themoscowtimes--2020-07-04--Russia's Coronavirus Cases Continue Steady Rise to Approach 675K

Moscow lifted restrictions including compulsory travel passes on June 8 , a move welcomed by residents who rushed out to enjoy the streets and parks .
Many other regions lifted lockdown restrictions ahead of a July 1 national vote despite the pandemic .
Critics have cast doubt on Russia 's low official mortality rate and accused authorities of under-reporting to play down the scale of the crisis .
Russia attributes its lower virus death figures to mass testing which has identified many cases with mild or no coronavirus symptoms .
The Health Ministry is now adjusting how it reports numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ related to the virus even if the direct cause of death was another condition or the patient tested negative .
Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin , a liberal politician known for his outspoken comments , said Russia 's health system requires more funds and modernization in many regions .
`` Medicine is significantly underfunded even according to the current norms and also it needs a serious overhaul , '' Kudrin , who heads the Audit Chamber that examines government spending , said in an interview with the state-run TASS state news agency .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and show these figures , '' he added .
Nevertheless the economist said Russia `` is not doing a bad job with the pandemic , '' crediting the role of the military , which has built emergency facilities .

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--2020-07-05--Chechen Dissident Shot Dead in Austria

Chechen Dissident Shot Dead in Austria

Austrian police have arrested a Russian from Chechnya over the fatal shooting of a Chechen dissident , officials said on Sunday .
A 43-year-old was found dead with gunshot wounds near the capital Vienna on Saturday , police said in a statement .
They arrested a 47-year-old in the city of Linz , some 200 kilometers ( 125 miles ) from Vienna , adding : `` The motives for the crime are unclear . ''
The dead man had given evidence in a 2017 murder case in Ukraine in which a man who had plotted to murder Russian President Vladimir @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a gun attack near Kiev , the Ukrainian interior ministry told AFP .
The Austrian police said the dead Chechen was an asylum seeker but declined to comment further .
A prosecution spokesman identified the dead man as Chechen government critic Martin B. , adding prosecutors were seeking a court order to keep the suspect in detention .
The suspect lives in Austria but is originally from the Chechnya region .
The Austria shooting comes amid growing concern over the security of Chechen dissidents living in exile .
In February , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leader Ramzan Kadyrov fended off an attacker armed with a hammer .
A month earlier , Chechen opposition leader Imran Aliev was found dead in a hotel room in the northern French city of Lille , stabbed 135 times .
Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim Russian republic in the North Caucasus .
Two wars in the 1990s triggered a wave of emigration , with many Chechens heading for western Europe .
More Chechens have fled into exile in recent years because of disagreements with pro-Kremlin Kadyrov , who rights activists accuse of repeated @ @ @

Austrian police have arrested two Russians from Chechnya over the fatal shooting of a Chechen dissident, officials said on Sunday.
The 43-year-old asylum seeker, a vocal critic of the Chechen Republic's government, was found dead with gunshot wounds near the capital Vienna on Saturday.
Police arrested a 47-year-old Russian from Chechnya in the city of Linz, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Vienna, shortly after finding the body.
A second Russian, 37, also from Chechnya living in Austria, was detained Sunday for investigations into the murder of his fellow Russian citizen.
Police and prosecutors said the crime was still under investigation and it was too early to comment on any motive.
The dead dissident -- identified by Austrian prosecution as Martin B. -- had given evidence in a 2017 murder case in Ukraine, the Ukrainian interior ministry told AFP.
In that case, a gun attack near Kiev, a volunteer soldier, who had been accused of plotting to murder Russian President Vladimir Putin, was injured and his wife killed.
The Austria shooting comes amid growing concern over the security of Chechen dissidents living in exile.
In February, an exiled Chechen blogger also critical of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov fended off an attacker armed with a hammer.
A month earlier, Chechen opposition leader Imran Aliev was found dead in a hotel room in the northern French city of Lille, stabbed 135 times.
Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim Russian republic in the North Caucasus. Two wars in the 1990s triggered a wave of emigration, with many Chechens heading for western Europe.
More Chechens have fled into exile in recent years because of disagreements with pro-Kremlin Kadyrov, who rights activists accuse of repeated rights violations.
In Austria, Chechen dissident Umar Israilov was shot dead on a Vienna street in 2009.