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Nearly all seafloor-dwelling life in pollution-hit waters off Russia’s Pacific coast in the Kamchatka region has been wiped out in an unexplained mass death of marine animals, scientists told the region’s governor Tuesday.  Images showing hundreds of dead octopuses, large fish, sea urchins and crabs washed up on the shore of Khalaktyrsky beach went viral […]

BISHKEK — Store owners in Kyrgyzstan’s capital spent Monday emptying their premises of stock and boarding up the facades. The day after disputed parliamentary elections triggered widespread protests, they wanted to avoid the looting they’d seen in previous revolutions in 2005 and 2010.      By Tuesday the Central Asian nation’s Central Electoral Commission had canceled the […]

The global chemical weapons watchdog said on Tuesday that samples taken from Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who claims he was poisoned by the Kremlin, contained a Novichok-type nerve agent. The findings by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirm similar results by a military laboratory in Germany, where Navalny was treated […]

Opposition politician Alexei Navalny said Tuesday he hoped to return to Russia within months as he recovers in Berlin from poisoning that he says was ordered by the Kremlin. In his first interview for a Russian audience, Navalny spoke Tuesday to a popular YouTube blogger, Yury Dud, in a video that has been already viewed […]

Hundreds of Russians on Tuesday held a memorial procession for a journalist who died after setting herself on fire while rights groups demanded an end to the police intimidation that is believed to have triggered her self-immolation. Irina Slavina, the editor-in-chief of the independent KozaPress news outlet, died Friday after setting herself on fire in […]

Kyrgyzstan’s electoral body said Tuesday it was canceling the results of a disputed parliamentary vote that plunged the Central Asian nation into violence and political chaos. The ex-Soviet nation’s Central Electoral Commission said in a statement that it had “invalidated the election results” which saw parties close to pro-Russian President Sooronbay Jeenbekov score big wins […]

Russian investigators have opened a criminal case into the alleged torture of children living at a monastery in central Russia that has been under the control of an excommunicated, coronavirus-denying priest since June.  Dozens of children live in the Sredneuralsk women’s monastery near Yekaterinburg, which was captured by its spiritual leader Father Sergei Romanov after […]

Russia has confirmed 1,237,504 cases of coronavirus and 21,663 deaths. Oct. 6: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 11,615 new Covid-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 1,237,504. Tuesday’s increase is just 41 fewer than the country’s highest daily total of 11,656 which was recorded on May 11. The Russian capital re-opened two temporary […]

Russia’s second candidate vaccine against the coronavirus will be tested on six times the original number of volunteers as part of final clinical trials for safety and effectiveness, health authorities said Monday. The government is expected to approve the peptide-based EpiVacCorona vaccine developed by a Siberian-based biotechnology company on or around Oct. 15. It completed […]

Protesters seized Kyrgyzstan’s seat of government and freed a jailed former president on Tuesday after demonstrations against an election marred by vote-buying accusations spiralled into violent clashes with police. Opposition supporters hit the streets of the capital Bishkek the previous evening to demand the resignation of pro-Russian President Sooronbay Jeenbekov and a re-run of Sunday’s […]

Riot police in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek used water cannon, stun grenades and tear gas to disperse protesters at a rally against the results of a parliamentary vote late Monday.  Dozens of demonstrators scaled gates guarding the house of government after thousands gathered to protest the results of Sunday’s vote that was marked by allegations of […]

Russia experienced the warmest September in its 130-year recorded history last month, the state weather service said Monday as climate change continues to reshape the country’s weather patterns.  Nearly every geographical region except southeast Russia experienced temperatures several degrees above their September averages, according to the Russian Hydrometeorology Center’s chief specialist Marina Makarova. “The largest […]

Striking dockers in Russia’s Far East capital of Vladivostok tossed their helmets at upper management in protest during an attempted negotiation Monday, the local VL.ru news website reported.   Video shows the Far East Shipping Company (FESCO) President Arkady Korostelev and Roman Kukharuk, the newly appointed manager of its subsidiary the Commercial Port of Vladivostok, attempting […]

Russian scientists have not shared the data behind controversial clinical trial results into a coronavirus vaccine published in leading medical journal The Lancet a month ago, researchers who requested the information told The Moscow Times. A group of 37 scientists from 12 countries have now signed an open letter questioning the published results into Russia’s […]

