Year: 2022

Moscow said Thursday that a decision by German lawmakers to recognize the 1930s starvation of millions in Ukraine as “genocide” was an attempt to “demonize Russia.” The 1932-33 Holodomor — Ukrainian for “death by starvation” — is regarded by Kyiv as a deliberate act of genocide by Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s regime, and it has long…

Moscow on Thursday described as “un-Christian” recent comments by Pope Francis that Russian ethnic minorities were among the “cruelest” actors in Moscow’s military ranks in Ukraine. “Pope Francis calls for talks but also recently made an incomprehensible statement, completely un-Christian, singling out two Russian nationalities into some category from which atrocities can be expected during…

Russian authorities have banned public discussions of a wide range of non-classified military subjects that activists say will effectively prevent the public from learning crucial information about the Armed Forces. The 60-point Federal Security Service (FSB) order, which enters into force Dec. 1, lists information that is not classified as a state secret, but which…

A court outside Moscow has jailed a Ukrainian singer over an Instagram post that “incited hatred” toward the Russian military at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, media reported Wednesday.  Investigators said Igor Levchenko posted a video on Feb. 24 containing “signs of incitement to hatred and enmity against Russian servicemen with the threat…

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday floated the idea of a “specialized court” to put Russia’s top officials on trial over the war in Ukraine. On the ground, Russia said it had captured a few settlements in eastern Ukraine, eager for a win after a series of setbacks since invading its pro-Western…

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week met with the mothers of Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine in an event that was timed to coincide with Mother’s Day in Russia.  Before the gathering even came to an end, journalists had managed to identify most participants as women with close ties to the government and the ruling…

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday floated the idea of a “specialized court” to put Russia’s top officials on trial over the war in Ukraine. “While continuing to support the International Criminal Court, we are proposing to set up a specialized court backed by the United Nations to investigate and prosecute Russia’s…

The Russian military should deploy next-generation weapons in its campaign in Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday. “We need to continue upgrading and creating advanced systems with their subsequent application in the special military operation,” Shoigu said at a ministerial board meeting. Shoigu did not specify which types of innovative weapons systems he was…

South Korea’s military said it scrambled fighter jets Wednesday as six Russian and two Chinese warplanes entered its air defense zone without notice. Japan’s military also said it had scrambled jets in response to flights over the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, by Russian and Chinese aircraft. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of…

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Wednesday said Pope Francis “fell victim to propaganda” after the pontiff singled out the alleged role of Russian ethnic minorities in the Ukraine offensive. Kadyrov, who rules the Muslim-majority Chechnya in Russia with widespread violation of human rights, has been one of Moscow’s most vocal supporters in the campaign. “The…

Jailed Belarusian opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova, who helped lead historic pro-democracy protests in her country in 2020, is in intensive care in the hospital, her allies said Tuesday. Kolesnikova was sentenced to 11 years in prison in August 2021 for “conspiracy” over her role in the mass protests that erupted before and after Belarusian President…

Russia’s postal service has launched deliveries of European fashion brands like Zara and H&M that have exited or reduced their presence in Russia this year over the war in Ukraine, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday. Shipping companies in Russia have been exploring workarounds after hundreds of Western companies withdrew from the Russian market in…

Oil tanks near Russia’s border with Belarus and Ukraine caught fire early Wednesday, local authorities said Wednesday. The oil tank fires come a day after Russian regions bordering Ukraine reported one of the widest spates of shelling attacks on their territory since the start of Moscow’s invasion of its western neighbor. Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz…

Ukraine urged NATO members Tuesday to speed up weapons deliveries and help restore its shattered power grid, as Western allies vowed to bolster support to aid Kyiv through winter in the face of Russia’s attacks. Moscow has unleashed waves of strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as its troops are pushed back on the ground, plunging…

Moscow on Tuesday blamed U.S. “toxicity and animosity” for the postponement of key arms control talks with Washington as tensions continued to peak over the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine. On Monday, Russia said the talks scheduled to take place in Cairo between Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 would be held “at a later date.” The Kremlin…

Russia’s Kartsev Institute of Computing has announced it will begin production of a new drone designed to disperse crowds next year, state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday. The Shershen, or hornet, is a hexacopter drone that functions in much the same way as a more typical quadcopter drone, though it uses both ultrasound and…

Sanctions-hit Moscow has asked India to sell it at least 500 different products it urgently needs, including parts for cars, aircraft and trains, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing four sources familiar with the request. Russia reportedly sent India a list of products earlier this month, a version of which has been seen by Reuters in…

The office of Russia’s Prosecutor General officially designated the online journal Riddle as an “undesirable” organization on Tuesday, accusing it of “posing a threat to the security” of the Russian Federation. Under Russian law an international NGO can be declared “undesirable” for “posing a threat to the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, the defense capability…

