Day: December 29, 2022

Armenia on Thursday accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to protect ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and called for a multinational peacekeeping force to step in. “The behaviour of Russian peacekeepers is unacceptable to us. They have become silent bystanders [in Karabakh],” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. Moscow has rebuffed the criticism. Russia deployed peacekeepers…

Bulgaria on Thursday summoned Russia’s ambassador “for explanations” after Moscow placed Bulgarian Christo Grozev, the executive director of the investigative website Bellingcat, on its list of wanted persons. Bellingcat makes extensive use of open-source databases and online research tools and has won several awards. It has run a series of investigations into what it says had…

Russian police raided the homes of politicians and journalists in seven regions over ties to a pro-Ukraine former lawmaker accused of spreading “fake news” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, media reported Thursday.  This is at least the third wave of mass searches linked to Ponomaryov since the vocal Ukraine war critic was arrested in absentia in…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a law making it a criminal offense to desecrate the ribbon of St. George, the black and orange military pattern frequently used for commemoration of the Soviet victory in World War II.  The new law designates the ribbon as one of the official symbols of Russia’s military glory…

2022 was defined by Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, with the resulting violence leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. But some major Russian public figures also passed away in 2022, including the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, and extreme nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.  As the year draws…

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday oversaw the commissioning of several new warships and a nuclear-powered submarine as he vowed to further strengthen Russia’s navy. Putin, who has largely avoided public engagements since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, gave the green light for Russian flags to be hoisted on the new vessels via video link.…

Updates with Belarus saying it shot down the missile Russian ally Belarus said on Thursday that its air defense shot down a missile launched from Ukrainian territory, in the first such incident reported by Minsk since the start of Moscow’s Ukraine offensive. The Defense Ministry in Minsk said a missile was shot down around 10:00…

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks by video link with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday, the Kremlin said, as Russia seeks to bolster ties with Beijing. “It will be very important to exchange views on the most acute regional problems … both those that are closer to us, to Russia, and those that…

Russian energy giant Gazprom’s gas exports to Europe nearly halved in 2022, according to calculations based on company data published on Wednesday. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said exports to foreign markets outside the former Soviet Union would total 100.9 billion cubic meters this year, amounting to a drop of 46% from 2021, according to calculations made…

Ukraine was hit with “massive” Russian missile strikes across the country on Thursday, including in the capital Kyiv, the Ukrainian military said.  “December 29. Massive missiles attack … The enemy is attacking Ukraine from various directions with air and sea-based cruise missiles from strategic aircraft and ships,” Ukraine’s air force said on social media. According…