On May 2, 1729, the woman who would become Catherine the Great was born as Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst in Stettin, Prussia (now known as Szczecin, Poland) to a German family. After a largely uneventful childhood, at the age of 16 she married Karl Ulrich. Karl Ulrich was the only son of Charles Frederick, Duke…
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Researchers from the Russian Hydrometeorological Institute, Roshydromet, had to flee from their Arctic station on Monday when the ice floe they were working on started to vanish from under their feet. The scientists, who are studying pollution in Russia’s Arctic region, had been on the ice for more than a month when the emergency struck…
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Former women’s national football team defender Anastasia Pustovoitova will be the first Russian national to referee a Champions League final after the UEFA selected her to officiate the women’s final later this month. Olympique Lyonnais play FC Barcelona Femenino in Hungary on May 18. No Russian — male or female — has refereed a Champions…
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Russia halted oil flows along the Druzhba pipeline to Eastern Europe and Germany last week because of contaminated crude, a move that helped lift global oil prices to a six-month high and left refiners in Europe scrambling to find supplies. Below are details about the problem and action being taken: What happened? At least 5 million…
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The author of a popular anonymous political blog in Russia has revealed his identity as a financial trader with a neuromuscular disorder from the North Caucasus, confirming previous media investigations. Stalingulag has entertained his readers with frank and vulgar commentary on current events in Russia on the Telegram messaging service since 2016. His writing style…
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Update: The St. Petersburg city court has ruled to uphold Shurshev’s and Pivovarov’s jail sentences on Thursday evening, Open Russia tweeted. Two aides to opposition leader Alexei Navalny and exiled former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky have been jailed for 10 days following May Day protests that ended in mass arrests on Wednesday. The violent detention…
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The Russian military has denied reports that four of its soldiers were killed in Syria. Arab media reported earlier that four Russian servicemen may have been killed by Turkish-backed rebels in the northwestern Syrian province of Hama. “Not one Russian soldier has died in the Syrian Arab Republic in recent memory,” the Russian Defense Ministry…
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The United States and Russia traded warnings against interfering in Venezuela on Wednesday, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Moscow of stopping President Nicolas Maduro from leaving the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Pompeo by phone that further “aggressive steps” in Venezuela would be fraught with the gravest consequences,…
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A court in the Czech Republic has ruled that a hotel owner acted legally when he refused accommodation to Russians over the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Tomáš Krčmář protested Moscow’s takeover of Crimea in spring 2014 by initially banning all Russian tourists, then making them sign a letter stating that they oppose the annexation.…
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On Wednesday, Russians holding bright posters with absurd slogans paraded city streets across the country for one of the best-known and oddest modern Russian demonstrations: the Monstration. The first Monstration was held far from the Russian capital city in Novosibirsk in the mid-2000s, and has since spread to Moscow itself. A Monstration is similar to…
DetailsOn May 1, 2018, the power startup of the Novovoronezh NPP-2 (Novovoronezh city, the Voronezh Region, an affiliate of the Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company, a part of the Electric Power Division of the Rosatom State corporation) 2nd power block took place. The innovative 3+ generation VVER-1200 power block was synchronized with the grid and achieved the…
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone that further “aggressive steps” in Venezuela would be fraught with the gravest consequences, Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Lavrov also condemned what he called the United States’ “interference” in Venezuela’s internal affairs as a breach of international law, adding that…
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President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a bill that seeks to establish Russia’s “internet sovereignty” into law. Deputies first submitted the measures to tighten state control over the internet in December, citing the need to respond to an “aggressive” U.S. national cybersecurity strategy. It has drawn fierce criticism from civil society groups over fears that it…
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Sweden has granted asylum to two members of the anti-Kremlin activist group Pussy Riot, the country’s media reported on Wednesday. Artist Lusine Dzhanyan and her partner Alexei Knedlyakovsky have sought asylum for themselves and their two children in Sweden since 2017, saying they had received harassment and death threats in their home country. Their initial…
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to speak with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday amid tensions over the political situation in Venezuela, White House national security adviser John Bolton said in television interviews. Pompeo on Tuesday accused Russia of intervening when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was prepared to leave the country in the…
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More than 120 people have been detained during May Day marches in seven Russian cities on Wednesday. May 1 marks Labor Day in Russia, where official parades and organized street demonstrations celebrating workers and laborers are held across the country. Traditionally, official May Day celebrations in Russia are seen as a source of pride rather…
