Some 300 residents of the western Russian city of Belgorod have been evacuated following a recent wave of Ukrainian strikes, authorities said Monday. “Around 300 Belgorod residents, who decided to evacuate temporarily, are currently being housed in temporary shelter centers in Stary Oskol, Gubkin and the Korochansky district,” Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in…
Russian authorities said Saturday that they would cancel Orthodox Christmas midnight masses in the city of Belgorod, a day after some residents were offered to relocate to safety following an unprecedented wave of rocket attacks. Western Russia’s Belgorod and its capital city have been hit with near-daily Ukrainian attacks over the past week, the deadliest…
One of the most important Slavic folk holidays is Святки (holy days) which in the West are called the “twelve days of Christmas.” In Russian these days are said to stretch “from the star to the water,” that is, from the appearance of the first star on Christmas Eve to baptism on Epiphany. This is…
Russia on Saturday said its military shot down four Ukrainian missiles over annexed Crimea overnight. The attack came a day after Moscow said it repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea, downing 36 of the unmanned craft over the peninsula. “Air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed four Ukrainian missiles over the Crimea peninsula,” the…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has offered to release Ukrainian prisoners of war in exchange for lifting U.S. sanctions against his family members, Russian state media reported Friday. Kadyrov said he had provided a list of Ukrainian captives to American writer Scott Ritter, a former U.S. intelligence officer and regular contributor at Russian government-owned media outlets. …
Authorities in western Russia’s Belgorod region on Friday offered to move some residents from its capital city to safety following intense shelling by Ukrainian forces over the past week. The announcement came a day after rocket attacks wounded at least two people and knocked out glass from high-rise buildings, sparking panic among residents. “I see…
Nepal has stopped issuing permits for its citizens to work in Russia and Ukraine following the deaths of Nepalis who have gone to fight in the war, Reuters reported Friday, citing a government official. The Nepali government issues work permits to its citizens for civilian jobs abroad. More than 800 Nepalis were issued permits for…
Residents of a Moscow region town impacted by power outages have taken to the streets, demanding that local authorities restore heat to their homes as subzero temperatures grip the region, Russian media reported Friday. At least 21,000 people had power knocked out in their homes on Thursday morning in the town of Podolsk when a…
Russia confirmed Friday it had blocked the UN’s nuclear watchdog from accessing parts of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant, but said the restrictions were for safety reasons. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been on the ground monitoring the plant since September 2022, six months after it was captured by Russian forces. Responding…
The Russian city of Belgorod was targeted by another round of Ukrainian shelling late Thursday, officials said, hours after some schools in the region were ordered to extend their winter breaks due to the risk of further attacks. At least two people were injured in the latest shelling, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, as channels…
North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine, the White House said Thursday. The Pyongyang-supplied missiles, with ranges of around 900 kilometers, were fired by Russia in two attacks over the past week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “Our information indicates that…
The Estonian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Russia plans to close a key border checkpoint to road traffic for two years, citing renovation works as the reason behind the move. Authorities in Tallinn said they had received an official note from Russia saying the Narva-Ivangorod crossing would close on Feb. 1. “According to the note,…
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence said Thursday it had destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber deep inside Russian territory. Video published on the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine’s YouTube channel showed an unidentified person setting fire to the warplane while giving a “sign of the horns” hand gesture. The video was said to have been shot at…
President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree simplifying the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for foreigners who join the Russian army, according to a document published by the government Thursday. “Foreign citizens who signed a [one-year] contract with the Russian Armed Forces or military formations or who are undergoing military service during the special military…
Russian hackers infiltrated Ukraine’s main mobile operator Kyivstar months before launching a “disastrous” cyberattack that disrupted services for some 24 million users, Reuters reported Thursday, citing Ukraine’s cybersecurity chief. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has said it suspects Russia’s secret service was behind the Dec. 12 Kyivstar attack that paralyzed its network for days.…
