President Vladimir Putin has all but abandoned the idea of peace talks with Kyiv following Ukraine’s Kursk region incursion, which dealt a “humiliating” blow to the Russian leader, the independent Poyasnitelnaya Zapiska (Explanatory Note) news outlet reported, citing sources close to the Kremlin. “The Kremlin has come to a corresponding conclusion that they will destroy Ukrainian statehood. The…
Russian investigators seized 75 items, including snow and underwear, from the scene of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s death, the investigative news outlet Dossier Center reported Friday, citing documents it said it had obtained. Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16 under murky circumstances, leading his allies to assert that he was murdered. His…
Wearable electronics like those that Israel used to blow up Hezbollah members’ pagers in Lebanon and Syria pose a threat to the security of Russia and other former Soviet states, the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday. Speaking at a meeting of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) special services chiefs, Alexander Bortnikov…
Last month, Fortanga, an independent news outlet from the republic of Ingushetia in Russia’s North Caucasus, broke the news that the neighboring republic of North Ossetia-Alania was plotting to redraw the two regions’ shared border. Documents obtained by Fortanga revealed that North Ossetian officials were hoping to incorporate into their territory parts of Ingushetia’s Dzheyrakhsky…
A beluga whale found dead in Norway in August, who some suspected of being a Russian spy, most likely died of an infection, not gunshot wounds, Norwegian police said Friday. Nicknamed “Hvaldimir,” a pun on the Norwegian word for whale (hval) and the whale’s purported ties to Moscow, the white beluga first appeared off the…
Russian rescue teams succeeded on Friday in saving a family of orcas who had become beached in shallow water in the Far East of the country. The cetaceans — two adults and two young — had been stranded since Wednesday on the shore of the Kamchatka peninsula, around 6,500 kilometers (4,000 miles) east of Moscow.…
Authorities in Russia’s Irkutsk region in southeastern Siberia introduced a state of “high alert” due to electricity shortages, according to a government decree published Friday. The decree signed by Governor Igor Kobzev instructs local emergency services to develop additional plans for mitigating the consequences of widespread power cuts and check the preparedness of local emergency…
The head of security at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been killed in a car bombing, authorities in Kyiv and Moscow said Friday. Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency said Andriy Korotkiy was inside his vehicle when it was hit by an explosion at around 7:00 a.m. local time in the Russian-occupied…
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on the West to lift sanctions on Taliban-led Afghanistan and take “responsibility” for reconstruction efforts in the country, on Friday. However, Lavrov did not say whether Moscow would lift its own designation of the group as a “terrorist organization.” “We urge Western countries to recognize their responsibility for the…
Ukraine’s military said its forces struck an oil base in western Russia’s Voronezh region overnight Friday as Russian authorities dismissed the attack as insignificant. The Annanefteprodukt fuel storage base in the Voronezh region’s Anninsky district was hit by Ukraine’s SBU security service and other military branches, according to the Ukrainian General Staff. “At least one…
Russia has evacuated 60 diplomats’ family members from Lebanon as Israel escalates its offensive against Hezbollah, the state-run TASS news agency reported Thursday. The Emergency Services Ministry’s press service told TASS that the evacuation was being carried out on President Vladimir Putin’s orders. The families left on an IL-76 aircraft, which is designed to carry…
Moldovan police carried out dozens of raids Thursday after discovering that at least $15 million was transferred from Russia to Moldovan citizens in an “unprecedented” effort to tamper with presidential elections this month. Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu, who is seeking a second term, has repeatedly accused Russia of political interference in the country, which…
Ukrainian drones struck the Borisoglebsk aviation center in western Russia’s Voronezh region overnight, Ukrainian media reported Thursday, citing anonymous security service sources. The targeted base stored guided aerial bombs, Su-35 and Su-34 fighter jets as well as aviation fuel, according to the UNIAN news agency and the news website liga.net. “That’s where the enemy bombs Ukrainian territories…
After almost two years of fighting, Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from Vuhledar, a key defensive outpost in the frontline Donetsk region. The military command said the decision was taken to preserve the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and their precious equipment. The town, which military analyst Ivan Stupak told The Moscow Times was the “entryway to…
Early one morning in July 2023, I boarded a minibus for a weekend pilgrimage to the Pochaiv Monastery in western Ukraine. The country’s second-largest Orthodox complex after the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, it was founded by monks who fled after the Mongols sacked the capital in 1240. Though it lies on the edge of a mainly…
A court in Moscow on Thursday sentenced a 59-year-old nurse to eight years in prison for social media posts opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Olga Menshikh was accused of spreading “fake” information about the military with two VKontakte posts that condemned Russian strikes on Vinnytsia, Ukraine that killed 28 people in July 2022 and Russian…
