Against a backdrop of falling approval ratings and a faltering economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin began his annual address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday with an emphasis on domestic issues. Speaking at Gostiny Dvor to 2,000 senior government officials, he focused on questions of internal economic and social development, before discussing Russia’s new missile…
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A spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses has said that Russian investigators have brutally tortured adherents of the group who are currently held in detention. Russia’s Supreme Court declared the Jehovah’s Witnesses an extremist organization in 2017, leading to mass raids and causing hundreds of its estimated 175,000 members to flee the country. Earlier this month,…
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One thing I never worry about is how to entertain out of town guests in Moscow. After twenty-some years, the template has been honed and refined into a delicate balance of classic rubbernecking (the Kremlin, Red Square, the Tretyakov Gallery, Novodeyvichy Convent and Cemetery) and just enough off-the-beaten-track experiences (Danilovsky Market, Garage, Izmailovo) to make…
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One thing I never worry about is how to entertain out of town guests in Moscow. After twenty-some years, the template has been honed and refined into a delicate balance of classic rubbernecking (the Kremlin, Red Square, the Tretyakov Gallery, Novodeyvichy Convent and Cemetery) and just enough off-the-beaten-track experiences (Danilovsky Market, Garage, Izmailovo) to make…
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Residents of a central Russian town plagued by air pollution are beginning to sue over health complications that they say are caused by toxic emissions from a nearby copper mine, local authorities have said. The town of Sibai has been hit by thick smog since November, sparking protests and leading to the distribution of medical…
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Russia’s FSB security service has asked a Moscow court to extend the detention of former U.S. marine Paul Whelan who is being held on suspicion of spying, the Interfax news agency cited a court spokeswoman as saying on Wednesday. Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in a Moscow hotel room…
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Russia‘s largest oil company could take over and renovate a ruined palace once used by the tsars, under draft legislation provisionally backed on Tuesday by lawmakers. The bill, approved by lawmakers in its first of three readings, seeks to save thousands of dilapidated listed buildings by creating a mechanism for investors to take them over…
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Animal rights activists have staged a picket in Moscow demanding the release of more than 100 orcas and belugas held in so-called “whale jails” in Far East Russia. Activists have raised the alarm about the mistreatment of 11 killer whales and 90 belugas that they say are kept in cold and cramped pens in Srednyaya…
DetailsVoronezh Region, February 19, 2019 – Fuel loading began right on schedule at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant II, unit No. 2 equipped with the VVER-1200 reactor. The first batch of 163 fuel assemblies were successfully installed at 16:10 (Moscow time) with the remaining assemblies to be loaded within five days. The initial fuel loading…
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Danske Bank A/S will close its operations across the Baltic states and in Russia after authorities in Estonia kicked out the Danish lender amid a deepening money-laundering scandal. The Financial Supervisory Authority in Tallinn took the extraordinary step on Tuesday of ordering Danske to close its operations in the Baltic country. The agency is giving…
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All but a handful of Russians living on the disputed Kuril Islands in Far East Russia have overwhelmingly rejected the prospect of being transferred to Japan, a state-funded survey said Tuesday. The dispute over the four islands, which Soviet troops captured from Japan in the final days of World War II, is so acrimonious that…
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Russia’s state space agency has announced plans to send tourists into space along the route taken by the first man in space over the next two years. Legendary Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin made history as the first human to orbit the Earth when he spent 108 minutes in space in 1961. “We’re […] launching a…
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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in a telephone conversation, voiced their support for continued coordination on the global energy markets, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. The Kremlin also said the two leaders praised bilateral cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia. “Mutual attitude for further strengthening of multifaceted Russia-Saudi…
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Russian soldiers will no longer be able to take selfies or share information online under new legislation passed by the State Duma on Tuesday. In recent years, online investigative journalism sites like Bellingcat have used open source data to cast light on Russia’s alleged role in eastern Ukraine and other countries. In a third and…
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Rosneft Chairman of the Board of Directors Gerhard Schroeder had a meeting with the management of Rosneft Deutschland GmbH in the company’s office in Berlin and got acquainted with business strategy of Rosneft Deutschland for 2019. During the meeting, representatives of Rosneft Deutschland management also reported on the first results of the company’s direct marketing…
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Serial production of Russia’s first post-Soviet mainline commercial aircraft will be delayed by a year due to U.S. sanctions, the head of state-owned industrial conglomerate Rostec said on Monday, Russian news agencies reported. Russia hopes the MS-21, a twin-engine, medium-range passenger plane, will give Boeing and Airbus a run for their money. Three prototypes have…
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Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov temporarily transferred power to the head of the legislative assembly of his republic early last week as he battled what he said was a common cold. Kadyrov, 42, has ruled Chechnya, a Russian region that was devastated by two bloody separatist conflicts in the 1990s and early 2000s, since he was…
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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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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 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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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…
DetailsOn 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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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…
DetailsOn 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…
DetailsOn 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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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…
DetailsExtraordinary 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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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