Russia Says Ukraine Struck Shopping Mall in Occupied Donetsk

A crowded shopping mall in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Donetsk caught fire after alleged Ukrainian shelling on Friday. Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-appointed governor of the Donetsk region, accused Ukrainian forces of wounding at least seven civilians in “targeted massive strikes” on southwestern Donetsk. He said the attacks damaged a local hospital and burned the Galaktika shopping…

Belarus Warns of Ukrainian Border ‘Provocations’ Amid Kursk Offensive

Belarus again claimed that Ukraine is planning “armed provocations” with continued troop movements along their shared border, state media reported Friday. Kyiv previously claimed Minsk, Russia’s close ally, was playing up tensions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border to divert attention from Ukraine’s incursion into Russian territory. “Given the presence of Ukrainian armed formations in the border areas,…

Major Power Outage Hits Far East Russia

At least two regions in Russia’s Far East faced blackouts on Friday after authorities held previously scheduled regionwide power outage drills. People reported being stuck in traffic, at shopping malls and inside elevators in the regions of Khabarovsk and Primorye, where the city of Vladivostok is located. Earlier, the Primorye region’s Energy Ministry announced that it…

Ukraine Says in Talks With Russia to Exchange Kursk Prisoners

Russia and Ukraine have entered negotiations to exchange prisoners captured during Kyiv’s unprecedented incursion into southwestern Russia’s Kursk region, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner said Wednesday. “There was a proactive conversation [with Russian human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova],” ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets told Ukrainian television in a segment he posted on his Telegram channel, voicing hopes that the…

UN Asks Moscow for Access to Embroiled Border Regions

The United Nations Human Rights Office said Thursday that it has asked authorities in Moscow to allow its representatives to visit Russian regions impacted by cross-border attacks from Ukrainian forces. “I can confirm that the UN Human Rights Office has sent a request to the Russian authorities,” Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the department, said in…

Russian Food Suppliers Warn of Price Hikes Up to 40%

Suppliers of bread, dairy, chocolate and beer in Russia have informed retailers of impending price increases of up to 40% over the next month, the business daily Kommersant reported Thursday, citing price-increase notices from at least 13 companies. The price hikes, slated for August and September, are being attributed to a combination of high inflation…

Belgorod Region Declares State of Emergency Amid Ukrainian Shelling

Authorities in the Belgorod region declared a regionwide state of emergency on Wednesday, saying the situation was “extremely difficult” amid shelling attacks and Ukraine’s assault on the neighbouring Kursk region. “The situation in our Belgorod region remains extremely difficult and tense due to shellings from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Houses are destroyed, civilians died and…

Putin Calls for ‘Full-Fledged’ State of Palestine in Talks With Abbas

Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his calls for Palestinian statehood in a meeting with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday. “We believe that in order to ensure lasting, reliable and stable peace in the region, it’s necessary to… create a full-fledged Palestinian state,” Putin told Abbas at the presidential residence outside Moscow. He also expressed “great…

Putin Appoints Ex-Bodyguard Dyumin to Oversee Defense of Kursk Region, Lawmaker Says

President Vladimir Putin appointed his aide and former bodyguard Alexei Dyumin to oversee Russia’s military response to the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region, a federal lawmaker said Tuesday, an apparent confirmation of rumors circulated earlier by Russian military bloggers. “Indeed, Alexei Gennadyevich Dyumin was summoned yesterday and tasked with supervising the counterterrorist operation,” State…

Kadyrov’s Troops Draw Pro-War Bloggers’ Ire for Kursk Border Defense Failures

Chechen special service units deployed to Russia’s border region of Kursk to repel the Ukrainian incursion are coming under strong criticism from pro-war military bloggers who accuse Ramzan Kadyrov’s men of insubordination, desertion and collaboration with the Ukrainian army.  Kyiv’s daring assault entered its second week on Tuesday with Ukraine claiming control of approximately 1,000…

