Rosneft Installs Charging Stations for Electric Cars in Khabarovsk
Rosneft Oil Company continues to implement a programme to equip its filling stations with electric charging infrastructure
Russia Hails Rare Sighting of Amur Leopard Mum With Cubs
Russian conservationists hailed Friday a rare sighting of an Amur leopard mother with three cubs in the Far East as proof of the efficiency of the country’s efforts to boost the population of the endangered species. Scientists in a Russian national park located in the Primorye region on the border with China obtained the stunning…
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Fake Russian-Language Tiktok Scams Popular Accounts – Kommersant
A fake “TikTok for Business” website has appeared in Russia that hijacks popular accounts with a fraudulent content monetization scheme, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday. This is the first time that the widespread social media entrapment method has involved the popular Chinese short-video app, the newspaper cited the Infosecurity cybersecurity company’s leading analyst Alexander…
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A Decade After Pussy Riot’s ‘Punk Prayer,’ Maria Alyokhina Still Has Plenty to Protest About
Maria Alyokhina is no stranger to being prosecuted for her politics. The veteran Pussy Riot member is best known for her role in the group’s “Punk Prayer,” the provocative February 2012 protest in neon balaclavas at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. She and fellow activist Nadya Tolokonnikova would spend two years in a prison colony…
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France Slams Russia’s Sputnik Vaccine as ‘Propaganda’ Tool
France on Friday accused Russia of using its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine as a tool to spread Moscow’s influence and message rather than as way to fight the global health crisis. “In terms of how it is managed, it (the Sputnik V vaccine) is more a means of propaganda and aggressive diplomacy than a means of solidarity…
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Zvuki Mu Founder Alexander Lipnitsky Dies at Age 68
On March 25, Alexander Lipnitsky, a journalist, writer and one of the founders of the cult Soviet rock group Zvuki Mu, died near at age 68 his dacha at Nikolina Gora. His son, Vladimir, said he had been skiing across the Moscow River when he fell through the ice and drowned. Lipnitsky was a childhood friend…
DetailsHead of ROSATOM Alexei Likhachev had a meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi
On March 24 in Vienna in the Headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General of ROSATOM Alexei Likhachev had a meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. The main topic of discussion was joint efforts to promote peaceful atom as clean source of electricity generation as well as the contribution of nuclear…
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Russia’s Second Coronavirus Vaccine Triggers Antibodies, Studies Say After Controversy
Russia’s second coronavirus vaccine triggers antibodies in all recipients, according to early-trial study results involving 100 volunteers published Thursday. EpiVacCorona, a two-shot peptide vaccine developed by the Siberia-based Vektor Institute, came under scrutiny this week after Phase 3 trial participants claimed that it does not produce an immune response. No peer-reviewed research on the jab has…
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Russia Sees Record High Average Temperatures in 2020: Institute
Russia in 2020 saw record high average temperatures and a record drop of summer ice cover on its Arctic maritime route, the country’s weather monitoring institute Rosgidromet said Thursday. Russia’s average annual temperature last year was 3.22 degrees Celsius higher than the average for the period of 1961-1990 and more than one degree higher than…
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Navalny in ‘Strong’ Pain, Team Fears for His Life: Lawyer
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is in great pain, his lawyer said Thursday after visiting him in prison, adding that allies feared for his life. “He is suffering from strong back pain and pain in his right leg,” lawyer Olga Mikhailova said in remarks on Dozhd television, adding that his condition was “extremely unfavorable”. “Everyone…
DetailsVostsibneftegaz Awards More Than 20 Grants in Support of the Peoples of the Russian North
The East Siberian Oil and Gas Company (Vostsibneftegaz), a subsidiary of Rosneft, organised a round table in Krasnoyarsk on interaction with the indigenous peoples of the Russian North
Facing Heightened Threats, Russia’s Main Independent Paper Contemplates a Bleak Future
On the way to work at Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta last Monday morning, journalists noticed a strong chemical stench on the street outside their central Moscow office. By the time they sat down at their desks they had spread a clear, noxious substance throughout the building on the soles of their shoes. Only months after…
DetailsROSATOM began manufacturing passive core flooding systems for Akkuyu NPP Unit 1 (Turkey)
The Volgodonsk Branch of JSC AEM-technology (part of ROSATOM machine-building division Atomenergomash) has started a new project manufacturing Passive Core Flooding System Tanks for the Akkuyu NPP Unit 1 (Turkey). Atommash will manufacture the Passive Core Flooding System Tanks for Units 1 and 3 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction. Each Passive Core Flooding System…
