The rebranded Russian successor of the Starbucks coffee shop chain has opened with a localized logo, the latest rebranding of a Western franchise that had left the country over its invasion of Ukraine. Starbucks, which employed 2,000 people across its 130 stores in Russia, suspended work and deliveries into Russia on March 10. The Seattle-based…
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to attend the Group of 20 summit in Bali this November, Indonesian President Joko Widodo confirmed for the first time Thursday. “[Chinese leader] Xi Jinping will come. President Putin has also told me he will come,” Widodo told Bloomberg following phone talks with the Russian leader. The Kremlin said earlier…
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Thursday of a nuclear disaster in Ukraine during his first face-to-face talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia’s invasion began, echoing pleas from the UN’s chief. A flare-up in fighting around Europe’s largest nuclear facility in Russian-controlled southern Ukraine has sparked urgent warnings from world leaders, and UN chief Antonio…
Two Russian villages were evacuated on Thursday after a fire broke out at an ammunition depot near the border with Ukraine, local authorities said. The blaze comes days after explosions at a military base and munitions depot in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow, which Russia called an act of “sabotage” by Kyiv. “An ammunition depot…
A significant Ukrainian offensive to recapture Russian-occupied territories in its southern regions is seen as increasingly unlikely by experts as Moscow moves reinforcements to the area and Kyiv re-focuses on targeting Russian military capacity in the rear. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly threatened an imminent attempt to recapture the city of Kherson, which was seized by…
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday hailed a visit to his war-ravaged country from Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Russian strikes battered the eastern region of Kharkiv, leaving several dead and dozens injured. In a separate meeting with UN chief Antonio Guterres, Zelensky called on the UN to ensure security at the Zaporizhzhia power…
Russia on Thursday relocated three warplanes equipped with hypersonic missiles to its exclave of Kaliningrad on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Wedged between EU and NATO members Lithuania and Poland that have firmly backed Ukraine in the conflict with Moscow, the heavily militarized region of Kaliningrad does not share a land border with Russia. …
Moscow has been blanketed by wildfire smog coming from a nearby region fueled by a summer heat wave, Interfax reported. Authorities in the Russian capital advised residents on Thursday to wear face masks to protect themselves from the smog. The Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz) blamed authorities in the Ryazan region, where the wildfires are currently burning,…
Major European governments promised no new military aid to Ukraine in July, the first month this has happened since Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbor, according to research published Thursday. Ukraine, which relies heavily on Europe’s military and economic aid, received only around 1.5 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in new pledges of support in July, bringing the total…
The United States and its Western allies are seeking to label Russian diamonds “conflict diamonds” over the world’s largest supplier’s nearly six-month invasion of Ukraine. Russia produces about one-third of the world’s diamonds. The U.S., the largest importer of Russian diamonds, estimates that Russia exported more than $4.5 billion worth of diamonds in 2021. “Proceeds…
The European Union’s imports of Russian goods have grown in monetary terms despite declining in volume this year due to higher prices for commodities including oil. Critics have decried continued EU imports of Russian fossil fuels since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February, accusing the bloc of funding the Kremlin’s offensive. EU imports from Russia rose by…
A spacewalk by two Russians on Wednesday was ended abruptly due to a problem with the battery in cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev’s suit, though at no point was he in any danger, the U.S. and Russian space agencies said. “Oleg, you must return to the airlock as soon as possible,” the Earth-based Russian mission controllers ordered,…
A new commander has been appointed to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, state news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday citing military sources. If confirmed, the removal of Igor Osipov and the elevation of Viktor Sokolov would be one of the most major Russian military reshuffles since the invasion of Ukraine began in late February. The…
Up to half of Russia’s country’s air traffic control staff are currently on temporary leave or have been dismissed as the country’s aviation industry contracts amid the war in Ukraine and international sanctions, Vedomosti newspaper reported Wednesday. The State Air Traffic Management Corporation has laid off 2,000 employees including 600 air traffic controllers since the…
