Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Russian Independent News Site Shuts Down After Editor’s Self-Immolation Death
An independent Russian news website has shut down four months after its editor died from setting herself on fire outside the city of Nizhny Novgorod’s police headquarters. Irina Slavina, editor-in-chief of Koza Press, died on Oct. 2, the day after security forces raided her home in search of evidence of her ties to the opposition. […]
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Moscow Court Orders Psych Exam for Former U.S. Marine
A Russian court on Wednesday ordered a psychological examination of former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, who was convicted of assaulting a police officer in a case condemned by President Joe Biden’s administration. Reed, 29, was found guilty and sentenced to nine years behind bars in July last year for allegedly hitting a Moscow law enforcement […]
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‘Snow Apocalypse’ Coming to Moscow Amid Decade-Low February Temps
A major winter storm is expected to descend on Moscow this week with massive snowdrifts and unusually cold air temperatures even by the Russian capital’s standards, forecasters said Wednesday. Snow is expected to blanket Moscow beginning Thursday afternoon and lasting into the weekend, Russian weather service chief Roman Vilfand told the state-run TASS news agency. […]
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Visitors To Karabakh To Require Russian Permission
Visitors to Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh now have to get Russian permission ahead of time. The territory’s de facto ministry of foreign affairs announced new entry regulations for foreigners on Feb. 8, and one of the provisions was that Russian peacekeeping forces will examine applications “for security purposes” before they are approved. It’s not clear what prompted the new […]
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Russia Eyes Measures to Tackle Migrant Labor Shortage
Russia said Wednesday it was looking to simplify entry requirements for migrant workers, to aid industries like construction and agriculture that are facing labor shortages due to the pandemic. Moscow announced border closures in spring last year to curb the spread of the coronavirus, prompting thousands of migrant workers, mostly from ex-Soviet countries in Central […]
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Russia’s Excess Death Spike a ‘Harsh Reality’ of Coronavirus, Kremlin Says
Russia’s surge in deaths last year is the “harsh reality” of the global coronavirus pandemic, the Kremlin said Wednesday after official data showed a much higher Covid-19 death toll than initially reported. The state statistics service on Monday attributed 162,429 of deaths in 2020 to the coronavirus, three times more than the 57,555 deaths first […]
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Despite Early Start, Russia Says Only 1.5% Population Vaccinated
Around 2.2 million Russians have been partially vaccinated against the coronavirus so far — or 1.5% of the country’s population — the lead scientist behind the development of Russia’s homemade Sputnik V vaccine said Wednesday. The progress update was announced by Denis Logunov, deputy director of research at the state-run Gamaleya Institute, at a meeting […]
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Russia’s Virus Caseload Passes 4 Million
But Russia has come under fire for its official virus statistics and the government’s stated death toll of 78,134 in particular has been undermined by recent mortality data. Figures published by statistics agency Rosstat on Monday showed more than 162,000 virus-related deaths last year, more than double the number reported by the government’s task force so far. […]
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Moscow Activists Plan ‘Chain of Solidarity’ for Yulia Navalnaya, Women ‘Political Prisoners’
Russian activists have announced a “Chain of Solidarity and Love” in central Moscow on Valentine’s Day in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s wife Yulia as well as Russian women prosecuted for political reasons. The event was inspired by last summer’s women-led actions in neighboring Belarus, where people formed long human chains to protest police […]
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ROSATOM held a formal meeting “Science in the RTTN Complex Program”
On February 9, 2021, in Moscow a formal meeting “Science in the RTTN Complex Program” (“Development of Engineering, Technology and Research in the Use of Atomic Energy until 2024”) was held in the ROSATOM’s Headquarters. The meeting was dedicated to the Russian Science Day. Representatives of ROSATOM, NRC Kurchatov Institute, institutes of the Russian Academy […]
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Moscow Coronavirus Patients Die After Oxygen Outage
Two coronavirus patients hospitalized outside Moscow have died following an oxygen outage in at least the fourth such incident in recent months, regional health officials confirmed to Russian media Wednesday. A malfunction is believed to have caused the oxygen supply interruption at the coronavirus wing of the hospital in the western Moscow region district of Odintsovo, emergency […]
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Moscow Security Forces Raid Jehovah’s Witnesses
