Russians risk fines or jail time for growing certain plants at summer homes. Igor Pozdnyakov from Roskachestvo warned gardeners about prohibited crops. He told Lenta.ru that penalties become worse when authorities find large amounts of banned plants or mushrooms.
Gardeners must avoid several specific plants. The banned list contains Banisteriopsis caapi, harmala, blue lotus, coca bush, khat, Ipomoea tricolor, narcotic poppies, sage of prophets, Hawaiian rose, and mimosa hostilis. Laws also forbid growing mushrooms with psilocybin or psilocin, chemicals found in over 200 mushroom types.
People who grow these prohibited plants face serious consequences. For large-scale growing, penalties can reach 300 thousand rubles in fines. Courts...
A man with previous crimes nearly killed someone during a May Day attack in Yakovlevo village. The 60-year-old attacker used fists, feet, and a wooden board against his victim on Khutorskaya Street. Police said the suspect was drunk when he carried out the brutal beating.
Passersby called emergency services for medical help. Doctors transported the injured person to a hospital with serious head trauma. Medical staff described his condition as critical. Law enforcement charged the suspect under Criminal Code Article 111 for causing severe physical harm.
Police took the man into custody at the scene. Their investigation revealed he had been convicted multiple times before this incident. Officers brought him to the station following his...
Dmitry Medvedev called Trump wrong about World War II history. The Russian Security Council official rejected Trump claiming America played the main role in defeating the Nazis. Medvedev wrote on VKontakte that Trump wants to make May 8 a holiday based on false ideas about who won the war. He reminded Trump that Soviet forces captured Berlin at the end of the fighting.
Medvedev pointed out that Russians lost 27 million people stopping fascism during the war. He stated firmly that Victory Day belongs to Russia on May 9, not America on May 8. The former Russian president said this fact would never change despite what American leaders claim. Trump had recently declared both May 8 and November 11 as holidays in the United States. Medvedev...
Toads ride on each other at Konnaya Lakhta in St Petersburg as mating season begins. Biologist Pavel Glazkov captured these amphibians during their spring rituals. The animals live mostly on land but visit water spots to make babies.
Males start grabbing females when water temperatures reach about 10 degrees. They jump on female backs during trips to ponds and hold tight against rivals. Other males often try to knock off competitors for the female. Sometimes a single female carries several males at once on her back.
Excited males grab almost anything that moves in spring, even floating sticks. Glazkov learned this firsthand when a male toad latched onto his finger during filming at Petrovsky Pond. The scientist struggled to free...
Cossacks plan to join the ceremonial march across Palace Square for the first time in modern St Petersburg history. They will honor the 80th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. Cossack veterans who served in the special military operation will walk through the city center. The group includes 73 members from four organizations: the Cossack District of St Petersburg, the Regional Department, the Cossack Guard, and the North-West Branch of the Union of Cossack Warriors.
Cossack Colonel Maksim Buga will lead the group during the military parade. City officials noted that 14 streets in St Petersburg bear the names of Cossacks who earned Hero of the USSR status. Workers started putting up Victory Day decorations throughout the...
St Petersburg faces another cold spell next week. The city will enjoy 10-12 degree temperatures this weekend before the weather turns harsh. Chief weather expert Alexander Kolesov says May 5 will bring the worst chill behind a passing storm.
Daily highs will drop to just five or six degrees next Monday. Snow might fall across the city during this cold snap. Kolesov warns locals not to expect warm days anytime soon. Daytime temperatures will hover around 10 degrees throughout next week.
Residents should wait until after the May holidays for better weather. The St Petersburg Hydrometeorological Center expects warming only after May 10. The current cool pattern will hold firm through early next week.
St Petersburg officials ran practice drills at Pulkovo Airport to prepare for possible cholera cases. The exercise tested how staff would handle infected travelers arriving on flights. Workers used a Nordwind Airlines plane for the training session.
The drill simulated a flight from Phuket landing with a sick passenger. Airport teams removed the person who showed stomach illness. Staff questioned other travelers to find anyone who had contact with the sick passenger. They also carried out cleaning steps throughout the plane.
The practice helped workers sharpen their skills for real emergencies. They tested alarm systems and checked how medical care would work during an outbreak. Russian health officials found two actual cholera cases...
Russians hope to pay about 52,000 rubles per person for week-long trips this year. According to job site SuperJob, they dream of perfect vacations costing 190,000 rubles on average. Women plan more careful spending, at 49,000 rubles, compared to men, who budget 56,000 rubles.
St. Petersburg joined other cities with high vacation dreams. Moscow residents need 220,000 rubles for their ideal getaways, tying with people from Krasnoyarsk. Kazan came next at 210,000 rubles for dream trips. St. Petersburg shares third place with Yekaterinburg and Rostov-on-Don, where locals want 200,000 rubles for perfect vacations.
St. Petersburg faces cloudy, windy weather this Saturday. Officials placed the Northern capital under a yellow weather alert yesterday. The city sits near a cyclone moving over northern Karelia, according to Phobos weather center expert Mikhail Leus. He says locals can expect mostly cloudy skies with some clear patches and light rain in certain areas.
Temperatures will reach 10-12 degrees in the city and 9-14 degrees across the Leningrad region. Strong western winds will blow through the area with gusts between 13-18 meters per second. Air pressure will rise slightly but remain below normal at 748 millimeters. Weather patterns will stay almost the same on Sunday, May 4, Leus added.
