The White House on Tuesday described an upcoming appeals hearing for jailed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in Russia as a “sham.” Griner, who was sentenced to nine years prison in August for possessing vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannibis oil, is due to go back to court on October 25. White House…
Associates of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday said they are relaunching his regional political network to fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent “partial” mobilization ordered by President Vladimir Putin. “It’s time for us to restore our network to fight mobilization and war,” said Ivan Zhdanov, the former director of Navalny’s…
A court in the western Russian city of Voronezh on Tuesday sentenced a 28-year-old U.S. citizen to four years and six months behind bars for kicking a law enforcement official. “This man, who disagreed with lawful actions taken by the authorities, used violence against a police officer who was on duty, kicking him several times,”…
The Kremlin has hailed U.S. billionaire Elon Musk’s attempt to put forward a peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, calling it a “very positive” sign on Tuesday. The world’s wealthiest man outlined his proposal for a peace deal to his 107 million Twitter followers on Monday. Its terms sparked fierce backlash from Ukraine…
Japan has ordered a senior Russian official stationed in the country to leave in retaliation for the expulsion of a Japanese diplomat over alleged spying, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The tit-for-tat move came after Tokyo demanded an apology last week from Moscow for detaining a diplomat based in the eastern city of Vladivostok, accusing…
Russian musical superstar Alla Pugacheva slammed critics of her opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday, calling supporters of the war “slaves” and “lackeys.” “How lucky am I to be hated by the people I’ve always hated,” Pugacheva wrote in an Instagram post. “The reason is clear,” she added, in an apparent reference to…
Russian authorities have fined the winner of this year’s Miss Crimea beauty pageant, Olga Valeyeva, after video emerged of her singing a patriotic Ukrainian song, the state-run TASS news agency reported. Valeyeva appeared alongside a friend in a video posted to Instagram singing “Chervona Kalyna,” a song that has become an anthem of Ukrainian resistance…
Students were routinely roped in for harvesting in the Soviet Union. “With what examples are we bringing up our schoolchildren?” he told a government meeting. “They say it’s exploitation. But how is it exploitation if a person works for five or six hours? It’s a pleasure for the parents and good physical training for children.”…
Ukrainians who have fled their country’s occupied regions annexed by Moscow have one month to accept or reject Russian citizenship, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin moved to annex Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south on Friday following widely disputed referendums, incurring new Western sanctions. Russian lawmakers are…
Russia’s space agency is discussing with Moscow a continuation of its participation in the International Space Station past 2024, a Roscosmos official said Monday. Sergei Krikalev, head of Russia’s human space flight programs, told reporters that Roscosmos had started “to discuss extending our participation in ISS program with our government and hope to have permission…