Russia opened its ARMY-2022 international military exhibition at a military park outside Moscow this week, aiming to showcase its defense prowess to foreign arms buyers. The annual expo comes nearly six months since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has been beset by a number of setbacks. Despite the lagging successes in Ukraine,…
Estonia has barred entry to a group of Ukrainians entering from Russia who apparently fled the destroyed port city of Mariupol, according to volunteers who help refugees escape war-torn Ukraine. “Been in Russia too long,” volunteer Svetlana Vodolazskaya quoted Estonian border guards as saying to a Ukrainian family that was refused entry to the Baltic…
Russia saw a 38% fall in smartphone imports in the first half of this year amid the exit of major brands over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday citing research by GS Group. The drop was particularly pronounced for cheaper smartphones with a 56% fall in shipments for devices worth under…
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday called for systematic punitive measures against Russian oligarchs supporting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his military operation in Ukraine. In a lengthy social media post, he said that Western sanctions — by the United States, European Union or the United Kingdom — have only targeted 46 of the…
Russians are racing to try and obtain European visas as some countries impose travel restrictions and fears grow that the European Union could ban Russian tourists from the bloc in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The number of applications for Schengen visas — which give access to most EU countries — submitted by Russians…
A robotic dog equipped with an anti-tank rocket launcher mounted on its back quickly went viral after it was unveiled at Russia’s annual Army-2022 international arms expo Monday. Just as quickly, investigative outlets found the futuristic device to bear a striking resemblance to a consumer-grade robotic dog available on Chinese online marketplaces. Dubbed “M-81 complex,”…
Estonia on Tuesday removed a Soviet-era World War II memorial from Narva — a city with a large Russian-speaking minority — accusing Russia of using such monuments to stir up tensions. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in a statement that the move was a response to “increasing tensions and confusion around memorials in Narva.” “We…
A court in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan on Tuesday fined a veteran rock star over an anti-war speech he made onstage at a concert earlier this year. Yury Shevchuk, the legendary frontman of rock band DDT, spoke out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the band’s concert in his native city of Ufa in May. …
Russia said Tuesday that massive explosions at a military facility on the Kremlin-controlled Crimean peninsula in Ukraine that also damaged electrical power infrastructure were the result of “sabotage.” Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile said the United States was trying to drag out the conflict, accusing Washington of putting Ukrainians in the firing line and supplying…
Russia has no military need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday. “From a military point of view, there is no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve the set goals,” Shoigu said at an international security conference in Moscow. He slammed media speculation that Russia could potentially…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has revived the Soviet-era award of “Mother Heroine” as the country grapples with a demographic crisis fueled by plunging birth rates. Putin signed a decree Monday reviving the honorary title “Mother Heroine,” which Soviet leader Josef Stalin first established in 1944 in the wake of massive population losses during World War…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the West of seeking to prolong the war in Ukraine and impose a unipolar world order that prevents nations from “choosing their own path.” “More and more states and nations choose [to pursue] their own path of free, sovereign development…These processes are opposed by Western globalist elites [that]…
Five Europeans captured in eastern Ukraine went on trial Monday in a court administered by Kremlin-backed separatists in the city of Donetsk, Russian media reported. The five — Mathias Gustafsson of Sweden, Vjekoslav Prebeg of Croatia, and Britons John Harding, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy — all pleaded not guilty to charges of being mercenaries,…
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Monday he had been placed in a punishment cell following his efforts to create a labor union in jail. Navalny is serving a nine-year prison sentence in a strict regime penal colony near the Russian town of Vladimir on embezzlement charges that he and his allies say are politically…
President Vladimir Putin on Monday promoted Russian weapons to his foreign allies, saying they had all been tested on the field of battle. “We are ready to offer allies and partners the most modern types of weapons — from small arms to armored vehicles and artillery, combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles,” Putin said in…
