Thousands of schoolchildren gathered on Red Square wearing red hats and neckerchiefs Sunday as Russia’s Communist Party inducted new members of the Pioneers, the party’s youth organization during the U.S.S.R. During the event marking the youth organization’s 100th anniversary, roughly 5,000 children aged 9 to 14 were given the title “All-Russian Pioneers.” While the Young…
A Russian diplomat posted to the United Nation’s office in Geneva has publicly resigned in protest against Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine. In a statement, Boris Bondarev called the invasion “a crime” and a “bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy.” “For 20 years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign…
Several mobile military enlistment offices could be seen Saturday on the sidelines of an annual half-marathon race in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. “Mobile selection point for contract service,” read the blue lettering on the side of one of the large trucks, which was suspended over an image of an aircraft carrier and a fighter…
Starbucks is leaving the Russian market and closing all of its 130 locations there, the company announced Monday. The U.S. coffee giant, which has had a presence in Russia since 2007, had initially suspended its operations in the country in early March as foreign brands pulled out en masse over the Kremlin’s Feb. 24 invasion…
Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered while defending Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant will face an “international tribunal,” the head of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) said Monday. DNR leader Denis Pushilin told Interfax that all 2,439 prisoners from the Azovstal site were currently on the separatist republic’s territory. “We are planning to organize an international…
Austrian ex-foreign minister Karin Kneissl, who once danced with Russian President Vladimir Putin at her wedding, has quit her board position at Russian oil giant Rosneft, the company said Monday. Kneissl has submitted a letter of resignation effective from Friday, Rosneft said in a statement. The 57-year-old made headlines when she invited Putin to her wedding in 2018 and was photographed dancing with him during the event. She…
Some 150 military units from across all branches of Russia’s Armed Forces have been deployed in the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, investigative outlet Proekt reported Monday. The large-scale nature of the invasion undermines Kremlin claims that Russia is merely conducting a “special operation” in Ukraine aimed at “denazifying and demilitarizing” the country. Those deployed include…
The first Russian soldier to be tried for war crimes in Ukraine has been found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, the Mediazona news website reported Monday. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, pleaded guilty to fatally shooting 62-year-old civilian Oleksandr Shelipov in northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy region on Feb. 28. Prosecutors requested a life sentence for the…
With a verdict due Monday in the conflict’s first war crimes trial, Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine is only intensifying, with the city of Severodonetsk under “round-the-clock” bombardment as Russian troops attempt its encirclement. The trial in Kyiv — seen as a public test of the Ukrainian judicial system’s independence — comes as international institutions…
At least two neo-Nazi groups are fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine, throwing into question Moscow’s claims of “denazifying” its neighbor, German weekly Der Spiegel reported Sunday, citing a confidential intelligence report. The document shared with German ministries by the BND intelligence service does not provide the exact number of far-right fighters, but identifies them as…