Kremlin Confirms Putin’s Trip to North Korea

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea this week, the Kremlin announced Monday, confirming previously reported travel plans that come amid suspicions in the West that Pyongyang is supplying Moscow with weapons for use in Ukraine. Putin will visit North Korea on Tuesday, his second trip to the isolated country since he first came to…

Peace Summit Calls for Dialogue With Russia, Backs Ukraine’s ‘Territorial Integrity’

Dozens of countries meeting for a landmark international summit on peace in Ukraine agreed Sunday that Kyiv should enter dialogue with Moscow on ending the war, while strongly supporting Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity. More than two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, leaders and top officials from more than 90 countries spent the…

Dutch Businessman Helps Russia Import Western Brands Like Nike, Lego – Reuters

Russian consumers enjoy continued access to Western brands like Nike and Lego thanks to a Dutch businessman who imports them via grey-market methods, Reuters reported Saturday. Wijnand Herinckx, 40, has built a “thriving” business ferrying these brands’ products into Russia after they exited the country in 2022 over the war in Ukraine, Reuters said, citing customs data,…

IOC Issues First List of Russians and Belarusians Eligible for Olympics

Saturday’s IOC statement also listed taekwondo, but that section included no names. “It is absolutely true — none of our taekwondists will perform at the Olympic Games in Paris,” Vadim Ivanov, Russia’s taekwondo head coach told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. After initially banning the two countries’ athletes from world sport following Russia’s invasion of…

Sweden Says Russian Bomber Violated Its Airspace

A Russian Su-24 bomber violated Swedish airspace near the strategic Baltic Sea island of Gotland, leaving only after Sweden scrambled two JAS-39 fighter jets, Sweden’s military said on Saturday. The incident on Friday occurred three months after the Scandinavian country became a full member of NATO, dropping two centuries of military non-alliance. “On Friday afternoon,…

Russian Inflation Rises Once Again in May

The pace of inflation in Russia accelerated yet again in May as officials warn huge public spending to support the military offensive on Ukraine is overheating the economy. Increases in government expenditure have supported Russia’s economy in the face of a barrage of Western sanctions but also triggered surging prices and labor shortages in many…

Moldova Turns Back Plane Carrying Pro-Russian Activists

Moldova’s authorities and an opposition politician said Friday aviation officials had denied landing permission to a flight bound for the capital Chisinau carrying pro-Russian opposition activists. According to Romanian authorities, the flight from Armenia was redirected to an airport near the capital Bucharest. Moldovan pro-Russian MP Marina Tauber announced the incident in a post on…

2024 Pushkin House Book Prize Awarded to Elena Kostyuchenko for ‘I Love Russia: Reporting From a Lost Country’

On Friday evening the Pushkin House announced the winner of the 2024 Book Prize: “I Love Russia: Reporting From a Lost Country,” written by Elena Kostyuchenko and translated from Russian by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse and Bela Shayevich. The announcement was made at the awards ceremony held at Swedenborg House in Bloomsbury, hosted by Andrew Jack,…

Russia Reckons With Loss of Regional Influence as Armenia Eyes Exit from Moscow-Led Military Bloc

Russian officials privately admit that their chances of preventing an Armenian exit from the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are slim, two Russian officials, one current and one retired Russian diplomat, and a former CSTO official have told The Moscow Times. Some of The Moscow Times’ sources agreed to speak on condition of anonymity…

Italy Arrests Man Suspected of Helping Son of Russian Ex-Governor Flee Country

Italy on Friday arrested a Russian national suspected of helping the son of a former regional governor in Russia escape house arrest while awaiting extradition to the United States on charges of illegally exporting military technology. The Russian national allegedly arranged for Artyom Uss — the son of ex-Krasnoyarsk region Governor Aleksandr Uss — to flee Italy in…

Russian-Ukrainian Activist Convicted of ‘Plotting Treason’ Dies in Prison – Reports

A Russian-Ukrainian activist imprisoned on charges of plotting treason died in custody earlier this week, the U.S.-funded regional news outlet Sibir.Realii reported Friday, citing the activist’s family.  Igor Pokusin, 61, was arrested in May 2022 on suspicion of vandalizing pro-war banners in Abakan, the capital of Russia’s Siberian republic of Khakassia.  Though Pokusin was soon…

Russia Says Downed 87 Ukrainian Drones Overnight

Moscow said Friday it had downed 87 Ukrainian drones overnight, among which 70 targeted the southern Rostov region where the command center for Russia’s military operation against Kyiv is based. “During the night, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to commit a terrorist attack with drones… was foiled,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. “In…

Russians Shrug Off New U.S. Sanctions

Russians on the streets of Moscow are shrugging off a fresh round of U.S. sanctions that forced the country’s largest exchange to halt dollar and euro trade on Thursday, with some arguing that they have no need for Western currencies. “Given that we [already] have sanctions and there are basically no trips abroad, we don’t…

Kyrgyz Banks Suspend Money Transfers With Russia

Major banks in the Central Asia republic of Kyrgyzstan have suspended money transfers to and from Russia amid exchange rate volatility and issues with payment systems, state-run media reported on Thursday. RSK Bank, Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest lender, said the Astrasend, Contact, Zolotaya Korona and Sberbank Online money transfer systems were temporarily down due to technical problems.…

Top Russian Universities Raise Tuition Fees

Leading Russian universities are raising the cost of study ahead of the 2024-25 academic year, the business daily Vedomosti reported on Thursday, citing higher education ranking data. Tuition fees at the Moscow State Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) saw the largest increase, according to data from RAEX Analytics, with the average cost of study…

NATO Eyes Crackdown on Russian Agents Over Alleged Hybrid Attacks

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that the bloc’s member countries could impose “tighter restrictions” on Russian intelligence operatives after a recent string of sabotage attacks. Stoltenberg said NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels would discuss plans to counter a “Russian campaign of hostile activities against NATO allies.” “We have seen several examples of sabotage,…

Julie A. Cassiday’s ‘Russian Style: Performing Gender, Power and Putinism’ Shortlisted for Pushkin House Book Prize

At the end of the Soviet era and dawn of Russia’s emergence as a state, the Russian media, and later social media, got very interesting very quickly. It wasn’t only raw politics, revelations about the present and past — it was also sexuality, both “traditional and untraditional,” gay parades and performers, and even a prime…

‘Another Attempt to Marginalize Us’: Experts and Activists Weigh In on ‘Anti-Russian Separatist’ Ban

Russia’s Supreme Court last week ruled to ban the so-called “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement” and “its structural divisions” as an extremist organization.  Though no organization with this name formally exists in Russia or elsewhere, the country’s Justice Ministry defined the group as an “international public movement to destroy the multinational unity and territorial integrity of Russia.” …

Moscow Demands Release of Russian Woman Accused of Spying in Denmark

Moscow has called for the immediate release of a Russian woman arrested in Denmark on suspicion of espionage, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday, accusing Copenhagen of “persecution.” Danish authorities announced Tuesday that a Russian citizen had been arrested on suspicion of “enabling a foreign intelligence service to operate in Denmark.” They did not…