Year: 2022

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Russia of using the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant “for terror” after the operator of the facility reported major damage at the site. Energoatom, the operator of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the south of the country, said Saturday that parts of the facility had been “seriously damaged” by military…

A Russian court sentenced U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison and fined her 1 million rubles ($16,590) on drug charges on Thursday. Griner, 31, was arrested on Feb. 17 after officers at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport found cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage. The two-time Olympic champion was on her way to…

President Vladimir Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday he was hoping to sign an agreement to boost trade and economic ties, as Russia’s isolation grows following its intervention in Ukraine. Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine and the possible launch of a new operation in Syria were expected to dominate the talks in the…

Russia has reacted with praise and vindication over Amnesty International’s controversial report accusing Ukraine’s military of endangering civilians during Moscow’s invasion. The U.K.-based rights body drew swift outrage from Ukrainian and Western observers with its report Thursday, which asserted that Kyiv was violating the laws of war by setting up military bases in and carrying…

Russia said Friday it was expelling 14 Bulgarian consular and embassy staff in response to Sofia’s “unmotivated” decision to expel Russian diplomatic personnel as tensions rage over Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. Multiple European countries have expelled Russian diplomats after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24, with Russia responding in kind. Bulgaria in June…

Alexander Vinnik, a Russian citizen accused of supervising a cryptocurrency exchange that allegedly helped criminals launder billions of dollars, has been extradited to the United States following a years-long extradition battle between Russia, the U.S. and France. He now faces up to 50 years in American prison. Vinnik was in December 2020 sentenced to five…

Russia said Friday it was ready to discuss a prisoner swap with Washington at the presidential level, a day after the drug conviction of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner.  Despite tensions soaring between Russia and the U.S. since the launch of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine, the former Cold War rivals appeared to be edging closer to a…

Finland’s Foreign Minister on Thursday presented a plan for limiting tourist visas issued to Russians after increasing tourism from its eastern neighbor spurred discontent due to the war in Ukraine. As flights from Russia to the EU have been halted, Finland has become a transit country for many Russians seeking to travel further into Europe. “Many saw…

A Russian court on Thursday found U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner guilty of smuggling and storing drugs and sentenced her to nine years in prison. Griner will spend a “total of nine years in a Russian penal colony,” judge Anna Sotnikova told the court, adding that the 31-year-old athlete will also have to pay a…

It was just two lines on an otherwise minor bureaucratic document.  But President Vladimir Putin’s designation of the leader of Russia’s republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov last month as “head” of the region in an executive order was a symbolic moment for the erosion of regional autonomy.  It was the first time the leader of…

Moscow on Thursday called for “restraint” following a new escalation in fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region that has left three people dead.  Earlier in the day Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan voiced rare criticism of ally Moscow, questioning the work of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. “We express our extreme concern…

Russia will revive the Soviet-era practice of duty-free shops for foreign diplomats, allowing them to buy goods no longer imported to Russia due to Western sanctions, according to a government order issued last week.  The stores could open in the capital Moscow and St. Petersburg shortly after the order takes effect on Aug. 27.  “The…

Moscow said on Thursday that a Norwegian consul can no longer stay in Russia after she was filmed declaring “I hate Russians” during an angry outburst at a hotel reception. “After what happened, Elisabeth Ellingsen’s presence in Russia is impossible,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Earlier in the day the Foreign Ministry summoned Norwegian…

Italian doctors have confirmed the rare neurological disorder that debilitated President Vladimir Putin’s former senior aide as authorities continue to await in-depth test results to rule out poisoning, according to a family friend and Italian media.  Veteran reformer and former Kremlin climate envoy Anatoly Chubais, 67, was hospitalized with what he said was Guillain-Barré syndrome…

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Thursday recognizing border guards who repel cross-border attacks from Ukraine as war veterans.  The legislation confers war veteran status to active and retired members of the security forces who “repel an armed invasion and provocations on the border and in territories adjacent to war areas in Ukraine since…

Russian energy giant Gazprom said Wednesday that delivery of a turbine needed to keep gas flowing to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was “impossible” due to sanctions on Moscow. “Sanctions regimes in Canada, in the European Union and in Britain, as well as the inconsistencies in the current situation concerning the contractual obligations…

Russia on Wednesday accused Azerbaijan of breaking a ceasefire over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh after three soldiers died in clashes with what Baku called “illegal Armenian armed groups.” Six weeks of fighting over the region in the autumn of 2020 claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement. The Russian…

