Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Monday he was ready to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Minsk for talks that he said should also involve Germany, Britain, the United States and France. Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been very strained since Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and its support…
The 14 Russian sailors killed in last week’s nuclear submarine fire may have prevented a “planetary catastrophe,” a high-ranking officer has reportedly said at their funeral ceremony this weekend. The sailors were killed on July 1 when a fire broke out as their deep-water research submarine was surveying the seafloor near the Arctic, the Russian…
A Georgian television host has stirred controversy with profanity-laden remarks against Russian President Vladimir Putin live on air, prompting protests and leading the channel to suspend broadcasting. The controversy occurred amid weeks of violent protests in the former Soviet republic following a visit by a Russian lawmaker. The protests quickly devolved into a double crisis,…
A former presidential guard from the West African nation of Togo who faces the death penalty for helping his country’s opposition will be deported from Russia, Moscow-based activists have said. Russia has for the past five years denied refugee status to Bozobeyidou Batoma, 42, a former member of the Togolese commando guard force, Russia’s Civic…
At least 544 civilians have been killed and over 2,000 people injured since a Russian-led assault on the last rebel bastion in northwestern Syria began two months ago, rights groups and rescuers said on Saturday. Russian jets joined the Syrian army on April 26 in the biggest offensive against parts of rebel-held Idlib province and adjoining…
Shiyes is the name of a small train station on Russia’s Northern Railway, located some 1,200 kilometers north-east of Moscow. It used to be the site of a logging camp that was officially shut down in 1974. A few people stayed on, until the very last resident packed up and left in 2002. Muscovites probably…
The Moscow Urban Forum took place this week, hosting 8,500 people passionate about urbanism and architecture from 69 different countries. One of the topics that captured the audience’s attention was about the kinds of homes that should be built for the millennial generation, to satisfy their needs while respecting the environment.
Libyan security forces arrested two Russian nationals accused of trying to influence upcoming elections in the North African oil-exporter, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg. The letter from state prosecutors for the internationally recognized government in Tripoli said the Russians had been involved in “securing a meeting” with Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the fugitive son…
Five Russian security service officers have been arrested and two placed under house arrest by a military court in Moscow on charges of robbery, Interfax reported on Friday. Previous conflicting reports had said six unnamed Federal Security Service (FSB) officers had been detained on suspicion of either embezzlement or robbery on Thursday. After initially reporting…
On July Fourth, 50 workers from the GAZ van maker’s Nizhny Novgorod factory rallied on behalf of their 40,000-strong workforce in front of the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Moscow. Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska and his van maker were slapped with U.S. sanctions in April 2018. While a decision on lifting sanctions against the company has…
An assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide in the Urals has been detained on suspicion of state treason, news outlets have reported Friday. The Federal Security Service (FSB) said earlier in the day it had taken Alexander Vorobyov into custody on treason charges on Thursday. He faces 12-20 years in prison and fines up to…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday bestowed top state honors on 14 sailors killed in a fire on a secret nuclear submarine in recognition of what the Russian military has called their outstanding bravery. The sailors were killed on Monday when a fire broke out while their deep-water research submarine was carrying out a survey…
NATO and Russia did not make significant progress on saving the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in talks at the alliance headquarters on Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Barring a last-minute decision by Russia to destroy a new medium-range missile that NATO says violates the INF, the United States is set to pull out…
Sergey Shoigu met with President Putin on Thursday morning after visiting Severomorsk, the Northern Fleet headquarters on Wednesday. According to the defense minister, the special purpose submarine can be fully restored and returned to service. “The constructors of the vessel and industry representatives have been engaged in order to estimate the work volume and time…
The race to claim Europe’s tallest buildings is on, and it’s being fought on Russian soil. Moscow City Hall has announced plans on Friday to build the tallest apartment tower in Europe a year after the city lost its claim to Europe’s tallest building to St. Petersburg. Officials say the 101-story “One Tower” will stand…
