Russia said Tuesday that it had repelled a series of brazen cross-border raids by pro-Ukrainian militias who burst into its territory and claimed to seize control of a village. Groups of pro-Kyiv volunteer fighters, made up of Russians who oppose the Kremlin, said earlier that they had broken into the Kursk and Belgorod regions bordering…
Moscow on Tuesday banned entry to 347 citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia over what it called the “hostile policy” of the three Baltic states toward Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the governments of the three Baltic states of interfering in its domestic affairs and “persecuting” their Russian-speaking populations in the announcement published on its…
Updated with Defense Ministry’s statement. A Russian military transport plane caught fire and crashed in the Ivanovo region northeast of Moscow, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday. Footage circulating on social media showed the IL-76 aircraft descending toward the ground with one of its engines on fire. Other footage showed a column of black smoke rising…
Participants will discuss projects in transport, logistics, energy and infrastructural support for shipping. On March 26, 2024, the session “The Northern Sea Route: The Boundless Potential of the Arctic” will be held at ATOMEXPO-2024. It will be attended by representatives of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, ROSATOM, the Marine Research Center of Lomonosov…
At the construction site of the Kursk NPP-2 in the reactor building of the 2nd power unit, one of the key events was completed – welding of the main circulation pipeline (MCP), which connects the main equipment of the reactor plant into a single technological system, forming the 1st circuit. The main purpose of the…
In 2023, Bashneft (part of Rosneft) allocated more than 9 billion roubles to environmental projects, which is a 40% increase on the previous year.
Research in the field of plasma physics and thermonuclear fusion is aimed at solving global problem of providing humankind with clean and safe energy in the future. On March 26, 2024, within the framework of the ATOMEXPO-2024 International Forum, the Scientific Division of the Rosatom (managing company – Science and Innovations JSC) will hold a…
Ukraine on Monday summoned the Vatican’s envoy to Kyiv after Pope Francis suggested the country should consider raising “the white flag” against Russia, causing fury in Kyiv. Ukraine has angrily rejected Pope Francis’s suggestion to negotiate with Russia two years after its invasion, vowing “never” to surrender to Moscow. “Due to the statements of Pope…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Russian advances had been “halted” in Ukraine and the situation was now “much better” for his troops than in recent months. “The Russian advance has been halted,” Zelensky told French broadcaster BFM TV. “Our command, our military has stopped the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine,” he said. Kyiv…
Moldova on Monday said it would summon the Russian ambassador to show “its disapproval of the decision to open polling stations” in separatist Transnistria during the Russian presidential election. Moldova last week downplayed talk of rising tensions after pro-Russian rebel officials in Transnistria appealed to Russia for “protection.” Russian news agencies reported that six polling…
While Russian citizens will cast their votes in the 2024 presidential election from March 15-17, early voting is already underway in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. Russia claimed to have annexed the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in September 2022 following referendums that Kyiv and the West described as a sham. Moscow has opened…
The first tier of inner containment will be installed in four stages. On March 8, specialists from Rosatom Engineering Division (ASE) started to install the first tier of inner containment of the reactor building at Unit 1 of El-Dabaa NPP in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The first tier of inner containment consists of 12…
Russians will vote for one of the four presidential candidates officially registered by the Central Election Commission (CEC) this week. In addition to President Vladimir Putin, who is running as an independent candidate, the candidates include Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party and Vladislav Davankov of the…
Russian nationals who visit Moscow’s embassy in Latvia to vote in the March 15-17 presidential election will undergo police screenings, local media reported on Monday, citing the head of the Baltic country’s police force. “Access to the embassy will be controlled accordingly, residence permit and visa checkpoints will be set up in coordination with the State…
The navies of China, Russia and Iran are staging joint drills in the Gulf of Oman this week, Beijing said Monday. The military activities — to be conducted from Monday through Friday — are aimed at “jointly maintaining regional maritime security,” according to a statement published on social media platform WeChat by China’s defense ministry.…
