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Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had captured four more villages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region as thousands of residents were evacuated amid Moscow’s surprise ground offensive. The ministry said its forces had “advanced deeply into the enemy defenses” and taken villages including Gatishche, Krasnoye, Morokhovets, and Oleinikovo. Ukraine’s military, meanwhile, said it was…

At least 17 people were injured after a Ukrainian missile struck a residential building in the western Russian city of Belgorod, Russian authorities said Sunday. Russia’s Defense Ministry said a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile hit a “residential district” in the city after it was intercepted by air defense systems.  It was not immediately possible to verify…

Thousands of protesters marched through central Tbilisi on Saturday at a rally against a controversial “foreign influence” bill backed by the Georgian government and likened to Russian laws silencing dissent. Massive rallies have gripped the Black Sea Caucasus country for almost a month after the ruling Georgian Dream party revived the bill dropped last year…

Russia on Saturday said it had captured five villages in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region during a surprise ground offensive that prompted mass evacuations, as President Volodymyr Zelensky made an urgent call for military aid. Moscow’s Defense Ministry said its troops had “liberated” five villages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region near the Russian border — Borysivka, Ohirtseve,…

Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas near the Russian border in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the regional governor said Saturday, a day after Moscow launched a surprise ground offensive. Russian forces made small advances in the area it was pushed back from nearly two years ago, the latest in a series of gains as Ukrainian…

Law enforcement authorities in the South Caucasus nation of Georgia have arrested a Russian man who attended recent protests against a controversial “foreign influence” bill, local media reported Friday. Members of the Russian diaspora have joined tens of thousands of Georgians in Tbilisi since April to rally against what has been described as a copycat of…

Updated with new death toll. At least seven people have died and six injured after a passenger bus plunged into a river in central St. Petersburg, Russia’s Investigative Committee said Friday. St. Petersburg police said around 20 passengers were on board the bus when it fell off a bridge into the Moika River at around…

Russian forces launched a surprise ground offensive into Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region on Friday, as Ukrainian authorities told civilians along border areas to flee amid heavy fighting. “Russia launched a new wave of counteroffensive actions… Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades, and artillery,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a briefing. “Now there…

Russia has launched a cross-border ground offensive into Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and a high-ranking Ukrainian military source said Friday. Kyiv’s forces pushed back Russian forces from most of the Kharkiv region in 2022, the same year the Kremlin launched its so-called “special military operation.” But Moscow appears to be back on…

President Vladimir Putin has nominated acting Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin for reappointment, with Russian lawmakers widely expected to approve his candidacy later on Friday, an apparent signal of continuity as Moscow presses on with its full-scale war against Ukraine. Mishustin, a low-profile technocrat who has steered Russia’s economy through a storm of Western sanctions and…

Updated with voting results. Russian lawmakers on Friday approved President Vladimir Putin’s nomination of Mikhail Mishustin to return as prime minister, a sign that the Kremlin is banking on continuity and stability as it presses ahead with its full-scale war against Ukraine. Mishustin, a low-profile technocrat who has steered Russia’s economy through a storm of Western sanctions and…

A Ukrainian drone struck an oil refinery in central Russia’s Kaluga region, local authorities said Friday, as a recent uptick in attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure possibly risks destabilizing global energy markets. The Kaluga region, located south of Moscow, was among at least five Russian regions that reported drone strikes between Thursday night and Friday…

SEVASTOPOL — At a cemetery on the outskirts of Sevastopol, annexed Crimea’s main port city, hundreds of Russian flags fluttered in the wind beside the graves of soldiers killed in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.   Walking among the graves were Olga, 65, with her husband Vladimir, 73. The retired couple came to visit the cemetery on…

MOSCOW — Thousands of Muscovites flocked the streets of the Russian capital on Thursday to commemorate Victory Day, an annual celebration marking the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II. Many came out to watch the traditional military parade — a showcase of army vehicles and thousands of marching troops dressed in…

Russia has agreed to remove some of its troops and border guards from Armenia, the Kremlin said on Thursday, after months of spiraling tensions between the two ex-Soviet allies. Yerevan, a traditional partner of Moscow, has publicly distanced itself recently, angry that Russian peacekeeping forces did not intervene during last year’s Azerbaijani offensive to retake…

A drone has attacked an oil refinery in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan, regional authorities said Thursday, the first such reported case in the region since Moscow invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. “A drone attacked the industrial zone of Salavat city at around 13:00 today, after which there was smoke at one of the…

Ukrainian attacks in and around the western Russian city of Belgorod have injured at least eight people, Russian authorities said Thursday, as the country marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. “The city of Belgorod and the Belgorod district came under an air attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. There were direct…

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a defiant speech Thursday slamming Ukraine and its Western allies over their alleged attempts to “distort” history and stoke regional conflicts as he attended a military parade on Red Square to mark Victory Day.  “Today we see how they’re trying to distort the truth about WWII. It interferes with those…

