Kremlin Seeks to ‘Legitimize’ Authority With Elections in Occupied Ukraine

The Kremlin is working to solidify its control — both militarily and politically — over the four Moscow-occupied regions of Ukraine with this month’s regional elections there, experts and officials told The Moscow Times. Nearly a year after Moscow staged widely disputed referendums to annex Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, Russian authorities now aim…

Russia Withdraws Military Contingent From Allied Belarus

The Russian military has withdrawn a regional task force from neighboring Belarus, Ukrainian border authorities and independent Belarusian war monitors have said. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced in October 2022 the deployment of a joint regional group of military forces after accusing Ukraine of preparing an attack on his country. On Thursday, the State Border…

Russia Detains Man Accused of Plotting Crimea Bombing

Russia’s FSB security services said Friday it had detained a man for plotting a rail bombing in annexed Crimea. The FSB said the suspect — a Russian citizen in his mid-40s — had been “collecting information on the deployment of Russian Defense Ministry facilities and units” and was preparing a railway bombing. “In а hiding…

Drones Target Russian Microchip Plant – Reports

Overnight drone strikes targeted a major Russian microchip plant near the Ukraine border for the second time in just over a week, according to media reports late Thursday.  Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz said a brief fire erupted at an “administrative building” of an “industrial site” in the city of Bryansk, some 100 kilometers north…