themoscowtimes--2020-08-08--Russia's Coronavirus Cases Pass 880K

Russia's Coronavirus Cases Pass 880K

Russia confirmed 5,212 new coronavirus infections Saturday , bringing the country ’ s official number of cases to 882,347 Over @ @ @ @ @ people have died , bringing the total official toll to 14,854 .
Separate figures published @ @ @ @ @ statistics agency Rosstat found that the number of deaths from the virus could be much @ @ @ @ @ , updated daily by the country ’ s coronavirus task force .
It found almost @ @ @ @ @ during June alone , with the virus confirmed or believed to be the main cause @ @ @ @ @ 7,000 cases , while the task force figures showed only 4,880 for the same period @ @ @ @ @ people recovered over the last 24 hours .

The highest number of new cases were in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Russia's fatality rate has remained low compared to other badly-hit countries, raising speculation that Moscow could be underreporting figures.
Russian authorities began easing anti-virus measures in June ahead of a massive World War II military parade in Moscow and a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms that now allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036.
Both events were initially postponed due the epidemic.
Moscow opened cinemas and theaters on Aug. 1. In the capital, masks are mandatory in stores and on public transport but not in the streets.
Several institutes in Russia are working on a coronavirus vaccine.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said it developed a "safe" vaccine following clinical trials on a group of volunteers.
The trials are ongoing, and the Defense Ministry expects clinical trials to be fully completed in the coming weeks.
AFP contributed reporting to this article.


themoscowtimes--2020-08-08--Salmon Is Disappearing From Russia’s Amur River. It’s Taking Local Tradition With It.

KHABAROVSK — From pink salmon to chum salmon to the glistening orange globes of their roe , Nadezhda Donkan remembers the tables of her childhood always being fully laden in her village in the Far Eastern region of Khabarovsk .
Now a 57-year-old pensioner , Donkan , a member of the indigenous Nanai people whose livelihoods have for centuries depended on the salmon that spawn in the Amur River , recalls the past fondly .
That ’ s because in recent years the staple fish has all but vanished .
“ We have to do something about this situation or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any at all , ” Donkan said .
The scarcity of the region ’ s salmon is a hot topic in Khabarovsk , one that everyone — not only the region ’ s 22,500 indigenous people — is concerned about .
Spend some time in the capital city of Khabarovsk , home to nearly half of the sparsely populated region ’ s 1.3 million people , and most will tell you they can no longer afford the fish that used to be bountiful .
While salmon poachers have been flourishing in Khabarovsk since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1991 , things came to a head in 2017 .
“ That year barely any fish made it up the river , ” said Lyubov Odzyal , who heads the Association of Indigenous Minorities of the Northern Khabarovsk Territory , and has spearheaded efforts to bring government attention to the state of affairs in the three years since .
“ It was the first signal of this terrible shock.
” The Amur River , which is also known as the Black Dragon River , is the world ’ s 10th longest .
Emptying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ separates the seas of Japan and Okhotsk , it covers 4,440 kilometers and forms the border between much of Russia ’ s Far East and China .
Salmon spawn all along the river before swimming downstream into the nearby seas and the Pacific Ocean , where they spend the next two to four years , depending on the species .
Then they return to their original spawning grounds to lay their eggs .
That ’ s when fishermen scoop them up , both for the flesh and the roe .
In an interview @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Khabarovsk last week , Odzyal explained the problem as she sees it .
Big business , based mostly in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur , the largest town at the mouth of the river , hogs the resources , leaving little to none for the indigenous peoples who live upstream , closer to the city of Khabarovsk to the south .
And as salmon stocks have decreased in recent years due to overfishing , Odzyal believes that the more stringent regulations local and federal authorities have imposed to replenish them have been at the expense of indigenous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do they do for the region that they have these privileges ?
” she said .
“ The whole of the Amur lives off this fish .
Yes , we aren ’ t wealthy , but we have this .
It ’ s our wealth , we don ’ t need anything else.
