Caroline Eden has made a name for herself by exploring roads less traveled, such as the Black Sea littoral, the subject of her eponymous previous book. In “Red Sands: Reportage and Recipes Through Central Asia, from Hinterland to Heartland,” she trains her considerable skills as a keen observer and evocative writer on the Central Asian…
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This week’s news that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden had chosen Jennifer Psaki as his administration’s press secretary sparked a flurry of excitement on Russian state media and social media alike. “We are looking forward to Jen’s return,” said Vladimir Solovyev, a controversial host on the state-run Rossia 1 broadcaster and one of Russia’s main spin…
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Russia has confirmed 2,402,949 cases of coronavirus and 42,176 deaths. Dec. 5: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 27,403 coronavirus cases and 569 deaths Friday. Kazakhstan will start producing Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine from Dec. 22, the country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Friday. Ukraine won’t be purchasing Russia’s coronavirus vaccine due to its questionable efficacy, Ukraine’s…
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Moscow’s teachers, doctors and social workers are signing up at a rate of 1,000 per hour for the Russian capital’s coronavirus vaccination drive that kicks off Saturday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said. Online vaccination bookings for high-risk groups opened in the Russian capital Friday after President Vladimir Putin ordered large-scale nationwide immunization — hours after…
DetailsOn 1-2 December the first online Global Impact Conference 2020 “Energy for Impact” was organized in partnership with ROSATOM, the Higher School of Economics and Forbes. The event brought together over 85 experts from 26 countries, representing global corporations, state institutions and NGOs. Conference participants discussed new partnerships with a view to develop human capital…
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The rapid spread of mobile internet around the world over the last decade has directly contributed to falling levels of trust in government and a surge in populism, according to a recent paper by a group of Russian economists. The research shows that as 3G internet spreads, millions of people gain access to new sources…
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The Netherlands’ top court ruled Friday that shareholders in dismantled oil giant Yukos can continue to pursue Russia for $50 billion (41 billion euros) in compensation pending a final judgement in a long legal saga. Russia was ordered to make the payout in 2014 by the Hague-based international Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), but has…
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President Vladimir Putin has called on Moscow’s allies to mass produce the country’s vaccines. In a statement on Friday, Kazakhstan’s presidency said the country would begin producing Sputnik V from Dec. 22, with plans to begin inoculating vulnerable groups in early 2021. The developers of Sputnik V — named after the Soviet-era satellite — have…
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The traditional format of the international book fair Non/Fiction was postponed until next spring due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But to keep the reading public happy, the organizers are moving their meetings with famous authors online this and next weekend. On Dec. 5,6, 12 and 13 anyone can tune in to hear discussions with such…
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Russian authorities have said they want to relocate all prisons out of major cities, sparking concerns from activists that the move could violate prisoners’ rights and complicate visits by lawyers and relatives. Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko told state television that the mass prison relocation is part of the Federal Prison Service’s “transformation” toward “effective and…
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One person has been killed in a shootout that took place after three armed men tried to illegally cross the border from Ukraine to Russia, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday. Russian border patrol officers opened fire on the Ukrainians after they resisted arrest at the border near Belgorod, the state-run TASS news agency…
DetailsOn December 2, the first session of the Board for Sustainable Business Development, Corporate Social Responsibility and Voluntary Service of the Trade and Commerce Chamber of Russia (TPP of Russia) was held. The event was on-line in the frame of the international forum Global Impact Conference 2020. The Board included representatives of large businesses, governmental…
DetailsNovaWind JSC (ROSATOM division for wind power) wins a contract for 192,5 MW capacity as part of investment project selection. This project selection was final under the first RES Capacity Supply Agreement program. The VetroSGC-2 applications totalling 192,5 MW (VetroSGC-2 JSC is part of NovaWind JSC) were selected under the investment project tender for the…
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Russia’s Pobeda low-cost airline plans to debut its own “flight to nowhere” for cooped-up passengers looking to recreate the travel experience this month, popular Pobeda pilot and flight podcast host Alexei Kochemasov has said. Passengers will take off from Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport, then land 1.5 hours later at… Vnukovo Airport. “We guarantee the crew’s…
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A young Russian artist has won the illustration contest for J.K. Rowling’s first post-Harry Potter children’s book, “The Ickabog.” Artwork by Yevdokiya “Dunya” Obolenskaya, 11, is among 34 original illustrations chosen out of 42,000 submissions from around the world for Rowling’s latest book published earlier in November. “Mama had received a text message close to…
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Pussy Riot member Margarita Konovalova, also known as Rita Flores, has been sentenced to 20 days in jail for staging an anti-police brutality protest near the Kremlin, the Apologia Telegram channel reported Thursday. During the Nov. 28 protest, Pussy Riot members in traditional Russian folk costumes tied artist Farhad Israfilli-Gelman, who was wearing an OMON…
DetailsA popular science edition has been prepared and published upon the results of the comprehensive Black Sea dolphins study, the first in 30 years, undertaken with support of Rosneft Oil Company.
