A crushing re-election victory for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko followed by anti-government protests, violent police repression and the opposition challenger taking refuge in Lithuania — here is a recap of the dramatic events in the ex-Soviet country since Sunday. Vote sparks violence On Aug. 9, 2020, Lukashenko, 65, who has ruled Belarus with an iron…
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Police in Belarus said Wednesday they had detained hundreds and shot at protesters in a third night of violence over a disputed presidential election. Western governments have condemned the crackdown and the European Union said the bloc’s foreign ministers would discuss Belarus at an extraordinary meeting on Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged…
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A prominent IT investor has been detained under unclear circumstances amid a crackdown on post-election protests in Belarus this week, an international business club where he is a member announced Tuesday. Belarusian authorities said more than 6,000 people have been detained over three nights of protests after election officials declared strongman Alexander Lukashenko the winner of…
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Scores of journalists have been assaulted or detained by security officers in Belarus while covering protests against the country’s contested election, the Belarusian Association of Journalists said Wednesday. The Belarusian interior ministry said more than 6,000 protesters have been detained during the three nights of post-election unrest and around 250 sought medical assistance. Here’s a…
DetailsRyazan Oil Refining Company, an enterprise of the refining complex of Rosneft Oil Company, is implementing a project to upgrade the AVT-2 crude distillation unit as part of the production modernisation programme.
Popular Russian YouTuber Yury Dud has urged law enforcement officials in neighboring Belarus to stop violence against civilians following three violent nights of protests against the re-election of its longtime authoritarian leader. Nationwide demonstrations broke out in Belarus after election officials declared President Alexander Lukashenko the winner in Sunday’s vote. Authorities said they have detained…
DetailsExperts of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) Moscow Centre have completed a pre-start-up peer review of the Leningrad NPP-2 Unit 2. The purpose of review was to assess the readiness of the unit for safe start-up and further operation. Peer reviews are conducted at operating nuclear power plants once every four years, including…
DetailsExperts of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) Moscow Centre have completed a pre-start-up peer review of the Leningrad NPP-2 Unit 2. The purpose of review was to assess the readiness of the unit for safe start-up and further operation. Peer reviews are conducted at operating nuclear power plants once every four years, including…
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Waves of repression in Belarus have turned its EU neighbors into places of refuge for pro-democracy Belarusians, with presidential challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya only the latest to shelter there. Tikhanovskaya said she had made the “difficult decision” to leave for Lithuania following a disputed election in which she has claimed victory against Alexander Lukashenko who has…
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will be a guinea pig for a controversial Russian coronavirus vaccine, his spokesman said on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian nation emerged as a frontrunner for overseas clinical trials. Moscow says it has developed the world’s first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the virus and is in the final stage of tests involving…
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A key ally of Belarus’ main opposition candidate in the country’s disputed presidential polls has urged the authorities to end violence against protesters after three nights of post-election unrest. Law enforcement officials were filmed beating and shooting rubber bullets at protesters in the days after official results declared strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko the winner. One…
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The highest number of new cases were in Moscow and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military parade in Moscow and a nationwide…
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The Arctic is warming significantly faster than current climate models account for, fueling extreme heat and the abrupt disappearance of sea ice across the region, a new study by the University of Copenhagen has said. The latest study says that temperatures rose by 1 degree Celsius every decade over the past 40 years in the…
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August 12, 2020 Severstal has become one of the partners of the GreenTech Startup Booster, an accelerator for environmental startups. The project was coordinated by the SKOLKOVO Foundation, with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation and a number of Russian and international corporations. The GreenTech Startup Booster…
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The main challenger in Belarus’s disputed presidential election said Tuesday she had left the country after two nights of clashes between police and opposition supporters left a protester dead. The European Union condemned the polls as “neither free nor fair” and threatened to impose sanctions on those responsible for “violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification of…
