Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Detention of Investor Is an ‘Emergency’ for Russian Economy, Kudrin Says
The detention in Russia of Baring Vostok’s U.S. founder Michael Calvey is an emergency for the Russian economy, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, now head of the Audit Chamber, said on Monday. “I find this particular situation (to be) an emergency for the economy,” Kudrin tweeted. He said Calvey’s detention shows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s…
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PhosAgro-Region increases sales volumes by 7% in 2018 to 2.93 mln t.
Moscow — PhosAgro-Region* (PhosAgro Group), Russia’s largest mineral fertilizer distribution network, increased its total supply of mineral fertilisers to the Russian market by 7% in 2018, to 2.93 million tonnes. According to the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers, PhosAgro Group is the largest distributor of mineral fertilizers for Russian farmers. The Russian market remains a priority for PhosAgro Group, accounting for 30% of sales, more than any of the…
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Facebook Blocks RT’s Viral ‘In the Now’ Video Page
Facebook has taken down the Kremlin-funded RT network’s In the Now viral video page days after it was accused of hiding its ownership structure. RT’s American branch was ordered to register as a “foreign agent” in the United States after accusations that it had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. RT ceased broadcasting in…
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Russian Journalist Attacked After Investigation into Local Official — Reports
An independent news outlet in southern Russia has reported that its journalist was attacked over the weekend in an incident it linked to a corruption investigation into a local official. An increasing number of civil activists, politicians and journalists have been assaulted in Russia since 2015, the Agora human rights group said in a report…
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Kremlin Says Investor Arrest Won’t Hurt Business Climate
The Kremlin said the arrest of Michael Calvey, founder of the private equity firm Baring Vostok Capital Partners, shouldn’t hurt the confidence of foreign investors in Russia and it’s “very closely watching” developments in the case. But investors and analysts said they were disturbed by the arrest of one of the country’s longest-standing American investors…
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Russia’s Pobeda Airline (Finally) Relaxes Hand Luggage Rules
Russia’s Pobeda budget airline eased up its hand luggage policy on Monday to allow passengers to carry backpacks and other items free of charge, following numerous complaints and lawsuits from passengers. Earlier this month, Russia’s Supreme Court ordered Pobeda to change its hand luggage allowance to reflect the Transport Ministry’s 2017 ruling that gave all…
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Over Half of Russian Military Police Have Syrian War Experience — Official
Around 60 percent of Russian military police officers have received wartime experience in Syria in fewer than three years of deployment, a Russian Defense Ministry official said Monday. Officers began patrolling the Golan Heights frontier between Syria and Israel in 2016 and installed observation posts in the area. “Currently around 60 percent of the military…
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See Death and Life in Dzerzhinsk
In a famous essay written shortly after the Second World War, Martin Heidegger draws a distinction between ancient and modern technology. Ancient technology is “gentle” insofar as it exemplifies a certain harmony with the environment. Modern technology is “violent” to the extent that it exhibits little regard for life-sustaining ecosystems. And in his “Industrial Zone”…
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Kremlin Says It Is Following Situation with Calvey’s Detention Very Closely
The Kremlin is following the situation around the detention of Baring Vostok’s head Michael Calvey very closely and hopes it will not affect the Russian investment climate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. He said President Vladimir Putin had met Calvey many times in the past but that his detention was beyond Putin’s…
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Scammed Nigerian Footballers Stranded in Russia After World Cup, NGO Says
A group of budding football players from Nigeria has been stranded in Russia since arriving on a visa-waiver system for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a Russian anti-slavery NGO has said. Russian police have said that an estimated 5,500 foreigners who traveled to Russia visa-free for the football tournament have remained in the country since…
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Russian Journalist and Activist Briefly Detained in Amsterdam
Dutch police briefly detained a Russian journalist and a Russian human rights activist at Amsterdam airport on unknown charges, Novaya Gazeta reported Monday. Yelena Milashina, a journalist with the investigative Novaya Gazeta newspaper, and Milana Bakhayeva, an activist with the Memorial human rights NGO, reportedly arrived in Amsterdam to meet with activists investigating the plight…
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ATOMEXPO-2019 to Feature Discussion on the Contribution of Nuclear Technologies to Sustainable Development
On April 15–16, 2019, Russia’s southern city of Sochi will host the 11th International Forum ATOMEXPO, dedicated to the advanced nuclear technologies’ contribution to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Within a decade, the forum has transformed itself from a Russian nuclear industry event with occasional participation of foreign partners into a global…
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Russia’s Gazprombank Freezes Accounts of Venezuela’s PDVSA, Source Says
Russian lender Gazprombank has decided to freeze the accounts of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and halted transactions with the firm to reduce the risk of the bank falling under U.S. sanctions, a Gazprombank source told Reuters on Sunday. While many foreign firms have been cutting their exposure to PDVSA since the sanctions were imposed,…
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Russian University Building Partly Collapses, No Casualties