Russian efforts to boost influence over Ukraine at its neighbor’s election this month are making little headway. Ties between the one-time allies remain at a nadir after protesters in Kiev unseated the country’s Kremlin-backed leader in 2014 and Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea before fomenting a war in which he still denies involvement. That’s left Ukraine…
President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has grown in recent months but remains at pre-Crimean annexation lows, an independent Levada Center polling agency survey said on Friday. Putin’s approval ratings have hovered in the mid-to-low 60s since he enacted unpopular reforms gradually increasing Russians’ retirement ages last summer. Putin’s job approval has climbed to 68 percent…
Russian research scientists defended the way they released eight whales back into the wild last week and said on Thursday they would release scores more of the captive animals in the same way despite anger from environmental groups. Russia returned two killer and six beluga whales to their natural habitat in the Sea of Okhotsk…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he hoped Italy would battle to restore fully fledged relations between the European Union and Russia and help persuade the bloc’s new leadership that sanctions on Moscow were counter-productive. Putin, speaking at a news conference after holding talks with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Rome, said Russia…
Factory workers from U.S. sanctions-hit van maker GAZ performed an anti-sanctions rap song and staged a picket outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during its July Fourth celebration. Workers from GAZ’s Yaroslavl factory had this week filmed a music video for the anti-sanctions song, which uses the beat from rapper Coolio’s 1990s hit “Gangsta’s Paradise.”…
Russia’s state education watchdog has issued accreditation to one of the country’s leading private universities’ master’s degree programs after a three-year lapse. The watchdog, Rosobrnadzor, stripped the European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP) of its accreditation and revoked its license over building code violations in 2016, taking over its main campus in early 2018. It restored…
Opposition politicians are facing mounting challenges from officials in St. Petersburg in getting on the ballot ahead of local elections this fall, Russian media outlets have reported. Voters in over a dozen Russian regions and cities, including St. Petersburg, will head to the polls in September to elect their executive and legislative representatives. Observers have…
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a formal diplomatic protest to Japan after accusing Tokyo of circulating a map at its G20 summit showing a disputed island chain as Japanese territory, the ministry’s spokeswoman said on Thursday. The islands — known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuriles in Russia — have been…
The construction and testing of Russia’s first power plant are declared completed. On Thursday morning the installation was officially handed over from Baltic Yard to Rosatom. At the ceremony, representatives of two Russian state companies signed a document saying that the Akademik Lomonosov passed all necessary tests and successfully met requirements. “It marks a significant…
The 15,469-ton installation earlier called “Nan Hai Ba Hao” has been discharged from a heavy-lift vessel Red Zed I and is now ready to start working in the Kola Bay. According to the Russian port management authority Rosmorport, the operation was conducted on June 30 and included complicated navigational exercises. The rig will be located…
Vladimir Putin is too busy to think about what happens after his presidency comes to an end. Questions of succession have surrounded the year 2024, when current law requires Putin to step down after two consecutive terms. Observers have speculated that he could keep a grip on power through possible integration with neighboring close ally…
HIV infections are on the rise and are increasingly affecting Russia’s older population, according to a consumer watchdog report cited by the RBC news website. More than 1.2 million people live with HIV in Russia, a figure experts say is likely underreported and that the World Health Organization warns is at risk of spinning out…
Women in Russia will be allowed to work as truck drivers and serve in the navy under new rules taking effect in 2021, the RBC news website reported Thursday. The Russian government bans women from holding 456 jobs in 38 industries that entail physically strenuous tasks or harmful working conditions. The restrictions have been unchanged…
Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosed on Thursday for the first time that a secret military submarine hit by a fatal fire three days ago was nuclear-powered, prompting Russia‘s defense minister to assure him its reactor had been safely contained. Russian officials have faced accusations of trying to cover up the full details of the accident that…
