Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Two Expeditions Start as Part of Rosneft’s Programme for Polar Bear Research on the Arctic Shelf
Two expeditions have started on the Arctic license areas of Rosneft Oil Company as part of the Company’s polar bear research programme. The use of Russian ultra-light amphibian aircraft will provide for surveying the previously unexplored remote areas. The total length of the air survey routes will exceed 4,000 km. Specialists from the Severtsov Institute…
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Russians Name ‘Game of Thrones’ as Favorite Foreign TV Show
HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones” is the most popular foreign television show among Russian viewers, the independent Levada Center polling agency said Wednesday. Recent Levada polling has said that Russians are increasingly spending their free time watching television and view it as a growing source of their happiness. The medieval fantasy “Game of Thrones”…
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North Korea Detains Crew of Russian Fishing Vessel
North Korea is holding 15 Russian and two South Korean crew of a fishing vessel for violating entry regulations, the Russian Embassy in North Korea said Wednesday. The crew were detained on July 17 by North Korean border guards, and are currently being held in a hotel in the city of Wonsan, the Russian embassy…
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Russia Moves to Ban Keeping Businessmen in Detention for No Reason
Russian lawmakers have approved legislation banning law enforcement authorities from extending pre-trial detentions for businesspeople without reason amid criticism over the criminalization of business disputes. Officials are seeking to lure investment to boost Russia’s struggling economy and President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to unfounded probes into so-called economic crimes. However, government polling…
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Rosatom Head Alexey Likhachev and Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez meet at Akkuyu NPP Construction Site
uly 23, 2019, Büyükeceli, Province of Mersin, Turkey – Director General of Rosatom Atomic Energy Corporation Alexey Likhachev and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez held a working meeting at the construction site of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in the Turkish province of Mersin. The parties acknowledged the progress of the…
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Russia’s Migrant Numbers Surge to Highest Levels in a Decade, Study Says
More migrants have arrived in Russia in the first four months of 2019 than they did in the first four months of any year in the past decade, according to new research. The surge follows a historic low in migrant numbers recorded by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) in…
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Author Yuval Hariri Omits Crimea Mention in New Book’s Russian Edition
A section on the annexation of Crimea has been removed from the Russian edition of popular author Yuval Noah Hariri’s new self-help guide to living in a fast-changing world. Hariri, an Israeli historian and philosopher, is known for the bestselling titles “Homo Deus” and “Sapiens.” In Hariri’s third work, “21 Lessons for the 21st Century,”…
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Russia Says It Flew First Long-Range Air Patrol with China in Asia-Pacific
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it had conducted its first joint long-range air patrol with China in the Asia-Pacific region and that it had not been aimed at another country. The ministry made the statement after South Korea accused a Russian military aircraft of violating its air space earlier on Tuesday and fired warning…
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4 Children Killed in Massive Camp Fire in Russia’s Far East
Four children have died as a result of a massive fire that has all but wiped out a children’s camp in the Russian Far East. The fire broke out in the early hours of Tuesday, injuring several children and adults at the Khabarovsk region camp. Unnamed law enforcement officials suggested that a malfunctioning portable heater may…
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In British PM Race, a Former Russian Tycoon Quietly Wields Influence
For almost a decade, Alexander Temerko, who forged a career at the top of the Russian arms industry and had connections at the highest levels of the Kremlin, has been an influential figure in British politics. He’s one of the Conservative Party’s major donors. He counts Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to be Britain’s next prime…
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Celebrating the Genius of Sergei Shchukin
An unsuspecting tourist strolling down Volkhonka Street on a weekday afternoon may notice a curious phenomenon. A strand of people unfurls from the yard of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts onto the sidewalk for nearly a block down the otherwise empty street. Hundreds of people wait in line to see one of the most…
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Russia Passes Law to Employ Prisoners Near Businesses, Drawing Gulag Comparisons
Russian prisoners could soon work at correctional facilities near businesses under a new law that observers were quick to compare to Soviet-era gulag labor camps. Almost 33,500 out of nearly 550,000 inmates are currently doing time in 123 prison settlements across Russia. These settlements are a type of remote penal colony where prisoners are free…
