Russia’s forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children to areas under its control amounts to a war crime, UN investigators said Thursday, adding that they are probing allegations of genocide in the Ukraine conflict. Presenting their first report, the high-level team of investigators said they had determined that Russian authorities had committed “a wide range…
A court in the city of Novokuybyshevsk in Russia’s Samara region has found regional deputy Mikhail Abdalkin guilty of “discrediting the Russian armed forces” for posting a video of himself watching Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address with noodles hanging from his ears, TASS reported Thursday. The noodles in the video, which was posted across Abdalkin’s social media…
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who faces up to 25 years in jail on charges including treason, was too unwell to attend his hearing on Thursday, his lawyer said. His high-profile trial is the latest in a string of cases against opposition voices in Russia in a crackdown that has intensified since President Vladimir Putin…
Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday granted a motion made by Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov to recognize the Freedom of Russia Legion as a terrorist organization, RIA Novosti reported. Part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Freedom of Russia Legion was founded just over a year ago with the stated aim of freeing the occupied regions…
A school in central Russia has been filmed instructing its pupils to perform a raised right arm and clenched fist gesture that some have likened to a Nazi salute, independent student news outlet DOXA reported. Video footage published with the report shows a group of children seated in an auditorium being instructed by a woman…
Russian e-commerce platform Wildberries on Thursday announced a three-day suspension of controversial new rules that make employees financially liable for goods returned by customers after its staff launched a nationwide strike, the state-run TASS news agency reported. New rules introduced by Wildberries this month made employees liable for the costs of any defective items that were returned…
Russia’s Orthodox leader and staunch Kremlin ally Patriarch Kirill denounced Thursday the looming eviction of monks from a monastery in Kyiv over its links to Russia. Ukraine last week announced the termination of the lease that allowed the church to occupy part of the 11th-century Pechersk monastery free of charge, but the monks said they…
Updated with new death toll. Four people were killed and five others injured in an explosion at a Russian border guard building less than 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border on Thursday, regional online media reported, citing emergency services. Eyewitness footage published by the local news site 161.ru showed the Federal Security Service (FSB) border guard office…
One person was killed and two others injured in an explosion at a Russian border guard building less than 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, state media reported Thursday, citing emergency services. Eyewitness footage published by the local news site 161.ru showed the Federal Security Service (FSB) border guard office in Rostov-on-Don engulfed in flames.…
Updated to add Roizman’s sentencing. Russian opposition politician and former Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman has been jailed over a social media post in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the local media outlet It’s My City reported Thursday. Roizman was accused of posting a video clip that briefly showed the logo of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation,…
The Kremlin said Thursday that Russia was not a threat to Finland, ahead of the Finnish president’s visit to Turkey, which is expected to approve Helsinki’s NATO bid. Finland and Sweden dropped decades-long policies of military non-alignment and applied to join the Western alliance last May in the wake of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. “We have many…
Russian police have detained opposition politician and former Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman over a social media post in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the local media outlet It’s My City reported Thursday. Roizman allegedly posted a video clip briefly showing the logo of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was outlawed as an “extremist” organization…
Polish counterintelligence has dismantled a Russian spy ring, Poland’s defense minister said Thursday. “The whole network has been dismantled,” Mariusz Blaszczak told Polish public radio PR1. “It was an espionage group… collecting information for those who attacked Ukraine. “The threat was real,” he added, without giving further details. Poland’s interior minister is due to hold…
Updated to add Frolkin’s sentencing. A Russian court has sentenced a soldier who admitted to committing war crimes in Ukraine to a 5.5-year suspended sentence, the Sibir.Realii news website reported Thursday. The Khabarovsk Garrison Court Martial in Russia’s Far East found Daniil Frolkin, 21, guilty of spreading so-called “fake news” about the Russian military’s activities…
Nasdaq has notified Russia’s tech giant Yandex and four other major internet companies that their stocks will be delisted this month unless they appeal the stock market’s decision. Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange halted all listings of Russian companies in the days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Nasdaq said…
Russia, China and Iran launched the active phase of joint naval exercises near the Islamic republic’s southernmost city on Thursday, the Russian military has confirmed after the Chinese defense ministry announced the drills. “Maritime Security Belt 2023” will run from March 15-18 in three stages, including an active phase on March 16-17, in the Gulf…