Day: September 13, 2022

Russia has covertly sent at least $300 million to foreign political parties and candidates in more than two dozen countries since 2014 in bids to gain influence, a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment said Tuesday.  U.S. intelligence “assesses that these are minimum figures and that Russia likely has transferred additional funds covertly in cases that have gone undetected,” a…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull out his troops from Ukraine, as a counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces made swift progress. Scholz in a 90-minute telephone call “urged” Putin to “come to a diplomatic solution as quickly as possible, based on a ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Russian forces and respect…

YEREVAN, Armenia — Russia said Tuesday it had negotiated a ceasefire between ex-Soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan after clashes between the historic rivals left at least 49 Armenian troops dead.  The Armenian Defense Ministry said the fighting started early Tuesday, with the Armenian cities of Goris, Sotk, and Jermuk coming under fire from Azerbaijani artillery, mortars…

Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv has severely reduced Russia’s military capabilities and means Moscow will be unable to achieve its current war aims, analysts said Tuesday.   “The overall situation for Russia is becoming increasingly difficult,” said Konrad Muzyka of Poland-based Rochan Consulting.  “It will be up to Ukraine to decide when,…

Russian climate activists have filed the country’s first-ever lawsuit demanding stronger government action toward the climate crisis, The Guardian reported Tuesday. Russia, the world’s fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter, is warming twice as fast as the planet as a whole — a trend that is already fueling major environmental disasters like wildfires, floods and permafrost melt.…

Russia is not planning to declare a mass national draft for the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Tuesday.  The denial comes amid growing speculation that Russia may be looking to reverse its flagging fortunes in its six-month invasion of Ukraine by declaring mass mobilization and shoring up its apparent military manpower shortage.   “Not at…

Russian security services said Tuesday they had arrested an employee of an aerospace factory on suspicion of high treason for passing classified defense-related information to Ukraine. The Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that it had detained a Russian national suspected of “high treason for transferring data to…

Moscow will not respond in kind to the European Union’s new hurdles for Russians visiting the bloc’s visa-free travel zone, a senior diplomat said Tuesday. The European Union last week formally suspended a 2007 visa facilitation deal with Moscow that had made it easier and cheaper for Russians to travel to Europe as part of the…

Updated at 12:00 p.m. on Sept. 13 to add Russia’s ceasefire announcement. Russia said Tuesday it had negotiated a ceasefire between ex-Soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan, after fresh border clashes between the historic rivals left dozens dead. Armenia and Azerbaijan traded blame for exchanges of fire around the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region that began at about midnight…

Moscow confirmed Tuesday the arrests of Russian teachers who had been deployed to northeastern Ukraine after Kyiv’s forces recaptured swathes of the region from Russia in a lightning counteroffensive. The confirmation by Russian investigative authorities came one day after Ukraine’s top government official announced the arrests of Russian teachers in the Kharkiv region.  Prime Minister Iryna…