The widow of a Russian colonel who shot himself at a conscription center in the Russian Far East earlier this month has blamed his suicide on the pressure he was put under during the Kremlin’s recent mobilization drive. Yulia Boyko, the widow of Colonel Vadim Boyko, addressed an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin…

The head of the Kremlin-linked Wagner mercenary group confirmed Tuesday that a Zambian student killed while fighting for the Russian military in Ukraine had been recruited from prison by Wagner. Nathan Lemekhandi Nyirenda, 23, had been studying nuclear engineering at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute before he was convicted on drug possession charges in 2020. He…

A longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Kudrin, stepped down Tuesday as the head of the country’s Audit Chamber amid reports he will oversee the reconstruction of tech giant Yandex following sanctions over Ukraine. Kudrin, a former finance minister who has a reputation of being an economic liberal in Moscow, has been in…

The United States has seen a 4,500% rise in asylum requests from Russian nationals this year as Russia’s war in Ukraine has forced critics to flee the country, The New York Times reported Monday. U.S. authorities processed 21,763 Russian asylum requests in October 2021-September 2022, compared with just 467 in the 2020 fiscal year, according…

Russian political and religious figures have spoken out against Pope Francis’ characterization of ethnic minorities as the “cruelest” soldiers in Ukraine, seizing on the chance to slam the West for its past conflicts and reiterate support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with the Catholic magazine America published Monday, the Pope appeared to…

A onetime close ally of the pro-Kremlin president of Bashkortostan filed a lawsuit with the Russian Supreme Court on Monday demanding the Ministry of Justice classify him as a so-called “foreign agent.” Rostislav Murzagulov — who now lives in Lithuania, where he hosts a YouTube show on a channel belonging to exiled Russian tycoon Mikhail…

In an unusual move for a Nobel Peace laureate, the head of one of this year’s prizewinning organizations on Monday called for weapons to help Ukraine defend itself and stop Russian atrocities. “When somebody asks me how to stop these long-lasting crimes in occupied territories, I can only answer: ‘Provide Ukraine with weapons to liberate…

Amid sharply rising prices, inflation at 12.7% and disruption to supply chains due to Western sanctions, around 35% of Russian citizens say they are trying to reduce the cost of their weekly food shop, according to a survey published on Monday. Of those who said they were trying to save money on food, 69% also…

Nuclear disarmament talks between Russia and the United States scheduled to take place in Egypt on Tuesday were cancelled last minute on Monday, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.  The two nuclear superpowers were set to sit down in Cairo to commence the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START), in…

The European Union has granted itself legal authority to take action against anyone who helps Russia avoid its sanctions, the EU presidency announced on Monday. According to a statement, member states unanimously agreed that violating restrictive measures against Russia be considered an “EU crime” across the bloc. This would make it easier to add individuals…

The 30,000 ruble ($497) fine handed to Sergei Stafeyev by a Russian court earlier this year for breaking wartime censorship laws amounted to more than his monthly pension.  With little savings, the retiree from the remote Butyrka village near the Ural mountains was at a loss for how to find the money — and grew…

Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Monday, with the allies reaffirming historic ties following public disagreements over Ukraine. The visit to Moscow was the Kazakh leader’s first foreign trip since being inaugurated for a second term last week, with the 69-year-old saying his choice to visit Moscow…

Ukraine said on Monday that Russia was preparing for a fresh wave of missile attacks on its energy grid that have plunged swathes of the country into the cold and dark. A Ukraine military spokesman said a Russian warship capable of firing cruise missiles had recently deployed to the Black Sea with Kalibr-type missiles on…

Popular Russian social network VKontakte has banned an independent group of soldiers’ relatives lobbying the Kremlin for the return of mobilized troops from Ukraine. The Council of Wives and Mothers said Sunday that its page had been blocked at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office without further explanation. The group’s ban came after…

Bomb shelter signs have appeared on the streets of Russian cities near the border with Ukraine as well as in more far-flung locations, the independent news site Holod reported Sunday. Around 700 signs are expected to be installed by early December in the city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border, Mayor Valentin Demidov has said. Installing…

Ninety years ago, millions perished in Ukraine in a manmade famine under Joseph Stalin that many in the country call genocide. For Ganna Pertchuk, the current Russian invasion is a case of history repeating itself. At the tall candle-shaped Holodomor (Ukrainian for death by starvation) memorial center in central Kyiv, a dozen Orthodox priests in…

The foreign minister of Belarus, who earlier this year dismissed international concerns over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine being launched from his country, has died at the age of 64, the Belta news agency reported on Saturday.  “The Belarusian foreign minister Vladimir Makei has died suddenly,” the country’s state news agency reported, citing the…

