What is driving the record-bad flooding that has devastated parts of Russia and Kazakhstan and forced tens of thousands of people to escape the fast-rising water? AFP looks at the worst flooding in decades to hit this region: Spring and snow Spring floods in Russia and northern Kazakhstan “are to be expected and are a…
A man suspected of aiding a plot by Russian intelligence services to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been arrested in Poland, Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors said Thursday. The Polish national, named only as Pawel K., is suspected of supplying information to Russian military intelligence and “helping the Russian special forces to plan a possible…
A memorial to Russian sailors killed during the war in Ukraine appears to show that 19 sailors were killed in the sinking of the Moskva battleship, according to photos shared by pro-war bloggers and analyzed by independent media. Russia’s Defense Ministry has confirmed one death and 27 missing sailors in the April 13, 2022, sinking of the…
Glaciers on Russia’s Far East Kamchatka Peninsula have shrunk by over a third since the mid-20th century, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing Russian scientists’ measurements. Known as the “land of fire and ice” because of its active volcanoes and expansive glaciers, Kamchatka is now threatened by climate change, with glacier melt accelerating this century.…
The Kremlin on Thursday denounced the seizure in France of a villa allegedly owned by Russian businessman Artur Ocheretny, the new partner of President Vladimir Putin’s ex-wife. The property, in the southwestern coastal town of Anglet, was seized in December 2023 as part of an investigation into money laundering, prosecutors said Wednesday. “Any encroachment on…
Russia saw a 10% drop in marriages last year despite state efforts to encourage citizens to start families, according to official data cited by the broadcaster RTVI. Around 950,000 marriages were registered in 2023 compared to 1.05 million the previous year, the outlet said, citing state statistics agency Rosstat. The year-on-year decline — which was observed…
An employee of the Russian Defense Ministry’s military-themed park outside Moscow has been arrested on treason charges, the BBC Russian service reported Thursday. Nikolai Martynov, 26, worked as an engineer at Patriot Park, which displays Russian and Soviet military equipment on its sprawling 5,400-hectare grounds. He was arrested on Feb. 21 on treason charges, according to…
Russia said Thursday that fresh U.S. aid for Ukraine will not change the dynamics on the battlefield, as Washington gears up for a crucial weekend vote on long-stalled military funding for Kyiv. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday he would advance a $61 billion package of funding for Ukraine, stalled since last year amid…
Authorities in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya will train Palestinian refugees from Gaza to work at a factory that assembles assault vehicles used by Chechen fighters in Ukraine, according to local state-run media. Known as “Jihad Mobiles,” the assault vehicles assembled at the Chechenavto plant are modeled on converted off-road vehicles that Russian troops used in Syria.…
Ukraine said Thursday its forces had struck a large Russian airfield on the annexed Crimean peninsula, destroying an array of military equipment. The attack took place in the early hours of Wednesday at the Dzhankoi air base, on the northern part of the peninsula seized by Moscow in 2014. Ukraine’s military intelligence said the operation…
The Supreme Court of Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan has rejected activist Fayil Alsynov’s appeal against a prison sentence on charges of “inciting interethnic hatred,” his lawyer Ilnur Suyundukov announced Thursday. Alsynov, a prominent indigenous rights defender from Turkic-majority Bashkortostan, was sentenced to four years in a penal colony in January on charges linked to his…
A top Russian scientist developing hypersonic technologies has been sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of state treason, a spokeswoman for St. Petersburg’s judiciary said Thursday. Alexander Kuranov, the head of a St. Petersburg state research institute who oversaw the Soviet-era Ayaks hypersonic aircraft program, was arrested in 2021 at age 73. Investigators reportedly accused…
Investigators have arrested two German-Russian men on suspicion of spying for Russia and planning attacks in Germany — including on U.S. army targets — to undermine military support for Ukraine, prosecutors said Thursday. The pair, identified only as Dieter S. and Alexander J., were arrested in Bayreuth in the southeastern state of Bavaria on Wednesday,…
At least seven people have been killed in historic flooding that hit the Ural Mountains cities of Orenburg and Orsk this month, independent media has reported, as authorities denied any casualties. Orenburg is just starting to emerge from some of its worst flooding in almost a century after the nearby Ural River began swelling in early…
Two German-Russian men have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia and planning attacks — including on U.S. army targets — to undermine military support for Ukraine, prosecutors said Thursday. The pair, identified only as Dieter S. and Alexander J., were arrested in Bayreuth in the southeastern state of Bavaria on Wednesday, federal prosecutors…
Russian shelling killed two people in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Thursday, authorities said, as Moscow ramps up its assault to capture the war-battered region. Outgunned and outmanned on the battlefield, Kyiv has ceded ground to Russian forces since late last year, evacuating hundreds of civilians from frontline areas amid an uptick in bombardment. In…
Russian shelling killed one person in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Thursday, authorities said, as Moscow ramps up its assault to capture the war-battered region. Outgunned and outmanned on the battlefield, Kyiv has ceded ground to Russian forces since late last year, evacuating civilians from frontline areas amid an uptick in attacks. In Selydove, about…
Rescuers were removing mountains of rubble on Thursday from the site of a lethal Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s historic city of Chernihiv, where at least 18 people were killed in an attack that has prompted fresh pleas for allies to boost Kyiv’s overstretched air defense systems. Three Russian missiles crashed into the northern Ukrainian…