The first shipment of grain from Ukraine since the Kremlin’s invasion five months ago sailed through Istanbul on Wednesday under a landmark deal designed to help alleviate a global food crisis sparked by the war. The Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni’s voyage from the Black Sea port of Odessa to Lebanon is being watched closely for signs…

The head of one of Russia’s leading universities for civil servants was released from house arrest Wednesday in exchange for staying in the country during the course of a high-profile fraud investigation.  Vladimir Mau, 62, was detained in late June in connection with a 21-million-ruble ($350,000) fraud investigation targeting a former senior education official. Mau,…

An attack on a prisoner of war camp in eastern Ukraine last week killed at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war, including fighters from Ukraine’s Azov Regiment who surrendered to Russian forces in the port city of Mariupol in May. Details of what happened are disputed by both sides, and no independent investigators have yet…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday raised the possibility of keeping nuclear plants going as he accused Russia of blocking the delivery of a key turbine to throttle gas supplies to Europe. The continent’s biggest economy has been scrambling for energy sources to fill a gap left by a reduction in gas supplies from Moscow. …

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to resume peace talks with Ukraine, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview published Wednesday after visiting Moscow to meet his longtime friend last week.  Schroeder, 78, described Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as a “mistake by the Russian government” but said “concessions on both sides” are needed to…

A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced an activist for police labor rights to five years in prison for extortion and distribution of pornography. Arrested in May 2020, former policeman Vladimir Vorontsov has been in detention for nearly three years. Vorontsov, who quit the Moscow police force in 2017 after 13 years, has denied any wrongdoing.…

Russian schools near the border with Ukraine will not reopen for the new academic year amid the threat of cross-border attacks, the head of Russia’s Belgorod region said Wednesday. At least four Russian border regions including Belgorod had canceled school and grounded flights in the days after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. A number…

Russia backs the Myanmar junta’s efforts to “stabilize” the crisis-wracked country, its foreign minister said on Wednesday during talks with top generals, according to Russian state media.  The Southeast Asian nation has been in chaos since the military’s power grab last year, with more than 2,100 people killed in a crackdown on dissent, according to a…

The United States blacklisted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s purported girlfriend and the tycoon owner of the second-largest estate in London on Tuesday in the latest round of sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Also hit with U.S. business bans were several other oligarchs believed to be close to Putin, four officials Russia has named to administer occupied…

Moscow said Tuesday that ally China had every right to take measures to protect its sovereignty and called U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit a “clear provocation”. “The Chinese side has the right to take necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity over the Taiwan issue,” the Russian foreign ministry said. Moscow…

Organizers of the benchmark TOEFL English exam have banned Russian citizens from taking the test, independent media outlet Mediazona reported Tuesday.  The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has blocked a number of Russian citizens from the online platform that runs the TOEFL exam, according to Mediazona.   The TOEFL qualification is recognized by 11,000 universities in over…

Clothing chain H&M reopened stores in Moscow on Tuesday in order to sell-off its remaining stock before permanently exiting the Russian market.  Long lines of people were seen outside an H&M store at Moscow’s Aviapark shopping center, according to footage posted on Telegram by news outlet Baza.  H&M group, which opened in Russia in 2009…

Russia’s Supreme Court declared Ukraine’s Azov Regiment a “terrorist” organization Tuesday, paving the way for the unit’s captured fighters to be tried in Russian courts and potentially face lenghty prison terms.  Moscow has regularly decried the Azov battalion for its past extremist right-wing links, using it to justify its invasion of Ukraine that the Kremlin…

The former head of Russia’s top tech firm Yandex Tigran Khudaverdyan has challenged sanctions against him over the Ukraine war in a European Union court. Khudaverdyan filed a lawsuit on June 7 demanding the European Council lift its “discriminatory and disproportionate” sanctions against him. The lawsuit was first reported by TV channel RTVI on Monday…

The first shipment of grain to leave Ukraine under a deal to ease Russia’s naval blockade was expected in Istanbul “after midnight,” as Kyiv said Tuesday it had begun mandatory evacuations from the war-torn Donetsk region. The Sierra Leone-registered ship, Razoni, set sail from Odesa port for Lebanon Monday under an accord brokered by Turkey and the…

Moscow on Tuesday denounced a potential visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan as a provocation, expressing full solidarity with ally China. “What is connected with this tour and a possible visit to Taiwan is a pure provocation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He said the potential visit was leading to an…

A post claiming the ex-Soviet nations of Georgia and Kazakhstan were “artificial” creations appeared Monday evening on former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s social media account — but was quickly deleted.  Medvedev aide Oleg Osipov said Tuesday morning that Medvedev’s account on Russian social network VK had been hacked, news agency Interfax reported.  Since the start…