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The European Union declared Tuesday that the Belarus presidential election that returned authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko to office had been “neither free nor fair.” And, in a statement from EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell on behalf of EU members, the bloc threatened “measures on those responsible for the observed violence, unjustified arrests and falsification of…
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Russia has become the first country to approve a vaccine against the coronavirus, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday despite widespread concerns about its safety. Russia, which has the world’s fourth-highest coronavirus caseload, is one of several countries racing to develop a vaccine to halt the disease that has killed more than 740,000 people and slammed…
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The death toll from the coronavirus across many Russian regions could be many times higher than official statistics show, analysis of new data by The Moscow Times suggests. Experts pointed to systemic underreporting of deaths, and highlighted a complex incentive structure and political relationship between the Kremlin and Russia’s governors in the regions. They believe…
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The World Health Organization said any WHO stamp of approval on a Covid-19 vaccine candidate would require a rigorous safety data review, after Russia announced Tuesday it had approved a vaccine. President Vladimir Putin said Russia had become the first country to approve a vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the new coronavirus. “We are in…
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Official election results in Belarus showing an overwhelming victory for its longtime ruler were likely falsified, a senior Russian lawmaker has said in a rare stinging rebuke from Alexander Lukashenko’s traditional ally Moscow. Belarusian election officials announced that Lukashenko won more than 80% of the vote Sunday, a result that triggered ongoing nationwide protests, strikes…
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The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography and the Still Art Foundation have announced a new exhibition of works by Naum Granovsky, the Russian capital’s chief architectural photographer during the Soviet era, to mark the 110th anniversary of his birth. The retrospective exhibition combines Granovsky’s famous photographs of old Moscow in the 1920s and the Stalinist…
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Russia has registered the world’s first coronavirus vaccine early Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin announced, adding that one of his daughters has already been inoculated amid ongoing concerns about the rapidly developed vaccine’s safety. The state-run Gamaleya research institute last week launched Phase III trials of the Covid-19 vaccine involving thousands of volunteers. The Health Ministry…
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Russia will move forward with registering its potential coronavirus vaccine, its state health watchdog said, defying calls to put off the process until the vaccine’s trials are complete. President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced that the vaccine was registered, with mass production expected to start in September and mass vaccination in October. On Monday, the Association…
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The highest number of new cases were in Moscow and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military parade in Moscow and a nationwide…
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One man has died in protests in Belarus as demonstrators clashed with police for a second night after a disputed election handed a sixth term to strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Thousands took to the streets of the capital Minsk Monday night, saying Lukashenko had stolen the election from his surprise challenger, political novice Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Police used rubber…
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Belarus police on Monday used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up fresh protests challenging the result of a controversial weekend presidential election, witnesses and reports said. Several thousand protesters took to the streets of the capital Minsk for a second night of post-election rallies, with opposition supporters shouting and hundreds of cars honking…
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Thousands of Belarusian demonstrators were met with a violent police response on Sunday night as they protested what they said was a fraudulent election, after long-serving incumbent Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory. Here is how the world has reacted to the disputed vote on Europe’s eastern frontier. EU: ‘count votes accurately’ From Brussels, European Commission President…
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The main challenger in Belarus’s disputed election on Monday called on President Alexander Lukashenko to cede power but said she would not join demonstrations that have been brutally broken up by police, attracting widespread condemnation in Europe. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, whose surprise candidacy posed the biggest challenge to the veteran leader in years, said Sunday’s presidential…
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Workers at a major steel plant in Belarus have gone on strike over the country’s contentious presidential election that they described as “unfair,” Belarusian media reported Monday. Belarus’ longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed an overwhelming victory after Sunday’s vote, while his main challenger said it had been rigged and called on him to give up…