Russia is pushing ahead with its domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine as the global race for a safe and effective vaccine that can put an end to the coronavirus pandemic heats up. Hours after Pfizer-BioNTech made headlines Wednesday by winning the first official general-use vaccine approval in the western world, President Vladimir Putin ordered large-scale…
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Russian rights activists on Thursday condemned draft legislation including a significant expansion of who can be labelled a “foreign agent” as a new clampdown on dissent. Lawmakers in Russia’s lower-house State Duma last month proposed a series of bills that would give authorities sweeping powers to designate individuals as foreign agents and further limit public…
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Russia has confirmed 2,375,546 cases of coronavirus and 41,607 deaths. Dec. 3: What you need to know today Russia confirmed a new record of 28,145 coronavirus cases and 554 deaths. Moscow will start vaccinating at-risk groups against the coronavirus this weekend, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Thursday. Online booking for health workers, teachers and social service workers deemed at higher risk of…
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Moscow will start vaccinating at-risk groups against the coronavirus this weekend, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Thursday after President Vladimir Putin ordered large-scale immunization across the country. Online booking for health workers, teachers and social service workers deemed at higher risk of severe infection will open Friday, Sobyanin wrote on his website. “The vaccination centers will…
DetailsRN-Krasnodarneftegaz, a subsidiary of Rosneft Oil Company, has completed the construction of the Troitsk Compressor Station at the Anastasievsko-Troitskaya group of fields.
The State Hermitage Museum’s art collection might be one of the most impressive in the world — but for some sightseers, it’s the museum’s resident cats who make the visit truly memorable. Memorable enough, even, to include them in one’s will. The cats made such an impression on French citizen Christoff Botar that he chose…
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A U.S. human rights activist who has defended the interests of Russian citizens in Europe’s human rights court faces expulsion from Russia, she has said. Authorities informed Vanessa Kogan that she “poses a national security threat” when they rejected her fast-track citizenship application and revoked her permanent residence earlier this week, Kogan told the Ekho Moskvy…
DetailsOn October 3, 2020 during the working visit to Budapest (Hungary) ROSATOM Director General Alexei Likhachev met with Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orb?n. Present on the Russian side was ROSATOM Advisor to the Director General Alexander Merten along with the Russian Federation’s Ambassador in Budapest Vladimir Sergeev, while the Hungarian side was also represented by…
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Housewives in Russia should earn a wage for their domestic labor, State Duma deputy Oksana Pushkina has said. Pushkina’s statement in a Wednesday interview on the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station comes amid growing calls for governments to level the financial inequities traditionally faced by women. Last month, Scotland became the first country to guarantee free…
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Turkey is willing to support the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula’s return to Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday. The statement comes amid an already uneasy relationship between Moscow and Ankara, which are traditionally partners but have recently been at odds over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Syrian conflict and Libya’s civil war. In October, Turkish…
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More than 100,000 Russians at higher risk of severe coronavirus cases have been vaccinated with the domestically made Sputnik V vaccine, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Wednesday. His announcement at a special session of the UN General Assembly presenting Sputnik V came as President Vladimir Putin ordered the large-scale vaccination of priority groups such as…
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President Vladimir Putin named a replacement for Anatoly Chubais, the head of state nanotechnology firm Rusnano, on Wednesday, exposing a rift between the president and the former deputy prime minister whose popularity has waned in recent years. During his 12 years as Rusnano’s head Chubais, who had been an architect of Russia’s 1990s privatizations as…
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Russia reported more than 28,000 coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the latest record amid the second wave plaguing the country’s major cities and far-flung regions. Health officials reported 28,145 new infections across every Russian region Thursday, bringing the total caseload to 2,375,546. Russia has…