Security forces detained several Moscow-based Jehovah’s Witnesses during raids in connection with a new extremism investigation into the religious group’s members, authorities announced Wednesday. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said Federal Security Service (FSB) agents, National Guardsmen and police officers assisted in the raids at 16 addresses in and around Moscow. The investigative […]
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Russia Places Top Navalny Aide on Interstate Wanted List
Russia has issued an interstate arrest warrant for Leonid Volkov, the regional network coordinator for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Interfax reported on Wednesday, citing the court press service. Volkov, who is currently based in Lithuania, faces criminal charges in Russia for allegedly inciting minors online to participate in unsanctioned protests last month. Several of […]
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Russians’ Protest Expectations Hit 20-Year High, Willingness to Attend Falls – Poll
More Russians expect to see new protests than at any other point in the past 23 years while their own willingness to protest continues to decline, according to a survey by the independent Levada Center published Wednesday. The widening gap follows widespread footage of police violence against peaceful demonstrators at recent nationwide rallies in support […]
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Syzran Refinery Wins “Leader of Environmental Protection in Russia – 2020” Contest
The Syzran Oil Refinery, an enterprise of Rosneft Oil Company’s refining complex, has been given the most significant award of the 16th Russian Contest “Leader of Environmental Protection in Russia – 2020” in the Best Environmental Policy in Refining nomination.
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Russia Snubs European Security Panel in 30-Year First
The Russian military has turned down an invitation to attend a European security seminar for the first time in 30 years amid deteriorating ties with the West, Moscow’s arms control delegation in Vienna said Tuesday. The delegation’s Twitter account said Russian Defense Ministry officials opted out of the European Security and Cooperation Organization’s (OSCE) Military […]
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EU Will Propose ‘Concrete’ Sanctions Against Russia
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday he will propose the bloc’s 27 member states impose sanctions on Russia after Moscow rebuffed his attempts to renew a dialogue. “It will be for the member states to decide the next step, but yes this could include sanctions and I will put forward concrete proposals,” Borrell […]
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Russia Brands Navalny Team ‘Traitors’ for EU Sanctions Push
Russia on Tuesday accused allies of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny of treasonous behavior for urging the EU to sanction members of President Vladimir Putin’s circle, including oligarchs and bankers. Navalny’s right-hand man piled fresh pressure on the Kremlin by calling on supporters to stage courtyard protests on Valentine’s Day this Sunday, lighting their phone […]
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Russia Floats Pre-Emptive ‘Intimidation’ Strike to Counter U.S. Strategy
Russian military scientists have proposed a pre-emptive strike using manned and unmanned aircraft to counter the United States’ multidomain war-fighting strategy against adversaries, according to excerpts cited in an Armed Forces academic journal. The Russian Aerospace Force academics describe the Pentagon’s air, land, sea, cyber and space integration strategy to paralyze an enemy — known […]
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PIK reactor is put into energy operation mode
On February 8, 2021, on the Day of Russian Science, PIK neutron reactor was put into power operation at the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute in St Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics (PNPI) with president of the Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk and ROSATOM Director General Alexey Likhachev attending the launch. The unique features of neutron […]
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Valentine’s Day at the Hyatt Regency
The romantic months of February and March begin with Valentine’s Day this coming Sunday (Feb. 14). Even though Russians traditionally celebrate men on Feb. 23 (Defender of the Homeland Day) and women on March 8 (International Women’s Day), they have happily joined their foreign friends and added this celebration of couples in honor of St. […]
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In Photos: Record-Breaking Cold Grips Moscow
Much of Russia has been invaded by a blast of bitter winter weather this week — in the country’s northern regions, temperatures as low as minus 40 Celsius were recorded. Moscow, too, is experiencing some of the decade’s coldest weather, with temperatures plummeting to the low twenties. Here is a closer look at how Muscovites […]
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Rosneft will report its Q4 and 12M 2020 IFRS financial results on Friday, February 12, 2021.
Rosneft will report its Q4 and 12M 2020 IFRS financial results on Friday, February 12, 2021.