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Several Russian journalists have been detained, deported or have gone missing in Belarus ahead of and during Sunday’s highly contested presidential election. Police detained 3,000 people for taking part in unauthorized post-election demonstrations in Minsk and other cities, the Belarusian interior ministry said in a statement Monday. Fifty civilians and 39 police officers were injured…
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We are hitchhikers. In winter, spring and fall we have regular jobs in sales. We sell building materials and wood to save up for the upcoming travel and equipment. Then in summer we always quit our jobs and hit the road. Our employers hate this, as it is the biggest selling season. But in life…
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Russian-annexed Crimea has stepped up efforts to hire more doctors to staff its overwhelmed hospitals amid a resurgence of new coronavirus cases in the popular Black Sea holiday destination. New daily cases in August, averaging 29.3 so far, are two to three times higher than the peninsula’s reported cases in June, the Kommersant business daily…
DetailsOn the site of Kudankulam NPP Unit 3 under construction, Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T, India), under technical support of Russian experts, completed the works on installation into position of the reactor pressure vessel Dry Shielding. Dry Shielding is a cylindrical shield in metal cladding filled with serpentine concrete and located around the reactor…
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Massive clashes broke out overnight in Belarus as thousands of protesters disputed presidential election results that showed long-serving leader Alexander Lukashenko winning with an overwhelming majority of votes. Police broke up crowds of protesters with stun grenades and rubber bullets in Minsk and other cities Sunday evening. One protester was killed and dozens wounded in…
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Update: The protester who was previously reported to have been killed has survived, Reuters reported. A protester was killed and dozens wounded when police in Belarus used stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse demonstrators disputing election results, a prominent rights group said on Monday. The Viasna Human Rights Center said the young male protester…
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Russia has confirmed 887,536 cases of coronavirus and 14,931 deaths. Aug. 10: What you need to know today Russia’s statistics agency Rosstat said 11,917 people with the coronavirus died in June, compared to an official death toll of 4,880 for the same period. Rosstat said Covid-19 was confirmed or believed to be the main cause of death…
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The highest number of new cases were in Moscow and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military parade in Moscow and a nationwide…
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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was set for an overwhelming victory in a presidential election on Sunday, an official exit poll said, after a political newcomer mounted a historic challenge to the strongman leader. The exit poll for state television gave Lukashenko 79.7% of the vote, with main challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya coming second with 6.8%. The…
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Belarus held tense presidential polls on Sunday with a popular woman opposition candidate posing the greatest challenge in years to long-ruling strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old English teacher and translator by training, stood for office after the authorities detained her husband, popular blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, and barred him from running. She emerged as…
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The main opposition candidate challenging Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko demanded a fair election as she cast her ballot in the presidential poll on Sunday. “I really want the election to be honest, because if the authorities have nothing to fear, if all the people are for Alexander Grigoryevich (Lukashenko), then we will agree with that,”…
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The highest number of new cases were in Moscow and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military parade in Moscow and a nationwide…
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The campaign manager of Belarus’s leading opposition candidate was detained on Saturday on the eve of a tense presidential vote, her office said. A spokeswoman for presidential hopeful Svetlana Tikhanovskaya told AFP that Maria Moroz had been detained and was expected to be held until Monday. It was not immediately clear on what grounds she…
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Three Russian opposition activists were detained Saturday as they travelled to Belarus to observe a tense presidential election there, the group said. Andrei Pivovarov and two other members of Open Russia, an opposition group established by self-exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, were taken off a bus in the western Pskov region, the group said. Pivovarov,…
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Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Russia’s Far East for a fifth consecutive weekend as anti-Kremlin rallies showed little sign of dying down on Saturday. The rallies in the city of some 600,000 people on the border with China is a major show of defiance against Moscow’s policies and present a…
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Moscow’s cinemas, theaters and concert halls re-opened to the public on Aug. 1 after being closed for more than four months due to the coronavirus. These cultural institutions have introduced a number of safety measures to help prevent the spread of the virus among their audiences. The Russian capital’s movie theaters in particular bear little…
