Гойда! They Shouted. Say What?

Гойда: let’s go (maim and kill) Last Friday there was a big event on Red Square in Moscow to celebrate (sic) the new Russian regions (sic), i.e., Ukrainian land annexed (on paper) by Russia. One of the headliners was Ivan Okhlobystin, an actor-cum-Orthodox-priest-cum-political-rabblerouser, who got the crowd worked up shouting what he described as старорусское…

St. Petersburg Scraps New Year’s Celebrations to Buy Supplies for Mobilized Soldiers

Authorities in St. Petersburg have called off the city’s official New Year’s and Christmas celebrations and plan to reallocate the funds to the Russian military, the city government announced Friday.  The move comes amid widespread reports of newly mobilized Russian soldiers lacking equipment, uniforms and medical supplies. Russia’s second-largest city will scrap all its traditional…

Charges Dropped in Russia’s First Criminal Draft-Dodging Case

Prosecutors in the southern Russian city of Penza dropped all charges in what would have been the first criminal case for evading Moscow’s “partial” mobilization, human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov said Friday. “The Prosecutor’s Office…recognized the decision to initiate [criminal] proceedings as illegal,” Chikov wrote on his Telegram channel. “The suspect received the right to…

Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian Rights Defenders Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian human rights champions. Russia’s Memorial group, Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties and jailed Belarusian rights activist Ales Bialiatski share this year’s prestigious award. “They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the…

Putin Confronted by Kremlin Insider Over Ukraine, U.S. Intel Reportedly Tells Biden

An unnamed member of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle has directly confronted him over mistakes and mismanagement of the war in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing U.S. intelligence. The insider’s confrontation and identity were reportedly included in U.S. President Joe Biden’s daily intelligence briefing and shared with other U.S. officials. The individual’s identity could…

Moscow Fumes Over ‘Monster’ Zelensky’s Preemptive Strike Calls

Russian officials voiced anger over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks Thursday on preventive strikes that his spokesman later said had been misinterpreted. Zelensky appealed for the international community to “do preemptive strikes” instead of “waiting for Russian nuclear strikes” when asked about NATO’s role in the conflict in an address to an Australian think tank.…