Russia Hands Jehovah’s Witness Follower 7-Year Jail Term for ‘Extremism’

A court in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region has sentenced a Jehovah’s Witness follower to seven years in prison on charges of “extremism,” the religious organization’s Russian branch said Tuesday.  Yevgeny Bushev had been under house arrest since September 2022 on allegations of “organizing actions to continue the illegal activities of a banned religious organization,” the religious…

As Russia’s Permafrost Thaws, Ancient Pathogens Risk Re-Awakening

Ancient pathogens that have been preserved in northern Russia’s permafrost for millennia could reawaken as global temperatures rise, scientists warn, potentially putting humanity at risk of never-before-seen diseases. Jean-Michel Claverie, a virologist and emeritus professor at the Aix-Marseille University School of Medicine, is one of the few scientists worldwide who has studied “zombie viruses” in…

Odesa Museum of Fine Arts Damaged in Bombing

On Monday the Odesa Fine Arts Museum suffered extensive damage from aerial strikes that cracked walls, blew out windows, did harm to art works and left an enormous crater in front of the building. The museum has one of the most extensive collections of art from Ukraine, Russia and other countries and regions. The collection…

Russia Formally Quits Post-Cold War Arms Treaty With Europe

Russia has formally withdrawn from a key conventional arms control treaty with Europe decades after suspending cooperation over NATO expansion, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) placed limits on the number of conventional weapons that could be deployed by NATO and Warsaw Pact countries west of…

Russia Says Foiled Ukrainian Drone Attack on Annexed Crimea

Russia foiled an attempted Ukrainian drone attack Tuesday morning, shooting down drones over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean peninsula, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. “On the morning of November 7, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using 17 unmanned aerial vehicles against buildings on Russian territory was repelled,”…

Russia’s Navy Chief Kicks Off Myanmar Naval Drills

The head of Russia’s navy met Myanmar’s junta chief ahead of joint naval exercises due to begin Tuesday, according to Myanmar state media, the first combined drills by the two countries at loggerheads with the West. The security exercises involving Russia’s Pacific Fleet and Myanmar’s navy will continue until November 9 in the Andaman Sea,…

Russian Troops Kill Georgian Man Near Breakaway Region

Updated with Borrel’s, Peskov’s remarks.  Georgia said Monday that Russian troops had killed a Georgian civilian near the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which has been under Moscow’s effective control since the brief 2008 war between the two countries.  Detentions of Georgian villagers by Russian troops — who patrol the de facto border between the separatist…