Some 300 residents of the western Russian city of Belgorod have been evacuated following a recent wave of Ukrainian strikes, authorities said Monday. “Around 300 Belgorod residents, who decided to evacuate temporarily, are currently being housed in temporary shelter centers in Stary Oskol, Gubkin and the Korochansky district,” Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in…
Russian authorities said Saturday that they would cancel Orthodox Christmas midnight masses in the city of Belgorod, a day after some residents were offered to relocate to safety following an unprecedented wave of rocket attacks. Western Russia’s Belgorod and its capital city have been hit with near-daily Ukrainian attacks over the past week, the deadliest…
One of the most important Slavic folk holidays is Святки (holy days) which in the West are called the “twelve days of Christmas.” In Russian these days are said to stretch “from the star to the water,” that is, from the appearance of the first star on Christmas Eve to baptism on Epiphany. This is…
Russia on Saturday said its military shot down four Ukrainian missiles over annexed Crimea overnight. The attack came a day after Moscow said it repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea, downing 36 of the unmanned craft over the peninsula. “Air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed four Ukrainian missiles over the Crimea peninsula,” the…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has offered to release Ukrainian prisoners of war in exchange for lifting U.S. sanctions against his family members, Russian state media reported Friday. Kadyrov said he had provided a list of Ukrainian captives to American writer Scott Ritter, a former U.S. intelligence officer and regular contributor at Russian government-owned media outlets. …
Authorities in western Russia’s Belgorod region on Friday offered to move some residents from its capital city to safety following intense shelling by Ukrainian forces over the past week. The announcement came a day after rocket attacks wounded at least two people and knocked out glass from high-rise buildings, sparking panic among residents. “I see…
Nepal has stopped issuing permits for its citizens to work in Russia and Ukraine following the deaths of Nepalis who have gone to fight in the war, Reuters reported Friday, citing a government official. The Nepali government issues work permits to its citizens for civilian jobs abroad. More than 800 Nepalis were issued permits for…
Residents of a Moscow region town impacted by power outages have taken to the streets, demanding that local authorities restore heat to their homes as subzero temperatures grip the region, Russian media reported Friday. At least 21,000 people had power knocked out in their homes on Thursday morning in the town of Podolsk when a…
Russia confirmed Friday it had blocked the UN’s nuclear watchdog from accessing parts of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant, but said the restrictions were for safety reasons. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been on the ground monitoring the plant since September 2022, six months after it was captured by Russian forces. Responding…
The Russian city of Belgorod was targeted by another round of Ukrainian shelling late Thursday, officials said, hours after some schools in the region were ordered to extend their winter breaks due to the risk of further attacks. At least two people were injured in the latest shelling, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, as channels…
North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine, the White House said Thursday. The Pyongyang-supplied missiles, with ranges of around 900 kilometers, were fired by Russia in two attacks over the past week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “Our information indicates that…
The Estonian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Russia plans to close a key border checkpoint to road traffic for two years, citing renovation works as the reason behind the move. Authorities in Tallinn said they had received an official note from Russia saying the Narva-Ivangorod crossing would close on Feb. 1. “According to the note,…
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence said Thursday it had destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber deep inside Russian territory. Video published on the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine’s YouTube channel showed an unidentified person setting fire to the warplane while giving a “sign of the horns” hand gesture. The video was said to have been shot at…
President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree simplifying the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for foreigners who join the Russian army, according to a document published by the government Thursday. “Foreign citizens who signed a [one-year] contract with the Russian Armed Forces or military formations or who are undergoing military service during the special military…
Russian hackers infiltrated Ukraine’s main mobile operator Kyivstar months before launching a “disastrous” cyberattack that disrupted services for some 24 million users, Reuters reported Thursday, citing Ukraine’s cybersecurity chief. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has said it suspects Russia’s secret service was behind the Dec. 12 Kyivstar attack that paralyzed its network for days.…
Ukraine and Russia said late Wednesday they had exchanged over two hundred captive soldiers each in what Kyiv has described as the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far. The two warring sides have carried out dozens of exchanges since Moscow launched its February 2022 invasion, but the swaps have become less frequent and…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has called for the prosecution of wanted fugitives’ family members, according to the opposition group 1Adat, remarks he made during a meeting with officials on New Year’s Eve. Kadyrov said he had instructed Chechnya’s law enforcement agencies to maintain “extreme vigilance” during the holidays, which in Russia take place on Jan.…
Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into “war fakes” against the head of a Kazakh diaspora in Moscow, the independent news outlet Vyorstka reported Wednesday, citing an undisclosed report by Russia’s Investigative Committee. Polat Dzhamalov, who heads an NGO called Moscow Foundation “Kazakh Diaspora,” is accused of sharing a senior Russian official’s alleged estimate of Russian…
The European Union on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia’s state-run diamond giant Alrosa and its CEO as part of a ban on imports of the precious stones over the Ukraine war. The EU in December agreed to prohibit diamonds exported from Russia as it tightens sanctions to further sap the Kremlin’s coffers. The 27-nation bloc…
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it downed 12 Ukrainian missiles in the western Belgorod region, which in recent days has been the target of multiple rocket attacks that have left dozens of people dead. “This morning, another attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on structures on the territory of the…
One in two decrees signed by President Vladimir Putin in 2023 was classified, the independent news website Mediazona reported Tuesday, marking a new annual record for the number of “secret” decrees made during the Russian leader’s time in power. Presidential decrees in Russia are numbered sequentially at the start of each year, and Mediazona said it…
One person was killed and seven others were injured in Ukrainian rocket attacks on western Russia’s Belgorod region, local authorities said Tuesday. The air strikes, which prompted Russian authorities to issue three separate alerts on Tuesday, came just hours after Russia launched a deadly wave of attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv. Belgorod…
A Russian warplane on Tuesday made an “emergency release” of its explosive payload over a village in western Russia’s Voronezh region, military and civilian authorities said. “At around 9:00 a.m. on January 2, while an Air Force plane was flying over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh Region, there was an emergency release of…
Russia on Tuesday rained missiles across Ukraine, killing four people and injuring dozens, while 250,000 people in Kyiv were left without power in near-freezing temperatures. The attacks came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his army would intensify strikes in response to Ukrainian shelling of the city of Belgorod. “One wounded elderly woman…
Police in St. Petersburg detained some 3,000 migrant workers during New Year’s Eve celebrations, the local news website Fontanka reported Monday, citing anonymous sources. More than 600 of those detained had allegedly broken Russia’s immigration laws, Fontanka said, with over 100 people expected to be deported from the country. Police carried out Sunday night’s mass round-up of…
President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia will “intensify” strikes against Ukraine after a deadly attack on the Russian city of Belgorod over the weekend left at least two dozen people dead and more than 100 injured. Saturday’s attack on Belgorod came after Moscow’s large-scale air assault on cities across Ukraine the day before, killing…
A tsunami warning has been issued in Far East Russia after a series of powerful earthquakes struck Japan on Monday, authorities in multiple Russian regions announced. In the Primorye region city of Vladivostok, located on the coast of the Sea of Japan, authorities said they expect waves to reach 30 centimeters by Monday evening and…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to wreak “wrath” against Russian forces in 2024, hours before Ukraine saw attacks on the first day of the new year. Russia and Ukraine have seen an escalation in strikes in recent days, including unprecedented strikes on the Russian city of Belgorod that killed 24 people on Saturday. The attack…