Only half of Russia’s Olympic team has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, significantly lower than other countries taking part in the games. More than 11,000 athletes will take part in the delayed Tokyo Olympics starting this week, and the International Olympics Committee (IOC) has said that at least 80% of all athletes and staff…
Russian state television cut to a commercial during the Ukrainian Olympic team’s appearance in its broadcast of the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony Friday. During the Opening Ceremony’s parade of athletes — which took place in a nearly empty stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic — Russia’s Channel One took a commercial shortly before the Ugandan…
Russia added investigative news website The Insider to its registry of “foreign agents” Friday, a designation that risks cratering its business model. The Insider is best known for its work alongside U.K.-based Bellingcat in investigating the 2020 poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the 2018 poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain. It…
Russia is going ahead with plans to deliver Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets to Myanmar’s increasingly isolated military regime, a top defense cooperation official was quoted as saying Friday. Moscow has continued to support Myanmar with arms deals and military delegation visits following the ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint…
Jailed former journalist Ivan Safronov has said he will not make a plea bargain with Russian authorities over what he argues is an unfounded investigation into treason. Safronov’s lawyers said last month that investigators had pressured him to take a plea deal in exchange for a phone call to his mother on her birthday, an…
The head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, an organization weighed down by a protracted doping scandal, believes his athletes are headed to the Tokyo Games with an unfair disadvantage. Still, Stanislav Pozdnyakov wants his Olympians to haul home dozens of medals. “The national flag and the national anthem are additional motivating factors… for any athlete,” he…
Divorces in Russia have reached a seven-year high so far in 2021 with the country’s conservative, Muslim-majority regions unexpectedly seeing the biggest increases, the MBKh Media news website reported Wednesday. The 251,000 divorces filed between January-May accounted for a 44% increase over the same period in 2020, the outlet said, citing the FinExpertiza consultancy. The…
Argentina is in a “very critical situation” as it faces a shortage of second doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, a senior official told Russian vaccine producers earlier this month in a leaked email obtained by Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper. In the July 7 email addressed to Anatoly Braverman, a senior official at the…
Russian authorities on Thursday jailed Pussy Riot member Rita Flores for 15 days on charges of disobeying police, an arrest the group said was for “no damn reason.” Flores’ arrest is the most recent in a growing string of detentions, self-imposed exiles and jail sentences against members of the collective in 2021. Here’s what you…
Moscow has a reputation for fiercely defending its standing on the world stage, but in a years-long and embarrassing doping scandal in sports, it’s playing a different game. Russia is banned from the Tokyo Olympics this summer, a ruling stemming from revelations in 2015 that officials covered up widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs among its…
Russia will help Tajikistan build an outpost on the ex-Soviet state’s border with Afghanistan, a senior diplomat said Friday as Moscow stepped up activity in the region amid a Taliban offensive that has seen the group capture swathes of Afghan territory from government forces. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told the state-run RIA Novosti news…
The Avangard, the Kinzhal and now the Tsirkon – Russia is leading the race to develop a range of new hypersonic weapons that President Vladimir Putin has dubbed “invincible.” Moscow’s latest step came this week with another successful test of the Tsirkon, a ship-launched hypersonic missile. Fired from one of Russia’s most powerful warships, the…
The Russian government is taking Ukraine to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over a slew of issues ranging from violence during anti-government protests and the downing of flight MH17 in 2014. The filing marks Russia’s first-ever interstate complaint with the ECHR. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, which took over the Justice Ministry in…
Russia has “successfully disconnected” from the world wide web during tests of its “sovereign internet” technology, the RBC news website reported Wednesday. Authorities have long flirted with tightening control over the internet on Russian territory, with past attempts to unplug from the global internet having mixed success. The June 15-July 15 test run “tested the…
The Kremlin said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had expressed their satisfaction with the near completion of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline during phone talks. “The leaders are satisfied with the construction of Nord Stream 2 nearing completion,” the Kremlin said in a statement after the talks. During…