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Russia has confirmed 882,347 cases of coronavirus and 14,854 deaths. Aug. 8: What you need to know today Russia’s statistics agency Rosstat said 11,917 people with the coronavirus died in June, compared to an official death toll of 4,880 for the same period. Rosstat said Covid-19 was confirmed or believed to be the main cause of death…
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The highest number of new cases were in Moscow and Sverdlovsk in the Urals. Russia’s fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures. Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military parade in Moscow and a nationwide…
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Many believe that the COVID-19 pandemic is firmly in the rearview mirror, but this is clearly madness. I’m still in full lockdown and in deep danger of becoming something I never imagined: a homesteader. I spent much of the spring baking bread and early summer brewing kvas, and now in high summer it’s time to take…
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KHABAROVSK — From pink salmon to chum salmon to the glistening orange globes of their roe, Nadezhda Donkan remembers the tables of her childhood always being fully laden in her village in the Far Eastern region of Khabarovsk. Now a 57-year-old pensioner, Donkan, a member of the indigenous Nanai people whose livelihoods have for centuries depended…
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A Russian virologist has questioned the country’s swiftly developed coronavirus vaccine, warning that it could be dangerous for people who have antibodies against the virus. Russia is one of several countries racing to develop a vaccine to halt the disease that has killed more than 700,000 people and slammed the global economy. One vaccine, developed…
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The head of Russia’s space agency said Friday that Roscosmos wants to return to Venus and bring back soil samples and build spacecraft that will surpass Elon Musk’s rockets. Last week America’s first crewed spaceship to fly to the International Space Station in nearly a decade returned safely to Earth, splashing down in the Gulf…
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Belarus on Friday announced it had loaded fuel into its Russian-built nuclear power station as strongman Alexander Lukashenko prepares to contest a presidential poll on Sunday. The country is launching its first ever nuclear plant to gain cheaper energy despite suffering severe radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and against strong opposition from neighboring Lithuania.…
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he wants ex-Soviet neighbor Belarus to remain stable ahead of a presidential vote on Sunday, after Minsk accused Moscow of sending mercenaries to foment riots. The Kremlin released a statement after a phone call between Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to discuss ties as Belarus ramped up tensions…
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Indigenous groups in Siberia and the Russian Far East have asked Elon Musk to boycott a mining giant linked to several recent environmental disasters in the Arctic. Last month, the Tesla CEO urged global mining companies to ramp up nickel production as current costs of the metal, a key ingredient in electric car batteries, were…
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Russians are receiving spam text messages offering huge rewards in exchange for information about their country’s efforts to interfere in the United States’ presidential election. News of the SMS messages came after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the $10 million reward in an attempt to prevent foreign interference in the November vote, pointing…
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Twitter and Facebook on Thursday announced moves to thwart efforts to deceive or divide voters as the U.S. nears a contentious presidential election. Twitter unveiled new steps to prevent the spread of content from “state-affiliated media” used to advance a government’s political agenda — a move affecting key outlets from Russia and China. Facebook, meanwhile, said it…
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If you’ve read the book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, you remember how Tom Sawyer’s aunt made him paint the fence as punishment. But Tom made it seem like so much fun that his friends wanted to paint it for him while he went off and played. Inspired by this episode, the…
DetailsOn August 7, fuel loading began at the Belarusian NPP Unit 1. Rosatom Engineering Division is the general designer and general contractor of the NPP. At 11:45 the first fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor of Unit 1. A total of 163 assemblies will be loaded before the end of the month. Following the…
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Strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled over ex-Soviet Belarus for nearly three decades, is facing down the greatest challenge to his rule yet ahead of presidential elections on Sunday. In the run-up to the vote in which Lukashenko will seek a sixth term, protests have erupted across the country straddling Russia and Europe, with 37-year-old…
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A 15-year-old girl living in a Russian Orthodox monastery controlled by a defrocked coronavirus-denying priest has died, Interfax reported Wednesday. The Sredneuralsk women’s monastery near Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg has been under the control of Father Sergei Romanov since he forced out its mother superior in June. Since then, Russian media outlets have reported…
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