Russian authorities have detained a man in northwestern Russia suspected of assaulting an Al Jazeera reporter live on air last week, the St. Petersburg-based news website Fontanka reported Monday. Rania Dridi was broadcasting from the former headquarters of Russia’s mercenary outfit Wagner last Thursday when the man accosted her, demanding that she speak Russian during…
The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance said Monday that it has banned Russia-based users from trading in all currencies besides the ruble. Binance’s restrictions follow reporting by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal on a U.S. Justice Department investigation into the company’s possible violation of financial sanctions on Russia despite its public commitment to comply with…
Russia said it has arrested a former employee of a U.S. consulate on charges of collecting information about Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Interfax reported Monday. The U.S. State Department had in May denounced Robert Shonov’s detention in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, saying he had been performing routine activities as a private contractor. Russia’s Federal Security…
Russian air defenses destroyed a drone approaching Moscow and two in a region bordering Ukraine, authorities said early Monday. Air defenses in the Lyubertsy district southeast of the Russian capital “destroyed a drone flying toward Moscow,” the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on the Telegram messaging app without specifying whether it was Ukrainian. “There were…
The death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner paramilitary group, following a plane crash on Wednesday has been confirmed by formal genetic analysis, Russia’s Investigative Committee said Sunday. “Molecular-genetic examinations have been completed as part of the investigation into the plane crash in the Tver region,” Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said. “According to…
Russia said it downed two Ukrainian drones flying over border regions on Sunday after the governor of Belgorod region said a drone carrying explosives had killed a man. Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula have been hit by a wave of attacks in the past month since Kyiv warned in July it aimed to “return”…
Yegor Chastukhin, an 18-year-old environmental activist, holds a flask to a drain spurting out warm, putrid water near the historic city of Penza in western Russia. “It smells like herbal tea,” he jokes after taking a waft of the sample while Sonia, his wife, jots down notes. She records the odor and its yellowish color…
U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed against a Russian court’s decision to extend his pre-trial detention by three months, according to documents published by a Moscow court. Gershkovich was detained in March during a reporting trip to the Urals and accused of spying — charges that he, the U.S. government and his employer the Wall…
Two people were killed and one wounded after Russian forces shelled a village near the town of Kupiansk in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, the region’s governor said Saturday. Officials in Kupiansk, about four miles (six kilometers) from the frontline, had urged vulnerable residents living near the town to evacuate earlier this month as Russia stepped…
In Soviet-era movies, as the heroes worked they often sang about the joy of labor, their pride in the Land of Soviets, and the wise policy of the Communist Party. “We shall carry the flame of our soul, the banner of our country, onward through worlds and centuries!” sang the actress Lyubov Orlova as she…
Russia said Saturday that its air defences shot down one drone approaching Moscow and another in a border region while Ukrainian shelling wounded six in a border town. Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula have been hit by a wave of attacks in recent days as Kyiv warns it aims to bring the conflict back…
The plane crash that presumably killed Yevgeny Prigozhin is expected to restore the image of President Vladimir Putin as Russia’s sole and unshakeable leader, whom no one can challenge with impunity following Wagner’s mutiny. Yet Prigozhin’s fall will lead to the weakening of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, as well as its influence in the Middle…
Russian paramilitary fighters will have to swear an oath to the Russian flag, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Friday, two days after the presumed death of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. The measure is aimed at “forming the spiritual and moral foundations for the defense of the Russian Federation” and applies…
The Kremlin on Friday dismissed claims that President Vladimir Putin was involved in the presumed death of Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash this week. The circumstances surrounding Wednesday evening’s crash, which occurred exactly two months after Wagner’s failed mutiny against Russia’s military establishment, stirred speculation of a possible assassination. Putin had said as…
A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of the suspect in a St. Petersburg cafe bombing that killed a prominent pro-war blogger earlier this year, Russian media reported Friday. Daria Trepova, 26, was detained in April after a bomb planted inside a gilded bust she presented to blogger Vladlen Tatarsky exploded during an event…
Dutch brewer Heineken on Friday announced it was pulling out of Russia after selling its operations to the Arnest Group, Russia’s largest manufacturer of cosmetics, household goods and metal packaging. Like other major Western companies, Heineken pledged to leave the Russian market following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but it drew criticism earlier this year after…
Flash floods have struck Far East Russia’s Primorye region for the second time this month, causing major power outages in the territory’s administrative center of Vladivostok on Friday. A total of 70,000 out of the 600,000 residents of Vladivostok were left without electricity over an eight-hour period, said the Primorye region’s prosecutor’s office. It was…
Russia downed a barrage of 42 Ukrainian drones near Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday, in the largest recent air attack on the peninsula and a day after Kyiv claimed its special forces carried out a raid on the annexed territory. Nine drones were “destroyed… over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,” the…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed his “condolences” over a plane crash that killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, describing him as a man who made mistakes but “achieved results.” An investigation is currently underway into what caused Wednesday’s crash, which came exactly two months after Wagner’s short-lived rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership. “First of…
Norwegian authorities said Thursday they will upgrade a fence near Norway’s border with Russia in the far north to stop its reindeer from making crossings over the international boundary. A fence spanning some 150 kilometers along the Russia-Norway border is already in place, constructed to prevent cross-border movement by the animals. However, some sections have…
Updated with Putin’s remarks. A plane carrying Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday, exactly two months after he and his mercenary outfit launched a failed coup against Russia’s military leadership. Here’s everything we know about the crash, reactions from world leaders and analysis of what it could mean for Russia:…
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…