Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Tuesday of “serious consequences” if Western countries allowed Ukraine to use their weapons to strike Russia. Speaking in Uzbekistan, Putin’s comments came in response to calls within some NATO member states to allow Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia. “This constant escalation can lead to serious consequences,” Putin said. “In…
Russian tech companies Yandex and VKontakte are being grilled by government officials for making their homegrown artificial intelligence chatbots avoid subjects related to the invasion of Ukraine, the Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday. Presidential Human Rights Council chief Valery Fadeyev said he was surprised to learn that Yandex’s Alisa and VKontakte’s Marusia refuse to answer when…
Russian tech companies Yandex and VK are being grilled by pro-war figures for making their homegrown artificial intelligence chatbots avoid subjects related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday. Russia’s presidential Human Rights Council chief Valery Fadeyev said he was surprised to learn that Yandex’s Alisa and VK’s Marusia refuse to…
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday ordered Russia to pay $56,500 in damages to the jailed mother of a prominent critic of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Zarema Musaeva, the mother of exiled Chechen human rights lawyer and activist Abubakar Yangulbaev, was violently detained in Nizhny Novgorod and forcibly taken to Chechnya in…
Russia’s Main Directorate for Traffic Safety (GIBDD) has been renamed back to the Soviet-era State Automobile Inspectorate (GAI), the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday, citing the head of the traffic police force. “We’ve now become the State Automobile Inspectorate,” the agency head Mikhail Chernkiv said during an Interior Ministry meeting on Tuesday. Soviet authorities…
A Russian court has extended the pre-trial detention of two lawyers who represented the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the independent news website Mediazona reported Tuesday. Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Lipster, and Igor Sergunin were arrested last October on accusations of participating in “extremist” activities for passing Navalny’s letters on to his associates. Russia in 2021 outlawed Navalny’s…
A court in Siberia has rejected an appeal by Ksenia Fadeyeva, an ally of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, against her nine-year prison sentence for “extremism,” local media reported Tuesday. Fadeyeva, Navalny’s former regional coordinator in the city of Tomsk, was among his few allies who remained in Russia despite the risk of criminal prosecution…
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday urged countries to balance fear of escalation against Ukraine’s need to defend itself, saying Kyiv had the right to use Western arms to strike in Russia. “According with the law of war, it is perfectly possible and there is no contradiction. “I could retaliate or I could…
ROSATOM Director General Mr. Alexey Likhachev and IAEA Director General Mr. Rafael Grossi head Delegations. On 28 May, another round of Interdepartmental consultations of the Russian side with the IAEA delegation led by Director General Mr. Rafael Grossi took place in Kaliningrad. The Russian delegation headed by Director General of ROSATOM Mr. Alexey Likhachev comprised…
Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna is being held in custody in Russia nine months after her disappearance, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) said, citing a letter from the Russian Defense Ministry to her father. Roshchyna, an award-winning freelance journalist, went missing in August while attempting to enter the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine for…
Western companies are reconsidering leaving Russia amid increasing Kremlin-imposed exit costs, difficulty finding suitable buyers and rebounding consumer activity, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. As of last month, 2,175 foreign companies remain in Russia compared with 1,610 that left or scaled back operations, according to the Kyiv School of Economics. Some remaining companies are increasingly open about…
Moldova has granted citizenship to several members of the Russian-Belarusian rock band Bi-2, the government in Chisinau announced late Monday, months after the music group was detained in Thailand and faced potential deportation to Russia. President Maia Sandu signed a decree giving Moldovan passports to “certain members of Bi-2,” her office chief Adrian Balutel announced…