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Russia Moves Toward Military Cooperation Deal With China
The Russian government has taken steps to start military cooperation deal negotiations with China as the countries step up their arms trade. Russia has in recent months completed the delivery of 24 Sukhoi Su-35 combat aircraft to China under a $2.5 billion deal. Moscow offered another batch of the multirole superiority fighters to Beijing last…
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Bashneft Acquires Controlling Stake in Sterlitamak Catalyst Plant
Bashneft (an enterprise of Rosneft Group) has bought the 51% stake in the charter capital of a privately-owned plant producing catalysts for hydrotreatment processes with a capacity of up to 4,000 tonnes per year in Sterlitamak
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Putin Told Jailed French Banker to Buy a Home. It Didn’t Help
Cecile Delpal’s hopes of freeing her husband Philippe from a Russian prison briefly got a boost when President Vladimir Putin told a gathering of business leaders that house arrest may be more appropriate for the French investment banker. But a Moscow judge had other ideas, extending Delpal’s pre-trial detention until October at a hearing this…
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On This Day in 1959 Science Fiction Was Revolutionized
On this day in 1959, the Strugatsky brothers, Arkady and Boris, published their first sci-fi novel, “The Land of Crimson Clouds.” The tale of a dangerous trip in the 1990s to Venus, covered in crimson clouds, was the first work the brothers wrote and the only work they each wrote parts of separately. Legend has…
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Russian-Chinese Air Patrol in Asia-Pacific Draws Fire from S.Korean Jets
Russia carried out what it said was its first long-range joint air patrol in the Asia-Pacific region with China on Tuesday, a mission that triggered hundreds of warning shots, according to South Korean officials, and a strong protest from Japan. The flight by two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers, backed up according to…
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Russian LGBT Activist Killed After Being Listed on ‘Saw’-Inspired Gay Hunting Site
A prominent Russian LGBT activist who had been featured on a blocked website that encourages people to “hunt down” sexual minorities has been killed in St. Petersburg. The website, inspired by the “Saw” horror film franchise and which encourages visitors to track down and assault people believed to be LGBT, was blocked in Russia last…
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The head of Rosatom A. Likhachov has sent his condolences to the members of the IAEA secretariat in connection with the death of Yu. Amano.
Director Gerenal of Rosatom State Corporation A.E. Likhachev has sent his condolences to the members of the Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in connection with the death of the Agency’s Director General Yu. Amano. It reads as follows: “On behalf of Rosatom State Corporation and personally, I offer deep condolences in connection…
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Russia Establishes New Arctic Air Squadron to Protect Its Northern Sea Route
Russia is boosting its military presence in the Arctic region in a bid to better protect its Northern Sea Route. Additional military infrastructure has been made operational along the country’s vast Arctic coast with the installation of radars, radio-electronic equipment, missile systems and other advanced weaponry. Russia’s Northern Fleet is taking a leading role in…
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Putin Grants Russian Citizenship to Novatek’s Finance Chief, a U.S. National
President Vladimir Putin handed Russian citizenship to gas producer Novatek’s veteran finance chief Mark Gyetvay on Monday, a move that could potentially help the U.S. national bypass some sanctions restrictions. U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia in 2014 ban U.S. nationals and companies from helping organize long-term funding for some major Russian firms, including Novatek. The sanctions were imposed following…
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Rosatom Inks Fuel Contract for China’s Tianwan NPP New Power Units
TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom has signed the contract for nuclear fuel supply to the future power units 7 and 8 of Tianwan NPP with Suneng Nuclear Power Corporation and China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation acting as the customers (both companies are subsidiaries of China National Nuclear Corporation, CNNC). The Contract signing ceremony took place…
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Russia Denies Its Planes Carried Out Airstrikes on Rebel-Held Syrian City
Russia‘s Defense Ministry denied on Monday its planes carried out airstrikes on the rebel-held Syrian city of Maarat al-Numan that hit a popular market and residential neighborhoods. The raids killed at least 20 people in the densely populated city in the south of Idlib province earlier on Monday and were believed to have been carried…
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Russia Offers Simplified E-Visas to Visitors of St. Petersburg