Ukraine and Russia said late Wednesday they had exchanged over two hundred captive soldiers each in what Kyiv has described as the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far. The two warring sides have carried out dozens of exchanges since Moscow launched its February 2022 invasion, but the swaps have become less frequent and…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has called for the prosecution of wanted fugitives’ family members, according to the opposition group 1Adat, remarks he made during a meeting with officials on New Year’s Eve. Kadyrov said he had instructed Chechnya’s law enforcement agencies to maintain “extreme vigilance” during the holidays, which in Russia take place on Jan.…
Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into “war fakes” against the head of a Kazakh diaspora in Moscow, the independent news outlet Vyorstka reported Wednesday, citing an undisclosed report by Russia’s Investigative Committee. Polat Dzhamalov, who heads an NGO called Moscow Foundation “Kazakh Diaspora,” is accused of sharing a senior Russian official’s alleged estimate of Russian…
The European Union on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia’s state-run diamond giant Alrosa and its CEO as part of a ban on imports of the precious stones over the Ukraine war. The EU in December agreed to prohibit diamonds exported from Russia as it tightens sanctions to further sap the Kremlin’s coffers. The 27-nation bloc…
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it downed 12 Ukrainian missiles in the western Belgorod region, which in recent days has been the target of multiple rocket attacks that have left dozens of people dead. “This morning, another attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on structures on the territory of the…
One in two decrees signed by President Vladimir Putin in 2023 was classified, the independent news website Mediazona reported Tuesday, marking a new annual record for the number of “secret” decrees made during the Russian leader’s time in power. Presidential decrees in Russia are numbered sequentially at the start of each year, and Mediazona said it…
One person was killed and seven others were injured in Ukrainian rocket attacks on western Russia’s Belgorod region, local authorities said Tuesday. The air strikes, which prompted Russian authorities to issue three separate alerts on Tuesday, came just hours after Russia launched a deadly wave of attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv. Belgorod…
A Russian warplane on Tuesday made an “emergency release” of its explosive payload over a village in western Russia’s Voronezh region, military and civilian authorities said. “At around 9:00 a.m. on January 2, while an Air Force plane was flying over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh Region, there was an emergency release of…
Russia on Tuesday rained missiles across Ukraine, killing four people and injuring dozens, while 250,000 people in Kyiv were left without power in near-freezing temperatures. The attacks came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his army would intensify strikes in response to Ukrainian shelling of the city of Belgorod. “One wounded elderly woman…
Police in St. Petersburg detained some 3,000 migrant workers during New Year’s Eve celebrations, the local news website Fontanka reported Monday, citing anonymous sources. More than 600 of those detained had allegedly broken Russia’s immigration laws, Fontanka said, with over 100 people expected to be deported from the country. Police carried out Sunday night’s mass round-up of…
President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia will “intensify” strikes against Ukraine after a deadly attack on the Russian city of Belgorod over the weekend left at least two dozen people dead and more than 100 injured. Saturday’s attack on Belgorod came after Moscow’s large-scale air assault on cities across Ukraine the day before, killing…
A tsunami warning has been issued in Far East Russia after a series of powerful earthquakes struck Japan on Monday, authorities in multiple Russian regions announced. In the Primorye region city of Vladivostok, located on the coast of the Sea of Japan, authorities said they expect waves to reach 30 centimeters by Monday evening and…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to wreak “wrath” against Russian forces in 2024, hours before Ukraine saw attacks on the first day of the new year. Russia and Ukraine have seen an escalation in strikes in recent days, including unprecedented strikes on the Russian city of Belgorod that killed 24 people on Saturday. The attack…
President Vladimir Putin praised the Russian army in his New Year’s Eve address Sunday, calling for “unity” in a subdued speech that did not explicitly mention the war in Ukraine. In stark contrast to last year’s address, when the Russian leader was flanked by soldiers in uniform, Putin stood in front of the traditional backdrop…
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday said his country’s ties with Russia had grown stronger in 2023, as he exchanged New Year greetings with his counterpart Vladimir Putin, state media reported. Beijing and Moscow are staunch allies and have strengthened their relations as Western countries turn their backs on Russia over its military invasion of Ukraine.…