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Navalny Allies Announce New Courtyard Protests
Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team has announced fresh protests for this Sunday, shifting their strategy from street demonstrations to neighborhood gatherings in an effort to avoid direct confrontations with riot police. Russian authorities clamped down on two weekend rallies held in Navalny’s support late last month. Videos showed riot police using force against those […]
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EU Accepts Russia’s Application for Sputnik V Approval
The European Union has approved Russia’s application to register its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the bloc, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is funding and marketing Sputnik V, filed for EU registration of the jab on Jan. 29. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had concluded its […]
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Pro-Putin Corporate Culture Behind Viral ‘Flashmob’ Videos
In a recent video that quickly went viral on Russian social media, thousands of employees can be seen cheering, waving Russian flags and lining up to form letters that spell “Putin is our president” when viewed from above. The video, filmed in the parking lot at the Sima Land e-commerce company’s Yekaterinburg headquarters, ends with […]
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Russia Annoyed by EU Inclusion of Navalny Allies in Sanctions Talks
Russia has admonished the European Union for discussing potential sanctions with jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s close associates. On Monday, Navalny’s regional network coordinator Leonid Volkov and his Anti-Corruption Foundation executive director Vladimir Ashurkov joined a video call on the EU’s Russia policy, Volkov said on social media. Diplomats from Britain, the United States, Canada […]
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2 Gay Men Sent Back to Chechnya Were ‘Kidnapped’ – Rights Group
A rights group on Monday described as “kidnapping” the plight of two gay men who were seized near Moscow last week and sent back to their native Chechnya, a Russian region accused of persecution against homosexuality. The LGBT Network rights group helped the two Chechen men, Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isayev, flee Muslim-majority Chechnya for […]
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Germany, Poland, Sweden to Expel Russian Diplomats in Tit-for-Tat Move
Germany, Sweden and Poland on Monday said they were each expelling a Russian diplomat, in retaliation for Moscow’s expulsion last week of their diplomats for allegedly taking part in protests in support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The three EU countries announced the tit-for-tat moves in coordinated statements, which come against a backdrop of mounting […]
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Joseph Brodsky’s ‘Room and a Half’ Now a Museum
After many years in the making, the Joseph Brodsky Museum has finally opened in the apartment he shared with his parents on Liteiny Prospekt in St. Petersburg, 25 years after his death at the age of 56. The museum is divided into a modern section in a former flat that was adjacent to the one […]
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Russia’s Yearly Mortality Surges 20% in 2020
Russia recorded a 19.6% year-on-year increase in deaths last year, figures published by the federal statistics service showed Monday. Rosstat said a total of 2.12 million people died in 2020 — an increase of 323,000 compared to 2019, and the highest annual fatality count for at least 16 years. Speaking earlier Monday, Deputy Prime Minister […]
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Barbed-Wire Police Protest Lands Russian Performance Artist in Jail
A Russian performance artist has been jailed a second time for attempting to stage a barbed-wire stunt in protest of police overreach in central Moscow last month, the OVD-Info police-monitoring website reported Monday. Authorities detained Pavel Krisevich on Sunday immediately after he finished serving a two-week administrative arrest on charges of disobeying police orders with the stunt […]
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Russia Defends Expulsion of European Diplomats
The Kremlin defended Monday Russia’s shock expulsion of EU diplomats during the high-profile visit of the European Union’s top diplomat but insisted it remained interested in reviving relations with Brussels. Russia on Friday announced the expulsion of diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden during the rare meeting in Moscow between EU foreign policy chief Josep […]
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1 in 4 Russians Watched Navalny’s ‘Putin Palace’ Investigation – Poll
More than one out of every four Russians, or 26%, have watched opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s recent investigation into President Vladimir Putin’s alleged $1.3 billion palace, according to a poll by the independent Levada Center published Monday. Navalny’s team released the in-depth YouTube investigation — which alleges that Putin and his close associates laundered money […]
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Russian Communist Lawmaker Detained for ‘Observing’ Navalny Protests
A regional Russian lawmaker and popular YouTuber from the Communist Party who plans to run for parliament this fall has been detained on charges of violating protest rules at a rally in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Nikolai Bondarenko’s colleagues in the Volga region of Saratov say he had attended the Jan. 31 Navalny protests […]
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What Happened During Tense EU-Russia Talks?