A university building partly collapsed on Saturday in the Russian city of St Petersburg, trapping people under debris, but emergency services reported no casualties, Russian news agencies reported. Around two dozen people were trapped in the building of the University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics in the centre of Russia’s second biggest city, the…
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Russia’s Lavrov Calls UK’s Williamson ‘Minister of War’
A day after British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson accused Moscow of “trying to goad the West” in a bellicose speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called him Britain’s minister of war. Williamson, addressing the Munich Security Conference on Friday, accused Russia of “illegal activity” on land and at sea, and called on Moscow to reset…
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Russian Court Orders Baring Vostok’s Calvey to Be Kept in Custody until April 13
A Moscow court has ordered Baring Vostok’s founder Michael Calvey to be kept in custody until April 13. The Basmanny court’s judge, Artur Karpov, said on Saturday that Calvey, a U.S. citizen, was accused of a “serious crime” and could try to flee. Baring Vostok is a major equity fund group in Russia. Its website says…
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Russian Court Orders Baring Vostok’s Calvey to Be Kept in Custody Until April
A Moscow court has ordered Baring Vostok’s founder Michael Calvey to be kept in custody until April 13. The Basmanny court’s judge, Artur Karpov, said on Saturday that Calvey, a U.S. citizen, was accused of a “serious crime” and could try to flee. Baring Vostok is a major equity fund group in Russia. Its website says…
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In Search of Better Quality of Life, Russians Lean on Credit
Voronezh wasn’t cutting it. Artyom had been out of college for four years, and job openings in the southern Russian city were sparse. Last fall, in search of better employment opportunities, he headed north to St. Petersburg. But the journey wasn’t cheap. “I needed money for the move, an apartment and for daily expenses before…
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Turkey’s Erdogan Says No Going Back From S-400 Arms Deal with Russia
Turkey will not turn back from its deal to buy S-400 missile systems from Russia, President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Saturday, a day after an informal deadline Washington set for Ankara to respond to arival offer passed. NATO member Turkey has repeatedly said it is committed to buying the Russian missile defense…
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A delegation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency visited Russia
On February 15, 2019 a delegation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) visited Russia. It was headed by the Agency’s Director General William Magwood IV. During the visit a framework agreement was signed on the Joint Initiative of OECD/NEA on nuclear education and staff training (NEST). From the Russian…
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A delegation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency visited Russia
On February 15, 2019 a delegation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) visited Russia. It was headed by the Agency’s Director General William Magwood IV. During the visit a framework agreement was signed on the Joint Initiative of OECD/NEA on nuclear education and staff training (NEST). From the Russian party…
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We’re Ready to Unite With Russia, Belarus Leader Lukashenko Says
Belarus is ready to merge with Russia, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on the third and last day of his bilateral talks with President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Rumors resurfaced this year that Russia could annex Belarus as Putin’s constitutional term limits bar him from running for the presidency in 2024. Read More A Brotherly…
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Belarus Ready to ‘Unite’ With Russia, Lukashenko Says
Belarus is ready to merge with Russia, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on the third and last day of his bilateral talks with President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Rumors resurfaced this year that Russia could annex Belarus as Putin’s constitutional term limits bar him from running for the presidency in 2024. “The two of us…
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Remembering the Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan, 30 Years Later (in Pictures)
Feb. 15, 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The nine-year Afghan War claimed the lives of over 1 million Afghani civilians and over 14,000 Soviet troops. In 1989, Gorbachev’s decision to withdraw the Soviet military from the country was hailed as a long overdue ending to a bloody conflict…
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Gazprom Transgaz Ufa summarizes results of Breaking Barriers social project
News from projects and regions February 15, 2019, 17:15 Gazprom Transgaz Ufa, the Ministry of Family Affairs, Labor and Social Welfare of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and the Breaking Barriers Social Technologies Center looked back at the results of the eponymous inter-regional social project in 2018. It was the sixth consecutive year that this noble endeavor gathered together thousands of children with disabilities,…
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Russian Nuclear-Capable Bombers Fly Over Sea of Japan
Nuclear-capable Russian bombers carried out a training flight over the Sea of Japan, prompting Tokyo to scramble air force planes to intercept them, the Interfax news agency cited the Russian defense ministry as saying on Friday. Read More 77% of Russians Oppose Ceding Kuril Islands to Japan, Poll Says Japanese fighter jets accompanied the Russian…
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U.S. Founder of Major Private Equity Group Detained in Russia on Embezzlement Charges, Explained
Russia has detained the U.S. founder of Baring Vostok, the biggest private independent equity fund in the country, in Moscow on suspicion of embezzling $37.5 million. Michael Calvey, 51, and three other partners in the fund who have also been detained face up to 10 years if convicted. Two more suspects, both bank executives, have also…
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What’s Behind the Arrest of the U.S. Founder of a Major Private Equity Group in Russia?