Official government statistics suggest that more than 45,000 Russians with coronavirus have died since the start of the pandemic, double the number of deaths estimated by Russia’s coronavirus task force. According to state statistics agency Rosstat, 45,663 people diagnosed with Covid-19 have died between April and August in Russia. The national task force, which collates […]

Russia on Monday recorded a rise in coronavirus cases close to the maximum level in May but it has stopped short of reimposing strict lockdown measures. With the fourth-highest number of cases in the global pandemic, Russia introduced harsh measures during the first outbreak of the virus including the closure of borders from March while […]

Authorities in Far East Russia believe the recent mass deaths of marine animals along the Pacific coast could be the result of manmade pollution, natural phenomena or a volcano-related earthquake.  Kamchatka region governor Vladimir Solodov put forward the three theories after images showing hundreds of dead marine animals washed up on the shore of Khalaktyrsky […]

Belarusian police on Sunday used water cannon to disperse a rally in Minsk as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the latest weekend protest against strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed re-election. Demonstrators dedicated their march — which came after Brussels and Washington introduced sanctions against a number of Belarusian officials — to the plight of […]

Fears are mounting over an environmental disaster in Russia’s Far East after locals reported finding dozens of dead sea animals washed onto a beach from the Pacific Ocean. Greenpeace said tests conducted on water samples taken from around Khalaktyrsky beach in Russia’s Kamchatka region showed petroleum levels four times higher than usual, and phenol levels […]

Russia has confirmed 1,215,001 cases of coronavirus and 21,358 deaths. Oct. 4: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 10,499 new Covid-19 cases Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 1,215,001 as the number of new infections across the country continues to rise.  Moscow could receive bulk shipments of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of […]

A Russian man goes on trial Wednesday accused of assassinating a former Chechen commander in a Berlin park on Moscow’s orders, a case that has cast a pall over ties between Russia and Germany. Vadim K., also known as Vadim S., stands accused of gunning down a Georgian national identified by German authorities as 40-year-old […]

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces were engaged in fierce clashes Saturday as fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region intensified, with Armenia reporting heavy losses and its leader saying it was facing a historic threat. Armenia’s defense ministry said separatist forces had repelled a massive attack by Azerbaijan, seven days after new fighting erupted in the decades-old […]

Russia has confirmed 1,204,502 cases of coronavirus and 21,251 deaths. Oct. 3: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 9,859 new Covid-19 cases Saturday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 1,204,502 as the number of new infections across the country continues to rise.  Ukraine’s former President Petro Poroshenko has been hospitalized with double pneumonia, his wife said […]

The United States and the EU hit Belarus officials with long-awaited sanctions over the country’s political crisis on Friday, drawing an angry response from Minsk and its ally Moscow. After more than six weeks of diplomatic efforts, EU leaders finally persuaded Cyprus to drop its block on sanctions at a summit in Brussels, opening the […]

The marriage of convenience between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confounded sceptics by withstanding Russian and Turkish rivalries in Syria and Libya. Now, with the deadliest fighting in decades returning to Azerbaijan’s Armenian separatist region of Nagorno Karabakh, the bond between the two strong-willed leaders is being tested in Russia’s own backyard, analysts said. […]

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said he should be blamed instead of President Vladimir Putin for the Novichok poisoning that incapacitated Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for over a month.  The loyal Putin ally’s remarks join a series of rebukes from Russian officials after Navalny blamed Putin for the incident that threatens to deteriorate Moscow’s already […]

A Russian journalist has died after setting herself on fire outside police headquarters in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russian media reported Friday. Irina Slavina, the editor-in-chief of the KozaPress news outlet died at the scene, the Baza and 112 Telegram channels reported. “I ask you to blame the Russian Federation for my death,” Slavina, […]

Armenia accused Azerbaijani forces of striking the main city in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Friday as fighting raged for a sixth day. Yerevan said it was ready to work with mediators for a ceasefire but Azerbaijan fired back that Armenia must first withdraw its troops. Baku and Yerevan have for decades been locked in […]

Lebanon has issued arrest warrants in absentia for two Russian nationals as part of an investigation into the explosion that devastated Beirut two months ago, the state-owned National News Agency (NNA) reported Thursday. Businessman Igor Grechushkin was reported to have owned the ship that had brought fertilizer that caused the Aug. 4 blast at the […]

