Russia Announces 3-Day Vote for 2024 Election

Russian election officials announced Friday that the 2024 presidential race will be held over three days, the first time that multi-day voting has been used for a presidential election.  “Three-day voting is already becoming a tradition in our electoral system,” said Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) chairwoman Ella Pamfilova. “It was first used during the [Covid-19]…

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Finland Refuses Russian Nationalist Fighter’s Extradition to Ukraine – Reports

A court in Finland has refused to extradite a Russian nationalist fighter to Ukraine and ruled to release him from detention, Finnish media reported Friday. Since 2016, Ukrainian authorities have sought the arrest of Yan Petrovsky, a Russian-Norwegian national, on terrorism charges, accusing him of assisting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine as a member of…

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Russia Outlaws U.S.-Based RAND Corporation as ‘Undesirable’

Russia’s Justice Ministry has added the U.S. global policy think tank RAND Corporation to its list of “undesirable” organizations, banning its activities and putting staff at risk of jail in Russia. RAND’s designation, dated Dec. 6 on the ministry website, is not accompanied by a statement explaining Moscow’s decision to blacklist the research and development nonprofit.…

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U.K. Accuses Moscow of Cyber Campaign Against Top Politicians

The British government on Thursday accused Russian security services of engaging in a sustained cyber espionage campaign against top politicians, journalists and NGOs. Russia has been suspected of meddling in U.K. politics before, including the divisive 2016 Brexit referendum, however, the Conservative Party-led government has been criticized for failing to investigate. In the latest claims,…

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ROSATOM and DP World to create a global logistics operator

The parties agreed to jointly develop logistic integration amongst BRICS members and partner countries. ROSATOM and DP World have signed an agreement on strategic cooperation in the global market aimed at increasing the efficiency of international trade, primarily among the BRICS countries and their partners, and at creating seamless, sustainable global transportation and logistics supply…

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Russia Accuses Ex-Soldier of Helping Ukraine Organize Arson Attacks

Russia’s Security Service (FSB) on Thursday said it detained two people suspected of organizing several arson attacks on behalf of Kyiv and transferring money to the Ukrainian military. A 21-year-old ex-soldier in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad was accused of being paid by the Ukrainian special services to recruit potential arsonists inside Russia. “The suspect involved several…

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ROSATOM manufactures first bundles of BN-800 MOX fuel with minor actinides

ROSATOM’s Mining and Chemical Combine in Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk region, has manufactured the first three fuel assemblies with uranium-plutonium MOX fuel, which contain in their fuel matrix not only plutonium, but also other transuranic elements — americium-241 and neptunium-237. The fuel bundles have been successfully accepted and will be loaded into the BN-800 fast neutrons reactor…

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Russia’s State Duma Bans Cellphones in School Classrooms

Russian lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favor of banning the use of cellphones in school classrooms, a move they argue will help improve the learning process for students.  The speaker of Russia’s lower-house State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said cellphones would no longer be permitted in classrooms except for “emergencies.” “Parents and teachers asked us to back this rule. The…

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In First, Russia Jails 2 Soldiers for ‘Failure to Prevent’ Ukrainian Strike – Kommersant

Two senior Russian officers have been imprisoned on charges of failing to prevent a Ukrainian missile strike on Russia, the first such case of its kind, the business daily Kommersant reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the trial. Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Bondarev and Major Dmitry Dmitrakov were accused of allowing a Ukrainian missile strike…

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Kremlin Taps ‘Liberal’ Businessman to Oppose Putin in 2024 Election – Report

Russian businessman Alexei Nechaev will stand in as President Vladimir Putin’s “liberal” rival during Russia’s 2024 presidential race, the independent news outlet Mozhem Obyasnit reported Tuesday, citing two anonymous sources in the pro-business political party he created nearly four years ago.  Nechaev, who owns one of Russia’s leading cosmetics companies Faberlic, stepped into politics when…

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ROSATOM joined the Statement by representatives of the global nuclear industry on efforts to triple generation capacity

The Net Zero Nuclear Industry Pledge initiative aims to achieve this result by 2050. At the invitation of World Nuclear Association, ROSATOM has joined the Net Zero Nuclear Industry Pledge, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. The pledge, spearheaded by leaders in the nuclear energy sector, underscores the pivotal role…

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U.S. Says Russia Rejected ‘Substantial’ Proposal to Free 2 Americans

The United States said Tuesday that Russia rejected a new proposal to free two detained Americans, Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan. “We have made a number of proposals, including a substantial one in recent weeks,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. “That proposal was rejected by Russia,” he…

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‘No One Knows Anything’: St. Petersburg’s Queer Community Grapples With ‘Extremist’ LGBT Ban

ST. PETERSBURG — The ban on the “international LGBT movement” by Russia’s top court has thrown the queer community of St. Petersburg, historically one of the country’s most LGBT-tolerant cities, into unprecedented uncertainty and fear.  “People are scared,” said Maria, 43, an openly lesbian feminist and LGBT activist who asked for anonymity out of concerns…

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ROSATOM completed production of RITM-200 reactors for a series of universal nuclear icebreakers

The second RITM-200 reactor intended for the nuclear-powered icebreaker Chukotka will be delivered to the shipyard by the end of the year. The manufacturing facility of Rosatom’s Mechanical Engineering Division in Podolsk has completed the manufacturing of the second vessel of the RITM-200 reactor intended for the new generation icebreaker Chukotka. This is the last…

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Russia’s ‘Extremist’ Ban Fuels LGBT Flight

Russia’s recent “extremist” designation of a loosely defined “LGBT movement” has led to a surge in emergency evacuations from the country, independent media reported Tuesday, citing the European human rights group for post-Soviet LGBT people, Equal PostOst. Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday banned the so-called “international LGBT movement” — which does not formally exist —…

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Iranian President to Meet Putin in Moscow on Dec. 7

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin confirmed Tuesday. Iran’s official news agency Irna had earlier reported on the planned visit, saying that the two leaders would discuss “bilateral issues, including economic interactions, as well as discussions about regional and international issues, especially the situation…

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Russian Prosecutors Seek 19.5-Year Prison Sentence for Disgraced Ex-Minister

Russian prosecutors have requested a 19.5-year prison sentence for former minister Mikhail Abyzov nearly five years after his arrest in a $62 million fraud case, Interfax reported Monday. Abyzov, 51, had been a close ally of former President Dmitry Medvedev, serving as his minister of open government affairs from 2012-2018. He was arrested in March 2019 on charges…

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ROSATOM demonstrates progress in implementing low-capacity nuclear power projects at the SMR Day

Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation ROSATOM global leader in nuclear technologies nuclear energy The event became an international platform for discussing the advantages of developing small modular reactors.    ROSATOM held the Small Modular Reactors Day (SMR Day) on the sidelines of the COP28 Climate Conference, presenting a full range of technological solutions to achieve…

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