Support The Moscow Times!

News From Russia: What You Missed Over the Weekend

Andrei Nikerichev / Moskva News Agency

New mutation

The new, heavily mutated coronavirus variant Omicron may be spreading across Russia by tourists returning from Egypt, Senator and Honored Doctor of Russia Vladimir Krugly said Sunday.

Russia’s consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, which leads the country’s Covid-19 response efforts, later denied Krugly’s claims.

Ammo blasts

Several explosions at an ammunition plant injured at least two people in central Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, authorities said Saturday.

Authorities opened a criminal case into safety violations at the Sverdlov arms plant.

Rock loss

One of the earliest performers of rock music in Soviet Russia, singer and composer Alexander Gradsky, died at age 72 on Sunday.

Gradsky, who co-created one of the first Soviet rock bands Slavyane in 1965 and later Skoromokhi in 1966, was hospitalized in Moscow on Friday for a suspected stroke. 


					Alexander Gradsky.					 					Roman Boldyrev / flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Alexander Gradsky. Roman Boldyrev / flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

EU blacklist

The European Union has banned a Russian air carrier for the first time — the Kaliningrad-based charter operator Skol Airlines — for failing to meet international safety standards.

The EU said Friday that its Air Safety List acts as a “strong preventive tool” that could spur Russia to “improve [its] safety oversight to avoid seeing [its] air carriers on the list.”

Space module

Russia's new docking module Prichal on Friday successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), the Russian space agency Roscosmos said. 

Prichal — which means "pier" in Russian — is the second permanent addition to the Russian segment of the ISS this year, after the long-awaited arrival of the Nauka science module.


										 					NASA
NASA

AFP contributed reporting.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more