Day: May 25, 2022
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Russian Village Near Ukraine Border Asks Putin for ‘Protection’
Residents of a Russian village near the border with Ukraine have launched a petition calling on President Vladimir Putin to provide better protection against an increased number of cross-border attacks. About 2 kilometers from Ukraine, the Kursk region village of Tyotkino has been repeatedly targeted by shelling, according to the petition published earlier this week…
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Putin Visits ‘Hero’ Soldiers Wounded in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday met soldiers wounded in Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine and hailed them as heroes, in the first such visit since he sent troops into the pro-Western country. Wearing a white medical coat, Putin chatted to soldiers at Moscow’s Mandryka military hospital, Rossiya-24 television channel showed. After meeting the wounded…
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Moscow Lifts Covid Fines to Prop Up Falling Incomes
Moscow will stop enforcing fines for Covid-19 violations in a bid to prop up falling incomes amid rising inflation and the economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Wednesday. “We’ve taken many steps to mitigate the pressure from sanctions in recent weeks,” Sobyanin wrote on his website. “There are other challenges…
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Russia Simplifies Citizenship for Ukrainians in Captured Territories
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Wednesday simplifying the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainians living in territories seized by Russian troops in southern and eastern Ukraine. The fast-track citizenship option comes amid speculation that Moscow could establish permanent control over areas it has captured in its three-month invasion of Ukraine. Russia first…
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Russia to Make Foreign Debt Payments in Rubles – Ministry
Russia said Wednesday that it will start paying its foreign debt in rubles after the United States ended an exemption allowing Moscow to make the payments in dollars held in Russia. The U.S. Treasury announced Tuesday it was closing the escape clause to the drastic financial sanctions imposed on Moscow after it sent troops to…
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Exhibitions of NATO ‘Cruelty’ Open Across Russia Amid Ukraine War
At one of Moscow’s newest museum exhibitions, visitors are greeted with posters describing how “NATO is fraught with war” and images of people injured in U.S. bombings as the sound of approaching war planes wails from loudspeakers. “NATO: A chronicle of cruelty” opened its doors in Moscow’s Museum of Contemporary Russian History last month, a…
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Russia to Quit European Standards System for Higher Education
Russia is set to drop out of the agreement standardizing higher education across Europe, potentially cutting off Russian students from advancing their careers in Europe. Russia’s Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov announced Tuesday that the country would replace the internationally recognized framework known as the Bologna Process with a new system designed to…
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Ukraine’s Zelensky Calls for Western Unity as Russia Advances
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted the West for lacking unity on Wednesday, as the Russian invasion entered its fourth month and Moscow’s troops advanced in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces relentlessly bombarded the industrial city of Severodonetsk while attempting to encircle it, a key goal of recent fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region. However, Moscow told the…
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Explainer: How Orwell’s ‘1984’ Looms Large in Wartime Russia
George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984” has been catapulted into the spotlight in Russia since the country invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Many have drawn parallels between the book — written in 1949 to describe a world under totalitarian surveillance — and modern Russia, where ordinary people are punished for calling Moscow’s attack on Ukraine a…
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Russian Lawmakers Scrap Upper Age Limit for Military Service
Russian lawmakers have adopted a bill scrapping upper age limits for those wishing to enter military service, prompting speculation that the country could be scrambling to bolster its depleted manpower amid its invasion of Ukraine. Russian law currently allows any citizen aged 18 to 40 to join the Armed Forces by signing a contract. The…
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Nike to Exit Russia as Resale Contracts End
U.S. sports giant Nike is set to leave Russia after declining to renew the brand’s agreements with authorized resellers within the country. Contracts between Nike and two of its largest authorized Russian retailers expire this Thursday, May 26, the Vedomosti business newspaper reported Wednesday. The sportswear label decided not to extend the contracts or sign…
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Russia Says Will Monitor Moldova Ex-Leader’s Case
Moscow warned Wednesday it would “closely” monitor the treatment of a pro-Russian ex-president in Moldova who had been detained on suspicion of treason and corruption. On Tuesday, prosecutors in the Western-backed country announced the arrest of former president Igor Dodon, as the conflict in neighboring Ukraine has heightened tensions between Moscow and Chisinau. Russian Deputy…
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Moscow Says Sanctions Need To Be Lifted To Avoid Food Crisis
International sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military campaign in Ukraine need to be lifted to avoid a global food crisis, a Russian deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday. “Solving the food problem requires a comprehensive approach, including the removal of sanctions that have been imposed on Russian exports and financial transactions,” Andrei Rudenko said…
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Russia’s Imports Fall to Two-Decade Low
Western sanctions and the exit of international businesses over the war in Ukraine have caused a fall in Russia’s imports to levels not seen since the early 2000s. Russia imported between $5 billion and $10 billion worth of goods last month, according to Bank Otkritie’s research data cited Wednesday by The Moscow Times’ Russian service. Russia’s…