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On this day in in 1918, the Soviet government marked May 1 as Day of International Solidarity with Workers. Its origins date back to Australia in 1856, when workers demonstrated for an 8-hour work day. This demand was picked up by anarchist organizations in the U.S. on May 1 in 1886. Demonstrations and marches in…
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May 1 marks Labor Day in Russia, one of the country’s major public holidays. Cities across the country hold official parades, organized street demonstrations and marches on this day, which celebrates workers and laborers. More than 100,000 people attended this year’s parade in Moscow, according to police estimates. Here’s a look at the celebrations throughout…
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Months of work are needed to restore clean oil supplies via a key Russian pipeline to Europe, Belarus said on Tuesday, as Moscow suggested a deliberate act was behind the contamination that prompted some countries to release state oil reserves. Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia and other countries halted oil imports via the Druzhba pipeline last…
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Russia‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday rejected a suggestion by Washington that it had persuaded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro not to flee in the face of street protests, calling the assertion part of an information war. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was prepared to leave the country on Tuesday morning in the face of a…
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Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly sacked Moscow’s ambassador to Belarus, Mikhail Babich, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, amid a row over contaminated oil and a wider political discord between the ex-Soviet countries. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has generally been more closely aligned with Moscow than any other ex-Soviet leader, while the lack of tolerance for…
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PJSC PhosAgro (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR) (“PhosAgro”, the “Company”), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, hereby informs / notifies its shareholders that the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders is to be held on 24 May 2019, Form of the Extraordinary General Meeting: joint attendance of shareholders for discussion of the agenda…
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Russia‘s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday accused the opposition in Venezuela of resorting to violence in what it said was a brazen attempt to draw the country’s armed forces into clashes. The ministry made the allegation after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido called for a military uprising to oust President Nicolas Maduro and armed factions exchanged…
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National Guard troops have been sent to a northern Russian region at the heart of longstanding resistance to importing Moscow’s trash, the investigative Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported on Tuesday. Residents have opposed plans to build the 10.5 billion ruble ($160.7 million) Shiyes landfill in Arkhangelsk region since last summer. Arkhangelsk is one of dozens of…
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Russia’s online community has been abuzz over the past week with praise for popular YouTuber Yury Dud’s documentary about life in the land of the gulag labor camps. It’s a departure for the 32-year-old sports editor, whose 5.1 million subscribers tune in to watch him interview personalities from all walks of life about their personal…
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News from projects and regions April 30, 2019, 15:10 On April 21, the 19th Plasticine Crow National Children’s Arts Festival concluded in Saransk with a big gala concert. The team of the Torbeyevskoye Gas Pipeline Operation Center, branch of Gazprom Transgaz Nizhny Novgorod, had taken part in the festival. The final round of the competition included 54 concert numbers by young performers aged between…
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Europe’s human rights court has awarded opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s aide and an activist $17,000 each for violations of their rights and freedoms by the Russian government. Elvira Dmitriyeva, Navalny’s coordinator in the city of Kazan, was fined in 2017 for organizing and campaigning for participation in an unauthorized public event. Grigory Kablis’ social media…
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The Stone Flower fountain is one of the more famous attractions in Moscow’s VDNKh exhibition park. The fountain, which was built in 1954, recently underwent renovations. But do Moscow’s residents know how much it really cost? According to a government tender, the restoration of the fountain cost 1.2 billion rubles ($18.6 million). For comparison, the…
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In May 2018, disaster struck in the Tretyakov Gallery. On a Friday evening just before closing time, a man ran into the almost empty hall of works by Ilya Repin, picked up a metal stanchion and bashed the glass-enclosed painting, “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan November 16, 1581.” The assailant broke through the…
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Each year on May 9, Russia and a handful of former Soviet countries celebrate Victory Day, which marks the day after Nazi Germany surrendered and Soviet forces took control of Berlin. The end of the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in Russia, is still celebrated as the country’s most important public…