Russia launched fresh strikes against Ukraine early Sunday, a day after vowing to retaliate for what it called a “terrorist attack” on the city of Belgorod. Several Iranian-made Shahed drones targeted Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv overnight, according to local authorities, as Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of bombarding civilian areas near their…
Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a “terrorist attack” Saturday on civilians in the city of Belgorod, including using controversial cluster munitions in the strikes that killed at least 21 and wounded dozens more. Moscow said the attack — which followed waves of rocket and drone attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian cities — would…
An openly gay Russian journalist said Saturday he had been beaten near a park in central Moscow in a hate attack. Pavel Lobkov, a former presenter on Russia’s independent TV Rain channel, posted images of his injuries on Facebook, showing a bloodied nose and hand. “The broken face of a ‘f****t’ beaten up in a…
Until Feb. 24, 2022, the Russian music industry was developing at a brisk pace, using all the opportunities of international promotion and local services to build a strong foundation. It has certainly suffered in this period, but it still might be able to recover and adapt. Spotify left Russia in 2022. YouTube Music disabled paid…
Rescuers in Ukraine searched through rubble Saturday after Russian strikes killed at least 39 people the day before, one of the fiercest attacks since the early days of the war. Schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and blocks of flats were among the buildings hit in Friday’s barrage, Ukrainian officials said. The strikes — during…
Many centuries ago in Moscow the main dish of a New Year’s feast was roasted swans. If today there are no swans available where you live, you can celebrate without them, chosing instead from today’s enormous variety of wild and farmed fowl. After all, tradition does demand serving poultry on holidays. This has a very…
Russia’s military has institutionalized the recruitment of convicts into its ranks as it seeks to shore up its numbers for the war in Ukraine. Building upon a system pioneered by the Wagner mercenary group, the previously informal practice allows convicts a chance at redemption in exchange for risking their lives on the front lines —…
In 2023, Russian authorities actively advocated for increased childbearing among women and intensified their stance against abortion while also promoting the idea that the role of a woman is to be a homemaker. Yet women were also changemakers, with the wives and mothers of mobilized soldiers becoming a leading voice of dissent toward the end…
Russia launched a massive air attack over Ukraine on Friday, killing at least 30 people and wounding over a hundred across the country in the fiercest assault since the first days of the war nearly two years ago. Schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and blocks of flats were among the buildings hit in the…
A record-setting 5,593 Russian soldiers faced trials in 2023 for desertions and other offenses related to refusal to serve, the independent news website Mediazona reported Friday. Russia passed laws in the fall of 2022 tightening punishments for acts committed during mobilization, including voluntary surrender, conscientious objection and desertion. Mediazona said Russian courts received 5,024 cases relating to…
In 2023 the Russian world of dance went largely inward, focusing on Russian traditions of dance, supporting regional initiatives, and organizing festivals. There were few exchanges of dancers and joint projects, and only with non-Western countries. Losses or gains? On the regional level there were several somewhat positive developments. In 2022, Ivanovo University has opened…
Put’ Dumoi (Way Home), a Russian movement of mostly wives and mothers of mobilized soldiers calling for the return of their loved ones from the frontlines and an end to mobilization, has released a video plea of a soldier’s widow decrying the invasion of Ukraine. The nine-minute-long video recorded by St. Petersburg native Maria Ishkova…
One out of every two Russians wish for the war in Ukraine to end in 2024, according to survey results from the Russian Field polling agency published Friday. When asked what they wish for Russians in the New Year, 50% of Russian Field’s respondents named “peace, a peaceful sky, and the end of” what the Kremlin…
Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack across Ukrainian cities on Friday, leaving at least 16 dead and 97 wounded. In one of the most aggressive air offensives of the 22-month war, Moscow’s strikes damaged buildings in six cities including warehouses, a shopping mall, and a maternity hospital, according to Ukrainian officials. The strikes…
A court in Siberia has sentenced an ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to nine years in prison on charges of creating an “extremist organization,” the independent news website Mediazona reported Friday. Ksenia Fadeyeva, 31, Navalny’s former Tomsk regional coordinator, was detained in December 2021 after a Moscow court outlawed Navalny’s political network as “extremist.”…