The Russian economy has been deeply damaged by sanctions and the exit of international business since the country invaded Ukraine, according to a new report by Yale University business experts and economists. Even though Moscow has been able to pull in billions of dollars from continued energy sales at elevated prices, largely unpublished data shows…

U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner’s trial on drug charges resumes in Russia on Tuesday amid intensified diplomatic efforts by Washington to secure her release through a high-profile prisoner exchange. Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in a Russian penal colony if convicted of smuggling cannabis vape cartridges into the country. The two-time Olympic champion told…

Wildfires have burned across at least 3.2 million hectares of forest in Russia’s Siberian and Far East regions since the start of the year, according to statistics published by Russia’s Aerial Forest Protection Service on Monday.  Nearly one-half of all the blazes were concentrated in the Far East Khabarovsk region, with 2.14% of the entire…

Russia has added 39 British nationals to its list of individuals banned from entering the country.  Among those included on the list are former U.K. prime minister David Cameron, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, and Foreign and Commonwealth Office communications director Helen Bower-Easton, as well as The Times columnist David Aaronovitch and The Economist deputy…

Russia’s naval forces went on display Sunday for the country’s annual Navy Day holiday. The main event took place in Russia’s second-largest city St. Petersburg, with over 40 warships and submarines sailing down the Neva River. Prior to the ceremony, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree outlining the Russian Navy’s doctrine. The 55-page document…

Veteran reformer and former Kremlin climate envoy Anatoly Chubais has been hospitalized with a suspected rare neurological disorder, several reports have said.  Chubais, 67, quit his post and left Russia in March — the highest-level resignation of its kind following President Vladimir Putin’s orders to invade Ukraine. He gained notoriety in post-Soviet Russia for overseeing…

YEREVAN, Armenia — When tens of thousands of Russians fled the country this spring following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, many chose to resettle in Armenia and Georgia.  But for LGBT Russians, their new homes in the conservative South Caucasus — where there are few protections against homophobic violence — may mean facing even greater…

A senior Russian official on Monday outlined plans to rebuild Ukraine’s southern port city of Mariupol that suffered a devastating siege and heavy shelling before being captured by Russian troops. The move comes as part of Moscow’s wider efforts to gain support in Ukrainian regions that have come under Russian control since the start of…

The first shipment of Ukrainian grain since the Russian invasion in February left the port of Odesa on Monday morning under a landmark deal to lift Moscow’s naval blockade in the Black Sea.  United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, who brokered the plan along with Turkey, welcomed the announcement while Kyiv said it would bring “relief…

Russian courts are releasing Ukrainians facing deportations because Kyiv has cut diplomatic ties with Russia after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday.  Hundreds of Ukrainian citizens have been stuck in limbo at detention centers in and around Moscow awaiting deportations that were halted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war…

Russia has accused “radical” Kosovo of attempting to displace Serbs from the north of the Balkan country with new border rules that have renewed tensions. Kosovo police closed two border crossings with Serbia on Sunday after it took on gunfire and ethnic Serbs blocked roads along the border. Ethnic Serbs, who make up a majority…

Ukraine said the “strongest” shelling by Moscow so far of the southern city Mykolaiv killed a grain tycoon Sunday, as Russia claimed an attack from a drone wounded six personnel at the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea.  AFP journalists witnessed intense Russian bombardment of the eastern town of Bakhmut after President…

The United States’ quest to dominate the oceans and NATO’s expansion are the biggest threats facing Russia, according to a new Russian naval doctrine signed by President Vladimir Putin on Sunday. The 55-page document said the “main challenges and threats” to national security and development were Washington’s “strategic objective to dominate the world’s oceans” and…

Ukraine’s president urged civilians on Saturday to evacuate the frontline Donetsk region, the scene of fierce clashes with the Russian military, as Kyiv called on the Red Cross and UN to gain access to its soldiers being held by Moscow’s forces. The eastern Donetsk region has faced the brunt of Russia’s offensive since its assault…

Kateryna never takes pictures with comrades before going to the front line — it’s bad luck. Karina does not tell her mother she is going to the front. Iana uses social media to try and raise the morale at home. On another day of war in eastern Ukraine, the three are resting with their unit…

Russian energy giant Gazprom Saturday suspended gas supplies to Latvia following tensions between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and sweeping European and U.S. sanctions against Russia.  The declaration came a day after Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of bombing a jail holding Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian-held territory, with…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in their first contact since the Ukraine war, saying he pressed him to accept a proposal on freeing two Americans held in Russia. “We had a frank and direct conversation. I pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we…