Navalny allies arrested as Russia braces for nationwide protests April 21, 2021 Two of Alexei Navalny’s closest allies were arrested on Wednesday at the start of a planned day of mass protests in support of the jailed Kremlin critic. Lyubov Sobol, one of the faces of Navalny’s popular YouTube channel, and Kira Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, were both detained in Moscow, according to their lawyers. Navalny, Russia’s leading [...]
Russian rouble tumbles as threat of US sanctions resurfaces April 15, 2021 The Russian rouble fell two per cent against the dollar on Thursday, giving up gains made earlier this week as the threat of US sanctions on Moscow reared its head again. The US may announce sanctions on Russia as soon as today for alleged interference in its elections and malicious cyber activity targeting several individuals [...]
Joe Biden invites Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to climate talks March 26, 2021 President Joe Biden is including rivals Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China among the people he has invited to the first big climate talks of his administration. The US hopes the event will help shape, speed up and deepen global efforts to cut climate-wrecking fossil fuel pollution, administration officials said this evening. [...]
Alexei Navalny: Destination unknown as Putin makes opponent disappear February 25, 2021 Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been moved to an undisclosed detention centre outside Moscow, his lawyer and a member of a rights organisation said this evening. One of his lawyers, Vadim Kobzev, said on Twitter that Navalny was transferred to a prison camp but it was not clear which one or where. Navalny, a [...]
More than a dozen companies exit $11bn Nord Stream 2 project to avoid US sanctions February 24, 2021 Baker Hughes Co, AXA group and 16 other companies have stopped working on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to avoid US sanctions, according to multiple media reports this evening. Russian energy company Gazprom and its partners are in the process of building an $11bn pipeline that will supply natural gas from Russia directly [...]
EU ministers agree to sanction Russian officials responsible for Navalny imprisonment February 22, 2021 The EU agreed this evening to sanction Russian officials directly responsible for jailing opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Russia, according to German foreign minister Heiko Mass. Today’s agreement came after France, Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries had urged the bloc to confront the Kremlin. Mass told reporters that “the EU will not be silent. [...]
The City View with Bill Browder January 31, 2021 City A.M. Acting Editor Andy Silvester talks to investment fund manager turned global human rights campaigner Bill Browder. Bill has been a thorn in Vladimir Putin’s side ever since his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was murdered in Russian custody after an attempt to expose widespread tax fraud. He talks to Andy about the protests in Russia [...]
Bill Browder: Navalny has sparked something – the West shouldn’t stand by January 31, 2021 Once the largest foreign investor in Russia through his Hermitage Fund, Bill Browder is now a global campaigner focussing the world’s attention on Vladimir Putin. His efforts have seen so-called ‘Magnitsky Acts’ placed on the statute book across the world, named after Browder’s former lawyer – who, most agree, was murdered in Russian custody as [...]
Navalny aide sent to prison to stifle tomorrow’s mass protests in Russia January 22, 2021 The press secretary for poisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to nine days in prison today following a police roundup of several opposition aides. Navalny aide Kira Yarmysh tweeted during her arrest today, saying that police threatened to break down her door while detaining her. Continuing to tweet from custody, she said [...]
Russia says may retaliate after new round of UK sanctions December 12, 2020 MOSCOW (Reuters) – A new round of British sanctions against Russian individuals over alleged human rights abuses in Chechnya is “unfounded” and Moscow may retaliate, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. “Undoubtedly, this politically-charged demarche will have a negative impact on Russian-British interstate relations,” the ministry said, adding Russia “reserves the right to take [...]