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Dagestan Court Rules in Mother’s Favor in Controversial Custody Case
The Supreme Court of Russia’s republic of Dagestan has overturned an earlier decision that ruled a mother was unfit for custody of her three children due to her “immoral” tattoos and piercings, she said Thursday. Nina Tseretilova, 33, had lived with her daughter and two sons in the predominantly Muslim, socially conservative region of southern…
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Navalny Allies Dismiss Russia’s Claim of His ‘Stable’ Condition
Russia said Thursday that jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny was in “satisfactory” condition, but failed to reassure his allies who demanded clarity about his health and whereabouts. Navalny, 44, was detained in January after landing in Russia from Germany where he was recovering for several months from a poisoning attack with a Soviet-designed nerve agent…
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Belarus Opposition to Restart Protests as Crackdown Widens
Opposition activists in Belarus were preparing for fresh protests on Thursday to breathe life into a movement against President Alexander Lukashenko that fizzled out in the face of a severe crackdown. The authorities were moving military vehicles into the center of the capital Minsk in preparation, according to videos circulating on social media and published by local…
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Russia Rolls Out 3rd Coronavirus Vaccine
Russia has introduced its third registered coronavirus vaccine for general use, Interfax reported Thursday, citing its developers and the Education and Science Ministry. CoviVak, developed by the state-run Chumakov Research Center, is a two-dose, whole-virion vaccine that uses complete, but inactive, particles of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. Mass production of CoviVak began Thursday…
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Gazprom and YaNAA agree to extend cooperation to 2021–2023
March 25, 2021, 13:50 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Dmitry Artyukhov, Governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area (YaNAA), took place today via a video link. The parties discussed relevant issues of cooperation. The Company is developing a major gas production center on the basis of the Bovanenkovskoye field in the Yamal Peninsula. Pre-development of the second key field in the region, Kharasaveyskoye, is underway, and geological…
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Warring Parties Sell Bank at Center of Calvey Dispute
Investors embroiled in one of the most controversial Russian corporate sagas of the last decade have agreed to sell the bank at the center of their dispute Investment fund Baring Vostok — run by detained U.S. investor Michael Calvey — and Artem Avetisyan’s Finvision have sold their stakes in Russia’s Vostochny Bank to rival Sovcombank…
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Director Dmitry Davydov on ‘Scarecrow’ and Yakutian Films
“I hope to watch a film tonight, and this spring I’m going to watch films by Andrey Tarkovsky,” the self-taught and award-winning film director Dmitry Davydov told The Moscow Times. “I find some information on the internet, and I watch a lot of films so I can focus on the work of the directors. I…
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Germany Urges Brussels to Buy Sputnik at EU Level – Politico
Germany has asked the European Commission to purchase doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for the EU, Politico Europe reported Wednesday. The Commission plans to determine which countries are interested in purchasing the Russian shot as EU countries remain divided on the issue, an unnamed German official told Politico Europe. Requests from at least…
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Russia Launches More UK Telecom Satellites into Space
A Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East on Thursday carrying 36 UK telecommunications and internet satellites, the Roscosmos space agency said. OneWeb, a London-headquartered company, is working to complete the construction of a constellation of low earth orbit satellites providing enhanced broadband and other services to countries around the world.…
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Trudeau Says Putin Behind ‘Terrible Things,’ Skirts Killer Label
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday Vladimir Putin is responsible for “terrible things,” but wouldn’t go so far as U.S. President Joe Biden in calling the Russian leader a “killer.” Trudeau, unaccustomed to criticizing other world leaders in public, was questioned during an interview on SiriusXM radio’s The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge about Biden’s…
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Canada Sanctions 9 Russian Officials Over Navalny Jailing
Canada on Wednesday slapped new sanctions against nine Russian officials on Wednesday in response to “gross” rights violations and silencing of Kremlin critics including Alexey Navalny, who was poisoned and jailed. The measure follows similar actions taken earlier this month by the European Union and the United States. “The Russian government has repeatedly shown its…
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Kremlin Critic Navalny’s Health ‘Deteriorating’ in Prison, Aides Say