” For their part , business representatives are not shy about admitting that , in the mid-2010s , commercial salmon fisheries in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur proliferated and fished greedily .
Some of those companies were supported by a federal program that aimed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy by giving companies tax breaks and other benefits .
“ The problem started because a lot more companies began catching the fish and more intensively , ” said Alexander Pozdnyakov , president of the Association of Fishery Enterprises of the Amur Basin .
“ If before companies were concentrated in the first 100 kilometers of the river , they then started expanding 700 , 800 kilometers upstream.
” But Pozdnyakov was also quick to point out that , since 2017 , stricter restrictions on local fisheries have been put in place as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the changes , the most important , Pozdnyakov said , was that stationary nets or “ set-nets ” that used to span much of the width of the river , making the salmon easy to catch , have been cut back .
Still , he was not willing to put all of the blame on the companies .
The indigenous groups , he said , have also exaggerated their plight .
For instance , he claimed , last year there were 30,000 applications for special fishing permits for indigenous people , more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to the official census , meaning people are abusing the special status afforded to the indigenous populations .
“ They ’ ve also come up with this fairytale that we completely block the fish from going upriver and that ’ s simply not true , ” Pozdnyakov said , adding : “ This is just an ordinary battle over limited resources.
” Beyond the indigenous population , local Russians also are concerned about the fish .
Over the past month , Khabarovsk has been rocked by protests over the arrest of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Furgal on several murder charges dating back 15 years his supporters believe are politically motivated .
The rallies have taken on an anti-Moscow bent , with one of the protesters ’ main complaints being that their resource-rich region has been plundered for its lumber , gold and fish , to the capital ’ s benefit .
Many stated as fact that their fish is sold cheaper in Moscow than it is in Khabarovsk .
While 90 % of the local catch is indeed exported , with most of it going to Asia and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Russia , according to Pozdnyakov , Margarita Kryuchkova , chief editor of FishNews.ru , based in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok , believes the fish issue is not so black and white .
“ These are companies that bring jobs to the region , ” she said .
After Odzyal raised a fuss over depleted salmon stocks in the local press in 2017 , some of those companies shifted the blame from themselves to global warming .
So too did a local specialist with the Moscow-based Russian Federal Research Institute of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much fish will return to spawn each season .
He claimed that the salmon had left the Amur ’ s warming waters for Kamchatka , a peninsula on the other side of the Sea of Okhotsk from Khabarovsk to the northeast .
Alexander Zavolokin , a salmon specialist at the North Pacific Fisheries Commission in Tokyo , said that while warming waters have affected stocks in the region in recent years , Russia has actually gained in the short term .
Japan , for instance , has seen its stocks plummet , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reached more optimal temperatures for the fish .
But Sergei Korostelyov , coordinator of the sustainable fisheries program of the Kamchatka regional office of the global conservation group World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) , said that while there is a trend for warming waters to push salmon north , there is little hard data at this point for the Amur .
Even Kamchatka itself , he said , has seen a lower catch so far this year , making the argument not so clear cut .
And Alexei Kokorin , head of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Program , warned that it has become trendy to shift responsibility from human malpractice to the changing climate .
“ Talking about climate change in this case is dumb , it ’ s just an excuse , ” he said .
“ With the Amur , we just haven ’ t been getting these signals.
” The Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this article .
One of the group ’ s Khabarovsk-based specialists , however , did agree to an interview @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a natural decline coupled with an excessive fishing load .
This always happens , ” the specialist said .
“ As the stock grows , fishermen increase their capacity .
As it falls , fishermen are caught by inertia.
” “ It ’ s the law of ‘ wolves and hares , ’ the law of nature , ” the specialist added .
“ When there is less prey , the predator dies out .
When the predator dies out , the prey is restored.
” Lyubov Buvalina , the senior assistant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15 years up until 2017 trying to stop companies from overfishing and poachers from illegally fishing and roe-stripping — tearing egg sacks out of female salmon before they can spawn .
She said her efforts were fruitless .