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Russia’s Pobeda low-cost airline has canceled 110 flights to seven cities over a disruptive airspace overhaul that resulted in outdated flight charts and databases for western Russia, media reported Wednesday. European regulators last month warned of major changes to departure and arrival procedures after the restructure covering 49 airports across European Russia which takes effect…
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December 2, 2020 A full year has passed since the ceremonial launch of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. The pipeline is more than an artery for transporting the “blue fuel.” The project was conceived and is being implemented as a key part of the Eastern Gas Program, whose main goals are to create a gas industry and foster economic growth in Eastern Siberia and Russia’s Far East, to expand gas infrastructure to establish a new export…
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St. Petersburg authorities have ordered the city’s cafes, restaurants, museums, theaters and concert halls to shut down during the New Year holiday, the most festive time of the year in Russia, due to the coronavirus. The stricter restrictions will be in place from Dec. 30 until Jan. 10, according to the decree signed by St.…
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When 94-year-old World War II veteran Vasily’s family made their regular check of his mailbox on Saturday they found a formal summons from the prosecutor’s office in Volgograd, a city in southern Russia previously known as Stalingrad. It said he had to attend a hearing on Dec. 1 to be questioned as a witness in…
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A former police chief in Russia’s third-largest city of Novosibirsk has been convicted for accepting bribes in the form of the popular Georgian dumpling khinkali, authorities and media said Wednesday. Alexander Grashchenkov was accused of extending criminal patronage to three local entrepreneurs in exchange for free meals, the Kommersant business daily reported earlier this fall. Between…
DetailsThe state-owned corporation “Rosatom” has made it into the top ten of rating of Russian companies in sustainable development which is combined by the rating agency RAEX-Europe. The rating results were presented on December 2. ROSATOM was inside TOP-10 winning the final 8th place. The corporation won the highest fifth place in governance (G), one…
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President Vladimir Putin has ordered the mass vaccination against coronavirus among the Russian population to start late next week, with doctors and teachers first in line to receive the country’s Sputnik V jab. The order came hours after Britain became the first western country to issue general-use approval for Pfizer-BioNTech’s jab starting next week. “Let’s…
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The Kinoproba international festival-workshop for film-school students opened its doors in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Tuesday. The annual fest, which has hosted works from the world’s best film schools since 2004, was kicked off by an eye-catchiing short animated film called “Dance A Trois.” The film shows constructivist landmark buildings in Yekaterinburg coming to life and…
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged fellow members of a post-Soviet military bloc to support Armenia’s prime minister as he grapples with domestic pressure over his agreement to a Moscow-brokered peace deal with Azerbaijan. Nikol Pashinyan has faced a wave of outrage at home since the Nov. 9 peace deal ended more than six weeks…
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December 2, 2020, 15:15 December 2 marks a year since the start of first-ever pipeline supplies of Russian gas to China – via the Power of Siberia gas trunkline from the Chayandinskoye field. At present, Gazprom keeps ramping up its gas exports to China via Power of Siberia. For a second consecutive month, gas is being supplied in excess of the planned amounts as requested by the Chinese party. Specifically, the aggregate amount of gas supplied…
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HOLLYWOOD—Russian-made films led the pack with three entries in the 78th annual Golden Globes competition. Qualifying motion pictures include director Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Dear Comrades,” Klim Shipenko’s “Text” and Yegor Abramenko’s “Sputnik.” Russia is also represented as a co-producer in two other films: Ivan Tverdovsky’s “Conference” (Russia, Estonia, United Kingdom and Italy); and director Vadim Perelman’s…
DetailsEnterprises of Rosneft Oil Company have increased the use of recycled water in their operations, thus reducing their water intake from the Volga River by 6% (almost 25 million cubic metres) in three years due to environment-oriented projects implemented.
