Day: August 16, 2022

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday called for systematic punitive measures against Russian oligarchs supporting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his military operation in Ukraine. In a lengthy social media post, he said that Western sanctions — by the United States, European Union or the United Kingdom — have only targeted 46 of the…

Russians are racing to try and obtain European visas as some countries impose travel restrictions and fears grow that the European Union could ban Russian tourists from the bloc in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.  The number of applications for Schengen visas — which give access to most EU countries — submitted by Russians…

A robotic dog equipped with an anti-tank rocket launcher mounted on its back quickly went viral after it was unveiled at Russia’s annual Army-2022 international arms expo Monday.  Just as quickly, investigative outlets found the futuristic device to bear a striking resemblance to a consumer-grade robotic dog available on Chinese online marketplaces.  Dubbed “M-81 complex,”…

Estonia on Tuesday removed a Soviet-era World War II memorial from Narva — a city with a large Russian-speaking minority — accusing Russia of using such monuments to stir up tensions. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in a statement that the move was a response to “increasing tensions and confusion around memorials in Narva.” “We…

Russia said Tuesday that massive explosions at a military facility on the Kremlin-controlled Crimean peninsula in Ukraine that also damaged electrical power infrastructure were the result of “sabotage.” Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile said the United States was trying to drag out the conflict, accusing Washington of putting Ukrainians in the firing line and supplying…

Russia has no military need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.  “From a military point of view, there is no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve the set goals,” Shoigu said at an international security conference in Moscow. He slammed media speculation that Russia could potentially…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has revived the Soviet-era award of “Mother Heroine” as  the country grapples with a demographic crisis fueled by plunging birth rates. Putin signed a decree Monday reviving the honorary title “Mother Heroine,” which Soviet leader Josef Stalin first established in 1944 in the wake of massive population losses during World War…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the West of seeking to prolong the war in Ukraine and impose a unipolar world order that prevents nations from “choosing their own path.” “More and more states and nations choose [to pursue] their own path of free, sovereign development…These processes are opposed by Western globalist elites [that]…

Five Europeans captured in eastern Ukraine went on trial Monday in a court administered by Kremlin-backed separatists in the city of Donetsk, Russian media reported. The five — Mathias Gustafsson of Sweden, Vjekoslav Prebeg of Croatia, and Britons John Harding, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy — all pleaded not guilty to charges of being mercenaries,…