“ By the time you get to the site , they ’ ve already been warned that you ’ re coming and are already long gone , ” she said .
“ It ’ s a massive territory with a small number of people .
You need more resources for this work .
You need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ budgets in recent years have faced cuts .
While in past years Nikolayevsk-on-Amur had over 40 fish inspectors , that number has now dwindled to four .
And although indigenous groups and business representatives agree that regulations have improved since 2017 , WWF ’ s local office has reported very few fish making it up the Amur and into its tributaries over the past two years .
Mikhail Skopets , a local ichthyologist and the author of “ Salmon Fish of the Russian Far East , ” said that ’ s because the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it will now take about a decade to restore the previous levels .
For the marine biologist , the warning signs were clear years ago .
Back in 2006 , when a Canadian journalist visited Khabarovsk for a symposium on fish conservation , Skopets told him that poachers “ should be bombed ” for the overfishing that was taking place .
“ Since then nothing has changed , ” Skopets said when asked this week whether he stood by his words .
“ Only now there is a lot less fish .
@

KHABAROVSK — From pink salmon to chum salmon to the glistening orange globes of their roe, Nadezhda Donkan remembers the tables of her childhood always being fully laden in her village in the Far Eastern region of Khabarovsk. Now a 57-year-old pensioner, Donkan, a member of the indigenous Nanai people whose livelihoods have for centuries depended on the salmon that spawn in the Amur River, recalls the past fondly. That’s because in recent years the staple fish has all but vanished. “We have to do something about this situation or our great grandchildren won’t see any at all,” Donkan said. The scarcity of the region’s salmon is a hot topic in Khabarovsk, one that everyone — not only the region’s 22,500 indigenous people — is concerned about. Spend some time in the capital city of Khabarovsk, home to nearly half of the sparsely populated region’s 1.3 million people, and most will tell you they can no longer afford the fish that used to be bountiful. While salmon poachers have been flourishing in Khabarovsk since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, things came to a head in 2017. “That year barely any fish made it up the river,” said Lyubov Odzyal, who heads the Association of Indigenous Minorities of the Northern Khabarovsk Territory, and has spearheaded efforts to bring government attention to the state of affairs in the three years since. “It was the first signal of this terrible shock.” The Black Dragon The Amur River, which is also known as the Black Dragon River, is the world’s 10th longest. Emptying into the Strait of Tartary, which separates the seas of Japan and Okhotsk, it covers 4,440 kilometers and forms the border between much of Russia’s Far East and China. Salmon spawn all along the river before swimming downstream into the nearby seas and the Pacific Ocean, where they spend the next two to four years, depending on the species. Then they return to their original spawning grounds to lay their eggs. That’s when fishermen scoop them up, both for the flesh and the roe.
Indigenous groups blame commerical fisheries for depleting the Amur River's salmon stocks. MT
In an interview in her office in the city of Khabarovsk last week, Odzyal explained the problem as she sees it. Big business, based mostly in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, the largest town at the mouth of the river, hogs the resources, leaving little to none for the indigenous peoples who live upstream, closer to the city of Khabarovsk to the south. And as salmon stocks have decreased in recent years due to overfishing, Odzyal believes that the more stringent regulations local and federal authorities have imposed to replenish them have been at the expense of indigenous people, not companies. “What do they do for the region that they have these privileges?” she said. “The whole of the Amur lives off this fish. Yes, we aren’t wealthy, but we have this. It’s our wealth, we don’t need anything else.” ‘The fairytale’ For their part, business representatives are not shy about admitting that, in the mid-2010s, commercial salmon fisheries in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur proliferated and fished greedily. Some of those companies were supported by a federal program that aimed to boost the Far East’s economy by giving companies tax breaks and other benefits. “The problem started because a lot more companies began catching the fish and more intensively,” said Alexander Pozdnyakov, president of the Association of Fishery Enterprises of the Amur Basin. “If before companies were concentrated in the first 100 kilometers of the river, they then started expanding 700, 800 kilometers upstream.” But Pozdnyakov was also quick to point out that, since 2017, stricter restrictions on local fisheries have been put in place as the problem came to light. Of the changes, the most important, Pozdnyakov said, was that stationary nets or “set-nets” that used to span much of the width of the river, making the salmon easy to catch, have been cut back. Still, he was not willing to put all of the blame on the companies. The indigenous groups, he said, have also exaggerated their plight. For instance, he claimed, last year there were 30,000 applications for special fishing permits for indigenous people, more than the indigenous population of the entire region, according to the official census, meaning people are abusing the special status afforded to the indigenous populations. “They’ve also come up with this fairytale that we completely block the fish from going upriver and that’s simply not true,” Pozdnyakov said, adding: “This is just an ordinary battle over limited resources.”
