Putin Blasts ‘Indiscriminate’ Ukrainian Incursion Into Border Region

anotherLeave a comment

President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Ukraine was carrying out “indiscriminate” attacks on civilians during cross-border incursions into southwestern Russia’s Kursk region that triggered a regionwide state of emergency. “The Kyiv regime has launched another large-scale provocation, firing indiscriminately with various types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, houses and ambulances,” Putin told government…

‘Why Did Our State Allow This?’: Russians in Border Region Slam Officials’ Inaction as Ukrainian Forces Attack

anotherLeave a comment

Residents of Russia’s Kursk region bordering Ukraine are appealing to authorities for help with evacuating and accusing them of taking insufficient action as an apparent attack by Kyiv’s forces continued for a second day. While armed militants from Ukraine have conducted multiple incursions into Russia’s border regions since last year in retaliation to Moscow’s full-scale invasion…

Russian Foreign Ministry Accuses Ukraine of Opening ‘Second Front’ in Africa

anotherLeave a comment

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Wednesday accused Ukraine of opening a “second front” in Africa after Mali and Niger broke off diplomatic relations with Kyiv. “Unable to defeat Russia on the battlefield, the criminal regime of Volodymyr Zelensky has opened a second front in Africa,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the RIA Novosti news agency. Zakharova…

Russian Ex-Defense Ministry Official Arrested on Bribery Charges

anotherLeave a comment

A former Russian military official responsible for overseeing clothing supplies was arrested on bribery charges, law enforcement authorities announced Tuesday. Vladimir Demchik, who holds the rank of colonel in Russia’s reserve forces, oversaw the defense ministry’s clothing department until April 2018. Investigators accuse Demchik of accepting 4 million rubles ($46,700) in bribes from the CEO…

Man Blows Himself Up at Home in Moscow

anotherLeave a comment

A man was killed by an explosion inside his apartment on the west side of Moscow, police said Tuesday, with state media reporting that he was a retired soldier who had shown suicidal tendencies in the past. “A woman found her husband lying dead in the apartment of a residential building,” the Russian Interior Ministry’s…

ROSATOM Started Pilot Commercial Production of New Gen Fuel Cladding

BusinessLeave a comment

Chepetsk Mechanical Plant, Joint-Stock Company (Chepetsk Mechanical Plant, JSC, a company of Rosatom Fuel Division in Glazov, Udmurtia Republic) arranged a pilot floor for commercial production of fuel claddings with chromium coating. This structural material is a possible solution for creating fuel of a new safety generation (ATF – Advanced Technology Fuel). The technology makes…

Ukrainian Drone Strike on Russia’s Belgorod Region Kills 1

anotherLeave a comment

A man was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on southwestern Russia’s Belgorod region, authorities said early Tuesday. Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the attack took place in the village of Novostroyevka-Vtoraya, which lies directly on the border with northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.  “A Ukrainian military drone struck a moving vehicle,” Gladkov said, adding that…

Head of Russian Army’s Theme Park, Major General Arrested on Fraud Charges

anotherLeave a comment

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…

Anti-War Russian Pianist Dies in Custody

MoscowLeave a comment

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…

Police in St. Petersburg Crack Down on Noisy Cars

anotherLeave a comment

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…

Russia’s FSB Says Arrested Recruiters for Syrian Terrorist Network

anotherLeave a comment

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…

Kissel and the Ancient Art of Pudding

MoscowLeave a comment

However strange it seems today, our ancestors described ancient kissel (also spelled kisel in English) as being very different from today’s kissel. First of all, they didn’t drink it—they ate it. It was cooked down to a dense consistency. Hence the “kissel shores” celebrated in Russian fairy tales. Second, kissel was not sweet. Its name…

‘If You Talk, You’ll Go in a Bag’: Freed Russian Political Prisoners Recount Harrowing, Surprising Prison Swap

anotherLeave a comment

Sasha Skochilenko did not know what was happening as she was taken from her St. Petersburg prison cell to Moscow, where men in balaclavas escorted her onto a plane with several other prisoners. “We were accompanied by a dozen people in balaclavas,” said the 33-year-old St. Petersburg artist, who was freed Thursday from a seven-year…

Russian Lawmaker Charged With Ordering Killing of Business Partner

anotherLeave a comment

Law enforcement authorities on Friday arrested a senior Russian lawmaker on accusations that he ordered the murder of his business partner. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said that Senator Dmitry Savelyev “instructed his friend to organize the murder of a businessman” in August 2023. It said law enforcement agents staged that businessman’s murder,…

Lukashenko Says Biden Had ‘Nothing to Do With’ Historic Prisoner Exchange

anotherLeave a comment

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Friday that U.S. President Joe Biden had “nothing to do with” the biggest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Washington and Moscow carried out a historic prisoner swap on Thursday, with Russian authorities releasing American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, former U.S. Marine Paul…

Kamala Harris Calls Russian Opposition Figure Navalnaya After Prisoner Swap

anotherLeave a comment

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris called Russian opposition figurehead Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, to discuss Thursday’s massive Russia-West prisoner exchange, Navalnaya’s spokeswoman said. Harris called her “to discuss the exchange and express her support, noting Alexei and Yulia’s contribution to the fight for a democratic Russia,” the spokeswoman, Kira…

Russia Frees Political Prisoners, Journalists in Landmark Exchange With West

anotherLeave a comment

U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Russian-British opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza and U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were freed from Russian prison, the White House said Thursday, in the largest and most complex prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. The four were released in a swap involving over…

What We Know About the Prisoner Exchange Between Russia and the West

anotherLeave a comment

A historic prisoner swap is underway between Russia and the West, leading Western media reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the situation.  ​​U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Russian-U.K. opposition figure and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza and Russian-U.S. journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were freed in the exchange at an airport in Ankara, Turkey, The…

YouTube Users Across Russia Report Sharp Decline in Loading Speeds

anotherLeave a comment

Users across Russia started experiencing sharp declines in YouTube loading speeds on Thursday, according to online monitoring platforms, coming after Russian authorities criticized the video streaming website for failing to restore pro-Kremlin channels. Online platforms Downdetector, Brand Analytics, and Sboi.rf noted spikes in YouTube outages in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major Russian cities and…