At least 9,311 Russian soldiers have died since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine nine months ago, according to an independent investigation conducted jointly by the BBC Russian Service and independent Russian news outlet MediaZona. The death toll, which was published by the BBC on Friday, only includes officially confirmed fatalities, meaning that the true…
Ahead of Mother’s Day celebrations in Russia on Sunday, President Vladimir Putin met with the mothers of soldiers recently called up to serve in Ukraine at his residence outside Moscow on Friday. “I understand perfectly well that for you, as well as for so many other women in Russia whose sons are in the war…
Щедрая душа: a generous soul It’s that time of the year again: holidays, parties, merrymaking followed by more holidays, parties and merrymaking. If all goes well and we are lucky, we spend time with hospitable, good-natured, well-meaning folks. Naturally, this got me thinking about how to express this in Russian. The fun part is that…
Alexei Kudrin, a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin, is expected to assume a leadership position in the restructuring of Russian tech giant Yandex, state media reported on Friday. Yandex is awaiting Putin’s blessing to sell its main operations in Russia and appoint Kudrin to its new structure, several reports indicated earlier this week. Yandex’s…
Two Swedish brothers, one a former intelligence official, went on trial in Stockholm on Friday accused of “aggravated espionage” for allegedly spying for Russia’s GRU military intelligence service between 2011 and 2021. “This case is unique in many ways … We haven’t had a trial like this in more than 20 years,” prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist…
Nearly half of Kyiv residents were still without electricity on Friday as engineers battled to restore services two days after Russian strikes hammered the country’s energy grid. Systematic and targeted Russian attacks for weeks have brought Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to its knees as the country careens towards a freezing winter, spurring fears of a health…
Russian soldiers who die in combat in Ukraine “belong to the state,” a regional governor said at a meeting with the mothers of fallen troops Thursday. The blunt comments from Igor Kobzev, the head of the Irkutsk region in southeast Siberia, come as the Russian military officially acknowledges fewer than 6,000 casualties despite suffering major setbacks…
An official in central Russia has resigned after her son’s disturbing social media posts triggered a high-profile scandal and police involvement, media reported Thursday. The republic of Chuvashia’s digital development minister Kristina Maynina was summoned for questioning after her son’s classmates noticed his social media posts and perceived them as a threat to shoot up the…