A group of cossacks and other pro-government activists disrupted an annual event in the northwestern republic of Karelia commemorating the victims of Stalin’s purges, the Memorial human rights group said Monday. The Sandarmokh memorial, where at least 6,000 gulag prisoners were buried in mass graves, has for years attracted pilgrims and European delegations for an…
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos on Monday said the break in ties with the West following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has cost it nearly 180 billion rubles ($2.1 billion). “The termination of contracts by unfriendly countries cost Roscosmos 180 billion rubles,” Roscosmos deputy head Andrei Yelchaninov was quoted as saying by the state-run Interfax news…
The head of the Russian military’s theme park and a senior defense ministry official were arrested for allegedly embezzling public funds, law enforcement authorities said Monday, the latest detentions in a growing military purge that began earlier this year. Investigators said Patriot Park director Vyacheslav Akhmedov and Major General Vladimir Shesterov were “involved in the…
Russia’s national Security Council secretary on Monday arrived for a visit to Tehran, news agencies reported, amid fears of a wider war in the region following last week’s killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s ex-Defense Minister, was set to meet senior military and security officials as well as new President…
Russian concert pianist and anti-war activist Pavel Kushnir died in police custody after going on hunger strike, his mother confirmed Monday. Friends and activists said last week that Kushnir died at age 39 in a pre-trial detention center in the Jewish autonomous district, a remote region of Russia’s Far East. Federal Security Service (FSB) agents arrested Kushnir…
German fashion house Hugo Boss has closed a deal to sell its Russian division to the retailer Stockmann, coming more than two years after it suspended operations in the country over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In April, Hugo Boss agreed to sell its Russian business to its wholesale partner, Stockmann — which was sold…
Police in St. Petersburg have begun pressing administrative charges against drivers whose vehicles are excessively loud. Local law enforcement officials said Monday that they will give motorists 10 days to “return the technical condition of their vehicle to factory settings,” otherwise the vehicle’s registration will be canceled and the owner may risk losing their driving…
Authorities in Siberia’s republic of Tyva declared a regional state of emergency on Sunday due to ongoing wildfires in the region. “As a result of prolonged hot and dry weather, the situation has deteriorated in the districts of Piykhemsky, Chedi-Kholsky and Tandinsky,” Regional governor Vladislav Khovalyg said, adding that he had requested help from neighboring…
Russian law enforcement officials said Monday that they arrested two “religious figures” in the Tyumen region who are suspected of recruiting people for terrorist organizations based in Syria. The Federal Security Service (FSB) said its agents “disrupted an international terrorist organization’s resource channel” in cooperation with police and investigators. The two arrested men recruited 19…
Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider took home a silver medal in women’s tennis doubles on Sunday, making them the first Russian athletes to get a medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Competing as Individual Neutral Athletes, known by the French acronym AIN, Andreeva and Shnaider lost the final to Italian tennis players Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. The…