The Kremlin is working to systematically instill “patriotic” values in children and teenagers through a Soviet-style propaganda campaign as it looks toward preparing the next generation for a life shaped by conflict with Ukraine and the West. “We need warriors, gunmen, stormtroopers — those who, at the president’s first call, will rush to the military…
The Toronto International Film Festival said Thursday it was pausing all upcoming screenings of the controversial documentary film “Russians at War” after receiving “significant threats.” “We have been made aware of significant threats to festival operations and public safety,” festival organizers said in a statement, pointing to reports they received “indicating potential activity in the…
Russia has been using Chinese-made engines to produce long-range attack drones for deployment in Ukraine since at least mid-2023, Reuters reported Friday, citing European intelligence sources. The Russian company IEMZ Kupol was said to have manufactured over 2,500 Garpiya-A1 drones between July 2023 and July 2024. The Garpiya drone has a maximum takeoff weight of under…
A Russian senator this week called on fellow lawmakers to introduce a legal ban on quadrobics, a subculture revolving around the impersonation of animals that is rapidly gaining momentum among Russia’s youth. “I am convinced that any subculture should remain within the bounds of reason and be safe for oneself and others,” Senator Natalia Kosikhina…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Friday that 49 Ukrainian POWs had been returned from Russia, with AFP witnessing the group being greeted at the border with Belarus. Zelensky did not clarify whether it was part of an exchange with Russia, as is usually the case, but AFP journalists had earlier seen Russian prisoners of war…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has awarded an honorary title to pro-Kremlin filmmaker and TV host Nikita Mikhalkov. Kadyrov said he hosted Mikhalkov during his visit to the North Caucasus republic to attend a theater festival and premiere his play “12.” The play is a Chechnya-themed adaptation of his 2007 eponymous feature film, which was itself a remake…
Russia’s Central Bank on Friday raised its key interest rate from 18% to 19%, a widely anticipated move as the country struggles to cool down inflation amid soaring military spending for the war in Ukraine. “Current inflationary pressures remain high. By the end of 2024, annual inflation is likely to exceed the July forecast range…
Leonid Nevzlin, a Russian-Israeli businessman and outspoken Kremlin critic, was accused Thursday by late opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s team of ordering a number of attacks against Navalny allies. Nevzlin, a close associate of exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was accused of ordering assaults against Navalny ally Leonid Volkov in Lithuania, Navalny aide Ivan Zhdanov in…
The head of Russia’s Security Council Sergei Shoigu met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday, just months after the Kremlin signed a mutual defense agreement with Pyongyang. The visit also comes as Moscow seeks more arms for its war in Ukraine, and as the West accuses Pyongyang of sending weapons to Russia.…
Russian state broadcaster Rossiya-24 said Friday that its war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny was discharged from the hospital over a month after being seriously injured in a Ukrainian drone attack. Poddubny was hospitalized after a drone struck the vehicle he was riding in during a reporting assignment on Ukraine’s surprise incursion into the Kursk region early…
Covid-19 cases are rising across Russia, driven by two new variants that are more resistant to immunity, the country’s consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Friday. Over the past two to three weeks, infections from the KP.3 and LB.1 variants have surged by 100% and 400%, respectively. Rospotrebnadzor identified them as “FLiRT variants,” a term used…
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the island nation for the first time in five years, Tokyo said Friday. The Japanese Defense Ministry said Russian Tu-142 reconnaissance planes flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region from Thursday morning to afternoon. The aircraft then traveled north over…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Friday announced that the accreditation of six British diplomats had been withdrawn, accusing them of espionage and “threatening Russia’s security.” “As a measure of reprisals to the multiple unfriendly acts of London, the Russian foreign ministry… has withdrawn the accreditation of six employees from the political department of the British…