Tourists and businesspeople will be able to visit St. Petersburg on a simplified electronic visa starting this fall under President Vladimir Putin’s new orders. Putin has promised to offer e-visas to foreign visitors in 2021 as he vies to collect $15.5 billion in annual tourism revenue by the end of his presidential term in 2024.…
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Venomous Vipers Infest Flood-Struck Siberian Region
A southeast Siberian region recovering from weeks of deadly flooding has been hit by another plague: venomous vipers. Twenty-five people have died and seven people remain unaccounted for since the floods, described by scientists as the biggest in 180 years, hit the Irkutsk region in late June. Vipers were spotted almost immediately afterward and officials…
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Russian Official Warns of Economic Downturn in 2021 Over Lending Cuts
The Russian economy will fall into a recession in the next year and a half over a sharp drop in personal lending, the country’s economic minister has said. Russians have been racking up debt due to falling or stagnating real disposable incomes, an issue that President Vladimir Putin said risks creating an economic bubble. Economists…
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On This Day in 1958 Mikhail Zoshchenko Died
Soviet satirical writer Mikhail Zoshchenko was born in Poltava, Ukraine to a Russian mother and a father descended from Ukrainian nobility. From a young age, he enjoyed writing poetry and prose. In school he was not a good student and attempted suicide after failing a composition class. At the age of 17, Zoshchenko began studying…
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Hepatitis C Outbreak Infects Over 100 Russian Child Cancer Patients
As many as 150 child cancer patients have been infected with hepatitis C in Russia’s Far East in an outbreak that parents and officials say is the result of unhygienic medical practices, BBC Russia has reported. Officials in the Amur region said parents had been ringing the alarm about a hepatitis С outbreak in the…
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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Headed for Commanding Win in Parliamentary Election
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s party took a commanding lead in Sunday’s snap parliamentary election, consolidating the power of the novice politician whose stunning rise has upended traditional politics in the war-scarred nation. A former comedian who played a fictional schoolteacher-turned-president in a popular TV series, the 41-year-old Zelenskiy has tapped into widespread voter anger over…
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Scottish Student Fined for Giving Feminism Lecture in Siberia
A Scottish exchange student was fined and briefly detained for giving a lecture on feminism in Siberia in the latest incident targeting foreign students in Russia. Last month, a German student was reported to have been expelled from a Russian university and ordered to leave the country after writing an article about environmental protests. Harriet…
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‘A Pre-Revolutionary Situation’: More Than 20,000 Rally in Moscow for Free Elections
Russian opposition leaders on Saturday led a protest in Moscow against the election commission’s decision to bar a host of candidates from the ballot for city council elections this fall that turned into the largest demonstration in Russia in recent years. Billed as the culmination of a week of daily protests that kicked off last…
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Putin Says He ‘Sympathized’ With Trump Before U.S. Election
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had “sympathized” with Donald Trump before the 2016 presidential election that swept Trump to power because of his desire to restore normal relations with Russia. In an interview with U.S. filmmaker Oliver Stone dated June 19 and published on the Kremlin web site on Friday, Putin also said that…
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‘Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century’
The world is just beginning to come to terms with the scale of the previous century’s cruelty and carnage. Indeed, it is almost impossible to grasp the macabre tally of two devastating world wars, famine – both natural and manufactured — the disturbing rise of nationalism and fascism, the specter of atomic and nuclear weapons,…
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The 23rd Session of Chinese-Russian Nuclear Subcommittee took place
The 23rd Session of Chinese-Russian Nuclear Subcommittee took place in Nizhny Novgorod on 19 July within the framework of the Committee on preparation of regular China-Russia summits. Zhang Kejian, Chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority, and Aleksey Likhachev, ROSATOM Director General, are the Committee Cochairmen. The Session participants summarized the year outcomes of the…
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Former Austrian Chancellor Lands Russian Job
Russia’s state railway company appointed the former chancellor of Austria to its management board this week, continuing a trend of retired European politicians landing lucrative posts in Russia. Christian Kern, 53, headed Austria’s national railway system before serving as chancellor of the central European nation from 2016-2017. Austria has been among a minority of EU…
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Happy Birthday, Muzeon!
