Authorities in Russia’s Irkutsk region declared a state of emergency on Monday after a fast-spreading fire fueled by strong winds and dry weather ripped through villages, destroying homes and injuring at least one person. A woman was hospitalized and in critical condition after she suffered burn wounds in the Bratsk district, Irkutsk region Governor Igor…
Russian law enforcement authorities have charged journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova with “justifying terrorism” over posts she made on social media, her lawyer said Monday. Kevorkova, 65, is a Russian war correspondent, author, and filmmaker who has written about the Middle East and Russia’s North Caucasus for both the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the Kremlin-funded broadcaster…
Moscow said Monday that its forces had captured two more frontline villages in eastern Ukraine, including one in the northeast Kharkiv region, where Kyiv managed to repel Russian troops at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its soldiers “liberated the village of Kotlyarivka in the Kharkiv region” and “the village of…
Germany has temporarily recalled its ambassador to Russia after members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s political party were targeted in what Berlin said was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack, the German Foreign Ministry said Monday. A newly concluded government investigation revealed that the cyberattack targeting members of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) had been carried out by…
Russian lawmakers on Monday passed a bill that bans “foreign agents” from running for any political office in the country, the latest in a series of tightening restrictions against those whom the Kremlin accuses of working in the interests of Western governments. Hundreds of cultural figures, journalists, businesspeople, as well as news outlets and organizations, have been…
A Russian man accused of trying to blow up two court buildings on behalf of Ukraine has been detained and charged with terrorism, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday. The man, described as being in his mid-forties, was found “placing unknown objects in construction waste” near a railway station in the central city of…
The South Caucasus nation of Georgia has for weeks been gripped by mass protests against a controversial “foreign influence” bill that critics say resembles legislation in Russia used to crack down on independent media and the opposition. Introduced into parliament last month by the country’s ruling Georgian Dream coalition, the bill would force organizations receiving…
Russian shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure led to widespread power outages overnight in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Monday. Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities in recent months, knocking out a significant chunk of production, and triggering blackouts and energy rationing across the country. “The enemy shelled energy…
Updated with Peskov’s remarks. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Monday that its forces were preparing to conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises in response to Western “threats and provocations.” “At the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat…
A Ukrainian drone strike in Western Russia’s Belgorod region has killed at least six people and wounded 35 others, Russian authorities said Monday, marking one of the deadliest attacks inside Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion over two years ago. Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said several drones struck a car and two vans carrying…