The Kremlin said Wednesday that investigators were probing all possible scenarios surrounding the death last week of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash, including premeditated murder. Prigozhin, 62, was buried on Tuesday in a private ceremony in his native St. Petersburg, more than two months after he staged a short-lived mutiny that posed…
Ukraine said Wednesday that its recapture of Robotyne village this week was a strategic victory paving the way for its forces to push deeper into Russian positions in the south towards Crimea. The foreign minister’s comments published early Wednesday came as Kyiv announced two people had been killed in the “most powerful” aerial attack in…
Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have urged the EU to impose sanctions on a Russian rock star who stirred controversy for visiting Russian troops in occupied Ukraine. Roman Bilyk, who performs under the stage name Roma Zver with the hit group Zveri, was filmed playing for Russian troops in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region earlier in…
A Russian man was in court Wednesday after he criticized Moscow’s Ukraine assault in an interview to a foreign media outlet as authorities take the crackdown on dissent to new heights. Public criticism of the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine has been outlawed, and a number of prominent and ordinary Russians have received long prison terms…
Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to return to international badminton competitions starting February 2024, the sport’s governing body announced. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said players from the two countries, who have been banned due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would be able to compete as neutral athletes. The International Olympic Committee has…
The decision to keep Yevgeny Prigozhin’s funeral a secret was made by the Russian presidential administration and the security services, two acting Russian officials told The Moscow Times on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. Even after his Aug. 23 death in a plane crash near President Vladimir Putin’s residence in…
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to the destruction of more than 1,300 Ukrainian schools over the past 18 months, disrupting education for millions of children in the war-torn country, according to UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency. “More than 1,300 schools have been totally destroyed [in Ukraine’s government-controlled regions],” said Regina De Dominicis,…
A woman who had fled Chechnya following death threats from her family has been forcibly returned to her home, Chechnya’s human rights commissioner said late Tuesday. Seda Suleimanova fled the Muslim-majority region in October 2022 with the help of the human rights group SK SOS after her family warned that she could be killed in…
“You sleep at night and suddenly wake up, just out of the blue. And realize that breathing is difficult, and the house smells as if it’s full of household gas.” This is one of the unsettling memories shared by a Moscow region resident who identified herself as Anna. Living just 3 kilometers from Yug (South),…
Russian firefighters battled a wildfire near the popular resort town of Gelendzhik in southern Russia overnight Tuesday, tackling the blaze from land and air, authorities and media reported. The blaze moved fast through woodland in the area as a result of strong winds, as well as the challenging mountainous terrain of the area, Russia’s Emergencies…
Russia will not investigate the plane crash that killed Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin under international rules, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Brazil’s aircraft investigation authority. Brazil’s Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) contacted Russian authorities last week to ask whether they would open a probe into the crash under UN civil aviation rules, according…
At least six regions across western and central Russia were targeted by one of the largest overnight drone attacks since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine 18 months ago, authorities said Wednesday. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had shot down or destroyed drones over the Bryansk, Oryol, Kaluga, Ryazan and Moscow regions overnight. It did not report any…
Ukraine said Wednesday it had downed more than two dozen cruise missiles and a swarm of attack drones across the country in the “most powerful” aerial attack on Kyiv in weeks that left two dead. The assault came as Russia said an airport near the border with NATO member Estonia had been targeted by drones,…