One firefighter has died and two are seriously hurt after a massive blaze at a historic factory in St Petersburg. The fire started at about 12:30 local time (09:30 GMT) on Monday, and quickly spread to all six floors of the Nevskaya Manufaktura building. Strong winds hampered efforts to put out the flames, with a huge plume of black smoke visible across the city. The building dates back to 1841, when it was used to manufacture fabric, and is an iconic landmark in St Petersburg. Forty people were evacuated and much of the roof and floor deck had collapsed, the … Continue reading Fire destroys historic factory in St Petersburg

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has said that he will return to Russia on January 17. He will make his return from Germany, where he has been undergoing treatment after being poisoned with a nerve agent in an attack that he has blamed on Moscow and President Vladimir Putin. On Twitter, Navalny said that remaining in Germany was never an option for him and that he would “return home on a victory flight.” Navalny fell into a coma while aboard a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow on August 20. He was transferred from a hospital in Siberia to a Berlin … Continue reading Breaking News: Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny says he will return to Russia on January 17

At least one person has been killed and three others injured after ice collapsed from a frozen waterfall in Russia’s far east. A rescue crew was sent to the 40m (131ft) tall Vilyuchinsky waterfall in the Kamchatka peninsula after four people became trapped on Thursday. All were pulled from the ice, and a boy and his father were flown to hospital, the regional government said the boy was in intensive care with serious injuries. “The father is in hospital with the child,” Marina Volkova, the Kamchatka Territory’s deputy minister of health, said. “The day before, they flew in from Vladivostok.” … Continue reading Frozen waterfall collapse kills one in Russia’s far east

Russian police have arrested an ultraconservative defrocked priest during a raid on a women’s monastery that he had taken control of. Charges against Father Sergiy include encouraging minors to kill themselves, the former priest took over the Sredneuralsk convent near Yekaterinburg in June after the Russian Orthodox Church banned him from preaching, and refused to leave. He has denied the existence of the coronavirus pandemic. The controversial cleric was barred from preaching in April and then stripped of the right to wear a cross in May after he encouraged the faithful to disobey public health orders. Fr Sergiy helped found … Continue reading Russia police arrest Covid-denying priest Father Sergiy

Talking about the dangers of trespassing on military installation has become important as the Russian Navy has defended the shooting of a mother bear and it’s cub on a nuclear submarine following outrage among many social media users. The navy says there was no other option after the animals climbed onto the vessel moored off the Vilyuchinsk base in the far-eastern Kamchatka region. It says a hunting instructor was called in to “neutralize the wild animals”. Hundreds of social media users accused the navy of unnecessary cruelty after seeing a video of the shooting online. “Animals!” and “The whole essence … Continue reading Mother bear and cub shot after climbing onto Russian nuclear submarine

Vladimir Marugov. A Russian oligarch nicknamed The Sausage King was murdered with a crossbow after he was attacked Monday morning while in a sauna. According to reports from Russia, Vladimir Marugov and a woman were in an outdoor sauna cabin at his estate outside Moscow when two masked assailants surprised them, the woman managed to climb out a window to escape and called police. Marugov owned some of Russia’s largest meat-processing plants, including the Ozyorsky and Meat Empire sausage factories. According to the Investigative Committee, Russia’s federal law enforcement arm, the attackers tied up the victims and demanded cash from Marugov … Continue reading Russian oligarch nicknamed ‘The Sausage King’ killed with crossbow in sauna

Navalny, centre, poses for a photo with his wife Yulia and their son Zahar in an unknown location in Germany.    The EU imposed sanctions on Thursday on six individuals and one entity it believes was involved in the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The individuals are some of the highest ranking officials in Russia, including a deputy government minister and deputy chief of staff in President Vladimir Putin’s office. The State Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology, the Russian body responsible for the destruction of Soviet-era chemical weapons stockpiles, has also been sanctioned. The EU said … Continue reading EU imposes sanctions on 6 individuals over poisoning of Alexei Navalny

Police initially said a young man had escaped the scene in the village of Bolshiye Orly, about 400 kilometres east of Moscow.    Russian authorities have found the body of the main suspect in Monday’s fatal bus shootings in the Nizhny Novgorod region, three people were killed and three more wounded when a gunman opened fire at a bus stop in a village in central Russia. Police initially reported that a young man had escaped the scene, launching a major manhunt and murder investigation. Russia’s Investigative Committee reported on Tuesday that the body of an 18-year-old man with signs of suicide was … Continue reading Suspect found dead after three people killed in bus stop shooting

Colleagues of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Thursday that a bottle of water with a trace of the Novichok nerve agent was found in his hotel room after his poisoning. Navalny fell ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow on August 20 and was flown to Germany, where he was kept in an induced coma for more than two weeks as he was treated with an antidote. On Tuesday, he posted a picture of himself from his hospital bed in Berlin. A video posted on Navalny’s Instagram on Thursday showed his team working around his hotel room in Tomsk before … Continue reading BREAKING NEWS: Novichok traces found on water bottles in Alexei Navalny’s hotel room, his colleagues say

Russia’s Investigative Committee has asked one of its regional branches in Siberia to probe the possibility that someone tried to murder Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, the RIA news agency reported on Friday. Germany has said Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent and has called for the perpetrators to be held to account. Russia has until now not opened a criminal investigation and said there is no evidence yet of a crime. Navalny, 44, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight returning to Moscow from Siberia on August 20 and was taken … Continue reading UPDATE: Russia to review possibility of murder attempt on Navalny

The Berlin hospital treating the seriously ill Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, says he appears to have been poisoned. The Charité hospital released a statement saying “clinical evidence suggests an intoxication through a substance belonging to the group of cholinesterase inhibitors”. But doctors who treated him in Russia say the substance was not present. Mr Navalny fell ill on an internal flight in Russia on Thursday. Video appeared to show Mr Navalny, a dogged critic of the Kremlin, writhing in agony on the flight from Tomsk in Siberia to Moscow. His supporters suspect poison was placed in a cup of … Continue reading Alexei Navalny may have been poisoned – doctors