Russia Revokes American Express Bank License

Russia’s Central Bank revoked the banking license of American Express Bank on Tuesday following the lender’s decision to self-liquidate in the country. American Express suspended its operations in Russia and was one of three U.S. credit card giants that blocked Russian banks from their payment networks in response to Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “The…

Devastated By Russian Strike, Kyiv’s Largest Children’s Hospital Starts Long Road to Reconstruction

KYIV — Before it was ripped apart by a Russian missile strike last month, the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital treated about 700 patients daily.  Today, Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital operates at roughly 60% capacity. One month after the devastating strike that killed at least 42 people, including five children, global headlines have moved on. Yet for…

Vandals Splatter Paint on Lithuanian Embassy in Moscow

A group of unidentified vandals splattered red paint on the entrance doors of Lithuania’s embassy in Moscow, the Baltic country’s foreign ministry said Monday. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said it lodged a formal protest to Russian Embassy Counsellor Andrei Gasiuk following the incident. Videos shared by media outlets showed several red handprints on the Lithuanian…

Russia’s FSB Says Captured Ukrainian Soldier in Kursk Region

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday that it captured a Ukrainian soldier who claimed his commanders had issued shoot-to-kill orders during the assault on Russia’s Kursk region. According to the FSB, the captured soldier, identified as a member of Ukraine’s 80th Air Assault Brigade, said during an interrogation that Ukrainian soldiers were instructed to…

Russian Defense Minister Says Robots, AI Key to Defeating West

Russia’s Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said Monday that developing artificial intelligence, robots and drones is crucial for ensuring Moscow’s victory in its ongoing confrontation with the West. Referring to the invasion of Ukraine as an “armed confrontation between Russia and the collective West,” Belousov outlined four “simultaneous conditions for success in modern military conflicts.” In…

Russia Jails Head of Uzbek Diaspora Group Over Meme

A Russian court sentenced the head of an Uzbek diaspora group to four years in prison for “inciting hatred” after he earlier posted a meme spoofing the country’s rising inflation and mobilization for the war in Ukraine, media reported Monday.  Usman Baratov, a naturalized Russian citizen who heads an Uzbek diaspora association called Vatandosh, was…

Russia Evacuates More Border Areas Amid Ukrainian Advances

Authorities in Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions on Monday ordered the evacuation of areas near the border with Ukraine as Kyiv’s forces made apparent advances deeper into Russian territory as part of their ongoing offensive. Overall, emergency authorities say more than 76,000 people have been temporarily relocated to safe places in the Kursk region since…

Father and Son Killed in Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv

A man and his four-year-old son were killed in an overnight Russian missile attack near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the emergency service said Sunday. Explosions rang out Saturday night in the center and east of Kyiv, AFP journalists noted, as Ukraine’s air force said two Russian missiles targeted the city. Air raid sirens sounded in…

Russia Evacuates Tens of Thousands Amid Ukraine Incursion

Struggling to put down a major Ukrainian incursion for a fifth day, Russia on Saturday said it had evacuated tens of thousands of people from its border region, launched a “counter-terror operation” and warned that the fighting was endangering a nuclear power plant. Ukrainian units stormed into Russia’s western Kursk region on Tuesday morning in…

A telephone conversation took place between ROSATOM General Director Alexei Likhachev and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi

On the evening of August 9, 2024, a telephone conversation took place between Alexei Likhachev, General Director of the ROSATOM, and Rafael Grossi, IAEA Director General. The conversation was organized at the initiative of the Russian side. The key topic of the consultations was the situation with the Kursk NPP. During the conversation Alexei Likhachev…

Dangerous Mushrooms and the Power of Vodka

Here’s a strange bit of trivia: mushrooms are almost never mentioned in Old Russian chronicles and sources. Does that mean no one ate them? No, on the contrary, it was so common to gather, dry and cook mushrooms that no one thought of writing about it. But mushrooms highlight the differences in the diet of…