UK Names Media Mogul Yevgeny Lebedev to House of Lords

Russian-British media owner Yevgeny Lebedev has been appointed to the House of Lords in Britain. Queen Elizabeth II conferred Lebedev’s lifetime peerage on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said. Lebedev owns Britain’s Independent and Evening Standard newspapers. His father, Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, is co-owner of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper in Russia. In…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | July 31

Russia has confirmed 839,981 cases of coronavirus and 13,963 deaths. July 31: 3 things you need to know today Authorities in Moscow have issued sweeping fines for violating face mask and glove requirements in recent weeks as the city looks to enforce coronavirus safety rules, the state-run TASS news agency reported Friday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the Russian capital has…

Tens of Thousands Rally in Belarus Despite Pre-Election Crackdown

Tens of thousands of supporters of President Alexander Lukashenko’s top election rival on Thursday rallied in the Belarussian capital Minsk despite an increasing crackdown on the opposition. The rally came as Belarus authorities accused top members of the opposition of collaborating with Russian fighters to destabilize the ex-Soviet country. Backers of political novice Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | July 30

Russia has confirmed 834,499 cases of coronavirus and 13,802 deaths. July 30: 3 things you need to know today Russia’s coronavirus vaccine could be administered to civilians as soon as Aug. 15, Interfax cited a source at the state-run Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology as saying. The source said the Health Ministry will likely register the…

Russian Mercenaries in Belarus: All You Need to Know

Belarus has arrested 33 Russian mercenaries allegedly plotting to destabilize the country ahead of next month’s presidential election. Belarus’ KGB security service said the detained men were members of the Wagner group, a shadowy private military firm reportedly controlled by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin which promotes Moscow’s interests in Ukraine, Syria, Libya…

Russia Vows ‘Promising’ Virus Vaccines in September

Russia said Wednesday that it plans to begin production of two “promising” coronavirus vaccines in September and October as Moscow races to develop a formula before Western countries. At a meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova singled out two vaccines under development by a research institute in Moscow and a lab in Siberia. “Today…

Belarus Detains 33 Russian Wagner Mercenaries Ahead of Presidential Election – Report

Belarussian law enforcement has detained 33 mercenaries from the private Russian military contractor Wagner Group less than two weeks before the country’s presidential election, the Belarus state-run Belta news agency reported Wednesday. The surprise announcement is the latest twist in an extraordinary election campaign that has seen strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko jail his key would-be…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | July 29

Russia has confirmed 828,990 cases of coronavirus and 13,673 deaths. July 29: 3 things you need to know today Russia’s coronavirus vaccine could be administered to civilians as soon as Aug. 15, Interfax cited a source at the state-run Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology as saying. The source said the Health Ministry will likely register the vaccine,…

Finland Suspects Russian Jets Violated Airspace

Two Russian fighter jets are suspected of violating Finnish airspace off the coast of Helsinki on Tuesday, the Finnish Defense Ministry said.  The incident “occurred over the Gulf of Finland near Helsinki at around 2:00 p.m. Finnish time (11:00 GMT)” and the border surveillance authority has opened an investigation to confirm the violation, the ministry said…

Jailed Russian Ex-Journalist Safronov Isolated With Suspected Coronavirus

Ivan Safronov, a former journalist arrested on treason charges, has been isolated in jail with suspected coronavirus, prison watchdog representatives told Interfax on Monday. Safronov was arrested this month shortly after leaving his decade-long journalism career to become a media adviser to Russia’s space chief. He was placed in pre-trial detention in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison…

Russia Coronavirus Cases Pass 820K

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow, the western Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiysk and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | July 27

Russia has confirmed 818,120 cases of coronavirus and 13,354 deaths. July 27: 3 things you need to know today Russia plans to administer its experimental coronavirus vaccine on healthcare professionals next month before its clinical trials are completed, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Thursday. Russian schools across the country will re-open for the new school year on Sept. 1,…

Russia Coronavirus Cases Approach 820K

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow, the western Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiysk and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military…

Ex-Vedomosti Journalists Launch New Outlet Following Pro-Kremlin Censorship Scandal

Former senior editors and journalists from the Vedomosti business daily are launching a new media project after the appointment of a pro-Kremlin editor-in-chief sparked accusations of censorship and a mass departure of staff from the paper. VTimes aims to continue Vedomosti’s tradition of independent journalism and editorial objectivity. “More than ever before Russia needs independent…

Russian Election Activists Arrested at Conference

Members of the Russian “United Democrats” movement, which campaigns for meaningful elections, were arrested in the western Tatarstan region on Saturday, the group said on Facebook. Russian special forces seized the members in the Tatarstan capital Kazan “to investigate their involvement in terrorism,” the group said, without giving details. Anastasia Burakova, one of the movement’s…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | July 26

Russia has confirmed 812,485 cases of coronavirus and 13,269 deaths. July 26: 3 things you need to know today Russia plans to administer its experimental coronavirus vaccine on healthcare professionals next month before its clinical trials are completed, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Thursday. Russia plans to restart international flights to Britain, Turkey and Tanzania on Aug. 1…

Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | July 25

Russia has confirmed 806,720 cases of coronavirus and 13,192 deaths. July 25: 3 things you need to know today Russia plans to administer its experimental coronavirus vaccine on healthcare professionals next month before its clinical trials are completed, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Thursday. Russia plans to restart international flights to Britain, Turkey and Tanzania on Aug.…

Chechnya’s Kadyrov ‘Sanctions’ Pompeo, Accuses Him of ‘Ordering’ George Floyd’s Killing

The head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya has declared “all the sanctions” in his region on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, baselessly claiming that the U.S. official ordered the killing of African-American man George Floyd that sparked anti-racism protests in the United States. Pompeo’s State Department placed Ramzan Kadyrov on its blacklist of human…

Russia to Vaccinate Medics for Coronavirus in August

Russia plans to administer its experimental coronavirus vaccine on healthcare professionals next month before its clinical trials are completed, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Thursday. Russia’s adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by military and government researchers is in Phase II trials with plans to launch the next and final phase sometime after Aug. 3. The vaccine…