Author: admin
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Borodinsky Steak: Meat and Bread in One
Borodinsky has been one of the most popular types of bread in Russia for many decades. When foreigners visit they are given a taste of Borodinsky to show them what Russian cuisine is all about. And when Russians go abroad they bring loaves for their friends who long for the flavors they left behind in…
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In Photos: Moscow Preps for Victory Day Amid Security Concerns
Preparations in Moscow for the Victory Day holiday on May 9 are already underway, with decorations, public memorials and a children’s Immortal Regiment event all taking place. One of the country’s most significant holidays, Victory Day has been a central part of the Kremlin’s efforts to rally patriotism by invoking the Soviet Union’s World War…
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Belarus Introduces Border Controls for Travelers From Russia
The border authority in Belarus has begun setting up temporary checkpoints at its land borders with Russia to screen arrivals from its neighbor, the independent news outlet Zerkalo reported Friday, citing official sources. Readers told Zerkalo that work on installing the checkpoints began Thursday evening, with guards putting up barriers, barricade tape, and spikes on the…
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Russia Orders Partial Evacuation Near Ukraine Front Line
Russia on Friday ordered the evacuation of families with children and of the elderly from Russian-held frontline areas in southern Ukraine because of an increase in shelling from the Ukrainian side. “In the past few days, the enemy has stepped up shelling of settlements close to the front line,” the Russian-installed head of the Zaporizhzhia region,…
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Russia Restores Rail Traffic on Controversial Crimean Bridge
Russia on Friday announced the full restoration of rail traffic on the controversial Crimean Bridge, which had been closed and under repair since it was badly damaged in an explosion in October. “We managed to finish this work in just seven months. During normal times, it would certainly take over a year, and maybe even…
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Under the Mighty Oak I Sit, Stupidly
Задубеть: to be frozen stiff In the part of the world where I’m now living, oaks are protected. They have little green oak leaf badges on their trunks to remind everyone that they may not be cut down or harmed in any way. And so there are some truly mighty oaks around, including one that…
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Russia Expands GPS Signal Jamming to 15 Regions
Russian authorities have ramped up their GPS suppression measures following a slew of drone attacks in recent weeks. Since April, “strong” interference has been observed in at least 15 regions across Russia, according to data from gpsjam.org, which tracks satellite communication based on radio messages from civilian aircraft. Interference is considered “strong” if more than…
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Russia Jails Ex-Soldier 13 Years for Treason – State Agencies
A Russian military court has sentenced a former soldier from a western region bordering Ukraine to 13 years in prison on treason charges, the state-run TASS news agency reported Friday. According to Interfax, Artyom Semyonov was detained on March 30, 2022, on accusations of treason that the news agency noted was committed before Russia invaded Ukraine one…
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Lavrov Says Drone Attack on Kremlin Impossible Without U.S. Knowledge
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin could not have happened without Washington’s awareness and warned Russia would respond with “concrete actions.” “It’s clear that without the knowledge of their minders, the terrorists from Kyiv could not have carried out (the attack),” Lavrov said during a visit to India, referring…
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Russia’s VK Developing Homegrown Tinder Alternative
Russian tech giant VK is developing its own dating service that could launch this summer following Tinder’s planned exit from Russia, the Vedomosti business daily reported Friday, citing two unnamed sources close to VK and a third source close to the dating app. Experts estimate the development and promotion of VK’s dating app — based on…
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ROSATOM takes part in the Nuclear Trade and Technology Exchange international conference (Brazil)
Rio de Janeiro, 4 May. – ROSATOM takes part in the Nuclear Trade and Technology Exchange international conference (NT2E) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 3–5. Kirill Komarov, First Deputy Director General for Development and International Business, took part at the conference as the head of the ROSATOM delegation and spoke on “The…
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Ukrainian Refugees in Southern Russia Face Tensions, Rising Housing Costs
The arrival of more than 100,000 Ukrainians in southern Russia following Kyiv’s recapture of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson has driven up housing prices and sparked tensions with local residents, independent media reported Thursday. Russia’s military estimates it had evacuated 115,000 residents of Kherson — nearly half of the city’s pre-war population — before…
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Wagner Chief Says Pulling Out of Bakhmut After Blasting Russian Military Top Brass