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On April 30, 1905, Emperor Nicholas II issued a decree on “Tolerance Development.” It would be the first in a series meant to reform relations between Russia’s church and state. This Edict of Toleration — a declaration made by a ruler or government that protects practitioners of a religion from persecution — gave the religions…
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Russian lawmakers have asked the foreign minister to draw up a list of officials involved in the prosecution of admitted Russian agent Maria Butina, the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper reported Tuesday. Butina was sentenced to 18 months after she pleaded guilty in December to conspiring with a Russian official to infiltrate a gun rights group and…
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Infrastructure development was the top issue when Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on April 25 to attend Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top-level meeting on the Belt and Road initiative. The meeting was the second of its kind and Putin was the prime guest. Russia is a country of key importance for the Belt…
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The United States obstructs Russia’s work in the United Nations by selectively issuing visas to Russian nationals, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. Russia’s chemical weapons expert Dmitry Poklonsky was denied a U.S. visa to attend a UN Security Council session last Thursday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a press statement. He was due…
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Moscow does not expect any foreign leaders to attend its Victory Day celebrations, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the state-run RIA Novosti news outlet on Monday. Every year on May 9, Russia celebrates Victory Day to commemorate the Soviet victory in World War II. In Moscow, the day is marked with a massive parade through…
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News from projects and regions April 29, 2019, 18:00 Photos On April 24 and 26, employees of the head office and branches of Gazprom Transgaz Tchaikovsky carried out a number of cleanup actions in Tchaikovsky as part of the Green Spring countrywide environmental cleanup. The cleanup was kicked off by the employees of the company’s culture and sports center. They cleaned Tchaikovsky Square, Sportivnaya Street, and…
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Russia has opened its first center aimed at issuing Russian passports to residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine, Interfax reported on Monday. Last week, President Vladimir Putin signed an order to simplify the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine, prompting calls from Kiev for more international sanctions. “Today, the center…
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Background Gazprom Transgaz Makhachkala is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom. It delivers gas to consumers in the Republic of Dagestan and other regions of the North Caucasus Federal District, as well as to Transcaucasian countries. The total amount of gas transmitted by the company annually exceeds 7 billion cubic meters. The company has 12 branches, including five gas pipeline operation centers, the Emergency Response and Repair Directorate, the Engineering & Technical Center, the…
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When Stefan Ingvarsson arrived in Moscow in 2015 as the new Cultural Counsellor the Embassy of Sweden, he already had spent a lot of time in the Soviet Union and Russia, starting with high school exchanges in the 1980s. He also had a great deal of experience organizing cultural events and festivals, coming to Russia…
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Around 200 prisoners in 2018 were so badly injured during questioning by investigators in Moscow region pre-detention facilities that they required hospitalization, a senior Federal Prison Service (FSIN) official has claimed. Russia’s federal penitentiary system was rocked by a scandal last year after bodycam footage showed guards violently beating prisoners in a notorious prison outside…
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Belarus said on Monday that clean Russian oil had yet to reach its borders via a major pipeline supplying Europe after tainted crude running through the system prompted several importers to halt flows last week. State-run oil firm Belneftekhim said Belarusian refineries were still running at reduced capacity, after Moscow had said it would start pumping…
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russians and Ukrainians would only benefit from sharing common citizenship, the Interfax news agency reported. Putin said on Saturday Moscow was considering offering all Ukrainian citizens fast-tracked Russian passports, a move that angered some politicians in Ukraine which has been at war with pro-Russian separatists since 2014.…
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The Kremlin considers it premature to discuss any details about expanding Russia’s fast-tracked passport offer to all Ukrainian citizens, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said Moscow was considering offering all Ukrainian citizens fast-tracked Russian passports. Putin made the statement days after signing an order to simplify the procedure…
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Marine specialists in Norway have said a harnessed whale that was discovered off its coast may have been trained by the Russian Navy as part of a program to use underwater mammals for service operations. Norwegian media reported Saturday that local fisherman Joar Hesten removed a harness from a beluga whale in northern Norway after…
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More than half of Russians believe the internet in Russia should continue to develop as a network “uniting the whole world,” according to a study conducted by the state-funded VTsIOM pollster. The study comes two weeks after Russia’s lower house of parliament approved the third reading of a draft law that aims to increase Moscow’s…