On Saturday Muzeon is celebrating its 27th birthday. The park on the banks of the Moscow River has a short but fascinating history. It began as nothing more than a construction site where all the detritus from building the New Tretyakov Gallery and the (then) House of Artists’ structure was deposited. In the 1980s artists…
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Russia to Phase Out Paper Passports by 2022
Russia is planning to phase out paper passports within three years as part of its national digitization program, drawing support as well as criticism over privacy concerns, according to the official government website. The government resumed discussions on issuing digital passports last fall, five years after it initially considered the idea. Cost estimates for the…
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Russian Artist Takes to Apartment Wall to Highlight Country’s Social Issues
Arseniy, an artist from the Russian city of Samara, has recently made waves on social media with a series of photographs made against the backdrop of an abandoned five-story building. The project is called “1m²” and addresses social issues and experiences encountered by normal Russians. The performances include showing a simple factory worker’s dinner, dreams…
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Half of Working Russians Earn Less Than $550 a Month
Half of Russian workers earn salaries of less than 35,000 rubles ($550) a month, despite a small increase in average monthly income over the past year, according to newly released official data. Stagnation in real disposable income has led to a slow deterioration in the quality of life for ordinary Russians and is feeding a…
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Welcome to the Russian Dacha
At the dacha, a traditional Russian summer house, home appliances are pretty basic. You can cook on the woodstove, draw water from a well or even cross the garden to go to the toilet… But the dacha is also a safe haven for Russians who live in cities — they rush here after work every…
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Suspect in Russian Tainted Oil Scandal Seeks Political Asylum in Lithuania
Roman Ruzhechko, a suspect in a Russian probe into a major oil pipeline contamination earlier this year, has asked for political asylum in Lithuania, a Vilnius district court spokesman told Reuters on Friday. Russian prosecutors have charged Ruzhechko, an executive at a small oil transport firm, and several other people in a criminal conspiracy to pollute…
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Museum Courtyard 2019 art project with support from Gazprom Dobycha Astrakhan launched in Astrakhan
News from projects and regions July 19, 2019, 13:15 Photos On July 18, the Astrakhan State Art Gallery named after Pavel Dogadin launched the anniversary season of the art project named ‘Museum Courtyard 2019’ in Astrakhan. Since its creation, the project, which unites admirers of music, painting, literature and art of declamation, has attracted about eight thousand Astrakhan citizens of all…
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On This Day Vladimir Mayakovsky Was Born
Vladimir Mayakovsky was born on July 19, 1893 in Georgia to ethnically Russian and Ukrainian parents. By the age of 14, Mayakovsky was already engaged in socialist activism. He lived in Georgia until his father died in 1906 and the family moved to Moscow. There Mayakovsky became interested in Marxist literature and joined the Russian…
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Russia Tests New Arctic Anti-Aircraft Missiles at Novaya Zemlya
First unveiled at the Victory Day Parade on Moscow’s Red Square in 2017, the Tor-M2DT vehicles with anti-aircraft missiles were specifically designed to be used in Russia’s Arctic regions. This week, two of the vehicles were brought to the southern shores of Novaya Zemlya on board the Northern Fleet’s Kondapoga amphibious ship sailing from the…
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Russia Could Ground International Flights Under New Proposal
New rules could grant Russian authorities the power to ground international flights if Russian airlines fail to provide personal information about passengers or if they pose a “security threat.” Unnamed sources within Russia’s aviation industry told the Kommersant business daily that the Federal Security Service (FSB) has been seeking to tighten regulations governing international flights…
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Hard Man Putin May Be Showing Softer Side to Russia’s Neighbors
The stage was prepared last week for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hammer tiny Georgia with new economic sanctions after parliament called on him to punish anti-Kremlin protests. Instead, Putin refused “because I respect the Georgians.” The uncharacteristic reaction left some wondering if the Kremlin is beginning to rethink its traditionally tough approach to neighboring states by…
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From Russia, No Love for EU’s New Chief and Her Hawkish Stance
Ursula von der Leyen won’t be getting a bear hug from the Kremlin. Russia’s top diplomat was asked during a visit to Germany about the incoming president of the European Commission and her “strict” view of his country. His frosty response was that the decision by the European Union’s leaders and Parliament was one “we…
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Moscow Officials Sued For Allowing Gay Couple to Adopt
Russia’s Investigative Committee has accused social welfare officials in Moscow of criminal negligence for allowing a gay couple to raise children they adopted nearly a decade ago. Russia banned gay adoption, along with “homosexual propaganda among minorities,” in 2013. The Investigative Committee said this week that it has opened a criminal negligence case against officials in…