Russia authorities have arrested a citizen of South Korea on charges of spying, the state-run TASS news agency reported Monday, citing an anonymous law enforcement official. “During operational search activities as part of an investigation into espionage, a citizen of the Republic of Korea, Baek Won Sung, was identified and detained,” the unnamed law enforcement…
President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law a bill that bans advertisers from working with “foreign agents,” a move widely expected to make it next to impossible for independent media outlets hit with the designation to earn money. News of the bill’s passing in Russia’s lower-house State Duma late last month sent shockwaves through…
A Moscow court has overturned the jail sentence against exiled Russian-Canadian activist Pyotr Verzilov and sent his case for review, the Setevyye Svobody (Network Freedoms) NGO reported on Monday. In November, Verzilov was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in absentia for spreading “deliberately false” information about the Russian military. He was accused of “causing social…
Ukraine won its first Oscar for best documentary with “20 Days in Mariupol,” directed by Mstyslav Chernov, on Sunday night in Los Angeles. The film chronicles the harrowing Russian siege of Mariupol, a once beautiful port city, by the only journalists still on the ground, Chernov and the photographer/journalist Evgeniy Maloletka. At the Academy Awards…
Authorities in northwestern Russia’s Leningrad region said Sunday that air defense systems shot down a Ukrainian drone flying in the area, as airspace over that region and the city of St. Petersburg was closed “to ensure safety.” “An unmanned aerial vehicle was spotted by observation posts on the territory of the Leningrad region,” the regional…
As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, the chaos and horror of its early months have already started to fade for many of those watching these events from abroad. Yaroslav Trofimov’s new book “Our Enemies Will Vanish” — its title coming from the third line of Ukraine’s national anthem — retells the first…
Ukrainian shelling of a Russian border village in the western Kursk region killed one woman on Sunday, the local governor said on social media. Kursk region Governor Roman Starovoit said Ukrainian forces had shelled the village of Kulbaki, less than 10 kilometers from the two country’s shared border. “As a result of a direct hit…
Updated with injury count, deaths. Russian shelling of towns in eastern Ukraine killed three people Sunday, Ukrainian officials said, while a strike on a residential building in the town of Myrnohrad wounded a dozen people. Kyiv Moscow also launched missile attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region, as well as drones targeting regions in the center…
A Moscow court has sentenced a student to 10 days in jail after he renamed his WiFi network with a pro-Kyiv slogan during the military offensive in Ukraine, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Saturday. The student at Moscow State University replaced the name of the network from his WiFi router with Slava Ukraini…
Kazakhstan on Saturday confirmed the deaths of two of its citizens in an anti-terrorism operation in Russia that Moscow claims prevented an attack against a synagogue in the Russian capital. Russia’s FSB security service on Thursday confirmed an operation against a suspected branch of the Islamic State (IS) militant group had taken place in the…
The parents of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny thanked the crowds of Russians paying their respects to their son in a message published Saturday by his widow Yulia Navalnaya. Navalny — President Vladimir Putin’s main opponent — died in his Arctic prison in mid-February and was laid to rest in Moscow last week, with…
Russian shelling and strikes on Ukraine’s Kherson region killed one person and wounded several, with at least two civilians also killed in attacks on the center and east of the country, Kyiv said Saturday. Russia’s invasion has dragged on for more than two years, with fierce fighting in the east and regular attacks away from…
Russia said on Saturday it had destroyed 47 Ukrainian drones over its southern regions overnight, mostly in the Rostov area bordering Ukraine. Kyiv has regularly launched drones into Russia during Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine, now in its third year. “Air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed over the territories of Belgorod region (one…
When it’s time to fry up some cutlets, women get called. But when it’s time to hand out awards — call a man! There is probably more inequality of the sexes in the kitchen than anywhere else on earth. Just take a look at the list of Michelin-starred chefs and see how many women’s names…
IMATRA, Finland — At the edge of Imatra, a medium-sized Finnish town on the border with Russia, high snow drifts ensconce a shopping outlet that sits barren apart from a large “for sale” sign. Another sign on the building reads “Добро пожаловать!” — Russian for “welcome” — a reminder that just a few years ago,…
