Putin’s Antique Map Stunt Stirs Meme Storm

President Vladimir Putin donned his historian cap on Tuesday when Constitutional Court chairman Valery Zorkin brought a 17th-century French map to his office and presented the artifact as evidence that Ukraine did not exist as a state before the Soviet period, a view the Russian leader himself has expressed repeatedly both before and during Moscow’s…

Prigozhin Says 20K Wagner Fighters Killed in Battle for Bakhmut

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group lost 20,000 fighters while fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, half of which were convicts recruited from prisons, the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an interview published late Tuesday. Prigozhin, a Kremlin-linked catering magnate, has relied heavily on convicts from Russian prisons to fuel Wagner’s offensive in eastern Ukraine,…

Tretyakov Gallery Defies Putin’s Orders to Hand Historic Icon to Church

Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery has refused to hand over a renowned Orthodox icon to the Russian Orthodox Church in defiance of President Vladimir Putin’s orders, the Fontanka.ru news website reported Tuesday. According to Fontanka, a May 15 Tretyakov Gallery expert meeting with Church members concluded that Andrei Rublev’s “Trinity” cannot be taken out of the art museum due…