Russia has detained the U.S. founder of Baring Vostok, the biggest private independent equity fund in the country, in Moscow on suspicion of embezzling $37.5 million. Michael Calvey, 51, and three other partners in the fund who have also been detained face up to 10 years if convicted. Two more suspects, both bank executives, have also…
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Belgian Intel Officer is a Suspected Russian Spy, Reports Say
An officer in Belgium’s military intelligence service is reportedly under investigation for spying for Russia. The unnamed officer was accused of providing a Serbian national, who is suspected of being a Russian agent, access to classified information, Belgium’s De Morgen newspaper reported. Read More Two Estonians Convicted of Spying for Russia The case reportedly reflects internal…
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Russian Priest Under Fire for Sultry Sermons
A Russian Orthodox priest has been defrocked for his adult-themed sermons that shocked congregations, church authorities have said. The news comes a little over two months after another Russian priest was investigated for publicizing his love of luxury brands including Gucci on social media. Read More Russian Priest Investigated After Flaunting ‘Gucci’ Lifestyle on Instagram…
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Deputy Director General of ROSATOM Nikolai Spasskiy held negotiations in the Kyrgyz Republic
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Kyrgyz Republic Andrei Krutko and Deputy Director General for International Relations of ROSATOM Nikolai Spasskiy February 13, 2019 held negotiations with Minister of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurbolot Mirzahmedov and met First Vice Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Kubatbek Boronov. Director for…
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Gazprom and CNPC discuss planned supplies of Russian gas to China
Release February 15, 2019, 13:45 A Gazprom delegation headed by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee, paid a working visit to China today. As part of the visit, a meeting between Alexey Miller and Wang Yilin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CNPC, took place in Beijing. The parties reviewed a wide range of issues related to cooperation between the companies, focusing on the ongoing preparations for the…
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U.S. Investor Calvey Detained in Moscow on Suspicion of Fraud
Russia has detained the U.S. founder of the Baring Vostok private equity group in Moscow on suspicion of fraud, a spokeswoman for Moscow’s Basmanny court told Reuters on Friday. Yunona Tsaryova, the spokeswoman, said Michael Calvey was detained on Thursday. Read More U.S. Founder of Major Private Equity Group Detained in Russia on Embezzlement Charges, Explained…
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We Won’t Allow a Color Revolution in Venezuela, Moscow Says
Russia’s position on Venezuela is to prevent American-backed regime change, the country’s Foreign Ministry has announced, amid a jostle for power among rival political factions in the crisis-struck Latin American country. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the United States of backing a coup in his country after Washington recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as…
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No Offensive Planned in Syria’s Idlib, Kremlin Says
Khalil Ashawi President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia, Turkey and Iran had agreed to take unspecified extra steps to clear Syria’s Idlib region of what he called “a hotbed of terrorists,” but the Kremlin said there would be no military operation there. Putin, one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s closest allies, was speaking after…
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Get Out of Town! Go to Tula
The biggest change in Russia these days? Cool provincial cities. Wikicommons If you need a break from Moscow, hop on a high-speed train and find yourself in the newly cool-ified provincial city of Tula in just two hours. Founded in late 14th century, Tula first belonged to the principality of Ryazan. But Tula’s famous kremlin…
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Russia’s Military Vows to ‘Prevent Invasion’ of Polar Bears in Arctic Town
Russia’s Defense Ministry has pledged to address the polar bear invasion that has struck panic in a remote Arctic settlement in recent weeks. Polar bears began to descend on Russia’s Novaya Zemlya archipelago, population 3,000, driven from their habitat by food scarcity fueled by climate change, according to WWF experts. The authorities in the Arkhangelsk…
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Armed Men Attack Indian Pharmaceutical Executive in Moscow
An Indian national who heads a pharmaceutical company in Russia has been reportedly hospitalized after falling victim to an armed attack in Moscow. Four unknown assailants beat Jyoti Loomba and his driver with bats on the southeastern outskirts of Moscow Thursday evening, a police source told the RBC news website. They then shot Loomba several…
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Russian Markets Waver at Prospect of Tough New U.S. Sanctions
