The United States said Tuesday that Russia rejected a new proposal to free two detained Americans, Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan. “We have made a number of proposals, including a substantial one in recent weeks,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. “That proposal was rejected by Russia,” he…
Russian oil giant Lukoil said Tuesday it would consider selling its oil refinery in Bulgaria following a government plan to end imports of Russian crude oil, which the company called “discriminatory.” “In view of the significant change in the operating conditions of the Lukoil Group companies in Bulgaria, the company has commenced work to review…
Ukraine said Tuesday it had hit Russian military facilities in Crimea with drones, in the latest such operation on the Moscow-annexed Black Sea peninsula. Russia said it had neutralized 35 Ukrainian drones over Crimea and the Sea of Azov, which lies between the warring countries. Kyiv has targeted Crimea throughout Moscow’s offensive but increased attacks…
ST. PETERSBURG — The ban on the “international LGBT movement” by Russia’s top court has thrown the queer community of St. Petersburg, historically one of the country’s most LGBT-tolerant cities, into unprecedented uncertainty and fear. “People are scared,” said Maria, 43, an openly lesbian feminist and LGBT activist who asked for anonymity out of concerns…
The second RITM-200 reactor intended for the nuclear-powered icebreaker Chukotka will be delivered to the shipyard by the end of the year. The manufacturing facility of Rosatom’s Mechanical Engineering Division in Podolsk has completed the manufacturing of the second vessel of the RITM-200 reactor intended for the new generation icebreaker Chukotka. This is the last…
Russia has been launching major investments and building up its military presence in the Arctic as it steps up its drive to develop a crucial northern maritime route linking Asia and Europe. In the country’s latest move, Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom on Tuesday presented its two new RITM-200 reactors that will power the future Chukotka…
Russia’s recent “extremist” designation of a loosely defined “LGBT movement” has led to a surge in emergency evacuations from the country, independent media reported Tuesday, citing the European human rights group for post-Soviet LGBT people, Equal PostOst. Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday banned the so-called “international LGBT movement” — which does not formally exist —…
Two in five Russians who fled the country in the months following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have since returned home, the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported Tuesday, citing data from an immigration support company and job recruitment website. According to official statistics, 668,400 Russians left the country last year as war broke out in neighboring Ukraine,…
Russian soldiers’ requests for help deserting their units in Ukraine have almost doubled in recent months, the Idite Lesom (“Get Lost”) group, which helps Russians evade fighting in the war, told The Moscow Times. The project said it received 577 such requests between September and November, an 89% increase from the 305 it received between…
Six Ukrainian children taken by Russia in the wake of Moscow’s invasion are to be reunited with their families after Qatari mediation, officials from the Gulf state said Tuesday. Russia has been accused of forcibly deporting thousands of Ukrainian children from schools, hospitals and orphanages in parts of the country controlled by its forces. The…
Two Finnish companies are suspected of having exported drones and other military products worth over three million euros ($3.25 million) to Russia in violation of EU sanctions, Finnish customs authorities said Tuesday. “There are altogether six criminal suspects, one of whom has been detained since September,” the country’s customs agency said in a statement. It…
Ravaged forests, flooded towns and dead dolphins: after nearly two years of war in Ukraine, experts say environmental damage is becoming an “enormous” tragedy that will affect generations to come. The invasion of Ukraine has been particularly devastating for nature, said Doug Weir, head of research at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a British NGO.…
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin confirmed Tuesday. Iran’s official news agency Irna had earlier reported on the planned visit, saying that the two leaders would discuss “bilateral issues, including economic interactions, as well as discussions about regional and international issues, especially the situation…
A left-wing activist who was “tricked” by Russian security services into leaving Georgia has turned up at a pre-trial detention facility in central Russia, the human rights organization Perviy Otdel reported Tuesday. Rafail Shepelev went missing in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Oct. 12 and was found a month later inside a detention center in…