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Pope Francis on Thursday, a day before Ukraine’s Catholic leaders were due at the Vatican to discuss their country’s crisis, and amid speculation that his visit could be a prelude to the first trip by a pope to Russia. “Thank you for the time you have dedicated to me,” Putin…
Russians are buying up property in neighboring Georgia and in Turkey despite political tensions, according to research cited by Russia’s Kommersant business daily. Demand for foreign real estate among Russians has surged by 70 percent between 2016 and 2018, with Bulgaria, Turkey and Spain grabbing top spots. Experts say tight Western sanctions at home combined…
Svetlana Semyonova, 32, returned to her devastated home after abandoning it last week as a flood was sweeping through the region to find furniture broken, her daughters’ Disney wallpaper sodden and debris everywhere. “It’s all destroyed,” said Semyonova on Tuesday standing in her children’s room, gesturing at a pile of furniture she will have to…
The Noah’s Ark of 21st-century Russia is a tank. Modern-day saviors in Siberia are roaming the aquatic streets aboard an armored vehicle in search of animal survivors of the floods that hit the Irkutsk region. Widely shared videos show rescuers navigating the waters on an amphibious armored scout car and catching animals perched atop destroyed…
Neocolonialism should never set foot on the African continent again, Russia’s leading legislator has said at a parliamentary forum ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s first Russia-Africa summit this fall. Russia has expanded its presence in Africa since 2014, with at least 20 military cooperation deals signed since Western nations sanctioned Russia for annexing Crimea. Yevgeny…
The Boiky and Stoiky, two of Russia’s newest naval vessels, jointly engaged in training exercises for the search, detection and destruction of conditional enemy submarines in the Norwegian Sea, the Russian Navy said. The ships applied their anti-submarine armament and tested air-defense systems as part of the training. It was part of a longer voyage,…
Fourteen submariners on board a Russian deep-sea research vessel were killed in a fire while surveying the sea floor off the country’s Arctic coast on Monday. The accident is far from the first deadly submarine accident to take place in Russia, where such tragedies have a long history. news What We Know About Russia’s Deadly…
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said that he addressed the downing of Flight MH17 with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit last week. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by a missile in July 2014 over territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine as it was flying from Amsterdam to…
Russian commentators have challenged officials for not releasing full details about an accident on board a military submarine that killed 14 sailors. The incident took place on Monday, according to the Defense Ministry, but was not officially disclosed until late on Tuesday. Nearly two days on, there was still no word on whether the submarine…
Marking the UK-Russia Year of Music in 2019, Rosneft and BP have agreed to support the creation of a unique musical joint venture, the Russo-British Britten-Shostakovich Festival Orchestra (BSFO).
Fourteen sailors were killed in a fire on board a Russian Defense Ministry research vessel while carrying out a survey of the sea floor off Russia’s Arctic coast. President Vladimir Putin has dispatched Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Severomorsk, the Russian naval base on the Barents Sea where the submarine is now located, to find…
When Vladimir Putin announced at the weekend that OPEC would extend oil production cuts, broadcasting a deal before the group had even met to approve it, the move angered some member nations. They were dismayed at the leading role non-OPEC Russia, once seen as an enemy in oil markets, was playing in shaping the group’s…
Russia’s population numbers are declining “catastrophically” with several regions vastly underestimating their death rates, a top government official has said. Russia has struggled with a demographic crisis in recent years, with population numbers falling for the first time in a decade to 146.8 million last year. Official data for 2019 places Russia’s population at 146.7…
Europe’s human rights court has awarded $100,000 to activists who had been arrested or whose protests had been dispersed by the authorities in 2006, 2007 and 2010. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) heard nine cases alleging that the Russian government had violated the activists’ freedom of assembly and expression in Moscow and three…
Russians are less likely to believe in the power of magic or the supernatural today than at any point in the past three decades, according to a state-funded survey published Tuesday. Largely suppressed during Soviet times, pseudoscientific beliefs saw a resurgence in Russian society with the popularity of reality TV shows like “Battle of the…