Chinese authorities have restricted seafood imports from Russia after finding traces of the coronavirus on the seafood’s outer packaging, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday.  China, the destination for 60% of Russia’s seafood exports, has so far placed restrictions on four Russian companies, Russian Fishery Industries Association president German Zverev told Vedomosti.  China previously sent […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin wished Donald Trump a speedy recovery in a telegram on Friday, saying he was sure the U.S. leader’s qualities would help him fight off the coronavirus. “I am convinced that your vitality, good spirits and optimism will help you cope with this dangerous virus,” the Kremlin quoted Putin as saying in […]

Two out of five Russians don’t believe that Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned, according to the results of an independent Levada Center poll published Friday.  The findings come as Navalny’s approval ratings have more than doubled in the past year, the survey said. Navalny fell violently ill on a domestic flight on Aug. 20 […]

Yandex and Sberbank’s fight to gain control of Russia’s finance and technology industries is being billed as the corporate showdown of the decade. “Sberbank versus Yandex: The battle of the super platforms has begun,” declared Russian business daily Vedomosti last week. Novaya Gazeta went further, dubbing it a “war of the ecosystems.” The clash — […]

Russia confirmed 9,412 new coronavirus cases Friday, crossing the 9,000 mark for the first time in four months as the rising number of new infections across the country stokes fears of a new lockdown. Russia, which has the world’s fourth-highest number of infections at 1,194,643, has seen its daily caseload rise sharply from less than […]

Moscow could receive bulk shipments of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2020 while the vaccine continues to undergo final clinical trials, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Thursday. Phase 3 trials of Sputnik V, an adenovirus-based vector vaccine that the Russian government approved in August, are expected to wrap up in May 2021. A second […]

Five European members of the UN Security Council have demanded an explanation from Russia on the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, which they called “a threat to international peace and security.” The letter from Germany, Britain, Belgium, Estonia and France — released Thursday — was submitted to the Council on the eve of Moscow’s taking over […]

Russia said on Thursday its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu had confirmed in a phone call they were ready for “close coordination” to stabilize the situation in Nagorny Karabakh. Fighting over the breakaway region between majority-Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia has raised fears of a wider conflict involving regional powers Turkey and Russia. […]

At least nine people have died and 14 others have been injured in forest fires in eastern Ukraine near the front line of Kiev’s conflict with Moscow-backed separatists, the emergency services said Thursday. Ukraine has sent 1,200 firefighters to battle the blaze which officials in one village near the frontline said was detonating unexploded shells […]

The Kremlin on Thursday accused opposition leader Alexei Navalny of working with the CIA and making “groundless and unacceptable statements” after he claimed President Vladimir Putin had orchestrated his poisoning with Novichok. “I assert that Putin is behind this act, I don’t see any other explanation,” the anti-corruption campaigner told Der Spiegel in his first […]

Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny suddenly felt unwell on a flight over Siberia — a frightening queasiness with cold sweat pouring down his brow. At first, the crew thought it was food poisoning. Navalny, in his first media interview since his hospitalization with what Western experts identified as exposure to the Soviet-era nerve […]

A reporter and photographer working for the French daily Le Monde have been wounded in fighting in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the newspaper told AFP Thursday. News editor Luc Bronner confirmed that two of its journalists had been hurt after the Armenian foreign ministry said that they had been hit in a bombardment by […]

Once a political novice, Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is joining Europe’s diplomatic big leagues but risks undermining her own cause in the process, experts said. After meeting French President Emmanuel Macron this week, the self-proclaimed victor of Belarus’s presidential election in August is set to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The high-profile meetings are […]

Moscow employers will be required to transfer up to one-third of their workforces to remote work starting next week due to the city’s “very dangerous” coronavirus situation, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Thursday.  Sobyanin’s order for companies to send at least 30% of staff to work from home between Oct. 5-28 comes as the Russian capital’s […]

A cleaner from a small Russian village has put away her brooms and become its reluctant leader after unexpectedly winning last month’s regional vote and overthrowing the pro-Kremlin incumbent. “I didn’t put myself forward,” Marina Udgodskaya, 35, told the Podyom news website in one of her early interviews before going silent due to overwhelming national […]

