Russia

Russia: Racial Attacks Increase in Moscow

Date: February 20th, 2008 |

Hate crimes against foreigners are increasing in Moscow, where four dark-skinned people were murdered in five days recently, prompting Moscow police to increase their street patrols throughout the city and the mayor to appeal for calm. Hate crime killings like these have increased steadily over the years, with ultranationalist “skinheads” often attacking in packs of [read more]

Russia: Liquids To Be Banned on Flights

Date: August 22nd, 2007 |

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Beginning Aug. 27, Russia will restrict liquids carried aboard airplanes following standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization that are in place throughout the U.S., E.U. and elsewhere. Passengers may carry liquids in containers no larger than 100 milliliters (3.4 ounces) with the exception of baby food and medicine, but up to 10 containers [read more]

Russia: Moscow World’s Most Expensive City

Date: June 20th, 2007 |

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If you thought New York and London were expensive, consider Moscow, which has just ranked as the most expensive city in the world for the second straight year, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The cost of living for expatriates in Moscow is almost 35 percent higher than in New York, whereas [read more]

Russia: Most Dangerous Place to Fly

Date: April 18th, 2007 |

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The Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported April 17 that Russia and its former Soviet neighbors in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are the most dangerous places in the world to fly, with an accident rate in 2006 of 13 times the global average. The CIS accident rate was even twice the rate [read more]

Russia: St. Petersburg Gets “Angel Service” to Help Tourists

Date: June 27th, 2006 |

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St. Petersburg has a new service to help tourists make their way safely around the city. The “Angels Service” employees provide advice on how to use the city transit system, make emergency phone calls, find safe banking services, learn the best way to a destination, and shop. The uniformed personnel work in pairs downtown and [read more]

Russia: Tourist Caught in Legal Bind for Buying Souvenirs

Date: August 29th, 2007 |

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The story of a Chilean citizen who is a doctoral student at the University of Missouri became a cautionary tale for travelers when she bought cheap souvenirs from a street vendor in the town of Voronezh, 365 miles south of Moscow. The Red Army medals and old rubles she purchased, appraised by officials at just [read more]

Russia: Bombing Derails Express Train between Moscow and St. Petersburg

Date: August 15th, 2007 |

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An explosion on the high-speed rail line that links Moscow and St. Petersburg Aug. 13 derailed the express train and injured 60 people. The bombing, which took place about 300 miles north of Moscow near Novgorod, had the earmarks of Chechen rebels but no one claimed responsibility. Officials are treating it as a terrorist attack [read more]

Russia: Police Extort Foreign Tourists

Date: May 16th, 2007 |

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Foreigners must leave their passports at their hotels on arrival to be registered by authorities, but police can detain and hold for several hours any traveler not carrying a passport. This situation creates opportunities for police to extort bribes from visitors who head for Red Square without their passports. According to Moscow’s Association of Guides [read more]

Russia: U.S. Students Attacked in St. Petersburg, Moscow

Date: October 10th, 2006 |

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Three American university students were attacked in separate incidents in St. Petersburg and Moscow in August and September. Unlike many such attacks in recent years, none of these were carried out by skinheads, but rather by what appeared to be gangs of teenage hooligans. Two of the victims were dark-complexioned and thought to resemble people [read more]

Russia: Amur River Spring Thaw Brings Toxic Pollution to Khabarovsk

Date: May 2nd, 2006 |

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A toxic spill in China’s Songhua River last November is returning to haunt Khabarovsk again this spring because chemicals caught in the frozen river are now flowing downstream with the spring thaw. Residents of the city in Russia’s far east and other settlements along the Amur River have been advised to stop using tap water [read more]