The Amur River and its tributaries have fed local people for centuries. taimentour.ru
Of salmon and men Beyond the indigenous population, local Russians also are concerned about the fish. Over the past month, Khabarovsk has been rocked by protests over the arrest of the region’s popular governor Sergei Furgal on several murder charges dating back 15 years his supporters believe are politically motivated. The rallies have taken on an anti-Moscow bent, with one of the protesters’ main complaints being that their resource-rich region has been plundered for its lumber, gold and fish, to the capital’s benefit. Many stated as fact that their fish is sold cheaper in Moscow than it is in Khabarovsk. While 90% of the local catch is indeed exported, with most of it going to Asia and the remainder being sold in the rest of Russia, according to Pozdnyakov, Margarita Kryuchkova, chief editor of FishNews.ru, based in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, believes the fish issue is not so black and white. “These are companies that bring jobs to the region,” she said. After Odzyal raised a fuss over depleted salmon stocks in the local press in 2017, some of those companies shifted the blame from themselves to global warming. So too did a local specialist with the Moscow-based Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, which forecasts how much fish will return to spawn each season. He claimed that the salmon had left the Amur’s warming waters for Kamchatka, a peninsula on the other side of the Sea of Okhotsk from Khabarovsk to the northeast.
A protester in Khabarovsk on July 26 shows off his shirt. The WWII motto of taking Berlin has been replaced with Moscow. Evan Gershkovich / MT
Alexander Zavolokin, a salmon specialist at the North Pacific Fisheries Commission in Tokyo, said that while warming waters have affected stocks in the region in recent years, Russia has actually gained in the short term. Japan, for instance, has seen its stocks plummet, while Russia’s normally colder waters have reached more optimal temperatures for the fish. But Sergei Korostelyov, coordinator of the sustainable fisheries program of the Kamchatka regional office of the global conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said that while there is a trend for warming waters to push salmon north, there is little hard data at this point for the Amur. Even Kamchatka itself, he said, has seen a lower catch so far this year, making the argument not so clear cut. And Alexei Kokorin, head of WWF Russia’s Climate and Energy Program, warned that it has become trendy to shift responsibility from human malpractice to the changing climate. “Talking about climate change in this case is dumb, it’s just an excuse,” he said. “With the Amur, we just haven’t been getting these signals.” Wolves and hares The Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this article. One of the group’s Khabarovsk-based specialists, however, did agree to an interview on condition of anonymity. “This is a natural decline coupled with an excessive fishing load. This always happens,” the specialist said. “As the stock grows, fishermen increase their capacity. As it falls, fishermen are caught by inertia.” “It’s the law of ‘wolves and hares,’ the law of nature,” the specialist added. “When there is less prey, the predator dies out. When the predator dies out, the prey is restored.” Lyubov Buvalina, the senior assistant to the Nikolayevsk-on-Amur city prosecutor, spent 15 years up until 2017 trying to stop companies from overfishing and poachers from illegally fishing and roe-stripping — tearing egg sacks out of female salmon before they can spawn. She said her efforts were fruitless. “By the time you get to the site, they’ve already been warned that you’re coming and are already long gone,” she said. “It’s a massive territory with a small number of people. You need more resources for this work. You need drones.”