Russian investigative news outlet iStories has published an apparent war crimes confession from a soldier stationed on the outskirts of Kyiv during the early weeks of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. iStories’ reporters identified four Russian servicemen suspected of robberies, looting and murder of civilians in the village of Andriivka by using photos the soldiers…
Military activity near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine has caused increasing concern in recent days as cases of shelling rise and experts warn that the risks of a serious nuclear incident are very real. “Any attack to nuclear plants is… suicidal,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week, as he called…
Ukrainian forces struck one of Russian mercenary group Wagner’s bases in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, regional authorities said Monday. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine again successfully struck the enemy’s headquarters…this time in Popasna, where a base of the Wagner PMC was destroyed yesterday. The number of those killed is being clarified,” Luhansk regional head Serhiy…
Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska has sued bank founder Oleg Tinkov, seeking 2 billion rubles in damages ($32.5 million) for alleged defamation, media reported Monday. Both Deripaska and Tinkov are among the few influential Russian business owners to have spoken candidly about the negative impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Deripaska filed civil lawsuits against…
While millions of Ukrainian children have fled their homes since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than 3 million children remain in the country as of July 26, according to UNICEF. As Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on, children continue to live in wartime conditions, surrounded by bombed buildings, destroyed cars and anti-tank equipment.
U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who was found guilty of drug possession and trafficking in Russia, has appealed her nine-year jail sentence, her lawyers said Monday. The two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and Women’s NBA champion was arrested at a Moscow airport in February for possessing vape cartridges with a small amount of cannabis oil. “Brittney…
A Russian journalist said he was barred entry to Estonia over the weekend after the Baltic country decided to stop allowing in Russian nationals on tourist visas. The incident came days before Estonia’s tourist-visa entry ban is set to take effect this Thursday, a measure imposed amid a wider European debate over shutting out Russian…
Dmitry Vrubel, the Russian painter who shot to fame with a work on the Berlin Wall depicting Soviet and East German communist leaders kissing, has died in the German capital at age 62. One of the best known Berlin Wall graffiti pieces, Vrubel’s 1990 work titled “My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love”…
Russian oil production fell in the first weeks of August, ending several months of recovery from Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday. Average daily production so far this month has fallen by 3% compared to July, totaling 1.428 million tons, the publication said, citing unnamed sources familiar…
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un exchanged letters indicating stronger bilateral relations amid Moscow’s international isolation over its war in Ukraine, North Korean state media reported Monday. The letters follow Pyongyang’s recognition of two Moscow-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine and the country’s reported readiness to send workers to the…
An explosion that set off a fire at a market in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Sunday killed three people and injured dozens of others, officials announced. The fire ripped through the market at Surmalu, said the first reports. “After preliminary data, an explosion happened which set off a fire,” said the emergency situations ministry…
Forest fires so massive they dwarf European countries. Oil spills that turn Arctic rivers red. Snow that turns black from coal soot. Russia, the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses and a country whose territory is warming 2.5 times faster than the planet as a whole, is already acutely feeling the impacts of climate change.…
Hungary said Saturday that Russia has started delivering additional gas to the EU member following a July visit to Moscow by its foreign minister. Hungary’s Foreign Ministry said trade negotiations with Moscow “led to an agreement”, resulting in Russia’s Gazprom starting to deliver “above the already contracted quantities” on Friday. “It is the duty of…
The U.S. and Russia are discussing a prisoner exchange that would involve trading a notorious Russian arms trafficker for an American basketball star, a Russian diplomat said Saturday. It marked the first time that Russia has said the talks concerned exchanging Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” for two-time Olympian Brittney Griner. “The…
Karl Nesselrode (1780-1862) was a staunch conservative and monarchist. In the mid-19th century, he had successfuly transformed Russia into what would later be called “the gendarme of Europe.” And thanks to popular support for the “Russian world” in the Balkans at the time, he achieved the predictable result of Russia’s complete diplomatic isolation on the…
