Day: October 20, 2022
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Zelensky Accuses Russia of Mining Dam in South Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Russia of planting mines at a hydroelectric dam in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, which is under the control of Moscow’s forces. “According to our information, the aggregate and dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant were mined by Russian terrorists,” Zelensky said in his daily address published on…
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Putin Visits Military Draft Training Center
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday visited a training center for mobilized Russians for the first time since announcing a partial military call-up on Sept. 21. State television showed Putin visiting a shooting center in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, dressed in black, shooting a newly developed sniper rifle and hugging military men. Wearing ear…
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Navalny Says New Charges Could Mean Up to 30 Years Jail Time
Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny said Thursday he was slapped with new terrorism and extremism charges that he says could put him behind bars for up to 30 years. “I received an official notification that a new criminal case has been initiated against me” for propagating extremism, calling for terrorism, financing extremist activity and…
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‘Catastrophic Illiteracy’: Moscow Reacts to Truss Resignation
Russia reacted to the resignation of British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Thursday by calling the short-serving British premier a “disgrace.” “Britain has never known such a disgrace of a prime minister,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel. “She will be remembered for her catastrophic illiteracy,” Zakharova added. Truss was…
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Explainer: What Does Russia’s Imposition of Martial Law Mean?
Martial law entered into force in the four Ukrainian regions that Russia recently claimed to have annexed early Thursday — just hours after President Vladimir Putin had declared the measure the previous day. While making his announcement, the Russian leader signed a separate decree introducing varying “response levels” across the country’s regions as well as…
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Russia Repatriates 38 Children of Islamic State Suspects from Syria
A Russian delegation in Syria on Thursday took 38 children from families of suspected Islamic State (IS) group members for repatriation, a Kurdish official and AFP correspondents said. Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria handed over the children, “most of whom are orphans,” to the Russian delegation, Kurdish foreign affairs official Khaled Ibrahim told a press…
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EU Agrees Sanctions Over Iranian Drones in Ukraine
The EU imposed sanctions Thursday against three Iranian generals and an arms firm accused of supplying Iranian drones to Russia that have been used to bomb Ukraine. The names of Iranian drone maker Shahed Aviation Industries and three top Iranian military officials were published in the EU official journal, adding them to the sanctions blacklist.…
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Kadyrov Says Teenage Sons Have Seen Action on Ukraine Frontlines
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Thursday that his three underage sons have been fighting with the Russian military on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine. “Akhmat, Eli and Adam visited the contact line, where fierce battles with Ukrainian nationalists are currently taking place,” Kadyrov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, wrote on his…
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Putin Abolishes Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a decree abolishing Rostourism, Russia’s federal tourism agency, and handing its remit to the Economic Development Ministry. The Economic Ministry said in a statement that the decision to dissolve Rostourism and to give its responsibilities to the ministry would help Russia meet its tourism objectives more effectively. Rostourism…
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Wagner Mercenary Chief Says Launching ‘People’s Militia’ Near Ukraine Border
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin-linked magnate who leads the notorious Wagner mercenary group, said Wednesday that the private military contractor was “forming a people’s militia” in Russia’s Belgorod region on the Ukrainian border. According to Prigozhin, “several сompanies” were producing “required items for fortifications,” while Wagner instructors were training “citizens who will defend the region’s borders.”…
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Monument to Victims of Stalin’s Famine Removed in Mariupol
The Moscow-installed authorities of the port city of Mariupol, which fell to Russian forces after a devastating siege earlier in the year, took down a monument to Ukrainian victims of Stalin’s famine on Wednesday. Kyiv has been calling the 1930s man-made hunger under Josef Stalin a “genocide,” while Moscow has been downplaying it as an…
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Vodka Gift: Berlusconi in Fresh Row Over Putin Ties
Italy’s ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi was under fresh scrutiny Wednesday over his friendship with Vladimir Putin after being recorded describing a birthday present of vodka from the Russian leader and expressing concerns about arming Ukraine. His aides insisted he had been misrepresented, but the row risks embarrassing Berlusconi’s coalition allies, led by far-right leader Giorgia Meloni,…