https://www.scmp.com/rss/505662/feed Josh Nadeau is a Canadian journalist based in St Petersburg, Russia, who covers the intersection of Russia, technology, politics and culture en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com On February 2, Alexei Navalny, Russia’s de facto opposition leader, was sentenced to two years and eight months in a penal colony. This was soon after Navalny’s return to Russia from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from a poisoning attack last August that he blamed on the Kremlin. Two days after his arrest, his embattled Anti-Corruption Fund released “Putin’s Palace”, a YouTube video exposé featuring a Black Sea property worth US$1.35 billion which allegedly belonged to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3122344/navalny-protests-crackdown-russia-intensifies-10000?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3122344/navalny-protests-crackdown-russia-intensifies-10000?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Feb 2021 22:30:06 +0000 Clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops have entered a fifth week as both countries battled to control Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region in the South Caucasus. Nagorno-Karabakh is recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan but is de facto administered by ethnic Armenians. The war over the region had been considered a “frozen conflict” for decades, leading to international dismay when the long-simmering dispute reignited late last month. While reported death tolls have been... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3107325/why-russias-hands-are-tied-nagorno-karabakh-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3107325/why-russias-hands-are-tied-nagorno-karabakh-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Oct 2020 00:16:39 +0000 On Sunday, upwards of 100,000 protesters flooded the streets of Minsk, the Belarusian capital, to protest what many consider to have been a rigged presidential election. Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power for 26 years in the eastern European country, declared victory with 80 per cent of the vote earlier this month in an election that has been criticised as neither fair nor free. Protests have erupted across Belarusian cities in response to the contested results, with an ensuing police... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3097805/what-red-and-white-belarus-protest-flag-could-mean-countrys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3097805/what-red-and-white-belarus-protest-flag-could-mean-countrys?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Aug 2020 07:10:20 +0000 This past weekend, Russia was supplanted by Brazil as the nation with the second-largest number of coronavirus infections, after the United States. This was seen by some as a sign that Russia had made progress in its fight against the pandemic. The daily infection rate has fallen under 10,000 new cases and has remained there for more than 11 consecutive days. This has prompted officials to start talking about when and how restrictions should begin to be phased out. President Vladimir Putin... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3086039/cost-russias-low-coronavirus-mortality-numbers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3086039/cost-russias-low-coronavirus-mortality-numbers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2020 02:23:57 +0000 Had the coronavirus pandemic not taken place, the Russian public would have been mobilised this week for a referendum known as the “All-Russian Vote”, which would have granted President Vladimir Putin expanded powers as well as the ability to run for office for two more terms. Instead, Moscow’s streets have been emptied: a jarring turn of events for a bustling city of nearly 12 million people. Wednesday’s vote was postponed last month as part of a wave of measures meant to contain the spread of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3081155/coronavirus-pandemic-puts-russias-strongman-putin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3081155/coronavirus-pandemic-puts-russias-strongman-putin?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Apr 2020 02:10:11 +0000