“The whole of the Amur lives off this fish,” said Lyubov Odzyal. “Yes, we aren’t wealthy, but we have this.” Evan Gershkovich / MT


themoscowtimes--2020-08-09--Belarus Strongman, Opposition Leader Face Off in Tense Vote

Many wore white bracelets after Tikhanovskaya urged her supporters to wear them .
A polling station in central Minsk early Sunday was unusually busy with voters standing in line for ballot papers , an AFP reporter saw .
Her presidential bid has sparked an informal protest movement calling for change in the country of 9.5 million people led for the last 26 years by 65-year-old Lukashenko .
She swiftly emerged as Lukashenko 's strongest rival and her rallies drew tens of thousands of supporters across the country .
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya , a 37-year-old English teacher and translator , stood for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ popular blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky , from running and then jailed him .
Presidential polls opened Sunday in Belarus , with a popular woman opposition candidate posing the greatest challenge yet to long-ruling strongman Alexander Lukashenko .
`` We are waiting for changes , '' said one voter , a 60-year-old woman speaking on condition of anonymity .
She added that she voted for a `` new president , '' Tikhanovskaya , because she `` promises us the possibility of choice and changes . ''
`` Twenty-six years is a very long time .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 33-year-old businesswoman , adding : `` I voted for Tikhanovskaya . ''
Tikhanovskaya says she is not a politician , describing herself as an `` ordinary woman , a mother and wife . ''
She says that if she wins she will call fresh elections that include the entire opposition , including those currently in detention .
Political observers said there is little doubt that Lukashenko , who is seeking a sixth term , would rig Sunday 's vote in the absence of international observers .
A record 41.7 percent of voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the central electoral commission reported , with observers saying this made it easier to manipulate the count .
Belarus ramped up security measures on election day with police carrying machine-guns checking vehicles entering Minsk .
There was a heightened police presence in the city and government buildings were cordoned off by police .
Belarusians also reported problems with accessing websites of independent media .
Prosecutor-General Alexander Konyuk urged voters to be `` reasonable '' and not take part in unsanctioned protests , Belta state news agency reported .
Tikhanovskaya , who joined forces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one barred opposition chief and the campaign manager of another , said she would not call on her supporters to protest after the vote .
At the same time she asked police not to obey `` criminal orders . ''
On Saturday , authorities arrested Tikhanovskaya 's campaign manager and briefly detained one of her two top allies .
In a video address on the eve of the vote , Tikhanovskaya asked supporters to do all they could so that Belarusians `` wake up in a new country . ''
`` When you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victory ! ''
she said .
Tikhanovskaya , who is by far the strongest of Lukashenko 's four rivals in voter surveys , urged Belarusians to help prevent election fraud by voting late on Sunday .
The electoral commission chief warned against this , however , saying polling stations would restrict the flow of voters to prevent overcrowding .
Independent observer group Right of Choice said that at least 28 of its observers had been detained and election officials barred others from entering polling stations .
Ahead of the vote Lukashenko warned that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he would not give up his `` beloved '' Belarus .
`` We will not give the country to you , '' he warned his opponents as he addressed the nation this week .
Lukashenko has sought to galvanise support by warning of outside threats and raising the spectre of violent mobs .
Belarus has detained over 30 Russians Lukashenko said were mercenaries allegedly sent to the country to destabilise the vote .
The detentions sparked a political crisis with ally Russia , with Moscow urging the men 's release and President Vladimir @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stay `` stable . ''
Lukashenko has retained close ties to Moscow , though he often plays Russia and the West against each other .
France , Germany and Poland have urged Lukashenko to ensure a `` free and fair '' election and allow `` independent surveillance of the vote by local observers '' .
Belarus has not held polls judged free and fair since 1995 and this time Minsk has not invited observers from the European OSCE observer group for the first time since 2001 .
In the past Lukashenko has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jail terms , prompting Western sanctions .

At polling stations, many wore white bracelets that have become a symbol of the opposition. Tikhanovskaya wore one on each wrist.