The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell paid a three-day visit to Moscow for talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, marking the first visit by a senior EU envoy to Russia since 2017. Borrell’s decision to go ahead with the Moscow visit despite last week’s jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and Russia’s harsh crackdown […]
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Russian State TV Attempts ‘Putin Palace’-Style Exposé on Navalny’s German Apartment
Russian state television has filmed what it called an exposé into opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s villa in Germany where he lived while recovering from nerve agent poisoning last year. The detailed segment, interspersed with scenes from Navalny’s viral video investigation into President Vladimir Putin’s alleged Black Sea palace, ran during one of the country’s most-watched […]
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Orenburgneft’s Green Investments Amount to Almost 2 Billion Roubles in 2020
Orenburgneft, part of the Rosneft Oil Company oil-producing complex, invested more than 1.9 billion roubles in the implementation of environment-oriented and natural rehabilitation activities in 2020
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EU Must ‘Draw Consequences’ From Controversial Moscow Trip, Says Top Diplomat
The European Union’s top diplomat Sunday said Russia was rejecting constructive dialogue with the EU and that Europe must draw the consequences, including the possibility of new sanctions. In a blog post, Josep Borrell said the shock expulsion of three EU diplomats during his two-day visit to Moscow, showed that Russia “did not want to […]
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Hungary Approves Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine
Hungarian health authorities have approved Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, the government said Sunday, with 40,000 doses of the jab already to be given. Official testing has been completed “and the vaccine may be administered”, Miklos Kasler, the human resources minister who is in charge of health, said on social media. The government had announced […]
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2 Gay Men Returned to Chechnya Face ‘Mortal Danger’: Rights Group
Two gay men seized near Moscow this week and sent back to their native Chechnya, a region accused of brutal persecution against homosexuality, face “mortal danger,” a rights group said Saturday. The LGBT Network rights group helped the two Chechen men, Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isayev, flee Chechnya for Nizhny Novgorod east of Moscow in […]
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North Meets South in Mini Golubtsy
Since antiquity cooks have tucked meat and grains in vegetable leaves: wrapping food in pickled fig leaves was common in both Greece and Rome. The Byzantines used vine leaves as their primary wrapper, and this mania in Asia Minor for stuffing one food into another led to the ubiquitous dolmas, small vine leaf logs stuffed […]
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Russia Expels European Diplomats Over Navalny Protests – Foreign Ministry
Russia will expel diplomats from Sweden, Poland and Germany over their alleged participation in recent “unauthorized” rallies in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. The expulsions come amid European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell’s visit to Moscow, where he lamented to his counterpart Sergei Lavrov that ties between […]
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Top EU Envoy ‘Hopes’ for Russian Vaccine’s Approval in Europe
The European Union’s top diplomat has said he hopes the Russian-developed coronavirus vaccine will be approved for use in the European bloc soon, AFP reported Friday. Earlier this week, a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet showed the Sputnik V vaccine to be 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19, boosting international confidence in Russia’s jab after […]
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Nornickel Fined Record $2Bln for Arctic Oil Disaster
A Russian court fined mining giant Nornickel 146 billion rubles ($2 billion) Friday for its role in the worst oil spill in the country’s modern history. Some 21,000 tons of diesel fuel poured into the ground and waterways surrounding Nornickel’s base — the city of Norilsk inside the Arctic circle in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region — […]
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Russia Slams Biden’s ‘Very Aggressive Rhetoric’
The Kremlin on Friday slammed Joe Biden’s “very aggressive rhetoric” after the new U.S. president said Washington’s relationship with Moscow would change and demanded opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s release. “We’ve already said that we will not heed patronizing statements of this sort. We will not do it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “This is […]
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Top EU Diplomat in Moscow Says Ties at ‘Low Point’ Over Navalny
The European Union’s top diplomat said on Friday that the bloc’s ties with Russia had reached a new low following the poisoning and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Josep Borrell was in Moscow for talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as legal pressure mounted on Navalny and the Kremlin criticized “very aggressive rhetoric” from U.S. President […]
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Who Has Been Jailed Over Russia’s Pro-Navalny Protests?
