President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that nothing had been done to meet Russian demands around a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea. “I want to emphasize that nothing was done, nothing at all. It’s all one-sided,” Putin said in a televised interview. In July 2022, the agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports to…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that if Ukraine were to be admitted to NATO, it would make the world more vulnerable, after the bloc vowed closer integration with Kyiv at its summit this week. “I am sure that this will not increase the security of Ukraine itself, and in general will make the world…
A Russian anti-war activist living in Serbia was banned from entering the Balkan country after being stopped at Belgrade’s main airport Thursday, according to his lawyer. Peter Nikitin, who has permanent residency in Serbia, was prevented from entering at the request of the country’s Security Information Agency (BIA), Belgrade-based lawyer Cedomir Stojkovic said in a…
A Russian court on Thursday ordered the extended detention of a suspect in the murder of a military recruitment official and former submarine commander. The suspect, Sergei Denysenko, will be held in custody pending trial, a spokesman for the court in the southwestern city of Krasnodar told the Russian state-run agency TASS. Denysenko admitted to…
Plans are underway to turn the South Caucasus country of Georgia into a transit hub for Russian travelers flying to Europe, the RBC business daily reported Thursday, citing the part-owner of a Russian airline and major airport. Russia has been largely cut off from Europe since its invasion of Ukraine sparked mutual airspace bans between…
At least 204 Russian athletes have changed their sport nationality in order to continue competing in international events and avoid bans over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the independent Kholod news website reported Thursday, citing publicly available information. An athlete’s sport nationality refers to the country they officially represent in their sport, which may differ from their…
President Vladimir Putin’s attendance at next month’s BRICS summit in South Africa is mired in uncertainty as the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeks his arrest and an aborted mercenary mutiny has shaken Russia’s domestic stability, three Russian officials as well as independent experts told The Moscow Times. In what would be his first official trip…
Russian security services have detained at least 13 senior military officers and suspended or fired 15 others in the wake of the Wagner mercenary group’s mutiny last month, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. “The detentions are about cleaning the ranks of those who are believed can’t be…
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians held by Russian forces are tortured and forced to dig trenches for the military, the Associated Press reported Thursday, citing dozens of former detainees, Ukrainian officials and satellite imagery. The report describes a system of detention and abuse of civilians — most without legal status under Russian law — that the…
Companies with known links to Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin have been awarded over 1 billion rubles in government contracts since his attempted overthrow of Russia’s military leadership last month, the RTVI television network reported Thursday, citing public data. The nine contracts, which are all for the provision of food services to various state-run institutions…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it has detained a trans activist on suspicion of financing the Ukrainian military, state news agencies reported Thursday. The FSB did not identify the person by name but described him as “an LGBT movement activist who previously changed his gender identity from a woman to a man,” according to TASS.…
Remittances from Russia have dropped for the first time since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year, the RBC news website reported Thursday, citing central bank data of four ex-Soviet countries that have been major recipients of the inflows. Money transfers from Russia skyrocketed in 2022 after hundreds of thousands of Russians fled to neighboring countries in…
Russia will regard Western F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine as a “nuclear” threat because of their capacity to carry atomic weapons, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. Modern warplanes have been at the forefront of Kyiv’s demands for military aid from its Western allies as it fights back against Russia’s offensive. Lavrov spoke of a…
A Russian army general was heard railing against his superiors for “treacherously decapitating” the military after his dismissal in an audio message shared by a federal lawmaker late Wednesday. The speech criticizing Russia’s military leadership marks the first publicly known instance of a regular army officer voicing disaffection after Wagner’s failed mutiny last month —…