Дежурство: on call, on stand-by, duty In my post-Russian life, I’m trying to learn a new language. I can sometimes conjugate a few essential verbs and occasionally even get case endings right, but I can’t really talk to people. I realized that I don’t have that basic set of 50 or 100 standard phrases that…
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Friday she has not heard from her jailed husband for a year, describing the lack of communication as a form of torture. She called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to intervene, saying that other Belarusian political prisoners had also been cut off from the outside world. “It’s been…
A Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border region of Belgorod killed two people on Friday, its governor said. He said three Ukrainian “kamikaze drones” hit the village of Rozhdestvenska, close to the border with Ukraine, in a region that has come under frequent artillery, rocket and drone attacks throughout the two-year conflict. “As a…
Updated with additional travel alerts from other countries. Latvia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday urged its citizens to leave Russia as soon as possible and to avoid mass gatherings in Moscow amid reports of possible “terrorist acts” in the coming days. “We urge Latvian citizens in Russia to be cautious and avoid mass gatherings… due to…
Russia has celebrated International Women’s Day since the Soviet era. But the holiday — which celebrates women’s contributions to society — has inevitably been influenced by the war in Ukraine like much of Russian society. The result has been images of Russian soldiers and masked security officers handing women flowers to mark the holiday:
Women’s Day has been a national holiday in Russia since 1966, but was celebrated for decades before that. It is a festival where Russians pay tribute to all the women in their lives, from mothers and sisters to teachers and colleagues. While the United Nations uses International Women’s Day to celebrate gender equality and highlight…
President Vladimir Putin met with billionaire Roman Abramovich to discuss swapping the late opposition activist Alexei Navalny for Russians jailed in the West just hours before he died in an Arctic prison last month, the investigative outlet Agentstvo reported Friday, citing four sources familiar with the matter. According to two of Agentstvo’s sources, Putin and…
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed motherhood as “an amazing purpose for a woman” in his International Women’s Day message aired Friday. “You, dear women, are able to transform the world thanks to your beauty, wisdom and generous hearts, but, most importantly, thanks to the greatest gift that nature has given you — childbirth,” Putin said in…
Indian authorities said they have detained members of a “trafficking” network sending citizens of the country to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine after raiding several travel agents. At least two Indian citizens fighting as soldiers in Russia’s armed forces have been killed in the war, with several recruits telling AFP they were shipped…
A late-night Russian strike on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv killed two people, the region’s governor said Friday, as both Moscow and Kyiv reported a wave of overnight aerial attacks. Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russia launched a “series of shelling” attacks on the town of Kupyansk, close to the front lines, late…
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow said Thursday that it was aware of “imminent plans” by “extremists” to target public gatherings in the Russian capital over the next two days. “The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts,” it said in a security alert issued…
Ukraine on Thursday named Valery Zaluzhny as its new envoy to the U.K., a month after he was removed from his position as the country’s commander-in-chief. The announcement came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met British Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps. “On March 7, 2024, the President of Ukraine approved the candidacy of…
Lithuania has stripped Russian ballerina Ilze Liepa of her Lithuanian citizenship after she openly praised President Vladimir Putin, the news website Delfi reported Thursday, citing an adviser to the Baltic country’s president. In a decree signed by Lithuanian President Gitanas Naused, 59-year-old Liepa was stripped of her Lithuanian citizenship, which she received in 2000. “Questions…
Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) announced Wednesday that it will set up special polling places for next week’s presidential race along the country’s borders with Poland, Belarus and the three Baltic states. The CEC said Russian citizens “who for various reasons” live in the five neighboring countries would be able to vote at specially organized…
“The Master and Margarita” was released in late January 2024 and quickly became one of the highest-grossing films in Russian history. The Moscow Times talked to the film’s director about his creative process and the backlash he faced from Russian state propagandists. Andrei Muchnik: How did you first become involved in this project? Michael Lockshin:…