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Russia has fallen out of the top five defense spending countries for the first time since 2006 after its spending decreased by 3.5 percent from 2017 to 2018, according to a new report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Russia has expanded its military presence abroad in recent years, with its 2014…
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Orthodox Easter, called Paskha in Russian, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is one of Russia’s most widely celebrated religious holidays. Because it follows the Orthodox Calendar, it is usually celebrated later than Catholic Easter. People prepare for the celebration by coloring eggs, baking the traditional kulich cake and making paskha, a cottage cheese…
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On Saturday night Orthodox churches and cathedrals around the world ushered in Easter with solemn ceremonies. Easter celebrations culminated in a grand midnight procession with crosses and icons, and worshipers chanting “Christ is risen indeed!” Easter is Christianity’s most important holiday which symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Orthodox world marks Easter this year a week later than the Catholic and…
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President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday Moscow was considering offering all Ukrainian citizens fast-tracked Russian passports, a move likely to anger some politicians in Ukraine which has been at war with pro-Russian separatists since 2014. Putin made the statement days after signing an order to simplify the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents…
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A full-scale assault against militants in Syria’s Idlib province “is not expedient now” and civilians’ security needs to be taken into account, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday. Speaking in Beijing, Putin said Russia would work with the Syrian opposition to finalise the make-up of a constitutional committee, part of efforts to secure a…
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposals on nuclear arms disarmament is “not serious,” a Kremlin spokesman said on Saturday. Trump has ordered his administration to prepare a push for a new arms-control agreements with Russia and China citing the cost of the 21st-century nuclear arms race, The Washington Post reported on Thursday citing administration officials. “It…
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Vladimir Kozlov was born in Mogilev, in what was once the Belorussian S.S.R. and is now Belarus. After his childhood and adolescence in industrial Mogilev experiencing all the chaos, upheaval, crime and freedom of the perestroika years, he moved to Minsk and then Moscow. He has written more than a dozen works of fiction, including…
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Every Friday, 24-year-old student Arshak Makichyan stands alone in Moscow’s Pushkin Square with a poster warning locals about the dangers of climate change. He started his protest in mid-March, inspired by the #Climatestrike movement led by young activists around the world. Back then, Makichyan and around two dozen other Muscovites gathered in Sokolniki Park in…
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A federal judge on Friday sentenced Russian agent Maria Butina to 18 months in prison after Butina pleaded guilty in December to conspiring with a Russian official to infiltrate a gun rights group and influence U.S. conservative activists and Republicans. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan said the 18 months will include the approximately nine months Butina…
DetailsASE EC JSC (Engineering Division of ROSATOM) has been assigned the “Acknowledged Excellence” level by the accessors of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). The certificate confirming the highest (5 star) level according to the criteria of Excellence Model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) was awarded today by Nikolay Akatov, the leading assessor…
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The Syrian government and armed opposition groups, together with both sides’ backers, could agree on the makeup of a constitutional committee in coming months, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev said on Friday. Forming a constitutional committee is key to political reforms and new elections meant to unify Syria and end an eight-year war which has killed…
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A Russian-born socialite has been found guilty of theft of services and grand larceny in New York, facing up to 15 years in prison and deportation to Germany, the Associated Press reported Friday. Anna Sorokin, 28, assumed the name of Anna Delvey when she tricked her friends and banks into financing her lavish $275,000 lifestyle…
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Yevgeny Prigozhin, a catering magnate with ties to Vladimir Putin, has paid out compensation to the parents of dozens of children who were reportedly poisoned after eating food provided by his catering company. Officials confirmed some 130 cases of food poisoning among kindergarteners in southeastern Moscow in December, leading parents to file a class-action lawsuit…
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Half of Russia’s Orthodox Christians do not know the origins of Easter, according to a state-run poll published on Friday. Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Day after his death on the cross. Orthodox Easter falls on Sunday, April 28, ending seven weeks of fasting and kickstarting the traditions of spring cleaning…
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Admitted Russian agent Maria Butina will be sentenced on Friday by a federal judge after pleading guilty in December to conspiring with a Russian official to infiltrate a gun rights group and influence U.S. conservative activists and Republicans. Butina, a former graduate student at American University in Washington who publicly advocated for gun rights, faces…
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