Updated to add Prigozhin’s withdrawal announcement. Russia’s Wagner mercenary group will exit eastern Ukraine’s Bakhmut next week after suffering losses due to critical ammunition shortages, the private military contractor’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin announced Friday. Wagner fighters, many of whom are convicts recruited from Russian prisons, have been at the forefront of Russia’s efforts to capture…
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Russian Lawmaker Calls for ‘Squadron of Eagles’ to Protect Kremlin
As the fallout from Wednesday morning’s apparent drone strike on the Kremlin continued to dominate the Russian news cycle, the deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee made an unusual call for a “squadron of eagle interceptors” to be created to help defend Moscow from future drone strikes. “We need to think about protecting…
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Putin Focused on Consolidating Ukraine Gains: U.S. Intelligence Chief
Russian forces in Ukraine are so degraded they cannot mount any significant offensive moves and are focused for now on consolidating control of occupied territory, the U.S. intelligence chief said Thursday. As Ukraine prepares for its own offensive in the coming months, Russian President Vladimir Putin still likely aims to prolong the conflict until Western…
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U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Visits Imprisoned American Paul Whelan
The U.S. ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited former U.S. marine Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia on spy charges for over four years, on Thursday. Permission to pay a visit to Whelan in Mordovia, a southeastern Russian region, comes just over two weeks after Tracy was given access to U.S. journalist Evan…
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Kremlin Drone Strike: Ukrainian Attack or False Flag?
Moscow claimed Wednesday that Ukraine attempted to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin in an early morning drone attack on the Kremlin. Dramatic video published online showed at least one drone bursting into flames as it flew into a flagpole on top of the Kremlin’s Senate House, where Putin’s office and apartment are located. Photos taken…
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Putin Allies Split Over Using Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine
At least two high-profile Russian officials have called on the Kremlin to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine in retaliation for an alleged drone strike on Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin residence and as the prospect of an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive looms. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Wednesday called the attempted strike a “terrorist attack” while claiming…
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Ukraine Arrests Odesa Mayor in Corruption Case
Ukraine on Thursday said it arrested the mayor of the Black Sea port of Odesa in a major corruption case dating from before the invasion. Kyiv has struggled to rid itself of corruption, one of the declared aims of the 2014 Maidan revolution, with authorities for years vowing to stamp it out in efforts to…
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Russian Anti-Torture NGO Raided by Authorities for Third Time in a Month
Authorities in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar raided the office of prominent human rights NGO The Crew Against Torture (CAT) on Thursday. The raid by the Russian Interior Ministry’s counter-extremism unit was, according to the NGO’s own Telegram channel, carried out in connection to CAT’s work in the North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia-Alania where…
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Russian Director of ISIS Brides Play Given 2 Months Pre-Trial Detention
Updates with Berkovich being remanded in custody. A Moscow court ordered the director of an award-winning play about Russian Islamic State brides to be remanded in custody for two months on Friday, a day after she was arrested for allegedly “justifying terrorism,” Interfax reported. Lawyers representing Yevgeniya (Zhenya) Berkovich had requested the court place their client…
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Russia Opens ‘Justifying Terrorism’ Case Over Play About ISIS Brides
Updates with Berkovich’s arrest. Russian authorities have opened a criminal “justifying terrorism” case over theatre director Yevgeniya (Zhenya) Berkovich’s award-winning play about Russian Islamic State brides, her mother said Thursday. Berkovich’s mother, activist Yelena Efros, said the case was opened in connection with the play, “Tiercel the Brave Falcon,” which tells the stories of real…
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Russian Billionaires Line Up to Buy Yandex – Reports
Several Russian billionaires are vying to buy the majority stake in the domestic entity of splintered tech giant Yandex, independent media reported Thursday, citing five unnamed sources familiar with negotiations. Sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine have forced Yandex, once the crown jewel of Russia’s tech sector, to split into two new companies: one overseeing its…
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Kremlin Blames U.S. for Attempted Drone Strike on Putin Residence
The United States was behind Ukraine’s decision to strike President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Kremlin with drones, his spokesman said Thursday. Russia’s presidential press service said two Ukrainian drones had attempted to strike Putin’s residence in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. The Kremlin called the incident a “terrorist act” and vowed to retaliate as…