Andrei Lyubimov / Moskva News Agency The threat of new U.S. sanctions rocked Russian markets on Thursday, as investors were left wondering whether they had been getting too complacent about what had been a long-expected move. Russian stocks and government bonds fell and the country’s debt insurance costs rose alongside FX volatility gauges, after U.S.…
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Gas Blast Rips Through Russian Apartment Building, Killing 2 Residents
A gas explosion in a Russian apartment block has killed two people, authorities said Friday, two months after another blast killed dozens and exposed the dangers of gas-equipped households. More than 20 people were killed in 12 gas explosions throughout Russia in 2018, with another 39 killed in an explosion on Dec. 31, 2018 in…
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Gas Blast Rips Through Russian Apartment Building, Killing Two
A gas explosion in a Russian apartment block has killed two people, authorities said Friday, two months after another blast killed dozens and exposed the dangers of gas-equipped households. More than 20 people were killed in 12 gas explosions throughout Russia in 2018, with another 39 killed in an explosion on Dec. 31, 2018 in…
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Bellingcat Names Third Russian GRU Agent Suspected of Skripal Poisoning
A third man suspected of involvement in the nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England last year is a high-ranking Russian military intelligence agent, the investigative website Bellingcat said on Thursday. “Bellingcat can now reveal the true identity and background of this GRU officer, who operated internationally under the cover persona…
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The Great Firewall of Russia. Why Polar Bears Pillaged a Siberian Village. Julia Ioffe on Putin and Trump.
This week on From Russia With News, investigative journalist and security services expert Andrei Soldatov tells us why Russia is moving closer to give the authorities the power to unplug the country’s internet network from the outside world. And Greenpeace Energy Head Vladimir Chuprov has the latest on the polar bear invasion in Russia’s Far…
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Rusatom Healthcare and GE Healthcare approved the plan for localization of advanced technologies for nuclear medicine in Russia
Sochi, Russia, February 14, 2019 – On the sidelines of the Russian Investment Forum ROSATOM’s company – JSC Rusatom Healthcare (an integrator in the field of radiation technologies in medicine and industry) – and GE Healthcare signed a roadmap to create local productions of high-technology medical equipment to cater growing need of residents of Russia’s…
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NovaWind JSC will invest 955 million rubles in the construction of a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Volgodonsk (Russia)
Today, at the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi, the Ministry for Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, NovaWind JSC (the ROSATOM division responsible for renewable energy industry projects) and Red Wind B.V., a Russian-Dutch joint venture, have signed a Special Investment Contract (the SPIC) to implement the investment pro-ject for creating a manufacturing facility…
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114 Years After Her Birth, Ayn Rand’s Supporters Think Russia Is Ready for Her Ideas
Young Russians are increasingly turning to the American writer in their search for a political alternative. Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg on Feb 2, 1905 and received her education in the city. Pixabay / Wikicommons / MT In a glitzy hotel lobby in central St. Petersburg on Saturday, a band of young anarchists…
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Contract signed with Almaz-Antey Corporation for batch manufacturing of subsea production equipment
Release February 14, 2019, 17:35 Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Yan Novikov, Chairman of the Management Board, Director General of the Almaz-Antey Corporation, today at the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi signed a long-term contract for the supply of import-substituting products in the amount equal to guaranteed future purchases. According to the document, the Corporation will set up the batch manufacturing and…
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Russian Lawmakers Propose Fining Government Officials for Insulting Citizens
Communist lawmakers in Russia have submitted a bill that would introduce fines for officials who disrespect their voters, Interfax reported on Thursday. Public officials across Russia have increasingly made national headlines for being caught on record insulting regular citizens. The mayor of a smog-hit mining town landed in hot water on Wednesday for calling his…
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Russia to Turkey: You Can’t Have Syrian Safe Zone Without Assad’s Consent
Russia told Turkey on Thursday it had no right to create a “safe zone” inside Syria unless it sought and received the consent of President Bashar Assad, signaling tensions as a three-way summit on the Syrian conflict began. President Vladimir Putin, one of Assad’s closest allies, was hosting the summit in the Black Sea resort…