A Moscow court ordered that the trial of a 72-year-old U.S. citizen, accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, proceed in secret on Thursday. The man, identified as Stefan Hubbard of Michigan, appeared in court wearing a black hat and beige jacket, walking slowly and dragging his feet, an AFP journalist reported from the…
A rescue operation to release a family of four killer whales from shallow waters off Far East Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula is continuing for the second day, emergency officials said Thursday. Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday the two orcas and two calves were caught in a low tide in the Sea of Okhotsk. Video published…
A young Russian man imprisoned in Chechnya for allegedly burning a Quran faces new charges of “high treason” that could see him sentenced to life in prison, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said Thursday. Nikita Zhuravel, 20, is serving three-and-a-half years in Chechen prison for “offending religious believers” and “hooliganism” after he was accused of…
President Vladimir Putin has appointed a military officer from occupied eastern Ukraine as his envoy to Russia’s Urals region, a key defense industry hub. Lieutenant Colonel Artyom Zhoga, the chairman of the Russian-installed parliament of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, gained fame when he was filmed last December asking Putin to stand for re-election. During the choreographed exchange,…
A new peace prize backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin bearing Leo Tolstoy’s name has divided the writer’s descendants, bringing to mind the unhappy families of his novel “Anna Karenina.” At the famed Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the first Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize was awarded on September 9 to the African Union, in the…
A list of 79 “blacklisted” artists that includes Beyonce, Lana Del Rey and Metallica is circulating among Russian ad agencies and event organizers, the investigative news website Vyorstka reported Wednesday, citing two anonymous sources in the industry. The list’s recipients are strongly urged to exclude the artists’ songs from their ads and other promotional materials, as…
Russian law enforcement agencies have opened a criminal case against the creators of the Universal Anonymous Payment System (UAPS) and the cryptocurrency exchange Cryptex. UAPS and other anonymous payment systems are believed to provide money transfer and laundering services directly to cybercriminals, while Cryptex gives its users anonymity by allowing them to register without providing…
Donetsk region, UKRAINE — In a dusty sky, the last storks of Donbas fly off to other horizons for the winter. Their supple wings, in the evening light, glide over fields of dried sunflowers and disappear behind massive slag heaps that, from one valley to another, seem to rise out of nowhere. Philippe, 30, a…
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed laws to allow defendants in criminal cases to sign military contracts and be deployed to fight in Ukraine, expanding the pool of potential recruits for Russia’s two-and-a-half-year war. Under the new amendments, defendants who sign military contracts can have their criminal cases suspended at the request of a military unit…
Four independent Russian journalists went on trial Wednesday for “extremism” charges related to their alleged work for late opposition activist Alexei Navalny’s team. Antonina Favorskaya, Konstantin Gabov, Sergei Karelin and Artyom Kriger, who have all reported on Navalny as journalists, were detained this spring and summer on charges of “participating in an extremist community.” They were accused of…
The European Union took a step towards sanctioning Russia on Wednesday for a string of recent hybrid attacks and acts of sabotage across Europe, diplomats said. The EU and NATO have accused Moscow of being behind a spate of incidents aimed at destabilizing the West, as the two sides are at loggerheads over the Kremlin’s…
Russia’s federal budget for 2025-2027 submitted by the government to the State Duma could contribute to higher-than-expected inflation, analysts at Renaissance Capital warned Tuesday. According to bne IntelliNews, the 2025 budget boosts military spending by 25%, with the Russian Central Bank warning of fiscal risks to inflation. In addition, the planned indexation of housing and utility…
The Kremlin on Wednesday expressed worry over the latest escalation in the Middle East, calling on “all sides” to show “restraint” after Israel vowed to make Iran “pay” for firing a barrage of missiles at its territory. “This situation is developing according to the most worrying scenario,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We call all…
Ukraine’s army said Wednesday it was withdrawing from the eastern town of Vuhledar, facing intense Russian attacks and the risk of being encircled. “The High Command gave permission for a maneuver to withdraw units from Vuhledar in order to save personnel and military equipment and take up a position for further operations,” the Khortytsia group…
Russian soldiers allegedly shot dead 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war in eastern Ukraine, marking the largest known execution of POWs in the two-and-a-half-year war, Ukrainian prosecutors said Tuesday. Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said videos circulating on social media appeared to show Russian servicemen committing the war crime near the Donetsk region city of Pokrovsk, which Moscow…
Russia has opened a criminal case against opposition politician Lev Shlosberg for allegedly failing to comply with restrictions on “foreign agents.” Shlosberg, who chairs the Pskov regional branch of the liberal Yabloko party, was designated as a “foreign agent” last year for opposing the war in Ukraine as well as “spreading false information about the decisions…
