Russia Says 3 Killed in Crimea Bridge Blast

Russian investigators Saturday said three people were killed after a truck exploded on its bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the mainland, adding that the owner of the vehicle had been identified.  “According to preliminary information, three people were killed,” Russia’s investigative committee said in a statement. It said they were likely to be “passengers of…

Гойда! They Shouted. Say What?

Гойда: let’s go (maim and kill) Last Friday there was a big event on Red Square in Moscow to celebrate (sic) the new Russian regions (sic), i.e., Ukrainian land annexed (on paper) by Russia. One of the headliners was Ivan Okhlobystin, an actor-cum-Orthodox-priest-cum-political-rabblerouser, who got the crowd worked up shouting what he described as старорусское…

St. Petersburg Scraps New Year’s Celebrations to Buy Supplies for Mobilized Soldiers

Authorities in St. Petersburg have called off the city’s official New Year’s and Christmas celebrations and plan to reallocate the funds to the Russian military, the city government announced Friday.  The move comes amid widespread reports of newly mobilized Russian soldiers lacking equipment, uniforms and medical supplies. Russia’s second-largest city will scrap all its traditional…

Charges Dropped in Russia’s First Criminal Draft-Dodging Case

Prosecutors in the southern Russian city of Penza dropped all charges in what would have been the first criminal case for evading Moscow’s “partial” mobilization, human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov said Friday. “The Prosecutor’s Office…recognized the decision to initiate [criminal] proceedings as illegal,” Chikov wrote on his Telegram channel. “The suspect received the right to…

Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian Rights Defenders Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian human rights champions. Russia’s Memorial group, Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties and jailed Belarusian rights activist Ales Bialiatski share this year’s prestigious award. “They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the…

Putin Confronted by Kremlin Insider Over Ukraine, U.S. Intel Reportedly Tells Biden

An unnamed member of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle has directly confronted him over mistakes and mismanagement of the war in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing U.S. intelligence. The insider’s confrontation and identity were reportedly included in U.S. President Joe Biden’s daily intelligence briefing and shared with other U.S. officials. The individual’s identity could…

Moscow Fumes Over ‘Monster’ Zelensky’s Preemptive Strike Calls

Russian officials voiced anger over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks Thursday on preventive strikes that his spokesman later said had been misinterpreted. Zelensky appealed for the international community to “do preemptive strikes” instead of “waiting for Russian nuclear strikes” when asked about NATO’s role in the conflict in an address to an Australian think tank.…

Kremlin-Installed Official in Ukraine Slams Russian Military Leaders Over Mounting Losses

A senior Kremlin-installed official in Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region lashed out at Russian military officials Thursday, a rare example of full-throated criticism from an official as Moscow faces mounting military losses to Kyiv. “Many are saying that the Defense Minister — who allowed things to come to this — should simply shoot himself like…

Russians in Venice: Not Invited, Not Shunned

The Venice Film Festival has always favored Russian cinema. The films of directors Andrei Konchalovsky and Alexander Sokurov were given awards here, and it’s where Andrei Tarkovsky began his international career.  So the absence of Russian filmmakers at the festival this year was noticeable. But their absence probably was not due to a boycott of…

U.S. Suspects Ukraine in Killing of Pro-Kremlin Ideologue’s Daughter – NYT

The United States believes “elements” within the Ukrainian government are responsible for the car bomb assassination of a far-right ideologue’s daughter in Russia, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing a closely held U.S. intelligence assessment. The daring Aug. 20 attack that killed journalist Daria Dugina outside Moscow demonstrated Kyiv’s ability to carry out sabotage…

Mobilized Russian Soldiers Protest Over ‘Animal’ Conditions

Recently mobilized Russian soldiers are decrying “inhumane” conditions, weapons shortages and mistreatment by officers, according to video published by the independent news website The Insider on Wednesday. Footage of new recruits sleeping on the floor, being armed with outdated rifles and ordered to source their own supplies appeared almost immediately after President Vladimir Putin announced…

Russia Claims Front ‘Stabilized’ as Ukraine Pushes on With Counteroffensive

Russian officials sought to allay concerns Wednesday that Ukraine could achieve a major breakthrough in its ongoing counteroffensive amid reports that Kyiv’s forces were advancing in both the south and east of the country.  Russian pro-war blogger Semyon Pegov confirmed Wednesday that Ukraine had recaptured a number of locations in the southern Kherson region, including…

Putin Confident Front Will ‘Stabilize’ Despite Ukrainian Advances

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he believed the situation in the four newly annexed Ukrainian regions would stabilize shortly despite Russian forces’ ongoing losses to Kyiv’s counteroffensive. “We are working on the assumption that the situation in the new territories will stabilize,” Putin said during a televised video call with Russian teachers. Kyiv…

Putin Signs Bill Finalizing Ukraine Land Grab

Russian President Vladimir Putin finalized the annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions Wednesday with laws and decrees signed as his forces’ losses on the battlefield continue to mount. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, as well as the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, are “accepted into the Russian Federation in line with federal…

Team Navalny Says Relaunching Regional Network to Resist War, Mobilization

Associates of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday said they are relaunching his regional political network to fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent “partial” mobilization ordered by President Vladimir Putin.  “It’s time for us to restore our network to fight mobilization and war,” said Ivan Zhdanov, the former director of Navalny’s…

Russia Gives Occupied Ukraine Residents 1 Month to Choose Allegiance

Ukrainians who have fled their country’s occupied regions annexed by Moscow have one month to accept or reject Russian citizenship, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin moved to annex Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south on Friday following widely disputed referendums, incurring new Western sanctions. Russian lawmakers are…

Russia Space Agency Seeking to Extend ISS Participation Past 2024 – Official

Russia’s space agency is discussing with Moscow a continuation of its participation in the International Space Station past 2024, a Roscosmos official said Monday. Sergei Krikalev, head of Russia’s human space flight programs, told reporters that Roscosmos had started “to discuss extending our participation in ISS program with our government and hope to have permission…