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A Valentine’s Day Ski Date for Two: Putin and Lukashenko Hit the Slopes
In southern Russia’s resort city of Sochi, President Vladimir Putin shows once again that he’s always ready to demonstrate his physical fitness as he hits the slopes with Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko. Their ski date comes a day after Lukashenko promised that despite strained ties between the two neighbors Belarus would “never deliver bad vodka or bad…
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More Russian Men Confess to Being in Love than Women on Valentine’s Day — Survey
A majority of Russians have admitted that they are currently in love, according to a state-funded poll released on Valentine’s Day, with many more men saying that they are currently in love than women. In total, 59 percent of Russian respondents told the state-funded VTsIOM pollster that they have been struck by Cupid’s arrow, the…
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Russia’s Economy Can Weather New U.S. Sanctions, Kremlin Says
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia’s economy could cope with any new U.S. sanctions, adding that it had demonstrated macroeconomic stability and even achieved growth while facing punitive measures from the West. Read More ‘Insane, Ridiculous’: Russian Lawmakers React to New U.S. Sanctions Bill The Kremlin comments came a day after U.S. senators introduced a…
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Celebrate Russia On Stage
Every spring Russia celebrates the best of theater with a three-month festival called the Golden Mask. This year theater-lovers are looking forward to a particularly vibrant festival, since it is celebrating its 25th year while the country celebrates its Year of Theater. The best productions of drama and comedy, opera, ballet, contemporary dance, operetta and…
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Russia Considers Japan-Style Fine for ‘Excessively Large’ Waistlines
Russia’s health and consumer rights watchdog is considering drawing on Japan’s experience in tackling obesity, including fining citizens for large waistlines. Japan made it illegal in 2008 for citizens between 40 and 74 years old to exceed the state-prescribed limit of 85 centimeters for male waistlines and 90 centimeters for female waistlines. Russia is on…
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Russian Investigators Are Reopening the Dyatlov Pass Case. But What Is It?
Sixty years after a group of hikers mysteriously died in the Ural Mountains, police are breathing new life into the notorious cold case. The group’s tent was found abandoned in the snow; cut open from the inside. Public Domain Britain has Jack the Ripper, the United States has the Zodiac Killer and Russia has the…
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Doha Hosts Premiere of Anna Karenina by Boris Eifman Ballet Theatre
Boris Eifman Ballet Theatre has presented the play “Anna Karenina” to the music of Tchaikovsky at the Qatar Foundation in Doha. Rosneft Oil Company provided for the event as its main sponsor. The performance was hosted on February 12 and 13 at QNCC Al Mayassa Theatre, following on a range of projects implemented as part…
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Arena Park Moscow
VTB Arena Park will enrich the historical center of Moscow and become a prestigious and attractive district where modern life rhythms will be harmonized with the tranquility and peace of the old Moscow. Cozy pedestrian parkways, cafes, restaurants, shops and services enterprises will create a welcoming and comfortable megalopolis environment adding new modern colors to…
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Prominent Human Rights NGO Labeled ‘Foreign Agent’ in Russia
A prominent Russian civil rights group has been blacklisted as a “foreign agent” months after its leader spent time behind bars over a protest, the Justice Ministry has said. Russia’s Justice Ministry initiated an inspection of Lev Ponomaryov’s “For Human Rights” group for engaging in suspected political activity while receiving money from abroad in December.…
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Russia Moves to Mask Its Soldiers’ Digital Trail
Russia is moving to ban its soldiers from sharing information on the internet, a step that follows the use of social media posts by investigative journalists to shine a light on Moscow’s clandestine role in foreign conflicts. Draft legislation proposes banning servicemen and reserve troops from posting anything online that would allow outsiders to glean…
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Putin Challenges Erdogan Over Syria as U.S. Exit Bolsters Russia
Kremlin.ru The planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria is fueling tensions between Russia and Turkey over control of a key region of the Middle Eastern country once American forces have left. Russia is pressuring Turkey to agree to an offensive on Idlib, seized by militants linked to al-Qaeda last month, a senior Turkish official said, speaking…
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