A Moscow court on Wednesday extended by six months the house arrest of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s spokeswoman, a top ally said. Russia will hold parliamentary elections in September, and ahead of the polls authorities declared Navalny’s organizations extremist and barred his allies from running. Navalny’s 31-year-old spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, has been under house…
The United States said Wednesday it had reached an agreement with Germany on the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would threaten Russia with sanctions and seek to extend the transit of gas through Ukraine. President Joe Biden’s Republican rivals swiftly denounced the agreement as emboldening President Vladimir Putin but the administration argued that it…
Russian-born, Dubai-based tech billionaire Pavel Durov’s phone number is listed among the 50,000 numbers believed to have been chosen for global surveillance through military-grade spyware, The Guardian reported Wednesday. Investigative reports said politicians, journalists and activists from dozens of countries were the potential targets of the Pegasus spyware, which was developed by Israeli firm NSO…
The Kremlin sees no need to take extra security measures in light of revelations that Israeli-made Pegasus anti-terrorism spyware was misused to monitor politicians, journalists and activists around the world. Russian nationals do not yet appear to be listed in a leak of almost 50,000 phone numbers from 45 countries that investigative reports said were…
The Russian wife of a Nigerian student who drowned while rescuing a swimmer is facing racist online attacks driven by a notorious hate group leader. Richard Eluemunor drowned on a city beach Saturday in Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad, unable to break free from a current out of which he had pushed a drowning woman. He…
A northern Siberian region plagued by unprecedented fires is experiencing one of the world’s “worst ever” air pollution events with the concentration of pollutants in the air far exceeding global standards, according to The Guardian. The republic of Sakha’s capital of Yakutsk has been under stay-home orders due to fast-spreading wildfires that blanketed dozens of…
Russia on Tuesday unveiled its new Sukhoi stealth fighter jet designed to compete with the US F-35 and capable of striking six targets simultaneously. Dubbed “The Checkmate,” the plane was first shown to a reportedly “pleased” President Vladimir Putin before the launch at a biennial airshow outside Moscow. Reports first surfaced that the jet was…
Climate change is the main factor behind the massive wildfires burning across the northern Siberian republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutia, the region’s head Aisen Nikolaev told the Yakutia 24 television channel Tuesday. Russia’s largest, coldest region has been under a state of emergency for nearly a month due to the fast-spreading wildfires covering…
A growing number of Kremlin critics have fled Russia in recent weeks, citing fears of prosecution in the wake of nationwide protests in support of jailed Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny and ahead of high-stakes parliamentary elections. While many of those who have left are allies of Navalny, others are longtime opposition politicians or intellectuals not…
Russian investigators said Tuesday they have uncovered a multi-million ruble bribery scheme run by dozens of senior traffic police officers, with the top cop’s golden toilet bowl stealing the show. In what looked more like a luxury real estate ad, the Investigative Committee published footage of police colonel Alexei Safonov’s opulent residence in southern Russia’s…
Russia’s military has for the first time released footage of a live fire test of its advanced S-500 Prometheus missile system on Tuesday. The footage showed the vehicle elevating into the launch-ready position, releasing the radar and firing a missile into the air. The Defense Ministry said in a statement that the launch took place…
St. Petersburg-based media reported Monday that it had uncovered a secret underground prison disguised as a cottage with a human-sized crematory in an abandoned village outside Russia’s second city. Video shared by the city’s 47news.ru outlet showed two prison cells with bunk beds and toilets in the cottage’s flooded basement. Next to one of the…
Russian tanks stationed at Moscow’s base in Tajikistan have arrived at training grounds near the border with Afghanistan ahead of army drills next month, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. Russia will stage military drills from Aug. 5 to 10 with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan at the Harb-Maidon training ground near the border with Afghanistan where the…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has published a list of military information that is off-limits to foreigners on national security grounds, including nearly every aspect of state space agency Roscosmos that has been plagued by corruption scandals in recent years. The draft list is not classified but the FSB, acting on President Vladimir Putin’s orders,…
St. Petersburg residents will be faced with a unique choice when they head to the polls in this fall’s elections: Which of the three Boris Vishnevskys should get their vote? The Russian city’s most vocal opposition politician is running for both the local legislative assembly and federal parliament in September, and authorities appear to be…