Russia’s economy will return to growth in 2024, the country’s Central Bank said in its policy outlook for the next three years published Friday. According to the bank’s baseline scenario, Russian gross domestic product (GDP) will record an annual fall of up to 6% this year. But, in the fourth quarter of 2023, the economy…
Лихач: reckless person; skilled person Friday pop quiz: Name a Russian word that is a noun, an adverb and a short-form adjective all in one and means evil, clever, wicked, smart, rakish, daring, reckless, cool, or wild. I think it could even mean swashbuckling, if anyone is buckling their swashes these days. Any guesses? Лихо.…
European leaders should be wary of “possible incidents” at nuclear power plants in their countries, Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday. Russia’s ex-leader, who has become increasingly hawkish since the invasion of Ukraine, made the threat in a post on messaging app Telegram about the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Russian-controlled southern…
An analysis of archive footage from polling stations in Russia recorded during parliamentary elections last year suggests over 17 million ballots were cast fraudulently, independent media outlet Meduza reported Friday. At the time of the September elections, Russia’s Central Elections Commission said it lacked money to provide online video streaming from all polling stations. But…
Supported by the Ryazan Oil Refining Company (part of Rosneft’s refining complex), students from the Master of Meshchera children’s public environmental organisation took part in a research expedition to the protected areas of the Oka Biosphere State Reserve.
As part of a project to promote and preserve red-listed species, the corporate museum of RN-Nyaganneftegaz (production enterprise of Rosneft Oil Company) has opened an exhibition dedicated to the flora and fauna of the Kamennoye field.
With the support of Rosneft Oil Company, a building for flow-through aquarium systems has been commissioned at the Moscow State University’s Pertsov Belomorskaya Biological Station.
More than 5,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, according to a tally of confirmed deaths updated this week by independent Russian media outlet iStories. The figure is over three times higher than the official death toll of 1,351 which was last updated by the Russian Defense Ministry in…
All along the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, there are billboards erected by the Russian peacekeeping mission there: “Where there are Russians, there is peace.” “The Russian peacekeeping contingent is guarding the peace.” But after recent escalations in tensions here, many Karabakh Armenians are doubting those promises. An outbreak of violence in early August saw two Armenian…
A Russian court on Thursday placed former state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who denounced President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine live on air, under house arrest until October. On Wednesday, investigators detained Ovsyannikova, 44, and charged her with spreading information about the Russian armed forces deemed false by the government. The mother of two faces…
Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Thursday of shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Russian-controlled southern Ukraine ahead of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to address global concerns over the facility. Ukrainian forces “once again struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Moscow-installed regional administration, said…
Latvian MPs on Thursday declared Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism” whose actions in Ukraine constitute “targeted genocide against the Ukrainian people”. The statement MPs adopted said the parliament “recognizes Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, and calls on other like-minded countries to express the same view”. Voting by 67 in favor and none…
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February plunged many liberal-minded Russians into a state of shock and apathy. But for Anna Rivina, the country’s leading expert on domestic and gender-based violence, the path forward amid wartime chaos was clear. “When the entire world seems to be falling apart, it is difficult to decide what to do,…
Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has filed a lawsuit against the penal colony where he is currently serving a nine-year prison service. Navalny said the IK-6 prison in the Vladimir region hadn’t disclosed information about the purchaser of the products that he manufactures in the colony. The regional court press service claimed the purchaser…
Moscow’s ally Belarus on Thursday played down reports of overnight explosions at a military airbase near the border with Ukraine that is said to be used by Russian troops. “On Aug. 10, at around 23:00 (20:00 GMT), during a test run, a piece of equipment that had its engine replaced caught fire,” the Belarusian defense…
The agency that processes immigration of Jews to Israel has started making preparations for its possible closure in Russia, The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday. In a move that drew swift blowback from Israel, Russia’s Justice Ministry last month requested the “dissolution” of the Jewish Agency, citing unspecified legal violations. “The Jewish Agency will operate all…