Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Russia Says Killed, Detained Ukrainian Saboteurs in Border Region
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it has repelled a Ukrainian sabotage group’s attempt to infiltrate western Russia’s Bryansk region, the second attempted incursion this month. Two Ukrainian fighters were purportedly killed and five others were detained Wednesday, the FSB said in a statement. Russia’s intelligence agency did not say how many Ukrainian fighters…
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Previously Unseen Video of Prigozhin Emerges Days After Secret Funeral
A Wagner-affiliated channel on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday published a previously unseen video of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was buried two days earlier after perishing in a plane crash in northwestern Russia. “To those who talk about my liquidation, private life and earnings or whatever else, strictly speaking, everything’s alright,” Prigozhin said in the video posted…
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Russia Downs Drone Heading for Moscow
Russian air defenses destroyed a drone on its approach to Moscow, the city’s mayor said Thursday morning. Air defense systems in the Voskresensky district, located around 60 kilometers from the Russian capital, “destroyed a drone flying toward Moscow,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app. He did not specify where the drone had…
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Kremlin Says Possible Prigozhin Crash Was ‘Premediated’
The Kremlin said Wednesday that investigators were probing all possible scenarios surrounding the death last week of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash, including premeditated murder. Prigozhin, 62, was buried on Tuesday in a private ceremony in his native St. Petersburg, more than two months after he staged a short-lived mutiny that posed…
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Ukraine Says Gains on Southern Front Pave Way to Crimea
Ukraine said Wednesday that its recapture of Robotyne village this week was a strategic victory paving the way for its forces to push deeper into Russian positions in the south towards Crimea. The foreign minister’s comments published early Wednesday came as Kyiv announced two people had been killed in the “most powerful” aerial attack in…
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Navalny Allies Call for EU Sanctions Against Rock Star Who Performed in Occupied Ukraine
Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have urged the EU to impose sanctions on a Russian rock star who stirred controversy for visiting Russian troops in occupied Ukraine. Roman Bilyk, who performs under the stage name Roma Zver with the hit group Zveri, was filmed playing for Russian troops in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region earlier in…
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Russian Man in Court for Critical Ukraine Interview
A Russian man was in court Wednesday after he criticized Moscow’s Ukraine assault in an interview to a foreign media outlet as authorities take the crackdown on dissent to new heights. Public criticism of the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine has been outlawed, and a number of prominent and ordinary Russians have received long prison terms…
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Russians, Belarusians to Be Allowed Back to International Badminton Competitions
Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to return to international badminton competitions starting February 2024, the sport’s governing body announced. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said players from the two countries, who have been banned due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would be able to compete as neutral athletes. The International Olympic Committee has…
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‘We Don’t Need Heroes Who Marched on Moscow’: How the Kremlin Silenced Prigozhin’s Funeral
The decision to keep Yevgeny Prigozhin’s funeral a secret was made by the Russian presidential administration and the security services, two acting Russian officials told The Moscow Times on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. Even after his Aug. 23 death in a plane crash near President Vladimir Putin’s residence in…
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1.3K Ukrainian Schools Destroyed in Russian Invasion – UNICEF
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to the destruction of more than 1,300 Ukrainian schools over the past 18 months, disrupting education for millions of children in the war-torn country, according to UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency. “More than 1,300 schools have been totally destroyed [in Ukraine’s government-controlled regions],” said Regina De Dominicis,…
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Chechen Woman Who Fled Death Threats at Home Forcibly Returned to Family
A woman who had fled Chechnya following death threats from her family has been forcibly returned to her home, Chechnya’s human rights commissioner said late Tuesday. Seda Suleimanova fled the Muslim-majority region in October 2022 with the help of the human rights group SK SOS after her family warned that she could be killed in…
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Toxic Moscow Region Waste Facility Sparks Grassroots Resistance
“You sleep at night and suddenly wake up, just out of the blue. And realize that breathing is difficult, and the house smells as if it’s full of household gas.” This is one of the unsettling memories shared by a Moscow region resident who identified herself as Anna. Living just 3 kilometers from Yug (South),…
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Wildfire Engulfs Hillside Near Black Sea Resort Town in Southern Russia
Russian firefighters battled a wildfire near the popular resort town of Gelendzhik in southern Russia overnight Tuesday, tackling the blaze from land and air, authorities and media reported. The blaze moved fast through woodland in the area as a result of strong winds, as well as the challenging mountainous terrain of the area, Russia’s Emergencies…
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Moscow Declines to Probe Prigozhin Plane Crash Under International Rules – Reuters
Russia will not investigate the plane crash that killed Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin under international rules, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Brazil’s aircraft investigation authority. Brazil’s Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) contacted Russian authorities last week to ask whether they would open a probe into the crash under UN civil aviation rules, according…
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Regions Across Russia Targeted in Major Drone Attack
At least six regions across western and central Russia were targeted by one of the largest overnight drone attacks since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine 18 months ago, authorities said Wednesday. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had shot down or destroyed drones over the Bryansk, Oryol, Kaluga, Ryazan and Moscow regions overnight. It did not report any…
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Kyiv Targeted By ‘Most Powerful’ Aerial Attack Since Spring
Ukraine said Wednesday it had downed more than two dozen cruise missiles and a swarm of attack drones across the country in the “most powerful” aerial attack on Kyiv in weeks that left two dead. The assault came as Russia said an airport near the border with NATO member Estonia had been targeted by drones,…
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In Photos: Reindeer Herders in Russia’s Far North Vote Early in Regional Elections
Though much of Russia will vote in the country’s regional elections on Sept. 10, early voting is already underway in the country’s most hard-to-reach areas to allow residents who cannot make it to a polling station to cast their ballots. On the Taimyr Peninsula of Russia’s Far North, election workers brought ballot boxes to the…
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Memorial for Wagner Chief Held in Private
Observers said the decision by the founder of the Wagner private fighting force to turn his troops on Moscow was the most significant direct challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s authority since he came to power. The Kremlin said earlier Tuesday that the Russian leader would not attend Prigozhin’s funeral. “The president’s presence is not envisaged,”…
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Russian Court Rejects Girkin’s Appeal for Pre-Trial Release
A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from former separatist commander in Ukraine and nationalist blogger Igor Girkin to be freed from pre-trial detention in Moscow. Girkin, a high-profile critic of the Kremlin’s military strategy in Ukraine, was detained in July and remanded in custody on extremism charges. He faces up to five years…
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FSB Helicopter Crashes in Urals, Killing Crew
A Federal Security Service (FSB) helicopter has crashed in Russia’s Ural Mountains, killing all three crew members on board, authorities and state media reported Thursday. “An Mi-8 helicopter crashed in a forest during a routine flight near the village of Prudny in the Sosnovsky district [of Russia’s Chelyabinsk region],” an anonymous emergency services representative told…
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Putin Awarded Prigozhin Secret Medal as ‘Kremlin Employee’ – BBC Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2006 signed a secret decree awarding Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin with a state decoration as a Kremlin staffer, the BBC’s Russian service reported Tuesday. The outlet noted that Prigozhin — who died in a plane crash on Wednesday — had already received the Medal of the Order “For Merit to…
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In Death, Prigozhin Stands to Leave a Lasting Mark on Russia
The death of Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has silenced one of the loudest critics of the Russian military’s performance in Ukraine and thrown the future of his business and private military empires into uncertainty. His enduring image — and popularity — among some ordinary Russians and pro-war voices alike may prove much more…
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Russian Soldiers in Ukraine Threaten to Abandon Posts Over Landfill in Hometown
A group of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have threatened to abandon their posts unless a hazardous landfill in their home region in southern Russia is closed down, media reported Monday. In a video addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office and the Investigative Committee, seven men in military uniforms called on…
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Putin Will Skip Prigozhin’s Funeral, Kremlin Says
President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin said Tuesday. Prigozhin was one of the 10 people on board his private jet when it crashed in the Tver region northwest of Moscow last Wednesday. Russian authorities confirmed Prigozhin’s death on Sunday. “The president is not expected to attend…
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Kremlin Vows to Pursue Moon Race After Luna-25 Crash
The Kremlin said Tuesday that Russia would not give up its ambitions to land a craft on the Moon after its first lunar mission in nearly 50 years failed this month. The Luna-25 module crashed on the Moon’s surface after an incident during pre-landing maneuvers. An Indian mission days later successfully landed near the Moon’s…
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Drone Attacks on Moscow Pressure Russia Far From the Frontlines
Repeated drone attacks on Moscow and its surrounding areas reflect a shift in Ukraine’s war strategy to chip away at Russia away from the frontlines, experts have told The Moscow Times. Russia’s capital, located some 450 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, has been targeted by drones nearly every night for the past several weeks, damaging…
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RT Shows Jailed American in Rare Russian Prison Footage
Russian state-run broadcaster RT on Tuesday showed rare footage of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan inside a penal colony, in what his brother said was his first public appearance in over three years. The United States has designated Whelan — who is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges in Russia’s remote republic of Mordovia — as…
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Russian Teen Arrested in Siberia Over Market Bomb Plot – TASS
A Russian teenager accused of plotting a terrorist attack on a market has been detained in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, the state-run news agency TASS reported Tuesday, citing an anonymous Russian law enforcement source. “A 16-year-old student of a Krasnoyarsk preparatory high school has been detained while acquiring components for a homemade explosive device,”…
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Russia Says Foiled Latest Ukrainian Drone Attacks
Russian air defense systems downed multiple Ukrainian drones over the Tula and Belgorod regions, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, without indicating if there had been damage or casualties. Two drones “were destroyed” by air defenses over the Tula region south of Moscow, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.…
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Moscow’s Consul in Kazakhstan Dismissed After Criticizing Decline of Russian Language Teaching
A Russian consul general in Kazakhstan has been sacked following a controversial interview in which he claimed that the Central Asian country was intentionally discriminating against the Russian language in schools. Yevgeny Bobrov, who headed the Russian consulate in Almaty, said in the interview published last week that Kazakhstan, which is home to the world’s…
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Kyrgyzstan Says Set to Close U.S.-Funded Media
A Kyrgyzstan court said Monday state prosecutors had urged it to close down Kloop, a mainly U.S.-funded media organization, for content allegedly discrediting the government of the Central Asian nation, a Russian ally. “We have received a complaint from the Bishkek prosecutor for the shutting down of public foundation Kloop.Media,” a court spokesperson told AFP.…
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Erdogan to Visit Russia for Talks with Putin – Ankara
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit Russia “soon” for talks with Vladimir Putin on reviving a deal to ship grain across the Black Sea, his party spokesman said Monday. The meeting will take place in Russia’s resort city of Sochi, Erdogan’s ruling party spokesman Omer Celik told reporters, adding that Turkey hoped to…
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Russian-Swede Charged in Sweden With Spying for Moscow
A Swedish-Russian dual national who was arrested last year in a spectacular helicopter raid on his Stockholm home was charged in Sweden on Monday with spying for Moscow. Sergei Skvortsov, 60, was formally charged with carrying out “unlawful intelligence activities” against the U.S. and Sweden for a decade until his arrest in November 2022, court…
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Russian Man Detained After Assaulting Al Jazeera Reporter
Russian authorities have detained a man in northwestern Russia suspected of assaulting an Al Jazeera reporter live on air last week, the St. Petersburg-based news website Fontanka reported Monday. Rania Dridi was broadcasting from the former headquarters of Russia’s mercenary outfit Wagner last Thursday when the man accosted her, demanding that she speak Russian during…
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Binance Restricts Russian Clients to Ruble Transactions
The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance said Monday that it has banned Russia-based users from trading in all currencies besides the ruble. Binance’s restrictions follow reporting by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal on a U.S. Justice Department investigation into the company’s possible violation of financial sanctions on Russia despite its public commitment to comply with…
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Russia Charges Former U.S. Consulate Staffer With ‘Collaboration’
Russia said it has arrested a former employee of a U.S. consulate on charges of collecting information about Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Interfax reported Monday. The U.S. State Department had in May denounced Robert Shonov’s detention in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, saying he had been performing routine activities as a private contractor. Russia’s Federal Security…
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Russia Says Destroyed Drones Near Moscow, Ukraine Border
Russian air defenses destroyed a drone approaching Moscow and two in a region bordering Ukraine, authorities said early Monday. Air defenses in the Lyubertsy district southeast of the Russian capital “destroyed a drone flying toward Moscow,” the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on the Telegram messaging app without specifying whether it was Ukrainian. “There were…
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Wagner Boss Prigozhin’s Death Confirmed by Russian Investigators – Moscow
The death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner paramilitary group, following a plane crash on Wednesday has been confirmed by formal genetic analysis, Russia’s Investigative Committee said Sunday. “Molecular-genetic examinations have been completed as part of the investigation into the plane crash in the Tver region,” Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said. “According to…
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Russia Downs Two Drones as One Man Killed Near Border
Russia said it downed two Ukrainian drones flying over border regions on Sunday after the governor of Belgorod region said a drone carrying explosives had killed a man. Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula have been hit by a wave of attacks in the past month since Kyiv warned in July it aimed to “return”…
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Russian Teen Eco-Activists Fight for Future as Risks Mount
Yegor Chastukhin, an 18-year-old environmental activist, holds a flask to a drain spurting out warm, putrid water near the historic city of Penza in western Russia. “It smells like herbal tea,” he jokes after taking a waft of the sample while Sonia, his wife, jots down notes. She records the odor and its yellowish color…
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U.S. Journalist Gershkovich Appeals Extended Detention
U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed against a Russian court’s decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months, according to documents published by a Moscow court. Gershkovich was detained in March during a reporting trip to the Urals and accused of spying — charges that he, the U.S. government and his employer the Wall…
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Russian Shelling Kills 2 in Ukraine’s Northeast: Governor
Two people were killed and one wounded after Russian forces shelled a village near the town of Kupiansk in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, the region’s governor said Saturday. Officials in Kupiansk, about four miles (six kilometers) from the frontline, had urged vulnerable residents living near the town to evacuate earlier this month as Russia stepped…
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Make Merry With Sweet Cherries
In Soviet-era movies, as the heroes worked they often sang about the joy of labor, their pride in the Land of Soviets, and the wise policy of the Communist Party. “We shall carry the flame of our soul, the banner of our country, onward through worlds and centuries!” sang the actress Lyubov Orlova as she…
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Russia Says Downs 2 Drones as Ukrainian Shelling Wounds 6
Russia said Saturday that its air defences shot down one drone approaching Moscow and another in a border region while Ukrainian shelling wounded six in a border town. Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula have been hit by a wave of attacks in recent days as Kyiv warns it aims to bring the conflict back…
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In Prigozhin’s Apparent Demise, Putin Re-Asserts Total Control — But Threats to Reign Linger
The plane crash that presumably killed Yevgeny Prigozhin is expected to restore the image of President Vladimir Putin as Russia’s sole and unshakeable leader, whom no one can challenge with impunity following Wagner’s mutiny. Yet Prigozhin’s fall will lead to the weakening of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, as well as its influence in the Middle…
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Putin Signs Decree Forcing Paramilitary Fighters to Swear Oath
Russian paramilitary fighters will have to swear an oath to the Russian flag, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Friday, two days after the presumed death of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. The measure is aimed at “forming the spiritual and moral foundations for the defense of the Russian Federation” and applies…
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Kremlin Dismisses Prigozhin Assassination Rumors as ‘Absolute Lies’
The Kremlin on Friday dismissed claims that President Vladimir Putin was involved in the presumed death of Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash this week. The circumstances surrounding Wednesday evening’s crash, which occurred exactly two months after Wagner’s failed mutiny against Russia’s military establishment, stirred speculation of a possible assassination. Putin had said as…
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Court Extends Russian Cafe Bombing Suspect’s Detention
A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of the suspect in a St. Petersburg cafe bombing that killed a prominent pro-war blogger earlier this year, Russian media reported Friday. Daria Trepova, 26, was detained in April after a bomb planted inside a gilded bust she presented to blogger Vladlen Tatarsky exploded during an event…
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Heineken Exits Russia, Sells Operations for 1 Euro
Dutch brewer Heineken on Friday announced it was pulling out of Russia after selling its operations to the Arnest Group, Russia’s largest manufacturer of cosmetics, household goods and metal packaging. Like other major Western companies, Heineken pledged to leave the Russian market following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but it drew criticism earlier this year after…
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Flash Floods Cause Major Power Outage in Far East Russia
Flash floods have struck Far East Russia’s Primorye region for the second time this month, causing major power outages in the territory’s administrative center of Vladivostok on Friday. A total of 70,000 out of the 600,000 residents of Vladivostok were left without electricity over an eight-hour period, said the Primorye region’s prosecutor’s office. It was…
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Russia Says Repelled Large-Scale Ukrainian Drone Attack on Crimea
Russia downed a barrage of 42 Ukrainian drones near Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday, in the largest recent air attack on the peninsula and a day after Kyiv claimed its special forces carried out a raid on the annexed territory. Nine drones were “destroyed… over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,” the…
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Putin Expresses ‘Condolences’ Over Prigozhin Plane Crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed his “condolences” over a plane crash that killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, describing him as a man who made mistakes but “achieved results.” An investigation is currently underway into what caused Wednesday’s crash, which came exactly two months after Wagner’s short-lived rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership. “First of…
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Norway Upgrades Border Fence With Russia to Stop Reindeer Crossings
Norwegian authorities said Thursday they will upgrade a fence near Norway’s border with Russia in the far north to stop its reindeer from making crossings over the international boundary. A fence spanning some 150 kilometers along the Russia-Norway border is already in place, constructed to prevent cross-border movement by the animals. However, some sections have…
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Prigozhin Plane Crash: What Do We Know?
Updated with Putin’s remarks. A plane carrying Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday, exactly two months after he and his mercenary outfit launched a failed coup against Russia’s military leadership. Here’s everything we know about the crash, reactions from world leaders and analysis of what it could mean for Russia:…
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Russian TV Airs Empty Stage as Election Candidates Skip Debate
Russian television aired what is perhaps one of the world’s shortest political debates after none of the candidates for next month’s regional elections showed up for the event. The state broadcaster Rossia’s regional affiliate in the Siberian region of Kemerovo went ahead with the debate program on Wednesday evening despite the no-shows. “Hello, we’re broadcasting joint…
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Russian Political Activist Katz Jailed 8 Years in Absentia for Spreading ‘War Fakes’
Exiled Russian political activist Maxim Katz has been sentenced to eight years in prison in absentia for spreading “fake news” about the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine, the independent news website Mediazona reported Thursday. Katz, 38, is well-known for his YouTube channel, where he discusses and criticizes Russia’s military actions in Ukraine to his more…
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Orenburgneft recognised as the best organisation to work with young personnel in the Orenburg region
Orenburgneft, part of the Rosneft oil production complex, won the 12th regional competition “Best Young Personnel Management Organisation”.
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Prigozhin Supporters Mourn Wagner Boss After Apparent Death
Supporters of Wagner Group leader Yevegny Prigozhin, who is believed to have been killed in a dramatic plane crash, have started laying flowers outside the former headquarters of the mercenary outfit in St. Petersburg. Russian officials said Prigozhin and several of his close aides were on board the Embraer executive jet that crashed in northwestern…
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Russian Court Extends American Journalist’s Pre-Trial Detention
A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by three months, the state-run Interfax news agency reported Thursday. The Lefortovo District Court granted the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) request to extend Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention until Nov. 30 in a closed-door hearing, Interfax wrote. Gershkovich, a United States…
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Plane Carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin Crashes in Russia
A plane carrying Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has crashed northwest of Moscow, Russia’s emergencies ministry said Wednesday. The apparent death of the Kremlin-linked businessman, whose mercenary forces had taken on a leading role in the war on Ukraine, comes nearly two months after his aborted revolt against Russia’s military leadership. Authorities initially said that…
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