Alexei Navalny’s health is “deteriorating” in prison and his lawyers weren’t allowed access to him for their latest scheduled meeting, the jailed Kremlin critic’s aides said Wednesday, warning that his life may be in danger. Navalny, who was moved to a prison colony east of Moscow this month, started complaining of severe back pain and numbness…
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Socialite Sobchak Faces Blowback for Interview With Russian Serial Rapist
Russian socialite and television presenter Ksenia Sobchak is facing widespread criticism for interviewing a convicted serial rapist after he was released from prison earlier this month. Viktor Mokhov, 70, spent 17 years in a corrective labor colony after being convicted in 2005 of abducting and repeatedly raping two teenage girls. He held his victims captive in a…
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Russian Deputies Back Law to Prolong Putin’s Rule
Russian lawmakers on Wednesday approved legislation allowing President Vladimir Putin to hold office for two additional terms, paving the way for him to stay in power until 2036. Putin, already in power for more than 20 years, proposed the change as part of constitutional reforms that Russians overwhelmingly backed in a vote last year. They…
DetailsGreen Investments of Rosneft’s Samara Group of Enterprises Reach more than 4.5 Billion Roubles in 2020
Enterprises of Rosneft Oil Company’s Samara group–Samaraneftegaz, the Novokuibyshevsk, Syzran and Kuibyshev refineries, Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company and Oil and Additives Plant–allocated over 4.5 billion roubles for environmental protection activities in 2020
Chechnya Detains Kidnapped Gay Men’s Relatives – Rights Group
Chechen authorities have detained dozens of relatives of two gay men who were forcibly returned to the southern Russian region to face terrorism charges, a rights group told the independent Dozhd broadcaster Wednesday. The Moscow-based LGBT Network rights group said Salekh Magamadov, 20, and Ismail Isayev, 18, fled Chechnya last year but were arrested and returned…
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Telegram Raises $1Bln, With Russian Direct Investment Fund Buying Bonds
Telegram has sold more than $1 billion in bonds to international investors, founder Pavel Durov announced Tuesday — with Russia’s state-run Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) now among the firm’s backers. Durov, who founded Russia’s leading social network VKontakte before launching messaging app Telegram, said the investment will “enable Telegram to continue growing globally, while sticking…
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Trial Subjects For Russia’s Second Coronavirus Vaccine Urge Probe Into Effectiveness
Clinical trial volunteers for Russia’s second coronavirus vaccine have demanded the country’s Health Ministry launch an investigation to explore claims the jab does not produce an immune response. The group — which is currently taking part in Phase 3 studies for Russia’s EpiVacCorona shot, a peptide vaccine developed by the Vektor Institute in Novosibirsk —…
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Russia Probes Artistic Human Corpse Exhibition After Uproar
Russia will probe an artistic exhibition of preserved human corpses after the display sparked an uproar among conservative religious groups and public figures. German anatomist Gunter von Hagens’ traveling “Body Worlds” exhibition opened at Moscow’s VDNKh exhibition center on March 12. Its display of donated human bodies and organs aims to educate visitors “by looking inside…
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Americans More Pessimistic Than Russians on Improving Ties – Poll
Russians are on average more optimistic than Americans toward the prospect of warmer relations between the countries, though both remain largely pessimistic, a new poll by the independent Levada Center has said Wednesday. If only 10% of American respondents said they believe U.S.-Russian ties would improve in the next decade, 19% of Russian respondents held…
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Armenia Lifts Martial Law Months After Karabakh War
Armenia lifted martial law on Wednesday, five months after the end of its brutal war with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The decision to lift the order came as part of a deal between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the opposition to defuse a political crisis sparked by Armenia’s crushing defeat in the six-week conflict.…
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Gazprom adds over 480 billion cubic meters to its gas reserves through geological exploration in 2020
March 24, 2021, 11:05 Gas reserve addition rates have been surpassing production rates for 16 consecutive years. The Gazprom Board of Directors took note of the information about the ongoing work for resource base support, geological surveys, and geological exploration performed by the Company. It was highlighted that Gazprom, which has the largest reserves and output of natural gas in the world, is effectively expanding…
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Gazprom continuing to enhance corporate governance quality
March 24, 2021, 10:35 The Gazprom Board of Directors took note of the information about the current state of corporate governance, corporate ethics, and transparency of activities at Gazprom. It was highlighted that year after year the Company systematically enhances its corporate standards taking into account, inter alia, the opinions of the investment and expert community. As a result, the corporate governance system conforms to the listing…