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At Least 20 Russian Cities Scrap WWII Victory Parades
At least 21 Russian cities have called off their annual military parades marking the Soviet victory in World War II next week, the independent Vyorstka media outlet reported Thursday, as the country has alleged a flurry of drone attacks on its territory ahead of a Ukrainian counteroffensive. Russia celebrates the Victory Day holiday every year on…
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Russians’ Foreign Travel Picks Up Despite Wartime Hurdles
Russian nationals are traveling abroad more frequently this year despite facing numerous hurdles due to the invasion of Ukraine, the RBC news website reported Thursday, citing Federal Security Service (FSB) border crossing data. Direct flights between Russia and Europe are virtually nonexistent due to mutual airspace bans between Moscow and the European Union, while several…
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Russia, Ukraine Report Drone Attacks as Zelensky Visits ICC
Kyiv and Moscow reported drone attacks Thursday including two that sparked fires in Russian oil refineries, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited The Hague to lobby for more support. Zelensky’s surprise visit to meet top officials of the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, came a day…
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Russian Army Found to Have Recruited Prisoners to Fight in Ukraine
The Russian Defense Ministry has been recruiting inmates from prisons in at least 25 different regions of the country to serve in the Russian military in Ukraine, according to an investigation by the BBC Russian service published Wednesday. The investigation found that the recruitment drive began in September in the separate network of prisons for former…
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In Photos: The Lives and Styles of Russian Fashion Icons Valentin Yudashkin and Vyacheslav Zaitsev
Russia’s fashion industry lost two of its most renowned fashion designers, Valentin Yudashkin and Vyacheslav Zaitsev, this week. Yudashkin died at the age of 59 in Moscow on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. He came to fame in the late 1980s when he dressed the first lady of the Soviet Union, Raisa Gorbacheva,…
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Russia Drops to Bottom 20 of World Press Freedom Index
Russia has continued to see a precipitous decline in press freedom as the country’s military campaign in Ukraine entered its second year, according to the annual press freedom rankings published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday. Russia placed 164th out of the 180 countries surveyed in the ranking, a nine-point drop from last year amid what…
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Zelensky Categorically Denies Ukrainian Involvement in Kremlin Drone Attack
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday denied Moscow’s claims that Kyiv had attempted to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Russia said two drones were shot down at the Kremlin. “We didn’t attack Putin. We leave it to the tribunal. We fight on our territory, we are defending our villages and cities,” Zelensky told reporters…
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Head of ROSATOM Alexei Likhachev and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan discussed cooperation in the field of atomic energy use
On May 2, a meeting was held in Yerevan between Alexei Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom State Corporation, and Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. The main issues of comprehensive cooperation between Russia and Armenia were discussed with the participation of Rosatom State Corporation. The task of re-extension of operation life of…
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Russian Cafe Bombing Suspect Apologizes, Says Still Denied Access to Lawyers
The suspect in the Russian cafe bombing that killed a prominent pro-war blogger said she did not know that she was carrying explosives and that she is being denied access to lawyers one month after her arrest on terrorism charges. Daria Trepova, 26, was detained after a bomb planted inside a gilded bust she allegedly presented…
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Main Construction Phase for Unit 3 of El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant Commences in Egypt
On the 3rd of May 2023, a technical ceremony for the pouring of the first concrete for Unit 3 of the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant took place at the El-Dabaa construction site in Egypt, marking the commencement of the main construction phase for Unit 3 of the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant Project. The first concrete…
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Belarus Dissident Blogger Roman Protasevich Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison
A court in Belarus has sentenced a dissident journalist to eight years in prison on an array of charges that include plotting a coup, state media in the authoritarian state and close Russian ally reported Wednesday. Roman Protasevich, 27, had been the editor of a Telegram channel that was key in rallying protests against President Alexander…
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Russian Gas Production Down 10% in 2023
Gas production in Russia decreased by 10% to 180 billion cubic meters this year mostly from Gazprom’s declining capacities, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the data. State-owned gas giant Gazprom has classified its production statistics since the start of 2023. Kommersant’s source said Gazprom and Gazprom Neft each…