The powerful backlash against Russian celebrities who attended an “almost naked” party was escalated at the command of President Vladimir Putin’s administration, sources in the government, the State Duma and the presidential administration told The Moscow Times. Days after donning lingerie, mesh and leather at a Moscow nightclub, some of the country’s most famous pop…
For the Russian environment, 2023 might go into the history books as the year when the Kremlin effectively dismantled those groups that had been the loudest independent voices on ecological issues and had the largest public support base. As part of a wider anti-Western stance, this year Russia labeled prominent international NGOs such as Bellona,…
The general view this year in Russia is that there are no good films. But Russian film critic Larisa Malykova does not agree. “That’s what people say when they don’t go to movie theaters and don’t know about new films. And then good films often have problems with distribution, so people can’t see them. The…
Russian occupying authorities “vastly and deliberately” played down the death toll from this summer’s destruction of a Moscow-controlled dam in southern Ukraine, the Associated Press reported Thursday, citing residents, volunteers and health workers. Moscow-installed officials said 59 people drowned in the days after the June 6 Kakhovka dam breach, which sparked massive floods in the Kherson…
As the year draws to a close, Russia’s motley landscape of civil rights defenders, election monitors, environmental campaigners, anti-war activists and others is more beleaguered than ever before. Confronted with the increasingly oppressive machinery of the Russian state, scores of activists and the organizations to which they belong have gone into survival mode, with many…
Authorities in the Oryol region in western Russia are planning to build a memorial to the “heroes of Donbas” atop a mass grave of Soviet soldiers killed in World War II, the local Telegram channel Orlets reported Wednesday. The mass grave in the village of Biofabrika near the region’s capital Oryol holds the remains of 52…
Two Russian anti-war poets, one of whom accused police of rape, have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms on charges of “inciting hatred” toward soldiers, the independent news website Novaya Gazeta Europe reported Thursday. Artyom Kamardin and Yegor Shtovba were detained in September 2022 after criticizing President Vladimir Putin’s “partial” mobilization for the war in Ukraine during poetry…
Russia has issued an international arrest warrant for opposition politician Anastasia Bryukhanova under its wartime censorship laws, the state-run TASS news agency reported Wednesday. Authorities opened a criminal case against Bryukhanova, a former Moscow municipal deputy, in April on charges of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army. In July, Moscow’s Khoroshevsky district court ruled to…
Ukrainian authorities said Thursday that a commercial ship arriving to collect grain hit a Russian naval mine in the Black Sea, injuring two sailors. The unnamed Panama-flagged ship was heading towards Ukraine’s Danube ports when it hit a mine, causing it to lose speed and control and sparking a fire on the upper deck, Ukraine’s…
Russia on Thursday reopened its embassy in Burkina Faso after a gap of nearly 32 years, the West African nation’s government and a Russian diplomat said. The mission was closed in 1992. The Russian ambassador to Ivory Coast, Alexei Saltykov, said Russian President Vladimir Putin would name the new envoy. The Burkinabe foreign ministry confirmed…
A list of 346 proxies who will campaign for President Vladimir Putin across the country in the 2024 election has been approved by the Central Election Commission. Among those included were the pro-war singer Shaman, People’s Artist of the USSR violist and conductor Yuri Bashmet, and President of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics Irina…
Over 600 people evacuated from the besieged Gaza Strip are being housed in 10 facilities across Russia, a Foreign Ministry official said Thursday. Among the refugees are around 300 children, Yuri Gorlach, head of the Foreign Ministry’s situation and crisis center department, was cited by the state-run TASS news agency as saying. An unnamed Russian diplomat…
President Vladimir Putin promised Chinese leader Xi Jinping that his invasion of Ukraine would last five years, the Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported Thursday, citing multiple anonymous sources familiar with Russian-Chinese diplomatic maneuvering. Putin’s remark apparently came during Xi’s visit to Moscow in March 2023, when Russia was already one year and one month into the war…
Russian and U.S. space agencies have agreed to keep working together to deliver crews to the International Space Station (ISS) until at least 2025, Russian corporation Roscosmos said Thursday. The space sector — including its so-called cross-flights that involve sending crews from different nationalities on one spacecraft — is a rare area of cooperation remaining between…
The Russian Orthodox Church announced it has adopted a document equating abortion to murder amid growing ultra-conservative calls for a nationwide ban and several regions restricting the procedure. “The Church unequivocally equates arbitrary surgical or medical abortion to murder, regardless of the gestational age and the manner in which it is carried out,” Church spokesman Vladimir Legoyda…