Russia’s economy grew 5.4% in the first quarter of 2024, official statistics published Friday showed, as President Vladimir Putin denied military spending on his Ukraine offensive was reaching unsustainable levels. The Kremlin has heavily militarized Russia’s economy since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022, with the vast outlays helping to power growth and cushion…
Jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza’s new charges that could extend his 25-year prison sentence even further have brought the fight to free him from Russian prison back into focus. But while Kara-Murza’s family and colleagues push for his release via a prisoner exchange, wider diplomatic dynamics risk hampering their efforts. Kara-Murza, 42, a critic of…
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Friday that Moscow would not comply with calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Summer Olympics, pointing to what he said was the unfair treatment of Russian athletes. Asked during a visit to China whether he backed French President Emmanuel Macron’s idea for a global “Olympic truce” during the…
The Dutch parent company of the Yandex Group announced Friday that it has completed the first phase of divesting from its Russia-based businesses. Yandex N.V. said in February that it had agreed to sell its Russian assets to a consortium of Russian investors for 475 billion rubles ($5.2 billion) in cash and shares, ending more than two…
MOSCOW — “We live in an intolerant environment,” Eugene, a former member of the Russian capital’s drag collectives, told The Moscow Times while walking near a nightclub in the city center where he and his fellow artists used to work. That sentiment, Eugene said, is shared by drag artists who play with gender stereotypes, norms…
Ukrainian missile strikes destroyed at least three Russian warplanes in annexed Crimea this week, media outlets reported Friday, citing satellite images. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have intercepted 15 U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles on Wednesday and Thursday. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of the Crimean city of Sevastopol, said Wednesday that Russian air defense systems had…
President Vladimir Putin said Friday that his country’s armed forces launched their recent offensive against Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region to stop cross-border attacks against Russia’s border regions, but added that Moscow has no plans to capture the city of Kharkiv. Thousands of Russian troops poured over the border into Ukraine on May 10, unleashing artillery…
Microsoft has started blocking Russian corporate clients from using its cloud services in compliance with Western sanctions, a Russian distributor of the tech company’s products Softline said Friday. “Microsoft has apparently approved a list of products to be disconnected. Rolling shutdowns began yesterday evening,” Softline said on its Telegram channel dedicated to supporting its customers…
A Moscow court on Friday ordered the arrest in absentia of exiled feminist activist Zalina Marshenkulova for “justifying” the killing of a pro-war blogger. Russian investigators last month charged Marshenkulova with “justifying terrorism,” a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison, over an April 2023 Telegram post about the death of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky,…
A young woman who previously said she fled domestic violence in her native republic of Chechnya has left Russia, a member of Russia’s presidential human rights council said Friday. Liya Zaurbekova, 19, said her family physically and psychologically abused her, according to the human rights group Maram. Earlier this week she fled to Moscow, but after…
President Vladimir Putin traveled to the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin on Friday, the final day of his brief trip, where he sought to promote crucial trade with China and win greater support for Russia’s war on Ukraine. The Russian leader arrived in China on Thursday, his first trip abroad since being re-elected in March,…
Ukraine launched a stunning wave of drone attacks on Russia and annexed Crimea overnight, killing at least two people and setting an oil refinery ablaze, Russian officials said Friday. The attack was Kyiv’s largest aerial offensive in recent weeks and comes as Russian forces advance along the front line in northeastern Ukraine, taking advantage of…