Seven days in photographs, July 17 – July 23

The bombing of the Baksan Hydroelectric Power Plant in Kabardino-Balkaria became the main event of the week. It was attacked early in the morning on Wednesday, July 21. The attackers shoot two of the plant’s security guards dead and set five explosive devices in the turbine room.
The explosions damaged two of the plant’s generators and some auxiliary equipment. The blaze from the blast covered an area of 250 square meters.

Government authorities responded to the terrorist attack by firing the head of Kabardino-Balkaria Internal Ministry’s non-departmental security service. His subordinates were guarding the Baksan Hydroelectric Power Plant at the time of the attack.
Photo: Aftermath of the explosion at the Baksan Hydroelectric Power Plant.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Finland to discuss with his Finnish counterpart, Tarja Halonen, the development of bilateral trade and economic ties, energy cooperation, cooperation in the timber processing complex, European security and visa issues. One of the main issues was the delivery of dairy and meat products, imports of which to Russia were suspended on July 23.

Medvedev is sure that problems surrounding the supply of Finnish dairy and meat products to Russia will be solved within the next two weeks. The Finnish president promised to promote a visa-free regime with Russia in the EU.
Photo: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Finnish President Tarja Halonen have a walk in Kultaranta Park at the Finnish president’s summer residence.

The import of Finnish products was suspended on July 23. In May, Russia's food safety watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, evaluated Finnish products and found several milk producing plants were sending milk to be reprocessed after about 50 hours. Under Russian standards, it must be processed within one day. At several plants there were no certificates issued by the nation’s veterinary service.

The auction for part of the Moscow Region’s Kubinka military airport was held on July 22. The auction winner was Nafta Moskva, the investment vehicle of Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. It is assumed that the runway will still be used jointly by military and civilian organizations.

Abnormal hot weather this week was not the only challenge for Muscovites. There was a strong thunderstorm in several districts of Moscow on the evening of July 20. As a result of the thunderstorm, a few trees fell and some streets were flooded, causing problems in the streets.

Peat fires from the record-breaking heat caused a sharp increase of pollutants in Moscow’s air. Smog, which had previously been seen only on the outskirts of the city, moved to the center of the capital on Friday. Despite the fact that Moscow firefighters eliminated almost all the wildfires, each day there are new hot spots.

Manchester United was named the most expensive team in the world, according to Forbes. The cost of the team belonging to the Glazer brothers, American businessmen, is $ 1.83 billion. Some players from Manchester United, who took part in the national team at the last World Cup in South Africa, not only failed to make the finals, but met a crushing defeat in a game with Germany