BELGRADE, Serbia — The Serbian government this week thanked Russia’s intelligence services for exposing plans for protests in Belgrade against the country’s controversial election results. The news has sent a shiver down the spines of thousands of anti-Putin Russians who have moved to Serbia since the invasion of Ukraine — and now fear their adopted…
The Russian invasion of Ukraine changed cultural life in Russia almost immediately. After two years of war, Russians can see the results of these changes. The director of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Mikhail Piotrovsky, told RBK that all the contacts between Russian and European museums had been lost. He blamed it on his…
Russia’s Justice Ministry has added two anti-war support groups and an international investigative journalism nonprofit to its list of “undesirable” organizations, banning its activities and putting staff at risk of jail in Russia. The U.S.-based Global Investigative Journalism Network (GJIN), the Britain-based True Russia Limited and Latvia-based Helpdesk Media Foundation have been included in Russia’s…
Continuing North Korean arms shipments to Russia this winter are allowing Moscow to maintain pressure on Ukraine as it faces the risk of losing critical Western supplies, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing satellite imagery. The United States, South Korea and Japan said in October they had confirmed North Korea was supplying Russia with arms and military equipment supplies…
The past year has been another troubling one for the Russian free press. Russian officials branded scores of independent news outlets “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations” in retaliation for refusing to comply with the country’s wartime censorship laws. As many as 17 media professionals have been detained in Russia for their work, bringing the total…
As the world’s attention remains fixated on the war in Ukraine and the constant intrigue of Kremlin politics, it is easy to overlook what has been happening in Russia’s regions. Yet the past year proved to be no less eventful for the regions beyond Moscow than it was for the country as a whole. Here…
The breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia on Wednesday ratified a deal transferring a dacha in the coastal town of Pitsunda to Russia’s Federal Protection Service (FSO). Located on the Black Sea Coast, the Soviet-built Pitsunda dacha has long been a popular holiday destination for Soviet, Russian and allied leaders. Its transfer has sparked protests by locals concerned that…
Pro-peace Russian presidential candidate Yekaterina Duntsova announced Wednesday that she plans to form a new political party after the Supreme Court upheld the electoral commission’s rejection of her candidacy. Duntsova, 40, a journalist from the Tver region northwest of Moscow, launched her bid for the presidency in November on a pro-peace, pro-democracy platform. Though she secured…
Dozens of sailors remain missing following a Ukrainian missile strike on a large Russian naval landing ship in annexed Crimea, Russian news outlets have reported, citing anonymous sources. Ukraine’s Air Force claimed to have destroyed the Novocherkassk landing ship with cruise missiles at the port of Feodosia on Tuesday. The Kremlin only acknowledged that Novocherkassk…
George Orwell’s “1984” has earned the distinction of being the most stolen book from the shelves of Russia’s Chitai-Gorod bookstore chain in 2023. The dystopian classic, which was stolen from Chitai-Gorod stores 460 times, was also among the top 10 most-purchased books from the chain this year, the company said in a press release cited…
Russia has redirected its oil exports from Europe to China and India, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday, almost two years after Moscow was hit by Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. After President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries hit Russia with a slew of sanctions including a European Union…
The international direct-sales cosmetics brand Avon has suspended plans to sell its business in Russia over the Kremlin’s steep exit tax, the Kommersant daily reported Wednesday, citing two anonymous industry sources. The U.S.-based Avon, owned since 2020 by Brazilian multinational Natura & Co., announced in March 2022 that it had halted investments in Russia and exports from…
Opening the office is a milestone for Rosatom in expanding collaboration with Egypt partners. ROSATOM, a global technological leader and leading company of the global nuclear energy industry working in 60 countries, inaugurates today the office in Cairo, Egypt. This momentous event marks a significant milestone in ROSATOM’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with Egypt,…