Russian television aired what is perhaps one of the world’s shortest political debates after none of the candidates for next month’s regional elections showed up for the event. The state broadcaster Rossia’s regional affiliate in the Siberian region of Kemerovo went ahead with the debate program on Wednesday evening despite the no-shows. “Hello, we’re broadcasting joint…
Exiled Russian political activist Maxim Katz has been sentenced to eight years in prison in absentia for spreading “fake news” about the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine, the independent news website Mediazona reported Thursday. Katz, 38, is well-known for his YouTube channel, where he discusses and criticizes Russia’s military actions in Ukraine to his more…
Orenburgneft, part of the Rosneft oil production complex, won the 12th regional competition “Best Young Personnel Management Organisation”.
Supporters of Wagner Group leader Yevegny Prigozhin, who is believed to have been killed in a dramatic plane crash, have started laying flowers outside the former headquarters of the mercenary outfit in St. Petersburg. Russian officials said Prigozhin and several of his close aides were on board the Embraer executive jet that crashed in northwestern…
A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by three months, the state-run Interfax news agency reported Thursday. The Lefortovo District Court granted the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) request to extend Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention until Nov. 30 in a closed-door hearing, Interfax wrote. Gershkovich, a United States…
A plane carrying Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has crashed northwest of Moscow, Russia’s emergencies ministry said Wednesday. The apparent death of the Kremlin-linked businessman, whose mercenary forces had taken on a leading role in the war on Ukraine, comes nearly two months after his aborted revolt against Russia’s military leadership. Authorities initially said that…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed an “impressive” achievement from India, which was the first nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon’s south pole, days after Moscow’s own mission crashed. Putin sent his “heartfelt congratulations” to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi according to the Kremlin’s website. “This is a big step forward in…
Russians have faced increasing disruptions to their summer travel plans as near-daily drone attacks on Moscow have prompted airports in the surrounding area to introduce temporary closures and flight restrictions. The closures prompted by the drone incidents, which authorities blame on Kyiv, are the latest impact of Moscow’s 18-month war on Ukraine on ordinary Russians.…
Ukrainian forces have destroyed a Russian S-400 missile defense system in annexed Crimea, Kyiv said Wednesday. “The explosion completely destroyed the system, its missiles and personnel,” Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency said in a statement, which was accompanied by a video of the blast. Without identifying the weapon that destroyed Russia’s S-400, the intelligence agency…
With their access to the West cut off since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian filmmakers have turned to the city of Kaliningrad as a backdrop for Europe in their pictures. Wedged on the Baltic Sea coast between Poland and Lithuania, the Russian enclave is dotted with Germanic facades, narrow streets and churches.…
Bashneft supported the construction of a building of the Orlyonok children’s health camp in the Ilishevsky district of Bashkortostan.
A Ukrainian drone strike has killed three people in the Russian border region of Belgorod, its governor said Wednesday. “Three civilians have been killed,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a social media post. “The Ukrainian forces launched an explosive device through a drone when people were on the street.” He later identified two of the…
The pro-war chief editor of a news publication in southern Russia has been charged with “discrediting” the country’s Armed Forces just a day after receiving an award for “patriotism,” local media reported Tuesday. Rostov-on-Don’s 1RND news website said its editor-in-chief Yelena Dorovskikh is accused of publishing news last fall about anti-mobilization leaflets that contained instructions…
Russian airlines have continued to import spare parts for Western aircraft despite sanctions designed to cut off the flow of key equipment, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing customs data. Ural Airlines, Norwdind Airlines, S7, Aeroflot and others have imported $1.2 billion worth of spare parts from third parties between May 2022 and June 2023, according to…
Russia’s ruling United Russia party announced it will expel one of its members running for local office over insulting remarks she made about President Vladimir Putin. Yulia Trukhmanova, a member of the Marx city council in the southern Saratov region, was recorded on audio ridiculing Putin as a “nobody” and “dirty schmuck” before he came to…
President Vladimir Putin has dismissed General Sergei Surovikin as head of Russia’s Aerospace Forces, two months after a failed mutiny by the head of the Wagner mercenary outfit, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday, citing an anonymous source. Surovikin was last seen on video urging Wagner fighters to stand down during their march toward Moscow…
A Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow damaged a building in a central business district, Russian authorities said on Wednesday, in the sixth consecutive night of aerial attacks on Russia’s capital and its surrounding areas. The latest strike on Moscow just comes hours after Ukrainian authorities said Russian artillery hit two villages near the eastern Ukraine…
On August 21, 2023, the general contractor of Paks-2 NPP project, JSC Atomstroyexport (Engineering Division of Rosatom State Corporation), started work on the main stage of construction of two new VVER-1200 power units of generation 3+. The contractor, Hungarian company Duna Aszfalt Kft., started preparations for the excavation of the pit under the future power…
Russian military officials including Moscow’s deputy defense minister arrived in Libya on Tuesday after receiving an invite from pro-Moscow military strongman Khalifa Haftar. Haftar, who backs the country’s eastern administration, is close to Russia’s private Wagner mercenary group, whose troops guard military and oil infrastructure in the country. “This is the first official visit of…
The governor of the Moscow region is expected to secure an overwhelming majority during his re-election bid in next month’s gubernatorial elections by manipulating voter turnout, the independent news website Novaya Gazeta Europe reported Tuesday, citing leaked audio. Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov, a member of the ruling United Russia party, is among over a…
Russian forces repelled an attempt by Ukrainian “saboteurs” to break into the western border region of Bryansk, the region’s local governor said Tuesday. “Today, Ukrainian saboteurs attempted to break through the [Russian] state border in the Klimovsky district,” Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on the Telegram messaging app. He said the attack was repelled by multiple…
In a series of photographs, a man in a military uniform rapes a young woman. She becomes pregnant. The man takes the child and stomps on the breasts of the woman, her eyes closed in death and covered with coins. These are photographs of a work of performance art called “Dvoinya” (Twins), created by Russian…
Russia said on Tuesday its forces destroyed a Ukrainian military boat in the Black Sea, the second vessel it claims to have attacked in the space of a few hours. “On Aug. 22 at about 11:00 Moscow time (08:00 GMT) east of Snake Island, a U.S.-made Willard Sea Force speedboat with a Ukrainian landing group was…
Russia said on Tuesday its forces destroyed a Ukrainian military boat in the Black Sea, the second vessel it claims to have attacked in the space of a few hours. “On Aug. 22 at about 11:00 Moscow time (08:00 GMT) east of Snake Island, a U.S.-made Willard Sea Force speedboat with a Ukrainian landing group was…
The frontman of a popular Russian rock band that had previously condemned the war in Ukraine has made a surprise visit to occupied eastern Ukraine to meet with Russian troops, as shown in a video published Monday by pro-war military bloggers. Roman Bilyk, whose stage name is Roma Zver, is the lead singer of the…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday arrived in South Africa, where he will head Russia’s delegation at the annual BRICS summit this week. Lavrov was greeted by a group of dancers and musicians upon disembarking his plane in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning and was seen briefly dancing along with the performers. The Kremlin confirmed last…
Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has appeared on video recruiting new fighters for deployment in Africa, just two months after launching a failed mutiny in Russia. “PMC Wagner… makes Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa more free,” Prigozhin said in the video published late Monday by the Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel Razgruzka Vagnera. “We’re…
Russian air defense systems downed two attack drones near Moscow, the city’s mayor said on Tuesday. “Air defense shot down two attack drones. One in the Krasnogorsk area, the other in the Chastsy area,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that emergency services were responding to the scene. He did not…
Moscow said Tuesday it had destroyed a Ukrainian military “reconnaissance boat” near Russian gas infrastructure in the Black Sea. A Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet destroyed a “reconnaissance boat” belonging to Ukraine’s armed forces “in the area of Russian gas production facilities in the Black Sea,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. It did…
Russian-installed courts in Ukraine’s eastern regions sentenced five Ukrainian soldiers to lengthy prison terms, Russia’s Investigative Committee said Monday. “The court sentenced (Andrey) Klementovich, (Artur) Sivitsky and (Ivan) Melnikovich to 20 years’ imprisonment each, to be served in a strict-regime penal colony,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement. It published footage of three men…
The chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos on Monday advocated for Russia to stay in the lunar race, a day after announcing its mission had crashed. “In no case should the lunar program be interrupted, that would be the worst decision,” Yuri Borisov said in an interview on television. The Luna-25 mission was meant…
Updated with revised death toll, end of search operations. Search operations have been called off after all eight members of a guided tour of Moscow’s sewer system were found dead following heavy rain over the weekend, emergency services told state media on Tuesday. According to the TASS news agency, water levels in the sewer rose quickly…
More than 70 volunteers and scientists from across Russia this week completed a major ecological cleanup effort in Russia’s Far North. The bulk of efforts took place in the village of Khatanga, which has a population of about 3,000 and is one of Russia’s northernmost inhabited settlements. The first stage of the Russian Geographical Society’s…
The Russian division of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank will start charging 50% commission on all incoming U.S. dollar transfers, the bank announced Monday in a statement, citing unspecified “market conditions.” “The bank is forced to limit the number of incoming transfers in U.S. dollars due to changing market conditions. We encourage customers to use other payment…
The franchise operator of Domino’s Pizza in Russia said Monday that its Russian business will file for bankruptcy after reportedly failing to sell off its assets. “A bankruptcy petition of DPRussia will be filed in accordance with the relevant statutory requirements in due course,” DP Eurasia said in a statement. The process “will bring about…
The Russian government is suing the country’s wealthiest businessman for alleged “corrupt collusion” in a deal to buy a Siberian power plant operator from an ex-minister, according to media reports. The Prosecutor General’s Office seeks to seize the operator, Sibeco, that industrialist Andrei Melnichenko had purchased from ex-minister Mikhail Abyzov in 2018, Forbes Russia reported…
Navalny, who recently had his jail term extended, warned he expected high levels of fraud in the upcoming elections and that the Moscow mayoral elections had “no meaning” at all. “Strategically, we see Smart Voting and its participants as the opposition’s greatest asset and best opportunity,” he said. Smart Voting was a strategy devised by…
A transgender former Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent has been fined for attempting to flee the country, the independent news website Mediazona reported Monday, citing her lawyer. Katerina Meyers was pressured to leave a 12-year career as an FSB counterintelligence officer after she started her gender transition in 2020. Authorities launched a criminal case against…
Authorities in southwestern Russia on Sunday sealed off an area of roughly 1,400 square kilometers for at least three months over an anthrax outbreak. Voronezh region Governor Alexander Gusev declared a local state of emergency, banning unauthorized persons from entering the region’s Paninsky district until Nov. 16. Gusev also banned the movement and slaughter of…
Updates with injuries, Simonyan comment. Russia said Monday it had thwarted two Ukrainian drone attacks in the Moscow region, with at least two people injured due to falling debris. “An attempt by Kyiv to carry out an attack with an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle was foiled” around 6:50 am local time, the Russian Defense Ministry said…
Hundreds of people around the world took part in protests Sunday against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his violent actions in Russia and abroad. The protests, titled “Putin Is a Killer,” were organized by jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s associates on the three-year anniversary of his near-fatal poisoning that he blames on Putin, and took…
KUBINKA, Moscow region — Two children could be seen playing inside a military personnel carrier emblazoned with the letter Z — a symbol of the invasion of Ukraine — and the words “NATO won’t pass.” The vehicle was one of thousands of pieces of hardware on display at the Army-2023 international military-technical forum, Russia’s largest…
The once-Russian, now-American artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid got together to look back over the art they created as a team, the places they lived and the times they lived through. The occasion for this was a retrospective of their work held at the Zimmerli Art Museum of Rutgers University in the U.S. The…
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Sunday a “historic” decision by the Netherlands and Denmark to provide American F-16 fighter jets, the latest move by Western allies to bolster his country’s efforts to fend off Russia’s invasion. Zelensky had sought the advanced jets for months to strengthen Ukraine’s Soviet-era air force as it pursues a grinding…
The Luna-25 probe, Russia’s first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing maneuvers, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday. Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57 p.m. (11:57 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said. According to preliminary findings, the lander “has ceased to exist following a…