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Debt for gas supplies reduced in most Russian regions in 2020
March 24, 2021, 10:25 Leaders in debt reduction include the Moscow, Ulyanovsk and Volgograd Regions, the Republic of Tatarstan, and the Astrakhan Region. Heat suppliers are increasing the level of their payments and reducing their debt. At the same time, debt remains a pressing issue in the development of the domestic gas market. The Gazprom Board of Directors took note of the information on improving the payment…
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Russia, After Confusion, Says Coronavirus Re-Vaccination Possible
Russian health officials said Tuesday that re-vaccination with any of Russia’s domestically produced coronavirus vaccines after receiving the country’s Sputnik V shot is possible, clarifying earlier remarks suggesting that antibodies could destroy future vaccine components. Natalia Pshenichnaya, senior epidemiologist at national consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said earlier in the day that the Sputnik V shot’s long-term…
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Gazprom reduces greenhouse gas emissions and saves 3.92 million tons of fuel equivalent on fuel and energy in 2020
March 24, 2021, 09:45 Greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 14 per cent against 2019. 3.27 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 305.9 million kWh of electricity saved. Gazprom and Gazprom Neft rank first among Russian oil and gas companies according to the international climate rating compiled by CDP. The Gazprom Board of Directors approved the Company’s ongoing efforts for environmental protection, energy efficiency enhancement,…
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Putin Receives Russian Coronavirus Vaccine – Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin got his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine Tuesday, his spokesman told state media, receiving one of the country’s three domestically developed jabs. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin is feeling well and will have a full working day Wednesday. Putin’s delay in getting vaccinated while boasting of Russia’s Sputnik V…
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Russia Recognizes Sisters Who Killed Abusive Father as Victims
Russian investigators have recognized three sisters accused of murdering their abusive father as victims in the criminal case against their father, lawyers said Tuesday, a move that activists called a “breakthrough” in their case. Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan admitted to killing their father in July 2018 after he subjected them to years of physical,…
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Russia to Offer Carbon Credits With Far East Digital Forest Platform – Bloomberg
Russia is creating a digital platform to collect satellite and drone data on its vast forests in the Far East with the aim of offering them on the carbon offset market, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The Lesvostok.rf system, when it launches later in 2021, will allow the government to lease sections of forest to enterprises, which…
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French Police Seek Russian Consulate Employee Over Bike Thefts
French police have issued an arrest warrant for a driver at the Russian consulate in Strasbourg suspected of selling dozens of stolen bikes while on the job, sources close to the inquiry said Monday. The suspect, a Russian citizen in his 40s, does not have diplomatic immunity and was brought in for questioning on Feb.…
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Navalny Allies Say Will Stage Fresh Protests When 500K Sign Up
Alexei Navalny’s allies announced new protests in support of the jailed Kremlin critic Tuesday, holding off on setting a date until their online campaign reaches half a million potential participants. The team launched a website to gather signatures of supporters willing to take to the streets again after some of the largest rallies in Russia’s recent history…
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France May Start Sputnik V Vaccinations in June – Official
France could start using Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in its national vaccination drive as early as June, France’s Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune told the France Info radio broadcaster Tuesday. “The EU may use the Russian vaccine after it is certified [by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)] and France, in turn,…
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3 Russian Soldiers Killed in Supersonic Bomber Accident
Three Russian soldiers have died in a supersonic bomber accident at a military airfield near Moscow, state media reported Tuesday. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the deaths of three soldiers as a result of the Tupolev Tu-22M3 incident at the Shaykovka air base in the Kaluga region, the TASS news agency said. “An ejection seat went…
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Norway Blocks Sale of Rolls-Royce Engine Maker to Russian Group
Norway said Tuesday it would block Rolls-Royce’s sale of a Norwegian engine maker to Russia over concerns that Moscow could get its hands on sensitive technology. The Scandinavian country, a NATO member, two weeks ago asked Rolls-Royce to temporarily halt the sale of Bergen Engines while it examined the consequences a sale would have on…