Russia said Monday it will stage military drills next month with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan near the border with Afghanistan where the Taliban has led a lightning offensive against government troops. The insurgents have capitalized on the withdrawal of foreign troops to launch a series of offensives across the country. Afghan government troops and refugees have…
American investor Michael Calvey reiterated his innocence and said his acquittal “could lead to billions of dollars in new investment in Russia” in his final statement to court on Monday. Russian prosecutors are seeking a six-year suspended sentence for Calvey, who has been one of the country’s leading foreign investors for decades, in a criminal…
Russia has reportedly consented to allow the United States to use its bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for limited security operations in Afghanistan, according to a newspaper report over the weekend, although mutual suspicions may scupper any cooperation before it can begin. The countries in question, meanwhile, are not known to have been consulted directly…
Scientists believe that Russia has reached 60% herd immunity through a combination of vaccines and infections as the country struggles to increase vaccination rates amid a deadly Delta variant-driven surge in the pandemic. The Kremlin admitted last month that it won’t meet its original target of vaccinating 60% of the population by the fall after…
A botched deal to supply 1 million Sputnik V doses to Kenya was part of the same controversial Emirati scheme which has seen an Abu Dhabi-based company with royal connections ink deals to resell Russia’s flagship coronavirus vaccine at huge mark-ups. Documents obtained by The Moscow Times confirm that Russia named Aurugulf Health Investments —…
Russia said Monday it had carried out another successful test of its Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile, a new addition to an arsenal of weapons called “invincible” by President Vladimir Putin. Moscow has in recent years touted the development of futuristic weapons which it hopes will give it the edge in any arms race with the…
A Russian legal group that recently defended the organizations of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny said on Sunday it was disbanding over fears of criminal sanctions. Team 29 said its website had been blocked after a request from prosecutors, who accuse the group of links with a Czech organization that has been deemed “undesirable.” Since Navalny’s…
Russian officials hailed a “miracle” on Friday after a passenger plane made an emergency landing in a Siberian field and all 18 people on board emerged, suffering only cuts and bruises. The An-28 plane, operated by Siberian Light Aviation (SiLA), was flying from the town of Kedrovy to Tomsk when communication was lost, Governor Sergei…
Russian investigative journalism outlet Proekt was added to the country’s registry of “undesirable” organizations Thursday, banning its activity in Russia and putting its staff at risk of legal penalties including jail time. The designation is the latest example of Russia’s crackdown on independent and investigative media in recent months, with multiple organizations and individuals being…
Eight swimmers from around the world braved the freezing waters of Lake Baikal in Siberia this week to raise awareness toward the environmental threats facing the world’s largest and oldest freshwater lake. Lake Baikal, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been plagued with environmental problems caused by industrial pollution, mining, sewage discharge and agricultural run-off.…
Belarus on Friday jailed 11 university students and raided the homes of 18 journalists in a continuing crackdown on the opposition by President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. A court in the authoritarian country sentenced 10 students and a teacher to two years and six months in prison on charges of violating public order. Another student was…
Muscovites and guests of the capital will no longer be required to present QR codes in order to dine indoors at Moscow’s restaurants, cafes and bars, according to a mayoral decree published Friday. The decree comes into effect starting Monday, July 19, exactly three weeks after the controversial measure was put in place. Last month,…
President Vladimir Putin’s lengthy treatise on Russia and Ukraine’s shared history has been added to the Russian military’s curriculum, the RBC news website reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reportedly personally ordered the 5,300-word opus published by the Kremlin on Monday to be added into the military-patriotic directorate’s curriculum. Russian media called…
Russia on Friday said that the United States had failed in its mission in Afghanistan and blamed the withdrawal of foreign forces for the war-torn country’s rapidly deteriorating stability. Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have capitalised on the last stages of the withdrawal of foreign troops to launch offensives, capturing a swath of districts and border…
Independent Russian investigative outlet Proekt has promised a new and potentially explosive investigation in the coming week in defiance of its new “undesirable” ban. Proekt is Russia’s first news outlet to be declared “undesirable,” a designation that forces labeled organizations to disband and places members and financial contributors at risk of significant jail time. Over…