Transgender and non-binary people in Russia have faced rising harassment and physical abuse since the start of the war in Ukraine, activists say, as the Kremlin doubles down on an ideology of “traditional values” in the face of international isolation.    In particular, the country’s mobilization campaign has led to transgender women still officially classified as…

As the temperatures plunge in eastern Ukraine, Sergiy Khmil says he has little choice but to use the stacks of ammunition boxes left by the retreating Russian forces as firewood this winter. Without the wood, Khmil says he will probably freeze amid the ruins of his destroyed village of Kamyanka.  “The most difficult thing is…

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…

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…

Sergei Furgal, the jailed former governor of Russia’s Khabarovsk region, has announced he plans to go on hunger strike to protest the violation of his constitutional rights by the Moscow region court hearing his case, independent Russian media outlet Sotavision reported on Wednesday.  Furgal came to prominence in Russia in 2018 when, as the candidate…

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Western plans to introduce oil price caps could have “grave consequences” for energy markets, during a telephone conversation with Iraq’s prime minister on Thursday. “Vladimir Putin stressed that such actions are contrary to the principles of market relations and are highly likely to lead to grave consequences for global…

As the first snow fell across Ukraine last week, the Ukrainian army launched an attack on Russian positions around Kreminna in a renewed — albeit so far unsuccessful — effort to retake the eastern town.  At the same time, Ukrainian special forces were reportedly pushing back Russian troops in the islands and marshes that make…

As the first snow fell across Ukraine last week, the Ukrainian army launched an attack on Russian positions around Kreminna in a renewed — albeit so far unsuccessful — effort to retake the eastern town.  At the same time, Ukrainian special forces were reportedly pushing back Russian troops in the islands and marshes that make…

The relatives of Russian servicemen fighting in Ukraine have accused President Vladimir Putin of avoiding them after they were not invited to a meeting between the Kremlin chief and soldiers’ families reportedly set to take place on Friday.   Instead, family members, who also claim to have been tailed by Russian security services in recent days,…

Russian software developers have submitted early versions of homemade alternatives to Instagram, TikTok and Zoom, the RBC news website reported Thursday. Instagram was blocked by Russian authorities following the invasion of Ukraine, while TikTok and Zoom restricted their services within the country. The proposed domestic platforms — Looky, Sunlight Play and Dion — are part…

Russia on Thursday denied targeting the Ukrainian capital, instead accusing “foreign and Ukrainian” air defense missiles of causing damage in Kyiv, where critical energy infrastructure was hit a day earlier. “Not a single strike was made on targets within the city of Kyiv,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.  Any damage was “the result of the…

Moscow said Thursday it has issued more than 80,000 Russian passports to residents of four Ukrainian territories since President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed the regions in September. “Since the addition … of the four regions into the Russian Federation, and in accordance with the legislation, more than 80,000 people received passports as citizens…

Russian lawmakers passed legislation Thursday imposing steep fines for LGBT “propaganda” among both minors and adults. The new bill bans the “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” aimed at any age group — not just toward minors, as was banned under the country’s controversial 2013 law. The bill also codifies new offenses such as “propaganda of pedophilia”…

The Kremlin-linked leader of the notorious Wagner mercenary group said Wednesday that he sent a sledgehammer to be delivered to the European Parliament in a dark reminder of one fighter’s gruesome killing. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s threatening gesture came as the EU Parliament prepared to condemn Wagner in a non-binding resolution after branding Russia a “state sponsor…

Two American babies born to a surrogate mother from eastern Ukraine and evacuated to Russia after the start of the war have been returned to their U.S. parents, the private group behind the operation, Project Dynamo, said Wednesday. The twins, a boy and a girl, were “rescued” Tuesday after the organization’s first mission on Russian…

YEREVAN, Armenia — Russian President Vladimir Putin was greeted with street demonstrations in the capital of this landlocked South Caucasus nation Wednesday as he arrived for talks with the members of a Moscow-led military alliance.  Hundreds of Armenians and emigre Russians took part in two days of rallies in central Yerevan to protest Putin’s visit,…

The European Parliament website was hit by a cyberattack claimed by pro-Russian hackers on Wednesday, shortly after lawmakers approved a resolution calling Moscow a “state sponsor of terrorism.” “The European Parliament is under a sophisticated cyberattack. A pro-Kremlin group has claimed responsibility,” the parliament’s president, Roberta Metsola, tweeted.  “Our IT experts are pushing back against…

Kyrgyzstan announced on Wednesday that it was looking into the possibility of building its first nuclear power plant, with Russian help, to tackle frequent energy shortages. The country’s Energy Ministry “signed a cooperation document” with a subsidiary of Russian nuclear agency Rosatom, the ministry said in a statement, raising the prospect of Moscow further growing…