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Russia Forecasters Warn Over Siberia Forest Fires
The vast Russian region of Siberia will face hot and dry weather this year leading to more forest fires, forecasters said on Tuesday, linking the blazes to climate change. Devastating forest fires have ripped across Siberia with increasing regularity over the past few years, which the country’s weather officials and environmentalists have linked to climate…
DetailsАssembly of reactor of Belarus NPP Unit 2 completed
Specialists have completed the assembly of the reactor plant of Power Unit 2 of Belarus NPP (general designer and general contractor is ROSATOM Engineering Division) for ensuring the hot and cold run stage. The assembly process included the installation of the reactor internals, the loading of dummy fuel assemblies, the installation of the protective tube…
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Russian Book Fair Scraps Navalny Aide’s Novel Presentation
The Non/Fiction international book fair has scrapped a scheduled presentation of a novel authored by jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh, the book’s publisher said Monday. Yarmysh is currently under house arrest alongside nine other Navalny allies and local opposition deputies for calling on supporters to join nationwide protests in his support earlier…
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Russian Foreign Minister Says EU ‘Destroyed’ Relations with Moscow
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused European Union leaders of “destroying” relations with Moscow, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday. “There are no relations with the European Union as an organization. The entire infrastructure of these relations has been destroyed by the unilateral decisions of Brussels,” Lavrov was quoted as saying during a…
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Russian Billionaire Abramovich Sues Author Catherine Belton for Defamation
Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has launched a defamation lawsuit against author Catherine Belton over claims that he had bought the club at President Vladimir Putin’s orders. According to Belton’s critically acclaimed 2020 book “Putin’s People,” Abramovich allegedly bought Chelsea in 2003 at Putin’s direction as part of an effort to…
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Kremlin Critic Navalny Says Prison Like Being a ‘Stormtrooper’
“At this moment, I imagine that I’m filming a Russian remake of Star Wars, where instead of imperial stormtroopers there are prisoners in pea jackets and hats with earflaps,” Navalny said. “Defending the interests of the Emperor, space prisoners travel from planet to planet, suppressing the rebels. But wherever they are, at exactly 6:05 am…
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Anton Dzhalyabov put in charge of Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk
March 22, 2021, 19:00 Anton Dzhalyabov has been appointed Director General of Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk. Anton Dzhalyabov was born in 1980. He graduated from Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, majoring in Oil and Gas Field Development and Operation. He has been employed with Gazprom for 19 years. Between 2002 and 2020, he rose through the ranks from Oil and Gas Production Operator to Head…
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Putin Slams Vaccine Criticism, to Get Jab on Tuesday
President Vladimir Putin on Monday dismissed foreign criticism of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and said he would get vaccinated himself on Tuesday. Speaking at a televised meeting with health officials, the 68-year-old Russian leader described recent remarks in Europe questioning the need for the Russian vaccine as “strange.” “We are not imposing anything on anyone……
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Kremlin Push Against Opposition Ramps Up Ahead of Fall Elections
On a frosty March morning, a group of anti-Putin opposition activists gathered in a Soviet-era hotel on Moscow’s outskirts to plan their strategy for September elections to the country’s national parliament. Ten minutes later, the police arrived. Herded into police vans and shipped off to jail, around 200 attendees were charged en masse with participating…
DetailsUnit 6 of Leningrad NPP commissioned for commercial operation
On March 22, 2021, VVER-1200 reactor-enabled Unit 6 was commissioned at the Leningrad NPP. Andrey Petrov, Director General of Rosenergoatom (part of the Electric Power Division of ROSATOM), signed the corresponding order. Pilot operation with 15-day comprehensive tests preceded the unit’s commissioning. On March 10, following the tests, Russian nuclear watchdog Rostechnadzor confirmed the facility…
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St. Petersburg’s Surrounding Region Faces Sputnik V Shortages – Reports
The Leningrad region of Russia which surrounds its second-largest city St. Petersburg is facing shortages of the country’s homemade Sputnik V vaccine, local media reported Monday. While Moscow has boasted of its global deliveries of Sputnik V, which has been approved in over 50 countries, concerns over Russia’s capacity to produce enough doses for its…
DetailsRosneft Ramps Up Efforts to Sustainable Water Use
Annually on March 22, the World Day of Water is celebrated – the most valuable natural resource, without which life on Earth would be impossible