A tight-knit family of hackers and intelligence operatives was the driving force behind Russia’s “Evil Corp” cybercrime syndicate, sanctions leveled by London, Washington and Canberra have revealed. Once considered the “most significant cybercrime threat in the world,” Evil Corp has been credited with spying on NATO allies at the behest of Russia’s intelligence services. It…
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin he was ready to “expand” cooperation, as the two leaders exchanged congratulations on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, state media said. Xi said China was “ready to join Putin to constantly expand all-round pragmatic cooperation between [our] two countries,” state news agency Xinhua…
A Russian court sentenced 13 young men to up to 23 years in prison each on Wednesday for acts of railway sabotage in Moscow and Siberia aimed at thwarting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The court’s press service said the men were part of an “organized criminal group” that aimed to “influence the Russian authorities to cease…
At least three baby kangaroos have gone missing from two Russian zoos within a week, sparking suspicion that the animals may have been stolen in a coordinated campaign, according to media reports. Police in the Yaroslavl region, northeast of Moscow, launched a criminal investigation after a kangaroo born in the winter disappeared from its enclosure…
Moscow urged Israel to “immediately” pull its troops out of southern Lebanon on Tuesday after the Israeli military began what it said were “ground raids” against Hezbollah militants in the area. Israel announced the incursion after a week of intense air strikes on Lebanon that left hundreds dead and sparked international condemnation. In a major…
Moscow urged Israel to “immediately” pull its troops out of southern Lebanon on Tuesday after the Israeli military began what it said were “ground raids” against Hezbollah militants in the area. Israel announced the incursion after a week of intense air strikes on Lebanon that left hundreds dead and sparked international condemnation. In a major…
Russia’s state financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring added Armen Aramyan, editor and co-founder of the independent youth Magazine DOXA, to the country’s list of “terrorists and extremists,” the outlet reported Tuesday. Last week, a Moscow court ordered Aramyan’s arrest in absentia on charges of “justifying terrorism” and spreading “fakes” about the military on social media. Prosecutors did…
Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to enlist around 20,000 people currently held in pre-trial detention to fight in Ukraine, the investigative news outlet IStories reported Tuesday, citing anonymous military and legal sources. According to a military official who spoke to IStories, efforts are already underway to identify who among the thousands of defendants awaiting trial might…
Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to enlist around 20,000 people currently held in pre-trial detention to fight in Ukraine, the investigative news outlet IStories reported Tuesday, citing anonymous military and legal sources. According to a military official who spoke to IStories, efforts are already underway to identify who among the thousands of defendants awaiting trial might…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday announced the arrests of nearly 40 individuals, including teenagers, accused of supporting “Ukrainian terrorist” groups. “Thirty-nine radicals aged 14 to 35, supporters of Ukrainian terrorist organizations banned in Russia, were detained,” the FSB said in a statement. The law enforcement body accused them of “inciting children and adolescents…
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to hold his first phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in nearly two years, the German weekly Die Zeit reported Tuesday, citing anonymous government sources in Berlin. Although not yet officially requested, sources told Die Zeit that the phone call is being considered ahead of the G20 summit in…
Russia’s manufacturing sector contracted in September for the first time in two and a half years, following 28 consecutive months of growth since May 2022, according to a business survey published Tuesday. S&P Global’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Russian manufacturing fell to 49.5 in September, down from 52.1 the month before, when the sector…
Authorities in St. Petersburg forced the cancelation of an annual Holocaust commemoration event scheduled for this weekend, citing Covid-19 restrictions, the Jewish Community Center of St. Petersburg announced on social media. This marks the first official ban on the mourning ceremony in the 32 years since it has been held in the municipality of Pushkin, including during…
A Russian strike on the center of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson killed six people on Tuesday, the regional prosecutor’s office said. Video published by the region’s governor showed debris and broken glass strewn around a market, while several bodies lay on the pavement. “Around 9:00 am… Russian forces struck the center of Kherson,…
Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, has successfully merged with the outdoor advertising firm Russ Group, CEO Tatyana Kim announced Tuesday, following a bitter feud with her co-founder and ex-husband. Wildberries and Russ Group initially revealed plans to merge in June, creating a new digital trading platform called RWB. Reports at the time said Kim and…
Three journalists working for independent Russian media outlets were arrested in Moscow late Monday outside a concert celebrating the Kremlin’s claimed annexation of Ukrainian regions, the human rights watchdog OVD-Info said. The concert marked two years since President Vladimir Putin signed decrees annexing the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, along with the southern Zaporizhzhia…