Election officials in Moscow have scrapped paper ballots in favor of online voting at an upcoming vote for the Russian capital’s legislative assembly, state news agencies reported Thursday. Watchdogs and researchers say Russia’s opaque online voting system enables electoral fraud by making independent monitoring impossible. Moscow’s election commission voted 12-1 to make electronic voting the default way…
Russia’s central bank chief said Thursday that inflation was running ahead of expectations and hinted the bank was likely to hike interest rates later this month. Prices have risen fast in Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, the Kremlin has massively ramped up spending on its army…
The unusually hot summer weather in the Moscow region this year may trigger an increase in populations of invertebrate species, the regional Environmental Ministry said this week. Praying mantises, burgundy snails and wasp spiders, which were uncommon a decade ago, have already established populations in the region due to winter thaws, warm springs and hot…
At least two VPN services said Thursday that Russian authorities have successfully forced Apple to delete their applications from its App Store in Russia. Identically worded messages from Apple’s app review team to Red Shield VPN and Le VPN state that their applications will be removed “per demand from Roskomnadzor.” Roskomnadzor is Russia’s state media…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8 and 9, the Kremlin said Thursday. This will be his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its military offensive in Ukraine. The war has tested relations between Moscow and New Delhi, even though India has ramped up its purchases of Russian oil…
A Moscow court ruled Thursday to keep French researcher Laurent Vinatier in pre-trial detention. Vinatier was arrested last month and accused of gathering military information. The 47-year-old works for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO and in early June became the latest Westerner to be arrested in Russia having been charged with breaching Moscow’s “foreign agents”…
A bill introduced to Russia’s lower-house State Duma Thursday outlining a formal ban against unauthorized foreign travel for Russian senators and deputies has been passed. The Kremlin said in April that Russian officials face various restrictions on their ability to travel abroad. Reuters reported at the time that Russian officials across state bodies faced “chaotic” travel rules…
Ukraine said Thursday its forces have withdrawn from a district in the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have recently claimed several advances. Losing the small hilltop town is a worrying prospect for Ukraine because it would likely accelerate Russia’s advance toward large civilian hubs in the Donetsk region. “It became…
Russia’s leadership is following the U.S. presidential campaign in private with excitement and interest — and are rooting for their favorite candidate, Donald Trump, to win, three government and presidential administration officials, three Foreign Ministry officials, former officials and two sources from Russia’s business elite told The Moscow Times. Officials in the Kremlin, the government…
Ukraine’s military intelligence and a pro-Kyiv paramilitary unit composed of Russian nationals claimed responsibility for damaging a Russian warship in the Baltic Sea region of Kaliningrad. In April, Ukraine’s military intelligence published a video of the Serpukhov guided missile corvette, stationed in the Kaliningrad region city of Baltiysk, catching fire from the inside. At the time it…
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its troops destroyed a Mig-29 fighter jet during a strike on an airbase in central Ukraine. The jet and other equipment and vehicles were destroyed in the base at Dolgintsevo, which was hit by an Iskandar ballistic missile, it said. The ministry published images of the attack on…