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Severstal reports Q2 & H1 2019 fiacial results
July 19, 2019 PAO Severstal (MICEX-RTS: CHMF; LSE: SVST), one of the world’s leading steel and steel-related mining companies, today announces its Q2 & H1 2019 financial results for the period ended 30 June 2019. CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE QUARTER ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 $ million, unless otherwise stated Q2 2019 Q1 2019 Change,…
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Moscow, St. Petersburg Named Russia’s Most Polluted Cities – Greenpeace
Greenpeace Russia has named Moscow and St. Petersburg the most polluted cities in the country with the highest concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic particle released from diesel fumes. Environmental issues including air pollution, landfills and a proposed bottling plant have galvanized Russians to take to the streets over the past year. Public polling…
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Ukraine Agrees Prisoner Swap With Pro-Russian Separatists
Ukraine and Russia have agreed a prisoner swap expected to involve a total of 277 people taken captive in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday. Roman Bezsmertny said Kiev expected to exchange 208 people serving jail sentences in Ukraine for 69 Ukrainians. “The most important — an agreement was reached…
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On This Day in 1896 Russia Unveiled Its First Car
In July 1896, Russia presented its first car — the Yakovlev-Freze — to the world at an exhibition in Nizhniy Novgorod. Designed by Russian engineers Yevgeny Yakovlev and Pyotr Freze in St. Petersburg, the car looked like an elegant open carriage with large wooden wheels. It seated two and had a top speed of 21 kilometers…
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Russian Navy Comes Out in Force for St. Petersburg Parade Rehearsal
Early in the morning on July 16, residents and guests of St. Petersburg observed the spectacle of warships passing under the bridges of the Neva River. It was the first of five rehearsals of the main naval parade to be held on the Day of the Russian Navy on July 28. This year, 43 warships,…
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Moscow Is Home to the World’s Third-Largest Number of Billionaires
Moscow ranks third among the world’s cities for its number of billionaire residents, after New York and Hong Kong, according to a recent study from real estate agency Savills. Forbes’ real-time ranking currently lists 607 billionaires in the United States, 99 in Russia and 71 in Hong Kong. Savills said Moscow has 71 billionaires, New…
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New Russian #MeToo Flashmob Takes Twitter by Storm
Russia’s female Twitter users have started a movement to share stories of everyday harassment and abuse in the country, generating widespread support and some backlash from male users. The #I_Need_Openness hashtag — #Mnye_Nuzhna _Glasnost in Russian in a nod to the reformation of the Communist Party in the 1980s — comes two years after the…
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Russia, Ukraine Agree ‘Comprehensive’ Cease-Fire in Donbass
Russia, Ukraine and Europe’s top security body have announced an “indefinite” ceasefire in eastern Ukraine that analysts hail as a substantial step toward ending the five-year conflict. The war between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region has killed 13,000 people since it broke out in 2014. Sporadic fighting went on despite…
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Young employees of Gazprom Transgaz Saratov organize tourist convention
News from projects and regions July 18, 2019, 14:45 Photos On July 12–14, a tourist convention for the youth organized by the employees of Gazprom Transgaz Saratov on the occasion of the company’s 55th anniversary took place at the children’s summer camp named after Yuri Gagarin in the Engels District of the Saratov Region. The event brought together over 200 participants, including the company’s…
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Ukraine Announces Fast-Track Passports After Putin’s Russian Citizenship Offer
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ordered an overhaul of the process for granting Ukrainian citizenship, in response to a Russian decree expanding the number of Ukrainians who can apply for fast-track Russian passports. Zelenskiy’s office said early on Thursday, just a few hours after the Kremlin published Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order, that the foreign…
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Russia Denies Its Troops Are Fighting in Northwest Syria
Russia on Thursday denied allegations by Syrian rebels that Russian special forces or ground troops were fighting in the campaign for the rebel-held region of Idlib, the state-run RIA news agency reported. Senior rebel commanders said on Wednesday that Russia has sent special forces in recent days to fight alongside Syrian army troops struggling to…
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Rosneft Specialists together with Conservation Society and the Wildlife Research Develop Toys for Polar Bears
Rosneft specialists, together with the Conservation Society and the Wildlife Research, for the first time in Russia have developed special toys for polar bears under the Company’s care in all zoos of the country. In order to diversify the habitats of Arctic predators in their zoo houses, 64 toys were made of especially strong plastic…
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