on its cover, the society magazine announced as its April issue hit newsstands Wednesday. The Kazakh-born, Paris- and Moscow-based socialite Natalia Maximova came out to her Instagram followers in December. In the interview with Tatler’s chief editor, Maximova said she “never had the need…

Russia has detected defective parts in its Proton-M rockets that were set to launch Europe’s first rover on Mars and two communications satellites, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday. The launch of Russia’s Express 80 and Express 103 satellites on one Proton-M rocket has now been rescheduled for late May instead of March due to…

Two Russian military reconnaissance aircraft were intercepted and escorted for hours near Alaska by U.S. and Canadian air force jets, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said.  The two Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft on Monday entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, sparking the deployment of several NORAD aircraft including fighter jets, the command said.…

Russian consumers have begun panic-buying non-perishable food products over fears of the coronavirus pandemic, the Vedomosti business daily has reported.  A total of 20 coronavirus cases have been reported in Russia, most of whom had recently returned from Italy, since the Covid-19 outbreak began in neighboring China in December. Demand for surgical masks has surged…

U.S. authorities have arrested a Russian national who ran a hacker “storefront” that took in at least $17 million by selling stolen personal data and other illegal products and services, according to court records. The FBI arrested Kirill Victorovich Firsov, described as “a Russian cyber hacker,” and the administrator of the deer.io platform “which catered to hackers,”…

In a whirlwind series of events on Tuesday, Russia’s lower house of parliament laid the groundwork for President Vladimir Putin, who first took office in 2000, to remain in the Kremlin until 2036.  The move came as part of sweeping constitutional changes that Putin first announced in January and many saw as a ploy by…

SCHIPHOL, The Netherlands — The presiding judge in the MH17 murder trial on Tuesday postponed the hearings until March 23, when the court will decide on how the trial should proceed following judical requests from the defense and relatives of the victims of the plane crash. Monday was the first day of the long awaited…

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…

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the United States had told Moscow that U.S. President Donald Trump would not travel to Russia to mark Victory Day on May 9. Putin presides over an annual parade on May 9 to commemorate the Soviet Union’s World War Two victory over Nazi Germany and uses the occasion to show off…

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…

Turkey’s military will patrol to the north of a security corridor being set up around a highway in northwest Syria’s Idlib province and Russian forces will patrol the southern side, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. Agreement on the corridor was part of a ceasefire deal reached by Turkey and Russia last week…

Update: Karelin removed his amendment from consideration after Putin rejected the proposal in a surprise Duma speech. Russian lawmakers will consider holding early parliamentary elections this year, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament has said on the day of a key vote for President Vladimir Putin’s sweeping constitutional amendments Tuesday. The State Duma…

Russia’s Central Bank has swept in to help support the Russian ruble and push the currency up from its four-year low against the U.S. dollar. The bank started selling foreign currency reserves — in other words, buying rubles — Tuesday, adding that it was “ready to use additional tools to maintain financial stability.” The ruble…

Veterinarians in Far East Russia have put down around 200 stray animals who they said had come into contact with a rabid dog, authorities announced Monday. The news came after an animal rights group found empty dog and cat cages at the facility in the city of Yakutsk. They later discovered the carcasses of what…

The Russian stock market plunged 10% on opening Tuesday morning, following the rout on global financial markets Monday. Russia’s oil companies were hit hardest, with giants Rosneft and Lukoil leading the loserboard with falls of more than 10%. The fall appeared softer than traders had been anticipating, however, as the MOEX Index of leading Russian…

The Russian government has allegedly hired British politicians, former intelligence officers and PR firms to advance its interests in Britain’s politics and form a “western buffer network,” The Guardian reported Monday. The claims are based on U.S.-born financier Bill Browder’s Sept. 2018 testimony submitted to the British parliament for its report on alleged Russian interference…

SCHIPHOL, The Netherlands — In a crowded and heavily guarded court near Schiphol, the airport MH17 took off from six years ago, a murder trial opened against four men charged with the killing of 298 victims on the ill-fated flight. The first day of proceedings saw the head judge, the prosecutors and defense team present their…

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, ordering people returning from high-risk areas to self-quarantine and temporarily banning Chinese citizens from entering the country. …

SCHIPHOL, The Netherlands — A court in the Netherlands is conducting a landmark hearing to try to determine criminal responsibility for the downing of Flight MH17 six years ago. The Moscow Times is covering the MH17 trial live from the courtroom in The Netherlands. Follow along here: March 9 14.45: Oleg Pulatov’s defense team gives…

Leading Russian firms saw their share prices collapse Monday, as the fallout from Moscow rejecting an oil production pact with Saudi Arabia rocks global financial markets. Among the biggest losers were state-backed lenders Sberbank and VTB, which both plunged by more than 20% when European markets opened.  Oil major Rosneft, also state-owned, recorded a 20%…

The Russian ruble plummeted almost 10% Monday, falling to its lowest level in more than four years, as oil prices crashed following the breakdown of the Russia-Saudi Arabia pact to limit production. The ruble was trading at 75 to $1 on Monday evening in Moscow — a 9.5% drop — after another wild start to…

Moscow city authorities threatened prison terms of up to five years on Sunday for people failing to self-isolate in their homes for two weeks after visiting countries hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. The city government had announced a “high alert regime” and imposed extra measures on Thursday to prevent a spread of the illness…

