Okroshka for all Seasons and Tastes

In Russia people have been arguing about what to use in okroshka — kvas or kefir — for a hundred years. But before that they were arguing about something else. Should salted plums be added? Is it better to add bits of shredded grouse or pork? What about adding sprat in tomato sauce? The word…

Two Killed in Shelling of Russian Region on Ukraine Border

Ukrainian shelling killed two people on Saturday in Russia’s Belgorod, a border region that has been hit by repeated attacks this week, the local governor said.  Belgorod border villages have been hit by unprecedented shelling, and the latest deaths bring the overall toll to seven this week.  “Since this morning, the district of Shebekino has…

Wagner Says Ready to Defend Russia’s Border Region

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said Saturday that he was ready to send fighters to the Russian Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine and has come under intense shelling.  Thousands have fled villages in southwestern Belgorod after days of attacks that came after an armed incursion from Ukraine.  Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been…

Moldova Looks Westward Amid Pressures of Ukraine War

CHISINAU — An estimated 80,000 people packed into the center of the Moldovan capital last month for the largest pro-European Union gathering in years as the ties binding this tiny eastern European country  to Russia fray amid the war in Ukraine.  EU, NATO and Moldovan flags were visible all over Chisinau’s Great National Assembly Square…