Giant letters in support of Moscow’s armed forces fighting in Ukraine have been installed in front of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, AFP saw Thursday. A huge Latin letter ‘Z’ and ‘V’ — symbols used by the Russian military which have been adopted by high-profile supporters of Russia’s offensive — were put up outside the…
At least 12 Russian soldiers were killed and eight were injured by an explosion at a training facility in southern Russia, local media reported Thursday, citing three anonymous government sources. The soldiers were reportedly killed in an accidental explosion on Nov. 3 at the Kuzmin military training ground in the Rostov region, the 161.ru news…
Estonia on Thursday warned its citizens against “any travel” to Russia, suggesting that it may temporarily close the border with its eastern neighbor amid an influx of asylum seekers on the Russian-Finnish border. Estonia shares a 333-kilometer-long border with Russia, along which six checkpoints are currently open. But the Baltic country’s foreign ministry said in…
Lawmakers in central Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region said they will submit a draft amendment to the country’s parliament that would outlaw abortions at private clinics nationwide if passed, state media reported Thursday. The draft amendment to Russia’s federal law “On the Foundations of Preserving Citizens’ Health” was passed unanimously and without discussion in Nizhny Novgorod’s legislative…
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Thursday that Moscow had stopped swapping prisoners of war with Kyiv. The two warring sides have carried out many rounds of prisoner exchanges during Moscow’s 21-month-long invasion, but in the latter half of this year the process stalled. “Exchanges are not taking place because Russia does not want them…
Yekaterina Duntsova, a Russian journalist who earlier this month announced her bid to run for president, condemned the Russian Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to ban the so-called “international LGBT public movement.” “This is a dangerous decision, which has no clear guidelines for interpretation, and it can lead to the persecution of any Russian citizen,”…
Finland closed its borders to Russia this week in response to a surge of migrants across the country’s border with Russia. The men seeking asylum were not Russians but came through Russia from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern and African countries. There was evidence that the Russian authorities organized these groups of migrants. Earlier…
Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday designated the so-called “international LGBT public movement” as a banned “extremist” organization, setting the stage for a sweeping crackdown on LGBT rights not seen in the country since the Soviet era. The move is the latest episode in the sharp conservative turn by Russia’s leadership that has accelerated and permeated…
As tens of thousands of delegates gathered in Dubai for the UN’s COP28 climate conference Thursday, negotiators from around the world will once again struggle to agree on how to collectively address the climate crisis. For Russia, which remains under harsh Western sanctions and bogged down in its 21-month war on Ukraine, the conference will…
Moscow thanked the Hamas militant group on Thursday for freeing two Russian hostages from Gaza, which was organized separately from a truce deal with Israel. The statement came a day after Hamas released two Russian citizens, both women, in what it said was a move “in appreciation” of President Vladimir Putin. “We are grateful to…
Germany’s consulate in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea will close starting Thursday, according to an official statement on its website, which did not give a reason for the closure. “From now on, the Consulate General in St. Petersburg is responsible for consular and passport matters in the district of the Consulate General…
Updated to include the closures of the German consulates in Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. Germany’s consulates in Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk have closed, according to statements on the German Embassy in Russia’s website, which did not give a reason for the closures. On Thursday, the German consulate in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad said “from now on, the…
The Kremlin said Thursday that President Vladimir Putin will hold his annual press conference on Dec. 14, which this year will take place in a “combined format” together with his popular call-in show. Set-piece political events involving Putin have been delayed or scrapped altogether in the tumultuous months following Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.…
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died Thursday at the age of 100, his geopolitical consulting firm said. As the prime architect of Washington’s detente with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Kissinger left an indelible mark not just on U.S. foreign policy, but also on Russia’s. Before his death, Kissinger expressed deep…
The world’s largest regional security group opened its Skopje summit Thursday with Russia and Ukraine’s allies in open conflict, rattling the organization that is intended as a forum for East-West blocs. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been struggling to survive with Russia blocking key decisions, including the group’s budget. Russian…