A court in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region has ruled to hand over the assets of pasta manufacturer Makfa Group to the Russian state, the business news website RBC reported Wednesday. Makfa’s seizure is the latest in what has been described as the Kremlin’s creeping drive of forced nationalizations since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which saw…

Estonia on Wednesday summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires over alleged GPS interference around its airspace, claiming that recent disruptions to civilian air traffic were “hybrid activity” orchestrated by Moscow. Estonia and fellow Baltic states Latvia and Lithuania warned last month that widespread Russian GPS jamming was increasing the threat of an aviation accident occurring in their…

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov has been accused of accepting a bribe “in the form of services” valued at more than 1 billion rubles ($12.2 million), Russian media reported Wednesday. Ivanov, 48, faces up to 15 years in prison for large-scale bribe-taking, which investigators say centers around a “criminal conspiracy” to accept funds “in the form…

The death toll from a Ukrainian drone strike on western Russia’s Belgorod region earlier this week has risen to eight people, Russian authorities said Wednesday. In one of the deadliest recent attacks inside Russia, six people were killed Monday when drones struck two vans and a car near the village of Berezovka, around 7 kilometers…

The British government announced Wednesday that it plans to expel a Russian Defense attache over suspicions that he is “an undeclared military intelligence officer.” Home Secretary James Cleverly told parliament the U.K. would also remove the diplomatic status of several Russian-owned properties, including one in Sussex, southern England, and another in London, which he says…

Indian authorities have arrested four people accused of “trafficking” citizens of the country to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine. At least two Indian soldiers have been killed in Moscow’s war on Ukraine, with several recruits previously telling AFP they were shipped to the front lines under false pretenses. A statement published by India’s…

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that its forces had captured two more frontline villages in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has made a string of territorial gains in recent months, taking advantage of its manpower and weapons advantage on the battlefield as Kyiv awaits critical military aid from the United States. Russia said its troops had “liberated…

Moscow’s city assembly voted Wednesday to unseat an exiled anti-war deputy whom the Russian authorities designated as a “foreign agent.” Yevgeny Stupin, who was elected into the Moscow City Duma as a Communist Party member in 2019, was among the signatories of a letter titled “Communists and Socialists Against Fratricidal War” that condemned Russia’s full-scale…

Ukraine on Wednesday warned of possible nationwide power shutdowns after a “massive” wave of Russian missiles and drones targeted the country’s already battered energy system. While Ukrainian troops struggle to hold the front line more than two years into the war, Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, triggering blackouts and electricity rationing across…

A Russian army deserter has been detained in Poland after crossing the border from Belarus, the Polish border guard announced Wednesday. “The Border Guard confirms the detention of a deserter from Russia. He is a 41-year-old man who illegally crossed the border from Belarus to Poland,” the state agency wrote on X (formerly Twitter).  “Further…

Lithuania is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine despite Russia’s nuclear threats, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in an interview with the Financial Times published Wednesday. Her comments follow the Russian Defense Ministry’s announcement that its forces were preparing to conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises in response to Western…

Moscow on Tuesday designated the U.S.-funded rights group Freedom House as an “undesirable organization,” effectively banning anyone from working for or having links with the group. Russia’s Prosecutor General said in a statement that Freedom House had called for “comprehensive assistance for Ukraine to defeat Russia” and had “discredited” the Russian army. “The organization provides…

A Moscow court has placed journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova in pre-trial detention for two months on charges of “justifying terrorism” over posts she made on social, the Russian capital’s court system announced Tuesday. Kevorkova, 65, is a Russian war correspondent, author, and filmmaker who has written about the Middle East and Russia’s North Caucasus for both independent…

Georgia’s controversial “foreign influence” bill has sharply divided Georgian politics and stirred accusations that the ruling coalition seeks to draw the country closer to Russia, as the draft law’s critics argue that it is a facsimile of repressive legislation adopted by Moscow more than a decade ago. In Russia, officials are observing from the sidelines…

A Russian court has sentenced the wife of exiled journalist Kirill Martynov to nine years in prison for the attempted murder of her daughter almost two decades ago, Russian media reported Tuesday. Antonina Martynova, whose maiden name is Fyodorova, had evaded criminal punishment for 16 years after a Russian jury in 2008 found her guilty…

Belarus said Tuesday it had started a surprise inspection of its non-strategic nuclear weapon carriers on the orders of President Alexander Lukashenko. The announcement comes a day after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear drills in Russia, raising fears that the powerful weapons could be used in Ukraine. Non-strategic nuclear weapons, also known as…

Authorities in Kyiv announced Tuesday that they detained two Ukrainian security officials involved in a plot coordinated by Russia to assassinate senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement that it had exposed a network of agents run by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), whose aim was…

