A prominent Bashkir activist whose imprisonment earlier this year sparked mass protests was designated a political prisoner by the Russian rights group Memorial on Wednesday. Fayil Alsynov was sentenced to four years in a penal colony in January on charges of “inciting interethnic hatred.” However, many observers believe he was targeted for campaigning against illegal…
A woman from Russia’s Far East has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for allegedly sharing footage of Russian troop movements with Ukraine, state media reported Wednesday, citing the local Federal Security Service (FSB) branch. The woman, identified as Chita resident A.Yu. Sulimova, was detained at age 21 on treason charges last July. Authorities accused her of…
A Russian Defense Ministry proposal to redraw Russia’s maritime borders in the Baltic Sea has sparked concern from Moscow’s neighbors in the region, with officials from Finland to Lithuania decrying what they describe as an attempt to sow confusion and destabilize regional security. While the Kremlin insisted Wednesday that the government draft resolution was not…
Beijing is sending or preparing to send “lethal aid” to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said Wednesday, a claim that comes just days after President Vladimir Putin visited China to meet with his counterpart Xi Jinping. “Today I can reveal that we have evidence that Russia and…
A court in southern Russia’s Saratov region has sentenced a man to three and a half years in prison for trying to persuade his friend to surrender to the Ukrainian army, Russian media reported Wednesday. Federal Security Service (FSB) agents detained 31-year-old farmer Ilya Usoyan in the fall of 2023 on accusations of “repeatedly persuading” a Russian…
Russia said Wednesday that its forces retook Klishchiivka, one of only a handful of villages on the eastern front that Ukraine regained during its counteroffensive last summer. “Units of the Southern grouping of troops liberated the village of Klishchiivka” in the eastern Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Russian troops previously captured Klishchiivka in January…
Russia has returned six children to Ukraine with the help of Qatari mediators, Russian state media reported Wednesday. A video shared by the state-run TASS news agency showed the Qatari Ambassador in Moscow Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani shaking hands with the children, ages six to 17, at Qatar’s embassy. According to TASS, representatives from Russia’s presidential…
A man was killed and one other person was wounded in an attack on southwestern Russia’s Belgorod region, local authorities said Wednesday. Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defense systems had shot down six Ukrainian missiles early Wednesday morning. It said earlier that three Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Belgorod region overnight. Belgorod region…
Russia has launched a “counter-space weapon” into Earth’s orbit that may be able to attack an American government satellite, the Pentagon said Tuesday, coming amid recent accusations from both Washington and Moscow that each side is seeking to weaponize space. A Russian satellite that was launched into low Earth orbit on May 16 is likely…