Figure skater Kamila Valieva has been removed from the Russian national team, the head of Russia’s Figure Skating Federation told state media on Thursday. “Valieva is currently not part of the national team. Everything was done in accordance with legal documents,” Alexander Kogan, who heads the figure skating body, was quoted as saying by the…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it killed Islamic State militants who were planning a “terrorist attack” on a Moscow synagogue, state news agencies reported. The FSB said the Islamic State cell, based in central Russia’s Kaluga region, had been planning to kill Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in the Russian capital. “During their arrest, the…
A Finnish court on Thursday gave a businessman a nine-month suspended jail sentence for violating EU sanctions against Russia, the first case of its kind in the Nordic country, the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported. Gabriel Temin, CEO of the Finland-based logistics and warehouse companies Luminor Oy and Siberica Oy, was arrested in September on suspicion of…
Rising high above Russia’s Black Sea coast, the Western Caucasus mountain range is home to a pristine alpine ecosystem that earned it UNESCO World Heritage Site status. “The Western Caucasus has a remarkable diversity of geology, ecosystems and species,” UNESCO said when inscribing the site in 2007. “Along with the Virgin Komi World Heritage site,…
Moscow summoned the U.S. Ambassador to Russia on Thursday and threatened to expel American diplomats in protest against what it said was American interference in the country’s domestic affairs. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Washington was funding “anti-Russian” non-profit groups and “spreading disinformation” about the March 15-17 presidential election, as well as Moscow’s so-called “special military…
A Belarusian opposition activist was shot and killed by Federal Security Service (FSB) officers in northern Russia’s republic of Karelia, media reported Thursday. The FSB claimed that the unidentified Belarusian citizen born in 1974 was recruited by the Ukrainian special services to carry out a terrorist attack in the city of Olonets, Interfax cited the law…
Germany has revised its travel advice for Russia to “strongly” discourage its citizens from traveling there, German media reported Thursday. Previously, Germany had only advised citizens against visiting Russia. The updated travel recommendation now includes the word “strongly.” Germany’s Foreign Ministry, which issued the travel advice, said the change was “due to the continuing deterioration…
India’s embassy in Moscow has confirmed the death of a citizen recruited by the Russian army, days after a relative told AFP he had been sent to fight in Ukraine. Two years after Russia’s invasion began, tens of thousands of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and Moscow is on a global quest for…
37 social infrastructure facilities were opened in the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2023 with the support of Bashneft (part of Rosneft)
Ukraine stepped up attacks behind Russian lines on Wednesday with the apparent killing of a Russian election official in a car bomb and a drone assault on a metals plant. Deadly Russian strikes also rocked the Ukrainian port city of Odesa during a visit by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was holding talks there…
Armenia said Wednesday that it had officially asked Russia to withdraw its border guards from an airport in Yerevan. “Armenia has a clear position on this issue and it informed Russia in an official letter,” Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan told reporters. Under a 1992 agreement signed with Armenia, Russia maintains several border guard detachments at…
Seven people were killed on Wednesday in separate incidents in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk under Russian control, Moscow-installed authorities announced. Five civilians were killed when the bus they were traveling in hit a mine and two more were killed by alleged Ukrainian shelling, authorities said. “There was a tragedy in the city of…
Russia has added former chess champion and exiled Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov to its state list of “terrorists and extremists.” While state financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring did not specify the reason for Kasparov being added to the list, he has been a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin for years and has condemned Moscow’s military aggression in…
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a journalist to seven years in prison for criticizing the Ukraine offensive in social media posts. Roman Ivanov, 51, was found guilty of spreading “false information” about Russia’s Armed Forces and punished under Moscow’s strict military censorship laws. Moscow has used laws against “discrediting” the Armed Forces or publishing…
Ukrainian drones attacked a metal plant in Russia’s border region of Kursk on Wednesday, causing a fire at a fuel tank, the local governor said. Kyiv meanwhile announced it had intercepted dozens of Russian drones, as both sides launched a wave of overnight aerial attacks in an attempt to hit targets deep behind the front…