Russians Banned From TOEFL English Language Exam – Report

Organizers of the benchmark TOEFL English exam have banned Russian citizens from taking the test, independent media outlet Mediazona reported Tuesday.  The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has blocked a number of Russian citizens from the online platform that runs the TOEFL exam, according to Mediazona.   The TOEFL qualification is recognized by 11,000 universities in over…

Russia Brands Azov Regiment ‘Terrorists,’ Paving Way for Captured Fighters’ Imprisonment

Russia’s Supreme Court declared Ukraine’s Azov Regiment a “terrorist” organization Tuesday, paving the way for the unit’s captured fighters to be tried in Russian courts and potentially face lenghty prison terms.  Moscow has regularly decried the Azov battalion for its past extremist right-wing links, using it to justify its invasion of Ukraine that the Kremlin…

Ex-Yandex Head Takes EU to Court Over Sanctions

The former head of Russia’s top tech firm Yandex Tigran Khudaverdyan has challenged sanctions against him over the Ukraine war in a European Union court. Khudaverdyan filed a lawsuit on June 7 demanding the European Council lift its “discriminatory and disproportionate” sanctions against him. The lawsuit was first reported by TV channel RTVI on Monday…

Medvedev Questions Neighbors’ Sovereignty in ‘Hacked’ Post

A post claiming the ex-Soviet nations of Georgia and Kazakhstan were “artificial” creations appeared Monday evening on former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s social media account — but was quickly deleted.  Medvedev aide Oleg Osipov said Tuesday morning that Medvedev’s account on Russian social network VK had been hacked, news agency Interfax reported.  Since the start…

Sanctions ‘Cripple’ Russian Economy, Study Says

The Russian economy has been deeply damaged by sanctions and the exit of international business since the country invaded Ukraine, according to a new report by Yale University business experts and economists. Even though Moscow has been able to pull in billions of dollars from continued energy sales at elevated prices, largely unpublished data shows…