Tomorrow, a court in the Netherlands will start a landmark hearing to try to determine criminal responsibility for the downing of Flight MH17 six years ago, although it’s unlikely the suspects will appear in the dock. The war in eastern Ukraine between Kiev’s forces and pro-Russian separatists has claimed more than 13,000 casualties according to…

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 has a total of 17 confirmed coronavirus…

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.  There have been 15 cases of coronavirus infections…

Four new cases of coronavirus have been identified in Russia, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Saturday. The new cases take the total number of people who have been infected with coronavirus in Russia to 17, three of whom have since recovered. Three of the four live in Lipetsk, a city 250 miles south of…

Four new cases of coronavirus have been identified in Russia, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Saturday. The new cases take the total number of people who have been infected with coronavirus in Russia to 17, three of whom have since recovered. Three of the four live in Lipetsk, a city 460 kilometers south…

Two Russian citizens have been arrested in Sweden suspected of a hammer attack last month on a  blogger critical of Chechen strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov, media reported Saturday. A district court in the central Swedish town of Gavle on Friday ordered a Russian woman in her thirties held in custody, suspected of being an accessory…

OPEC and its allies failed to reach a deal on oil production cuts on Friday, after Moscow refused to tighten supply to counter the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. The day before, OPEC ministers had recommended reducing output by 1.5 million barrels per day in face of the global slowdown caused by the epidemic and…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he would not bend the law to extend his term in power and is seeking to amend the constitution to secure the country’s future for decades to come. Speculation has swirled over the 67-year-old president’s future after he unleashed a political storm in January by proposing major constitutional changes.…

Shares of Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov’s credit card supplier TCS plummeted Friday after the U.S. Department of Justice charged its founder with fraud and demanded his extradition from Britain. Shares of TCS (Tinkoff Credit Systems) group were showing a loss of more than 17%t on the London Stock Exchange and 24% on the Moscow Exchange…

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny lodged a complaint against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights on Friday to contest a money-laundering investigation he says authorities have opened to thwart his political activities. Russian investigators opened the case against Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation last August after he called on people to attend rallies that grew…

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 has a total of seven confirmed coronavirus…

Experts are attributing a sharp drop in the number of deaths from alcohol poisoning in Russia to the unseasonably warm winter. Some 619 people died from alcohol poisoning in January 2020, down 37.3% from January 2019, Russia’s National Center for Alcohol Policy Development said Thursday. The past winter was the warmest since records began in…

Before Vyacheslav Makarov announced in January he was leaving gaming, few could have expected the man who helped create the mega-hit World of Tanks wanted a career in Russian politics. Yet on the sidelines of a digital technologies conference in Moscow on Thursday, the 40-year-old online gaming legend launched his latest creation: the Direct Democracy…

Two-thirds of Russians would not be happy to have a woman as president, the state-funded VTsIOM polling agency said Friday ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8. Some 68% of people surveyed said they opposed a female president, up from 61% in an identical VTsIOM’s poll in 2016. The pollster noted that both male…

Russia is hoping to lure more people to live in the Arctic with promises of payouts and infrastructure development in the environmentally vulnerable territory, according to its 15-year strategy published Thursday. The Kremlin document on the “foundations of state policy in the Arctic to 2035”, signed by President Vladimir Putin, set out its policy plans for…

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 has a total of seven confirmed coronavirus…

Turkey and Russia announced a ceasefire in northern Syria on Thursday, agreeing to end weeks of heavy fighting that sparked a humanitarian disaster and raised fears of their armies clashing. After more than six hours of talks in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on the ceasefire to take…

Russia’s tourism sector has already taken a 27 billion ruble  ($406 million) hit from the impact of coronavirus, the head of the Russian Association of Tour Operators said on Thursday in a plea for government support. The coronavirus outbreak has caused havoc across the global travel industry as companies restrict employee trips, airlines axe flights,…

OPEC agreed on Thursday to cut oil output by an extra 1.5 million barrels per day (BPD) in the second quarter of 2020 to support prices that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak but made its action conditional on Russia and others joining in. The oil demand outlook has been pummelled by global measures…

Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger is suing Russia’s robot maker Promobot for using his likeness without permission, the TMZ tabloid reported Wednesday. Schwarzenegger’s company is demanding $10 million in damages, as well as profits made off the lookalike robot and other expenses, according to TMZ. It also reportedly wants an injunction blocking Promobot from using the…

This week on the podcast: — The leaders of Russia and Turkey meet in Moscow on Thursday in a bid to de-escalate fighting in Syria which has brought the two countries to the brink of direct military confrontation. It is the latest episode in a fraught nine-year civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands,…

Three Russian passenger planes flying domestic routes on Thursday were targeted with anonymous bomb threats while airborne, local media said. Anonymous messages were passed to emergency services and a Moscow airport warning that the planes had a bomb on board, Russian news agencies said. One plane was flying from Saint Petersburg to the Crimean city…

The first Russian national to test positive for the coronavirus while in the country has received a test result indicating he no longer has the virus, he told The Moscow Times on Thursday. David Berov, 29, was quarantined in Moscow on Feb. 27, less than a week after returning from a ski trip in northern…

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…

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…

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…