Armenia could ban Russian television broadcasts if Moscow continues ignoring Yerevan’s requests for more balanced coverage, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday. “We expect the broadcasts of Russian TV channels to respect the citizens and the state system of Armenia,” Pashinyan said during a marathon press conference, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. “We…

Vladimir Putin was sworn in as President of Russia for a fifth on Tuesday, setting the stage for another six years in power as he leads the country in its devastating war against neighboring Ukraine. After Putin took the oath of office, led by Constitutional Court head Valery Zorkin, he was officially sworn in as…

Ukraine said Tuesday that one person was killed by Russian artillery fire in the northeastern Sumy region. Sumy and the neighboring region of Kharkiv, where the country’s second-largest city is located, have come under increasing aerial bombardments in recent weeks. “As a result of an enemy attack, one civilian was killed and four were wounded,…

A regional minister has been detained on suspicion of soliciting 5 million rubles ($55,000) as a bribe in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan, investigators said Tuesday. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, did not identify the official by name, saying only that he is a 47-year-old ex-transportation minister. But Bashkortostan Governor Radiy Khabirov identified the…

Updated with White House comments. Russia said Tuesday that it will hold an American soldier who was detained in the Far East over the weekend in custody until early July on theft charges. The U.S. Army said the soldier, identified by a Russian court in the city of Vladivostok as Gordon Black, had been detained…

Authorities in Russia’s Irkutsk region declared a state of emergency on Monday after a fast-spreading fire fueled by strong winds and dry weather ripped through villages, destroying homes and injuring at least one person. A woman was hospitalized and in critical condition after she suffered burn wounds in the Bratsk district, Irkutsk region Governor Igor…

Russian law enforcement authorities have charged journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova with “justifying terrorism” over posts she made on social media, her lawyer said Monday. Kevorkova, 65, is a Russian war correspondent, author, and filmmaker who has written about the Middle East and Russia’s North Caucasus for both the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the Kremlin-funded broadcaster…

Moscow said Monday that its forces had captured two more frontline villages in eastern Ukraine, including one in the northeast Kharkiv region, where Kyiv managed to repel Russian troops at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its soldiers “liberated the village of Kotlyarivka in the Kharkiv region” and “the village of…

Germany has temporarily recalled its ambassador to Russia after members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s political party were targeted in what Berlin said was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack, the German Foreign Ministry said Monday. A newly concluded government investigation revealed that the cyberattack targeting members of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) had been carried out by…

Russian lawmakers on Monday passed a bill that bans “foreign agents” from running for any political office in the country, the latest in a series of tightening restrictions against those whom the Kremlin accuses of working in the interests of Western governments. Hundreds of cultural figures, journalists, businesspeople, as well as news outlets and organizations, have been…

A Russian man accused of trying to blow up two court buildings on behalf of Ukraine has been detained and charged with terrorism, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday. The man, described as being in his mid-forties, was found “placing unknown objects in construction waste” near a railway station in the central city of…

The South Caucasus nation of Georgia has for weeks been gripped by mass protests against a controversial “foreign influence” bill that critics say resembles legislation in Russia used to crack down on independent media and the opposition. Introduced into parliament last month by the country’s ruling Georgian Dream coalition, the bill would force organizations receiving…

Russian shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure led to widespread power outages overnight in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Monday. Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities in recent months, knocking out a significant chunk of production, and triggering blackouts and energy rationing across the country. “The enemy shelled energy…

Updated with Peskov’s remarks. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Monday that its forces were preparing to conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises in response to Western “threats and provocations.” “At the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat…

A Ukrainian drone strike in Western Russia’s Belgorod region has killed at least six people and wounded 35 others, Russian authorities said Monday, marking one of the deadliest attacks inside Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion over two years ago. Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said several drones struck a car and two vans carrying…

Russia said Sunday its armed forces had seized the village of Ocheretyne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the latest in a string of small territorial gains for Moscow. After capturing the nearby industrial hub of Avdiivka in February, Russia has pressed its manpower and weapons advantage on the battlefield, advancing several kilometers deeper into Ukraine…

New Russian military advisers and military equipment have arrived in Niger, according to state television in the African country that wants U.S. forces to leave. A first set of about 100 Russian advisers had arrived in Niger on April 10 along with air defense systems. Two military transporters arrived Saturday, according to Tele Sahel that…

A Russian rocket strike on Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region killed two people and a drone attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv injured at least six, officials said Sunday. The overnight attacks came as Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Russia celebrated Easter. “In Pokrovsk, rocket attacks killed two people and damaged a house,” Vadim Filashkin,…

Russia has added Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to its list of wanted criminals, a government database showed on Saturday. Zelensky appeared in the Russian Interior Ministry’s “wanted” list, an online database of alleged criminals sought by the authorities. It stated that the Ukrainian leader was wanted “under an article of the criminal code,” without providing…