Russian prosecutors have asked for a six-year suspended sentence for American investor Michael Calvey in an embezzlement case that has sent shockwaves through the Russian business establishment, Calvey’s lawyer confirmed to The Moscow Times on Thursday. Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s court hearing, Calvey slammed the request, saying his innocence was fully proven in documents…
Russia has added independent investigative outlet Proekt to its registry of “undesirable” organizations, a designation that bans the outlet’s activities and puts its staff at risk of jail time, and labeled several of its journalists “foreign agents.” Founded in 2018, Proekt, one of the country’s last independent news outlets, has been behind several high-profile investigations…
A pair of elite Russian swimmers have been provisionally suspended from the Tokyo Olympics over doping violations on the eve of the games, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced in a statement on its website Wednesday. The athletes, Veronika Andrusenko and Alexander Kudashev, had been set to compete under the banner of the Russian Olympic…
Russian officials’ plans to restrict live streams from polling stations in upcoming parliamentary elections have been met with accusations of pre-emptive attempts to conceal voter fraud, including ballot stuffing. Russia’s Central Election Committee (CEC) said Wednesday that only members, candidates and political parties will have access to the live feeds when voters go to the…
At St. Petersburg’s historic Baltic Shipyard, cranes hover over the shining Neva River as hundreds of workers build four nuclear-powered icebreakers. Fronted by a Russian flag and named after the country’s northern regions, the giant vessels are meant to ensure Moscow’s dominance over the melting Arctic. Russia has scrambled to become a leading power in…
The German government has said it is unable to help repair a Siberian village road in response to appeals from local residents, Russia’s Sib.Realii news website reported Wednesday. Residents of Verkhny Karbush, which was founded by ethnic Germans, sent two letters and filmed a video last month asking for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s help after…
An ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny who is running for local office has said that she faces a court-approved forced hospitalization in a coronavirus ward despite her negative Covid-19 test, preventing her from submitting election paperwork on time. Violetta Grudina, who had headed Navalny’s political network in the far northern city of Murmansk,…
Russia on Wednesday launched military exercises in Tajikistan as the Taliban continue their blistering offensive in neighboring Afghanistan. The militants in recent weeks have brought huge swathes of the country under their control as foreign troops withdraw, including Afghanistan’s main Shir Khan Bandar border crossing with Tajikistan. Moscow is closely watching the offensive, concerned about…
The FBI and U.S. federal prosecutors are investigating an American company for allegedly bypassing sanctions to supply lab equipment for Russia’s weapons of mass destruction programs, The Daily Beast reported Tuesday, citing newly unsealed documents it said it obtained. According to the federal court documents, Intertech Corporation allegedly “intentionally falsified shipping documents, avoided and circumvented…
Russia recorded its highest-ever daily death toll from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic on Wednesday, the country’s Covid-19 task force said. Russia reported 23,827 new coronavirus cases and 786 deaths on Wednesday as the country battles the surging Delta variant first detected in India. The country’s previous record daily death count of…
Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. climate envoy John Kerry that Moscow and Washington have a shared interest in battling climate change, the Kremlin said Wednesday, in a rare area of common ground between the rivals. “The climate problem is one of the areas where Russia and the United States have common interests and similar…
Russian athletes competing under a neutral flag have been instructed to avoid answering “provocative” political questions at the Tokyo Olympics that will open to mostly empty stands next week, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday. “No comment” is the most commonly recommended response on issues ranging from Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the Russian doping…
A Russian-based hacker group blamed for a massive ransomware attack went offline Tuesday, sparking speculation about whether the move was the result of a government-led action. The “dark web” page of the group known as REvil disappeared some two weeks after an attack that crippled networks of hundreds of companies worldwide and prompted a ransom…
Authorities in Russia’s largest and coldest region have politely declined Hollywood actor and environmental activist Leonard DiCaprio’s offer to help with its fast-spreading wildfires. Russia’s Far East republic of Sakha, known by its former name of Yakutia, has been ravaged by wildfires since the start of the fire season, with forests the size of Latvia…
June 2021 was the second-hottest June in Russia’s recorded history, with even more record-breaking heat to come, the country’s weather chief said at a press conference Tuesday. Russia recorded its all-time temperature record for the month of June less than a decade ago in 2012. The country can expect to see more records broken in…