Russia is seeking to label any politically active individual a “foreign agent” in the latest move to broaden a law that critics say curbs free speech. Under current law, the “foreign agent” label may be extended to civil society groups, media outlets, as well as individual journalists and bloggers in Russia. The latest flurry of…
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Russia has confirmed 2,347,401 cases of coronavirus and 41,053 deaths. Dec. 2: What you need to know today Russia confirmed 25,345 new coronavirus cases and a new record of 589 coronavirus deaths. Russia’s Accounts Chamber Chairman and famed liberal economist Alexei Kudrin was diagnosed with coronavirus, said the message published on his social media Monday. Russia’s food retailers have…
DetailsOn November 27, concreting of cylindrical part of the inner containment in the reactor building of Unit 1 with VVER-1200 reactor was completed on Rooppur NPP site in Bangladesh. “The control milestone, which is completion of concreting of the 4th tier of inner containment up to elevation +38.500 m of Unit 1, has been completed.…
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Russia will continue to pose one of the main threats to NATO in the next decade, a high-level report for the Western military alliance said Tuesday. “While Russia is by economic and social measures a declining power, it has proven itself capable of territorial aggression and is likely to remain a chief threat facing NATO…
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Not satisfied with just being Russia’s largest financial institution and most valuable company, Sberbank is now going all in on its ultra-ambitious technology transformation, aiming to become the country’s biggest e-commerce player. That was the plan at the core of the bank’s new strategy — unveiled this week in a glitzy two-day online event for…
DetailsThe Public Counseling Office at Rooppur NPP, being constructed in Bangladesh, is opened in Ishwardi, Pabna district. The solemn ceremony took place on November 30, the day of the 3rd anniversary of the first concrete pouring on the construction site of the first NPP unit, being built in Bangladesh with the help of Russia (the…
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The team behind Moscow’s annual feminist festival has launched a male equivalent to field discussions on modern-day masculinity, reverse sexism and other issues men face today. Gender.Team, a group of activists, psychologists, political scientists and journalists, established the Moscow FemFest in 2017 to promote gender literacy in a society not used to openly talking about…
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Japan has rebuked Russia’s deployment of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems on a chain of islands in the Far East that Tokyo claims as its own, media reported Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry said its S-300V4 large air defense system went on combat duty on Iturup, one of four Russian-held Kuril Islands, Reuters reported earlier. Japan’s…
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December 2, 2020 PAO Severstal, one of the world’s largest vertically integrated steel and mining companies, has launched coke battery No. 11, a new unit using coal charge ramming technology, at the Cherepovets Steel Mill. The capacity of the first block is 700 thousand tonnes of products per year. The new unit will increase coke…
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Global climate change is behind this year’s extraordinarily warm autumn in Moscow and St. Petersburg, experts interviewed by The Moscow Times said. Russia’s two largest cities experienced the warmest autumn temperatures of their recorded histories in 2020, official weather services reported Tuesday. And it’s only the beginning, experts say. Over the next 10 years, Russia…
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Russia’s ultra-wealthy have increased their net worth by nearly $500 million in 2020 thanks to a historic stock market rally in November, according to the Bloomberg list of billionaires. Altogether, the 22 Russian billionaires added $486 million to their net worth between the start of the year and Dec. 1. Sixteen of them added just…
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As one virus sweeps the globe, the Voznesensky Center in Moscow has joined with several arts and non-governmental organizations to launch a nearly month-long series events to mark a battle against another virus, HIV. The project, called “Of the Same Blood,” will start on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, and run until Dec. 22. More…
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Russian authorities have detained a man suspected of murdering dozens of elderly women in the republic of Tatarstan and nearby regions nearly a decade ago. Unofficially known as the “Volga maniac,” the murderer has been linked to the killings of anywhere from 19 to 32 female pensioners, most of whom were strangled to death between…
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Irina Antonova, longtime head of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and renowned expert in Renaissance art, has died at the age of 98, the museum’s press service said in a statement on Tuesday. She died from complications caused by the coronavirus. Antonova was born in Moscow in 1922. As a child, she spent…
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The Azerbaijani takeover of Lachin, the last of three districts handed back by Armenia under a deal to stop fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, ends the first stage of a Russian-brokered peace process. But the decades-old dispute over Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke away from Azerbaijan during a war in the 1990s, is far from…
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The European Court of Human Rights said Tuesday that Russian authorities denied a top physicist a fair trial ahead of his 2004 conviction on claims of passing state secrets to China, which saw him imprisoned in Siberia for eight years. Accused of spying for China as well as embezzlement, Valentin Danilov was arrested in 2001,…
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Despite the coronavirus restrictions in place, Moscow residents will still be able to enjoy some of their favorite winter outdoor activities like ice skating this year. Despite a lack of steady snow, the capital’s outdoor ice rinks opened to the public over the weekend — with some changes in place to help prevent the spread…
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Russian authorities are probing opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s comments during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic for inciting extremism, news agencies quoted law enforcement sources as saying Tuesday. Moscow investigators are reportedly examining whether Navalny’s April 27 interview with the liberal Ekho Moskvy radio station contained calls for a violent overthrow of the Russian…
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