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Travel to Russia Picks Up in 2023 as EU Citizens Make Reluctant Return
Russia saw an uptick in inbound travel including from Europe and China so far this year, the RBC news website reported Wednesday, citing Federal Security Service (FSB) border crossing data. The FSB recorded a 17% increase in January-March 2023 visits to Russia compared with the same time last year, up from 2.78 million to 3.27…
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Fuel Depot on Fire in Russian Village Near Crimea Bridge
A fuel depot caught fire overnight in the Russian village of Volna, close to the bridge to the Crimean peninsula, the local governor said early Wednesday. “A tank with petroleum products caught fire in Volna village of Temryuksky district. The fire has been assigned the highest level of severity,” Krasnodar region Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said…
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‘Explosive Device’ Derails Second Russian Freight Train Near Ukraine
The station lies about two kilometers outside the regional hub of Bryansk, while the explosion that caused a train to derail and catch fire on Monday occurred near Unecha, closer to the Ukraine border. Russian Railways put out a statement saying the train had derailed due to “the intervention of unauthorized persons in the work…
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Kremlin Guidelines for Media Coverage of Ukrainian Counteroffensive Leaked
The Kremlin has issued a list of guidelines for Russia’s state media outlets on how to cover Ukraine’s impending counteroffensive, the independent news outlet Meduza revealed on Tuesday. The guidelines, which recommended emphasizing the fact that Ukraine is being armed by NATO while discouraging any suggestion that Kyiv is underprepared, appear aimed at giving Moscow…
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Russian Billionaire Seeking Sanctions Relief Insures Moscow’s Battle Equipment – Investigation
Companies linked to Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman have supplied uniforms and equipment to the Russian military and insured equipment used by Russia’s National Guard to fight in Ukraine, according to a joint investigation by U.S.-funded media outlets Current Time and Radio Svoboda Ukraine. The report comes as Fridman continues to appeal to the European Union…
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Russia Summons Polish Envoy Over Embassy School Closure
Russia on Tuesday summoned the Polish embassy’s charge d’affaires after Poland closed a school run by the Russian Embassy in Warsaw, domestic news agencies reported. Poland and Russia have historically had tense relations, which have plummeted even further since the Ukraine offensive. Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency published a video of diplomat Jacek Sladewski entering…
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ROSATOM took part in the international MDEP conference
ROSATOM has taken part in the 5th international MDEP conference (The Multinational Design Evaluation Programme) that was held in Turkey. The event was organized by OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. The conference was attended by over 100 representatives of regulatory authorities and large companies from 19 countries. Russia was represented by Rostechnadzor, Rosenergoatom JSC, Rusatom Energy…
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European Court Fines Russia for Abuse of ‘Outcast’ Prisoners
The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday said Russia must compensate several prisoners belonging to an informal caste of “outcasts” who are subject to abuse and ostracisation behind bars. The 11 plaintiffs, who have served or are serving time, said they had been placed in the category by their fellow inmates. So-called “outcasts” are…
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Russia Says ‘No Alternative’ to Its Karabakh Mediation After U.S. Initiative
Russia on Tuesday responded to U.S.-hosted peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan this week saying there was “no alternative” to a deal that Moscow signed with the two warring countries in 2020. “For the moment, there is no other legal basis that would help a resolution. There is no alternative to these trilateral documents,” Kremlin…
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The Torture of Isolation: Inside the Russian Prison Housing U.S. Journalist Evan Gershkovich
Since his arrest on charges of espionage just over a month ago, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been held in Russia’s most notorious prison, Lefortovo, located in a leafy residential district of Moscow. Its impenetrable walls once muffled the cries of Soviet-era political prisoners tortured and executed by security officers during Stalin’s purges. …
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Russian Fashion Designer Valentin Yudashkin Dies at 59
Fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin, whose elegant dresses gave Russian fashion a star in the constellation of international haute couture, died Tuesday in Moscow at the age of 59. The cause of death was oncology, which he had been battling since 2016. Yudashkin was born in a small town outside Moscow. He graduated from the Moscow Industrial…
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Tinder to Exit Russia More Than 1 Year Into Ukraine War
