Officials in the Russian city of Kirov have ordered residents to clear out the basements of their apartment blocks so that they can be used as potential bomb shelters. Notices pictured on social media gave residents ten days to remove their belongings and warned that the basements would be used in the event of “possible…
Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered to Russian forces at the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol may face the death penalty, a pro-Moscow separatist official said Monday. “The court will make a decision about them,” Yuri Sirovatko, the justice minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, was quoted as saying by…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday visited the city of Kharkiv, marking his first trip to eastern Ukraine since Russia invaded his country on Feb. 24. Kharkiv, once the site of some of the war’s fiercest fighting, now lays relatively quiet as Russia pushes for control of the Donbas region to the southeast. But Russian…
Russia is set to boost wages and welfare payments for millions in a bid to ease the economic fallout of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. A bill signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin Monday will raise pensions, as well as Russia’s minimum wage and living wage, by around 10%, according to business daily Vedomosti. …
Muscovites are voting to name a square outside the city’s U.S. embassy in honor of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Residents will choose from three potential names for the currently untitled square at the intersection of Bolshoy Devyatinsky Lane and Konyushkovskaya Ulitsa, where the U.S. embassy is located. They are “Defenders of Donbas Square,” “Donetsk People’s…
Russian forces edged toward the center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk Monday, while President Volodymyr Zelensky prepared to appeal to EU leaders at an emergency summit where a ban on Russian oil imports is on the agenda. Zelensky is expected to press EU officials at the summit “to kill Russian exports” as he…
Russia’s population in 2021 hit147.2 million, the state-owned Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily reported Monday, citing census data. The Rosstat statistics agency said Russia’s population increased 1.4% since the previous census conducted in 2010. The growth came as a result of migration – without migrants moving to Russia, the population would have recorded a significant decline. Former…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday denied speculation that President Vladimir Putin was ill, saying there were no signs pointing to any ailment. Putin’s health and private life are taboo subjects in Russia, and are almost never discussed in public. Answering a question from France’s broadcaster TF1, Russia’s top diplomat said: “I don’t think…