Day: May 19, 2023

Russia on Friday said it banned entry to 500 Americans, including former president Barack Obama, in response to sanctions imposed by Washington.  “In response to the anti-Russian sanctions regularly imposed by the Biden administration… entry into the Russian Federation is closed for 500 Americans,” the foreign ministry said, adding that Obama was among those on…

Moscow said Friday it had again denied a consular visit to arrested U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich after Washington refused visas to some Russian journalists. “The request of the US embassy in Moscow about a consular visit to reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested for espionage, is once again rejected,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry.  The…

The United States added hundreds more companies and individuals to its sanctions blacklist Friday as it broadened efforts to choke off Russia’s global supply chains and starve its economy over its war on Ukraine. The new sanctions took particular aim at the firms and research institutes involved in Moscow’s investments into future energy production including…

Russia has placed International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan on its wanted list after the court indicted President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes, the independent Mediazona news website reported Friday. Khan’s photo and personal information are visible on the Interior Ministry’s search database, Mediazona reported. The ministry’s listing does not specify which crime Khan is…

More than 100,000 people have enlisted in the Russian army this year, former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday, as Moscow seeks to recruit volunteers for its offensive in Ukraine. Moscow has conducted an aggressive military recruitment campaign in recent months as Kyiv gears up for an offensive after months of stalemate in eastern Ukraine. “Between…

Greenpeace Russia announced its closure on Friday following the authorities’ decision to label it an “undesirable” organization. In a statement on its website, the environmental advocacy NGO called the “undesirable” status “an absurd, irresponsible and destructive step that has nothing to do with protecting the country’s interests.” “By destroying Greenpeace for being critical of environmental issues, the…

Five members of a Belarusian regiment fighting with Kyiv’s forces have been killed in Bakhmut, a conflict-scarred city in eastern Ukraine, A Belarusian opposition leader living in exile said Friday. “Heartbroken by the death of five members of the Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski Regiment fighting for Ukraine in Bakhmut,” Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said on Twitter.…

Yerevan Brandy Company, the producer of the iconic Armenian cognac brand Ararat, will halt exports to Russia, Interfax reported Thursday, citing Armenia’s Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan. The Russian market accounts for about 80% of all Ararat exports and the embargo is expected to negatively impact Armenian cognac grape suppliers, Kerobyan was quoted as saying at…

German carmaker Volkswagen said Friday it had completed the sale of its Russian assets to local dealership group Avilon, as part of its exit from the country following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The sale includes the flagship Kaluga factory southwest of Moscow, which employs around 4,000 people and has the capacity to build 225,000 vehicles…

The first direct flight from Russia landed in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Friday four years after Moscow banned air travel with the South Caucasus nation. The flight was met with protests against Georgia’s perceived return to the Russian sphere of influence amid its war in Ukraine. “Russian plane, go f*ck yourself,” read a…

Russian opposition figure Yevgeny Roizman has been fined for his comments about the Ukraine conflict, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Friday. Roizman, 60, the former mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city Yekaterinburg, is among a dwindling number of prominent opposition figures who are not in jail or exile. A court in Yekaterinburg imposed a fine of…

Belarus has started constructing defensive fortifications near its border with Ukraine, the Belarusian monitoring group Belaruski Hayun reported. Construction equipment and a line of small anti-tank concrete pyramids known as dragon’s teeth were spotted 10 kilometers from Gomel, a city located some 44 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, Belaruski Hayun said Thursday. Dragon’s teeth were…

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin will seek his third term this fall as a member of the pro-Putin United Russia ruling party, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday. Sobyanin will shed his previous non-affiliation with a political party for the first time since he was appointed to the mayorship in 2010. Sobyanin is a 20-year veteran of United Russia…

One out of three Russian students have expressed a desire to leave the country in an unpublished Kremlin survey, the iStories investigative outlet reported Thursday. Forty-four percent of the polled students described the state of affairs in wartime Russia as a “crisis,” while 32% described it as a “collapse/breakdown.” Fear and anxiety ranked first at 36%…

Russian lawmakers are drafting legislation that would punish anti-Russian words and actions deemed as “Russophobia” with up to five years imprisonment, the independent news outlet Vyorstka reported Thursday. The bill is expected to amend Russia’s Criminal Code by adding clauses on “Russophobia” to articles criminalizing public calls for extremism and violating equal rights. Russia’s State…

The United States and its G7 allies rolled out new sanctions against Russia’s “war machine” Friday, targeting Moscow’s lucrative diamond trade and more entities linked to the invasion of Ukraine. Leaders from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, with Russia’s $4-5 billion annual trade in diamonds in the crosshairs. Vladimir…