Russia said it had thwarted Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and its region on Sunday, the second such incident in two days as Kyiv presses ahead with a counteroffensive. Both sides have reported regular drone incursions during the conflict, with strikes on Russian territory becoming increasingly regular. “At around 4:00 a.m. (01:00 GMT), an attempt…
Russia on Saturday said it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on a military airfield in the northwestern Novgorod region, the first time the region has been targeted since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “Today, at around 10:00 am Moscow time, the Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack using a copter-type drone on a military…
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with the top military commanders at an army headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, the Kremlin said early Saturday. Moscow gave no details on when the meeting took place but footage released by state media indicated it was at night. “Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the…
Apples are not as simple as they seem. Perhaps no other fruit has left such a large mark in world history. The first cultivated apples appeared in ancient Rus in the 11th century during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. It is believed that the first apple orchard was planted in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Planting…
Igor Sofonov, who was recruited to fight in Ukraine from a Russian penal colony where he was serving a sentence on drug charges, returned to civilian life this spring after he was pardoned as part of a deal with the Russian military. Sofonov’s acquaintances told The Moscow Times that his military service had “changed him…
Russia’s elections chief said Friday that Russia has no use for Western-style democracy, just weeks before regional elections are set to take place across the country. Central Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova — who is known for overseeing the widespread implementation of controversial online voting, the “resetting” of presidential term limits, and sham referendums in occupied…
Potato conspiracies, Brezhnev’s funeral, and the Soviet Union are just a few of the topics covered in a video art exhibition in Moscow called Based on Real Events. The exhibition — the largest of its kind in recent years — showcases more than 30 videos that touch on politics, social issues, and everyday life. It…
A Russian court has ordered the closure of the Sakharov Center, one of the country’s oldest human rights groups, Interfax reported Friday. The center, which was founded to honor the memory of Soviet dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov, had been an iconic place for exhibitions and discussions about human rights since its…
Russia’s Orthodox Church announced late Thursday it had launched an internal investigation into a priest who blessed a recently erected monument to Soviet leader Josef Stalin. Father Anatolyi was filmed dousing holy water on the eight-meter Stalin statue earlier this week during an unveiling ceremony in Velikiye Luki, located in northwestern Russia’s Pskov region. While he admitted that…
Employees of the Saratov Oil Refinery (an enterprise of Rosneft Oil Company’s refining complex) cleaned the Volga flows and banks from garbage as part of an environmental campaign.
Russian authorities have charged prominent Chechen human rights lawyer and activist Abubakar Yangulbaev with “calls for terrorism,” the Ostorozhno Novosti news outlet reported Friday. Chechen law enforcement officials opened the charges in response to a post made by Yangulbaev on the Telegram messaging app last year, according to unnamed sources cited by the outlet. The post,…
Senior Chechen officials applauded the son of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov for allegedly beating up a teenager who was detained earlier this year on charges of burning the Koran. Nikita Zhuravel, 19, was detained in May on suspicion of publicly burning a Koran in the southwestern region of Volgograd. The criminal case against him was…
A Moscow court has placed a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, who is serving a prison sentence for bribery, in pre-trial detention on charges of espionage, according to court data published Thursday. Russian-born American Gene Spector faces 20 years in prison if convicted. Few details outside the court ruling have been made public, as espionage cases are held…
Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian drone targeting Moscow, officials said, the latest in a series of attacks on the capital. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air force downed a Ukrainian drone over the Russian capital at around 04:00 am on Friday. “The unmanned drone, after being exposed to air defense weapons, changed its flight…
Russia has steadily expanded its sprawling facial recognition surveillance system since invading Ukraine last year, The Moscow Times’ Russian service reported Thursday, citing thousands of state procurement documents. While formally designed to fight crime, Russia’s facial recognition system has been more effective in identifying anti-war activists and draft dodgers, surveillance experts told the outlet, adding…