Her presidential bid has sparked widespread calls for change in the ex-Soviet country of 9.5 million, which Lukashenko has ruled with an iron grip for the last 26 years.
"I want honest elections," she told cheering supporters outside a polling station in Minsk.
She emerged as 65-year-old Lukashenko's strongest rival and her rallies drew tens of thousands across the country.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old English teacher and translator by training, stood for office after the authorities detained her husband, popular blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, and barred him from running.
Belarus held tense presidential polls on Sunday with a popular woman opposition candidate posing the greatest challenge in years to long-ruling strongman Alexander Lukashenko.
"I hope something will change," said Vadim Svichkarev, a 49-year-old security guard. "It's very hard to be stuck in the same position for 26 years."
Alexander, a 47-year-old labourer, said "people are just tired of this absurdity, this constant stream of positive words on television and propaganda."
Tikhanovskaya, who has a 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter, describes herself not as a politician but an "ordinary woman, a mother and wife."
She accused Lukashenko of showing blatant disregard for the people during the coronavirus epidemic, which the strongman has dismissed as a hoax.
She says that if she wins she will call fresh elections to include the entire opposition.
Tikhanovskaya's campaign office said Sunday that one of her key allies, Veronika Tsepkalo, had left for Russia out of concern for her safety.
Tsepkalo, whose ex-diplomat husband Valery Tsepkalo was barred from standing, and Maria Kolesnikova, campaign chief of ex-banker Viktor Babaryko who was also dropped from the polls and is in jail, joined forces with Tikhanovskaya to mount the campaign.
Photographs of the three standing together and making their signature gestures — Tikhanovskaya's punched fist, Kolesnikova's fingers in a heart shape and Tsepkalo's victory sign — have become an emblem of the opposition.
The first results were expected in the evening.
Tight security
Political observers predicted Lukashenko, who is seeking a sixth term, would rig the vote in the absence of international observers. He won over 83 percent at previous polls in 2015.
A record 41.7 percent of voters took part in early voting, the central electoral commission reported.
Official turnout stood at 65 percent at 2:00 pm local time, with polls due to close at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT).
"The elections will be falsified; there'll be a totally non-credible result," said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a former British ambassador to Belarus.
"The question is what happens then."
In the past Lukashenko has crushed protests with riot police and hefty jail terms, prompting Western sanctions.
"Given Lukashenko's ruthlessness, anyone who is concerned about Belarus will worry, will fear for the Belarusian people in the days ahead," Gould-Davies said.
Columns of army vehicles were seen on roads into Minsk, Belarusians wrote on social media, raising the prospect of military intervention.
In tight security measures, police carrying machine guns checked vehicles entering Minsk and government buildings were cordoned off.
Casting his vote, Lukashenko vowed to maintain order, suggesting his opponents may be planning unrest.
"Nothing will get out of control, I guarantee you ... whatever certain people have planned," the strongman said in comments shown on state television.
Police detained journalists including three from Russia's independent TV Rain.
Belarusians also reported problems with accessing websites of independent media.
'Wake up in new country'
Tikhanovskaya said ahead of polls she would not call for protests but urged supporters to help Belarusians "wake up in a new country."
She asked them to vote late Sunday to help prevent election fraud, while the electoral commission warned it could restrict access to polling stations.
An independent observer group, Right of Choice, said that at least 28 of its observers had been detained and others barred from polling stations.
Lukashenko has sought to galvanise support by warning of outside threats and raising the spectre of violent mobs.
Belarus has detained 33 Russians, describing them as mercenaries sent to destabilise the vote.
The detentions sparked a political crisis with ally Russia. Moscow urged the men's release and President Vladimir Putin told Lukashenko he wants Belarus to stay "stable."
Lukashenko has retained close ties to Moscow, though he often plays Russia and the West against each other.
Belarus has not held polls judged free and fair since 1995 and this time Minsk has not invited observers from the European OSCE observer group for the first time since 2001.