UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 22, 2017. Russia-based U.S. Consulates will have to have their nonimmigrant visa operations suspended due to the Russian Government-imposed cap on the number of diplomatic personnel they can have, effective August 23, 2017, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Russia report. According to the Embassy, nonimmigrant visa operations will resume eventually, but on a much more limited scope. Starting September 1, 2017, nonimmigrant visa interviews will only be available in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The U.S. Consulates in Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 22, 2017. Ural Airlines are offering their customers their new Saint Petersburg-Tenerife flight. The flight will be operated from Pulkovo Airport every Friday starting from October 27, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘This is a unique destination for Saint Petersburg and a great winter holiday option. Tickets are already on offer,’ the press service says. The Spanish island of Tenerife is known as the ‘Island of Eternal Spring’ where the weather is nice any time of the year. The southern part of the island is perfectly suited for beach holiday-making,

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, August 22, 2017. Russian Copper Company Boxing Promotion is going to coordinate a large-scale boxing competition in Chelyabinsk on Town Day. The event is supported by Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky, the company press service reports. ‘There will be boxing fights in several sports categories at Tractor Arena on September 9. Four professional boxing fights are expected to be the key feature of the night, with Muay Thai and amateur boxing fights to follow. Chelyabinsk residents will be able to support their local sportsmen there,’ the press service says. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 22, 2017. A five-meter-large panorama of Yekaterinburg’s snow-covered downtown is now on display next to Passage Shopping Mall entrance, Obschestvo Malysheva 73’s press service reports. It took the local artist Sergey Kiyanitsa over six months to complete the work. The panorama features the city’s main square with a New Year’s Tree in the center, the town hall building, Lenin Avenue, and Central Department Store. It was Senator Arkadiy Chernetsky’s idea to place the painting on one of the centrally located buildings after he saw the work at Innoprom Exhibition in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 22, 2017. Visitors to and residents of Yekaterinburg spent over 2.8m minutes on the phone on Town Day, which equals to about five years’ worth of ongoing conversations. Local subscribers made more than 7.5m phone calls, which was 20% more than one year previously, while their Internet traffic rose by as much as 70% against last year, MegaFon’s press service reports. The company subscribers mostly made calls to Moscow, Moscow Region, and Saint Petersburg. Ivanovo, Pskov, Rostov Region, and Krasnodar Territory were also among the most popular long-distance call