Fourteen submariners on board a Russian Defense Ministry research vessel were killed in a fire while carrying out a survey of the sea floor off Russia’s Arctic coast, the ministry was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. The incident took place on the AS-12 deep-sea nuclear submarine nicknamed Losharik, an unnamed source in the…
Russia successfully launched a new anti-aircraft missile, its Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. The test launch took place at Sary Shagan range in Kazakhstan, the ministry said. Video published by the Defense Ministry shows the missile soaring into the sky, leaving a pillar of fire and smoke in its wake. Russian military representatives did not…
Russia has successfully launched a new air defense missile, its Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. The test launch took place at Sary Shagan range in Kazakhstan, the ministry said. Video published by the Defense Ministry shows the missile soaring into the sky, leaving a pillar of fire and smoke in its wake. Russian military representatives…
Russia has fallen four spots in three months in a ranking of countries whose citizens enjoy the most freedom of travel abroad, according to a quarterly rating of passport “strength.” The country had tied for 47th place in the January-March index compiled by the Henley & Partners residence and citizenship planning firm, with 118 destinations available…
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the second armed attack on law enforcement in a week in Russia’s republic of Chechnya, the SITE Intelligence Group monitoring website reported Monday. IS has claimed a series of attacks over the past year in Chechnya, a predominately Muslim republic in Russia’s North Caucasus, including…
Two Japanese energy companies have acquired a 10 percent share in Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 liquefied natural gas project. The deal gives Mitsui&Co and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) a 10 percent stake in the major LNG project being developed on Russia’s Arctic coast. It also provides for the long-term annual…
The head of a Siberian region hit by major floods has sparked online backlash for comments addressed toward victims that were deemed insulting. Authorities in the Krasnoyarsk region town of Kansk declared a state of emergency and evacuated dozens of residents amid severe flooding last weekend. The neighboring Irkutsk region bore the brunt of the…
At least three Russian airlines have canceled most of their Tuesday flights to the Czech Republic over what they said was the country’s decision to revoke flight permissions to and from Prague. The flagship carrier Aeroflot and Ural Airlines are the only Russian airlines that perform direct flights to and from Prague. Czech Airlines performs…
A Moscow court jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for 10 days on Monday after finding him guilty of breaking the law when he took part in a street demonstration last month. The Kremlin critic was among more than 500 protesters detained by police while rallying in Moscow to call for the punishment of police…
Fines for violating Russia’s protest laws have increased fivefold in the past six years, an analysis of judicial data said. Almost 6,500 people had cases brought against them for violating the law on organizing public meetings in 2012 and almost 4,500 in 2018, Russia’s police-monitoring OVD-Info website said in research published Monday. Both 2012 and…
Protests erupted in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi last month after a Russian deputy gave a speech in the country’s parliament. Many Georgians said they were offended by the act, citing the 2008 war fought between the countries. We spoke with four young Georgians living in Moscow to hear their views about the protests. Click above…
A senior Russian lawmaker has backed an Orthodox Church proposal to teach the Bible in schools, suggesting it be included in curriculums instead of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s seminal “Gulag Archipelago.” A Church spokesman, spurred by President Vladimir Putin’s endorsement of the texts, had offered over the weekend to include the Bible, the Torah and the Quran…
An errant missile of possible Russian origin struck Cyprus early on Monday in what authorities described as a spillover from strikes between Israel and Syria. The explosion on the ethnically split island occurred some 20 kilometers northeast of the Cypriot capital of Nicosia and did not result in casualties. An Israeli airstrike was underway against…
Russia called on the United States on Monday to free Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko and proposed a prisoner swap with Washington to win the release of any American national held in Russia, Interfax news agency reported. The comments may fuel speculation that Moscow is seeking a prisoner exchange involving Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine…
Russia’s leading independent media have coordinated to publish journalist Ivan Golunov’s investigation into Moscow’s funeral mafia that his colleagues say was tied to his shock arrest last month. Golunov had reported receiving threats after beginning the investigation into the funeral business in February 2018. He reportedly filed a draft of the piece to Alexey Kovalev,…