themoscowtimes--2020-12-28--17 Fishermen Feared Dead After Trawler Sinks in Arctic Russia

Seventeen fishermen were missing and feared dead on Monday after a Russian trawler capsized during a storm and sank in the freezing waters of the Barents Sea .
Officials said that two people had been rescued by a passing vessel but hopes were quickly fading that more survivors could be found during a snowstorm over the Arctic waters .
At a government meeting Monday Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin expressed his condolences to families of the victims and tasked officials with providing them with necessary support .
`` A tragedy struck today in the Barents Sea , '' Mishustin said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added , without providing further details .
Officials said that a search-and-rescue operation was underway but that poor weather conditions had complicated the task .
`` There is a heavy snowstorm , waves are up to four meters high and temperatures are at around 20-25 degrees Celsius below zero , '' Alexei Barinov , spokesman for the emergencies ministry in the northwestern region of Murmansk , told AFP .
`` We are hoping for a New Year 's miracle , '' he added .
However a source familiar with the details of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little hope of finding survivors .
`` A person can not last for more than 15 minutes in these conditions , '' the source said .
The privately-owned boat , called Onega , sank near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Barents Sea at around 6:20 a.m. , said Ruslan Nazarov , head of the emergencies ministry 's Murmansk branch .
Officials believe the Russian-flagged vessel , which had been operating since 1979 , capsized after ice buildup caused it to tilt over .
The disaster struck when the crew was hauling out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spokesman for the maritime and river transport agency Rosmorrechflot , Alexei Kravchenko .
`` The vessel lost its balance and instantly capsized , '' he told AFP .
Three vessels and an Il-38 maritime patrol plane were dispatched to the scene , officials said .
Kravchenko said that not a single body had yet been found even though the two survivors had seen a crew member die in front of them .
In April 2015 , a Russian trawler sank in the Okhotsk Sea off Kamchatka .
Of the 132 people on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were rescued .
In December 2011 , a drilling rig capsized and sank off Sakhalin Island during a storm .
More than 50 people were killed or went missing .

Seventeen fishermen were missing and feared dead on Monday after a Russian trawler capsized during a storm and sank in the freezing waters of the Barents Sea.
Officials said that two people had been rescued by a passing vessel, but hopes were quickly fading that more survivors could be found during a snowstorm over the Arctic waters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday expressed "deep condolences" to the families of the victims and offered "words of support" for the survivors.
"It is with sorrow that I learnt of the tragedy," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.
Speaking at a government meeting earlier in the day, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin tasked officials with providing relatives of the victims with necessary help.
"A tragedy struck today in the Barents Sea," Mishustin said. "People died," he added, without providing further details.
Officials said that a search-and-rescue operation was underway but that poor weather conditions had complicated the task.
"There is a heavy snowstorm, waves are up to four meters high and temperatures are at around 20-25 degrees Celsius below zero," Alexei Barinov, spokesman for the emergencies ministry in the northwestern region of Murmansk, told AFP.
"We are hoping for a New Year's miracle," he added.
However a source familiar with the details of the search efforts told AFP that there was little hope of finding survivors.
"A person cannot last for more than 15 minutes in these conditions," the source said.
The privately-owned boat sank near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Barents Sea at around 6:20 a.m., said Ruslan Nazarov, head of the emergencies ministry's Murmansk branch.
Ten minutes later a passing vessel rescued two fishermen, Nazarov told reporters.
Officials believe the Russian-flagged vessel, which had been operating since 1979, capsized after ice buildup caused it to tilt over.
'Instantly capsized'
The disaster struck when the crew was hauling out a net with the catch, said the spokesman for the maritime and river transport agency Rosmorrechflot, Alexei Kravchenko.
"The vessel lost its balance and instantly capsized," he told AFP.
Three vessels and an Il-38 maritime patrol plane were dispatched to the scene, officials said.
Kravchenko said that not a single body had so far been found even though the two survivors had seen a crew member die in front of them.
Maritime accidents are fairly common in Russia.
In April 2015, a Russian trawler sank in the Okhotsk Sea off Kamchatka. Of the 132 people on board the Dalniy Vostok, just 63 were rescued.
In December 2011, a drilling rig capsized and sank off Sakhalin Island during a storm. More than 50 people were killed or went missing.


themoscowtimes--2020-12-28--At Least 3 People Killed in Chechnya Shootout

At least three people have been killed during a shootout in the Chechen capital of Grozny on Monday , state-run @ @ @ @ @ shootout began when unnamed armed militants attacked law enforcement officers on Putin Avenue in central @ @ @ @ @ cited anonymous sources as saying .
Two law enforcement officers were killed and at least @ @ @ @ @ been shot dead , with reports saying a second attacker was either wounded or killed @

At least three people have been killed following a knife attack in the Chechen capital of Grozny on Monday.
Two armed militants attacked law enforcement officers on Putin Avenue in central Grozny, TASS and Interfax cited anonymous sources as saying Monday afternoon, with conflicting reports of the number of people killed.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov later confirmed the attack and published the identities of the attackers on his Telegram channel. One law enforcement officer was killed and another injured in stable condition, while both attackers were shot dead by return fire, he said.
According to Kadyrov, the attackers were two brothers named Khasan and Hussein who moved to Chechnya from their native republic of Ingushetia in 2012 and got jobs in a bakery.
“On Monday, two terrorists armed with knives attempted to seize the weapons of patrol police officers who were serving in the center of Grozny. A policeman was killed. The attackers were destroyed by the return fire of the fighters,” Kadyrov said.
Kadyrov added that no civilians were harmed in the incident.
Interfax and TASS earlier reported that two law enforcement officers had been killed in a shootout and that one of the attackers was killed.
The Mash Telegram channel published a photo claiming to show the dead bodies on the street following the attack.
Law enforcement is investigating the incident.
Grozny, which was devastated by mass bombings during the first and second Chechen wars in the 1990s, has been largely rebuilt in recent years with major investments in infrastructure. The region continues to grapple with the threat of terrorist attacks.
This story has been updated to add Kadyrov's statement, to update the number of victims and to clarify that it was a knife attack, not a shootout.


themoscowtimes--2020-12-28--Russia in 2020: The Year in Photos

Russia in 2020: The Year in Photos

For much of the world , 2020 was a historic , unprecedented year .
This is especially true for Russia @ @ @ @ @ , social and political changes in addition to the pandemic .
The Moscow Times is @ @ @ @ @ the images that defined 2020 in Russia — from snapshots of everyday life to historic @ @ @ @ @ for years to come :

Russia in 2020: The Year in Photos
For much of the world, 2020 was a historic, unprecedented year. This is especially true for Russia, which saw unprecedented environmental, social and political changes in addition to the pandemic.
The Moscow Times is taking a look back at the images that defined 2020 in Russia — from snapshots of everyday life to historic moments that will be remembered for years to come: