Russia on Friday added two high-profile Kremlin critics to its list of “foreign agents”: former chess champion Garry Kasparov and ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The infamous label, reminiscent of the “enemies of the people” of the Soviet period, is used extensively against opponents, journalists and human rights activists accused of conducting foreign-funded political activities. Such “foreign…
Fears over global food shortages as the Ukraine war grinds on are spurring calls for a safe corridor for ships to exit the Black Sea, but the logistics are daunting and would need Russian cooperation. Dozens of container ships are blocked in Ukrainian ports that are surrounded by Russian forces, choking off exports of wheat,…
Russian soldiers preparing to be sent to fight in Ukraine are required to buy personal equipment at their own expense, according to several servicemen who spoke to The Moscow Times’ Russian Service on condition of anonymity. Some of the items apparently not provided by the army include footwear, body armor, bandages and tourniquets. “If they…
President Vladimir Putin on Friday called for “technological sovereignty,” saying Russia has been hit by numerous cyberattacks since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine. “The number of cyberattacks, including complex ones, has increased many times over” since the start of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine in February, Putin said during a meeting of Russia’s Security Council. …
Clouds of thick black dust blanketed Siberia’s coal mining region of Kemerovo, local news outlet Sibdepo reported Thursday. Residents of the mining towns of Kiselevsk and Belovo shared footage showing massive clouds of coal dust covering the streets amid strong winds and thunderstorms. Locals said the coal dust was brought from the coal mines surrounding the…
Students in Siberia have opened a 50-year-old time capsule containing a wish for peace and international friendship from their Soviet peers, local media reported Thursday. The Soviet students’ message of hope for a peaceful future was unearthed as Russia faces unprecedented economic and political isolation in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. To mark…
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the CEO of the shelved Nord Stream 2 project Matthias Warnig resigned Friday from the board of directors of Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft amid pressure over the war in Ukraine. “Gerhard Schroeder and Matthias Warnig have informed [us] of the impossibility of extending their service on the company’s…
Russia’s largest lender Sberbank has sold its digital ecosystem to an obscure new company in what experts call an attempt to shield those services from Western sanctions, media reported Thursday. Sber said it sold its video, audio and sports streaming platforms, as well as its cloud technology and biometric system research center, on Tuesday “as…
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday Moscow was nearing full control of Ukraine’s eastern separatist region of Luhansk. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24 under the guise of protecting the Russian-speaking population there, especially in the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia recognized the independence of the…
Incessant bombardment has turned Ukraine’s Donbas region into “hell,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as the first post-invasion trial of a Russian soldier for war crimes neared its closely watched climax Friday. Zelensky’s government received a fresh boost as the U.S. Congress approved a $40 billion aid package, including funds to enhance Ukraine’s armored vehicle fleet…
A Siberian entrepreneur who played the Ukrainian national anthem in public has been found guilty of “Nazi propaganda,” a local court said Thursday in the latest example of Russia’s ongoing crackdown on wartime dissent. The Tyumen resident, identified as Vladimir Fofanov by the OVD-Info police-monitoring website, was shown performing the anthem on a piano set up on an…
Videos and eyewitness testimony provided evidence of Russian troops executing eight Ukrainian men in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, implicating them in a possible war crime, The New York Times reported Thursday. “I was shot and I fell down,” the lone survivor of the March 4 execution, 43-year-old builder Ivan Skyba, recounted to the NYT. …