Kyiv announced on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had retaken two villages in the eastern region of Donetsk, the first reported gains of their new offensive. After months of building expectations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that a counteroffensive against Russian forces was underway, but refused to provide any details. “Neskuchne of the Donetsk region…
Moscow said on Sunday its forces repelled a Ukrainian attack on a Russian warship guarding gas pipelines in the Black Sea. “Ukraine’s armed forces made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the Black Sea Fleet’s Priazovye ship,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding Kyiv’s forces used six unmanned boats. “All the boats have been destroyed,” the…
TBILISI, Georgia – Alexei Yermolaev hardly expected that he’d be proposing to his girlfriend Anna Volshuva in the dead of night, surrounded by packed bags. It was a few days after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Yermolaev had just bought a one-way ticket to Tbilisi in the South…
A Russian court has detained a U.S. citizen on drugs charges that could see him jailed for several years. Moscow’s Khamovniki District Court said Travis Leake, a “former paratrooper and musician,” had “organized the sale of drugs to young people.” He will be remanded in custody “until Aug. 6, 2023,” pending a possible trial. The…
Anyone who spent time in the Soviet Union remembers the cigarettes — their ubiquity, first of all, and that particular scent wafting out of windows, filling stair landings, and permeating clothing down to underwear and socks. Cigarettes were essential for making friends and getting through the workday, guaranteeing the sanctity of smoking breaks in the…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a counteroffensive against Russian forces was underway, while declining to give specifics on his troops’ operations. “Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine: at which stage I will not talk in detail,” Zelensky said on Saturday, commenting after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Kyiv’s operation was…