The popular dating app Tinder will leave Russia on June 30, more than a year into a mass foreign business exodus set off by the invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported Tuesday. Explaining the decision in an annual impact report published Monday, Tinder’s owner Match Group said it was “committed to protecting human rights.” Tinder and other…
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Russian Anti-War Activist’s Son Held in ‘Prison Conditions’ in Juvenile Detention
A jailed Russian anti-war activist’s teenage son is being kept in “prison conditions” in juvenile detention away from the rest of his family, media reported Tuesday. Natalia Filonova, 61, is awaiting trial in the Far East republic of Buryatia on charges of assaulting police with a ballpoint pen. Filonova’s preliminary hearing was scheduled to be held…
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Russia Deports German Citizen on ‘LGBT Propaganda’ Charges
A German national convicted of “LGBT propaganda” has been deported from Russia’s Far East, state media reported Tuesday, citing regional prison authorities. Media in the Kamchatka region identified the man as Alexander Daniel Roth, 40, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. Roth reportedly coordinated the German language program for the education ministry of the…
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Russia Evacuates 200 Diplomats, Civilians From Sudan as Fighting Intensifies
Russia has evacuated more than 200 of its diplomats and other Russian nationals from Sudan as fighting between the country’s army chief and paramilitaries entered its third week, state media reported Tuesday. The first two Russian Defense Ministry transport aircraft landed outside Moscow in the morning, according to footage published by the military’s Zvezda broadcaster.…
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Kadyrov Tells of Plans to Create International Mercenary Force
Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, has revealed in an interview with Russian news agency RIA Novosti that he is considering creating a private army that could potentially fight anywhere around the world to protect what he called “oppressed peoples.” Kadyrov, who has previously refused to rule out the creation of his own mercenary force,…
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Twitter Restricts Dmitry Medvedev’s Account Over Offensive Poland Tweet
Twitter has restricted the English-language account of former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev for a post he made arguing that Poland “should not exist.” Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and an outspoken supporter of the war in Ukraine, wrote that Poland should not exist “as long as no one but Russophobes…
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South Africa Warns Putin Could Face Arrest While Attending BRICS Summit
The South African authorities have been attempting to dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin from attending the BRICS summit it is hosting in Gauteng in August over fears that it would be compelled to arrest him following a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague in March. Attending the summit alongside…
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A Russian Artist Who Doesn’t Hide Behind Words
Vladimir Kuznetsov is an artist who protests in his work in Russia today. A former journalist and activist in Penza, a city about 600 km (325 miles) to the southwest of Moscow, he is now working on a storytelling project called “1,000 Faces — 1,000 Words.” “I had different motivations for starting the project, and one…
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Russian Freight Train Derails After Hitting ‘Explosive Device’
It said the front locomotive and seven wagons derailed “after the intervention of unauthorized persons.” “As a result of the incident, the locomotive caught fire,” it said in a statement. It later said that the fire had been put out by 12.30 pm local time and that passengers of two Moscow-bound trains in the area…
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Calls in State Duma to Increase Length of Russian Military Service
In an attempt to improve the professionalism of the Russian military, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee has said that Russia must increase the length of its military service. “I have long been in favor of increasing the period of military service. The longer soldiers and sailors spend in the army, the more…
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‘Soviet Dior’ Slava Zaitsev Dead at 85
Russian fashion designer Viacheslav “Slava” Zaitsev, dubbed the “Soviet Christian Dior,” has died at the age of 85, his fashion house told AFP Sunday. Confirming Russian media reports, a spokeswoman added that when Zaitsev had celebrated his birthday in March with friends, “we could already see he was very, very, weak.” “The couturier Viacheslav Zaitsev…
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Russian Army Replaces Top Logistics Commander
The Russian army on Sunday replaced its highest ranking general in charge of logistics ahead of an expected counteroffensive by Kyiv. The announcement followed days of rumours about the sacking of Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, under British sanctions for his role in the siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which Russian troops captured…
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7 Known ‘Wagner Cemeteries’ in Russia and Occupied Ukraine
The final resting places of mercenaries killed while fighting for Russia’s Wagner Group are hard to miss, standing out from other graves with their colorful adornments. Most are marked by a wooden cross, with the heaped earth covered by green spruce branches and two wreaths: one in the colors of the Russian tricolor and the…