More than 10,000 people across Russia have been detained in recent rallies demanding the release of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and criticizing Russia’s ruling elite. The mass protests, which were not authorized by the government, saw a widespread crackdown and harsh treatment of protesters by baton-wielding officers that has sparked outcry from the West. […]
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As Moscow’s Jails Overflow, Navalny Detainees Are Held Outside the City
Denis Bondarenko is waiting in the snow in a long snaking queue of around 150 people outside the Foreign Citizen Temporary Detention Center in the small village of Sakharovo, 80 kilometers outside Moscow. The 27-year-old lawyer is clutching a parcel of food and warm winter clothes for his cousin Ivan, a carer at a Moscow […]
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Russia Returns Escaped Gay Men to Chechen Police – NGO
Russian police have allegedly detained two gay men who escaped from the republic of Chechnya and handed them over to authorities in their home region, the Russian LGBT Network reported Thursday. The LGBT Network had helped the two men, Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isayev, flee from Chechnya and relocate to the city of Nizhny Novgorod […]
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Russia to Try Navalny on WWII Veteran Slander Charges
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is on trial Friday charged with defaming a World War II veteran, days after his jailing under a years-old fraud conviction sparked international outcry. Navalny was charged with “discrediting the honor and dignity” of the 95-year-old veteran after describing him and others who appeared in a pro-Kremlin video as “the […]
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Nayara Energy Expands Retail Network to over 6,000 Outlets across India
Nayara Energy Limited, a new-age downstream energy company with 49.13% shares held by Rosneft Oil Company, has expanded its retail network to over 6,000 fuel-filling stations-across India.
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Biden Says No More U.S. ‘Rolling Over’ to Russia
President Joe Biden said Thursday the United States will no longer be “rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions” and demanded release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In toughly worded remarks pivoting from his predecessor Donald Trump’s muted approach to Moscow, Biden warned of “advancing authoritarianism” in China and Russia. The speech […]
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Navalny’s Team Announces No More Protests Until Spring
Alexei Navalny’s supporters will stop staging protests demanding his release until at least this spring, a key aide of the imprisoned Kremlin critic said Thursday. Leonid Volkov, head of Navalny’s regional network of campaign-style offices, announced he would not be calling supporters to take to the streets for a third successive weekend of protests across […]
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Top U.S. Diplomat Raises Navalny, Jailed Americans With Russia
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced concern over jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny and imprisoned Americans in a telephone call Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly voiced alarm over Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic whose doctors say he was poisoned and who was promptly detained […]
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Navalny Urges Supporters to Fight For Freedom in First Post After Sentencing
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called on his supporters Thursday to fight fear and free Russia from “a handful of thieves in power,” in his first detailed comments since being ordered to serve out a prison sentence. The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner, who was jailed Tuesday on old embezzlement charges, wrote on Instagram that the authorities could […]
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Yves Rocher Rebuffs Criticism Over Role in Navalny Affair
French cosmetics company Yves Rocher dismissed Thursday as unjustified criticism against it over its role in a 2014 fraud trial against Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. A Russian court found Navalny guilty in 2014 of defrauding the Russian subsidiary of Yves Rocher in a ruling later declared “arbitrary” by the European Court of Human Rights. Navalny […]
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Dissatisfaction With Putin Surges Among Young Russians – Levada Poll
Almost half of young people in Russia disapprove of President Vladimir Putin’s performance, according to a poll by the independent Levada Center published Thursday. Some 46% of Russians aged 18-24 said they did not approve of Putin — a sharp rise from the 31% who said the same last year. The results are the latest […]
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Outcry Over Navalny Crackdown as Top EU Envoy Heads to Moscow
An outcry grew in Russia Thursday over a crackdown on protesters, as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visits the country under pressure to confront Moscow over the imprisonment of Alexei Navalny. Borrell’s three-day visit to Russia beginning Thursday — the first by a top EU envoy since 2017 — comes during a period of […]
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‘No Repressions’ Against Pro-Navalny Protesters, Kremlin Says
There has been “no repression” against Russians detained while protesting in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin said Thursday amid mounting criticism of the harsh law enforcement tactics used against peaceful demonstrators. Independent monitors estimate that more than 10,000 people and dozens of journalists have been detained nationwide during the protests on […]
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