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny accused President Vladimir Putin of being behind his poisoning on Thursday, as he vowed to return to Russia to press on with his opposition campaign. In the first media interview since his poisoning, Navalny gave harrowing details of his collapse on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow after he was poisoned by what […]

Russia has confirmed 1,185,231 cases of coronavirus and 20,891 deaths. Oct. 1: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 8,945 new Covid-19 cases Thursday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 1,185,231 as the number of new infections across the country continues to rise.  Moscow employers will be required to transfer 30% of their employees to remote work […]

Russian authorities have discovered pre-installed wiretap devices inside imported clothing irons, the Industry and Trade Ministry’s top radioelectronics industry official said Wednesday.  Vasily Shpak warned that bugged appliances and electronic devices are a commonplace reality but did not specify the countries in which the irons were allegedly manufactured nor the potential motives for wiretapping. “They […]

Russia’s easternmost territory of Kamchatka will establish a so-called “ministry of happiness” to improve its residents’ well-being, the region’s recently elected governor Vladimir Solodov announced Thursday. The Kremlin-backed governor said the new agency, officially called the “ministry of social welfare and family policy,” is part of ongoing administrative reforms. “In short, it’s about happiness,” Solodov […]

A Russian scientist has been arrested in southern Siberia on suspicion of passing tech secrets to China, the MBKh Media news website reported Thursday. Federal Security Service (FSB) officers from Moscow reportedly searched the apartment of Alexander Lukanin, 64, in the city of Tomsk 3,500 kilometers east of the Russian capital. Lukanin is currently in […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French leader Emmanuel Macron called for a “complete” halt to fighting in Karabakh and said they were ready to intensify diplomatic efforts to help solve the conflict. “Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron called on the warring sides to halt fire completely and as soon as possible, de-escalate tensions and show […]

Russia’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that fighters from Syria and Libya were being deployed to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict and that it was “deeply concerned” by the development. “Fighters of illegal armed groups including from Syria and Libya are being deployed to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict zone in order to directly take part in fighting,” […]

When Anastasia Protopopova finished her Sept. 19 shift in the intensive care ward of one of Moscow’s key coronavirus clinics, Hospital no. 52, the workflow was more or less under control.  But by the time the 25-year-old nurse returned to work last Friday, just six days later, she found herself working in the same conditions […]

The Kremlin has imposed a mandatory two-week quarantine for anyone scheduled to meet President Vladimir Putin in person, the Proekt investigative website reported Wednesday. Putin, 67, has held most of his meetings via videoconference since the start of the pandemic, which has affected several high-ranking government officials including his spokesman and prime minister. As restrictions […]

Armenia and Azerbaijan rejected international calls for negotiations and a halt to fighting as fierce clashes over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh spilled over into a fourth day on Wednesday. Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are engaged in the heaviest fighting in years over Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian province that broke away from Azerbaijan in the […]

A Russian national has been sentenced to seven years and four months in U.S. prison on charges of hacking LinkedIn and Dropbox, the Courthouse News Service website reported Tuesday. Yevgeny Nikulin, 32, is accused of stealing some 117 million LinkedIn and Dropbox login codes in one of the country’s largest data breaches in 2012. He […]

A military-patriotic children’s playground in northern Russia has rekindled debate over the militarization of young Russians amid President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to cement patriotism as a unifying national idea.  Social media users were divided after images of the “Silovichok” playground, which opened this summer in the city of Arkhangelsk, circulated online this week. They depicted tank-shaped […]

Authorities in Belarus on Tuesday suspended independent news provider Tut.by for three months, a move decried by the opposition to beleaguered President Alexander Lukashenko. Tut.by has been covering widespread protests against Lukashenko since his recent disputed election win over rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who denounced the halting of the site as an attack on the “right […]

Russia said Tuesday that astronauts had found an air leak in its section of the International Space Station, with a senior space official calling the air loss beyond expected levels. The crew on the ISS — Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy — have been searching for the air leak […]

Armenia said Tuesday that a Turkish fighter jet had shot down one of its warplanes during heavy fighting with Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan, but Ankara fiercely denied the claim. Direct Turkish military action against Armenia would mark a major escalation after three days of heavy fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the breakaway region of […]