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…
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…
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. …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Hundreds of Kremlin-loyal bikers under the banner of the Night Wolves motorcycle club took to the streets of Moscow on Saturday for a “patriotic” rally across Europe. The motorcade headed by club founder and leader Alexander Zaldastanov, known as “The Surgeon,” aims to complete the rally in Berlin by May 9. Several participants at…
A huge fire erupted in Moscow-annexed Crimea after a suspected drone attack hit an oil depot on Saturday, as fighting intensified on the southern Ukrainian front and shelling deprived Russian border villages of power. The attacks came one day after Kyiv said preparations for a long-awaited counteroffensive were nearly complete, having vowed to expel Russian…
Five Russian villages on the border with Ukraine were without power as a result of Ukrainian shelling, the governor of Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region that borders Ukraine said Saturday. The region has been hit by attacks throughout Moscow’s more than year-long offensive in Ukraine. “The village of Novaya Tavolzhanka came under Ukrainian shelling today,” Belgorod…
Poland on Saturday said it had seized a high school building near Moscow’s Embassy in Warsaw meant for the children of diplomats, a move the Russian envoy called “illegal.” The spat over the 1970s multi-story building, nicknamed the “spy nest” by Warsaw citizens, has been going on for a year. “This building belongs to the Warsaw…
Rhubarb is a plant with many virtues. Although it is sometimes overlooked today, a hundred or more years ago it was used in many ways in many different dishes. From ancient times it has been used in pies, salads, fruit drinks and as an accompaniment to meat. For example, in the “Chef’s Calendar” published in…
Russian strikes battered cities across Ukraine on Friday, killing 26 people including five children, as Kyiv said preparations for a counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces were nearly complete. The deadly new attacks included a strike on a residential block in the historic city of Uman in central Ukraine, where AFP journalists saw rescue workers extracting victims’…
Attempts by the Kremlin to present the children of Russia’s elite as equal participants in the war against Ukraine alongside ordinary soldiers have fallen flat, according to experts and former officials who spoke to The Moscow Times. Instead, these efforts have sparked more questions than answers, they said. Last Saturday the Wagner mercenary group’s leader,…
President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing the deportation of Ukrainian citizens in Moscow-occupied areas who refuse Russian passports. The move marks the latest chapter of the Kremlin’s Russification campaign in occupied Ukraine that rights experts have slammed as a war crime. Starting July 1, 2024, Ukrainian nationals who opt out of Russian citizenship…
April 28, 2023, Dimitrovgrad – RIAR JSC (an enterprise of ROSATOM’s Science Division) held a ceremony of completing the test assembly of the first research reactor for the Center for Nuclear Technology Research and Development (CNTRD) in Bolivia. The event has been attended by representatives of Rosatom and María Luisa Ramos Urzagaste, Ambassador of the Plurinational…
Over 100 prominent Western academics, writers and celebrities have called on President Vladimir Putin to urgently provide Alexei Navalny with access to necessary medical care as the Kremlin critic’s allies sound the alarm about his deteriorating health in prison. “We call on you, Mr. President, to ensure that Alexey Navalny is immediately given the medical treatment…
Russia’s Central Bank decided Friday to hold its key interest rate at 7.5% for the fifth time in a row, noting that inflationary expectations remained high. “Over the medium-term, the balance of risks has not changed significantly and is still biased towards pro-inflationary ones,” the Bank said in a statement. Still, the Russian economy is…
Мурзик: Murzik (popular cat name) We interrupt our usually scheduled serious topics for a public service column about the care of and conversation with a Russian-speaking cat. What should you name your кот (tom) or кошка (dam, molly or queen)? How should you address him or her? And how can you entertain your питомец (pet)…
Updated to add guilty verdict and fine. A Moscow baker has been fined for “discrediting” the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine with anti-war cakes, independent media reported Friday. Anastasia Chernysheva started posting photos of her confectionary creations decorated with anti-war slogans on her bakery’s Instagram in April 2022, two months into Russia’s invasion. “F*ck war,” reads the…
A Russian special vessel had been spotted near the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea four days before it was sabotaged, Danish media reported, citing a document access request. The pipelines were ruptured by subsea explosives on Sept. 26, seven months after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. A Danish patrol boat had taken 26…
Russian strikes battered cities across Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 19 people as Kyiv said preparations for a highly anticipated offensive against Moscow’s forces were nearly complete. The barrage of almost two dozen missiles overnight ended a weeks-long pause following the repeated Russian strikes that had aimed to paralyze Ukraine’s energy grid during the…
Law enforcement authorities raided the homes of a prominent Russian anti-torture NGO’s lawyers in the city of Nizhny Novgorod early Friday. The Committee Against Torture, which changed its name to The Crew Against Torture (CAT) in June 2022, said criminal investigators arrived at the homes of its lawyers at 7:00 a.m. local time. CAT posted…
A Russian court has ordered the closure of the Sova Analytical Center, one of the country’s leading research centers monitoring nationalist and racist movements, Interfax reported Thursday. Russia’s Justice Ministry in March filed a court order to shut the group down, accusing SOVA of carrying out its activities across Russia despite only being registered in…
April 27, 2023, Büyükeceli, Turkey. – A solemn ceremony dedicated to the delivery of the first batch of nuclear fuel for the first nuclear power plant in Turkey was held at the Akkuyu NPP construction site. This historic event marks the entry of the Republic of Turkey into the community of countries developing nuclear generation…
Russia has boosted its defenses in occupied Ukraine ahead of Kyiv’s anticipated counterattack, wagering its position on 800 kilometers of triple-fortified lines and a gush of manpower. Now that the Ukrainian terrain, muddied by the spring thaw, has begun to dry and Russia’s latest wave of attacks has fizzled out, a counterstrike may be weeks…
A Russian man claiming to be a deserter from the Kremlin-linked Wagner mercenary group was handed a 14-day suspended sentence on Thursday for a street fight in central Oslo. Oslo’s district court however acquitted Andrei Medvedev, 26, of the more serious charge of assaulting police officers. Appearing in court on Tuesday, Medvedev pleaded guilty to…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed the loading of fuel into the first reactor at Turkey’s Russia-built Akkuyu nuclear power plant, the Kremlin said. “This is a flagship project and it brings both mutual economic benefits and, of course, helps to strengthen the multifaceted partnership between our two states,” Putin said at the virtual…
Russian police ascribed an increase in road accidents to Western sanctions that have shifted traffic flows toward ill-equipped infrastructure in the country’s east, the Kommersant business daily reported Thursday. The Russian Interior Ministry’s road safety research center said in its 2022 report that some highway sections in eastern Russia saw upticks in accidents of as…
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday it had denied an upcoming consular visit to jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in retaliation to Washington refusing to grant visas to several Russian journalists. “The U.S. Embassy was informed that its request for a consular visit on May 11… to U.S. citizen (Evan) Gershkovich, who was detained…
A Russian-appointed governor in one of Ukraine’s partially occupied southeastern regions owns a British company despite being under sanctions, The Guardian reported Thursday. The appearance of a high-profile collaborationist in the United Kingdom’s registry books raises questions about sanctions enforcement. Vladimir Saldo, who has governed southern Ukraine’s Kherson region since April 2022 after it fell under…
Armenia said on Thursday that Russian peacekeepers should have full control of the only land link between its territory and the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The comments, from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, came during fresh tensions between arch-enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan. On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna held talks in Baku on easing tensions…
Law enforcement authorities in Russia’s fourth-largest city on Thursday arrested the local branch head of Memorial, the country’s oldest human rights group, the organization announced on Telegram. Alexei Mosin was detained at his apartment in the morning and brought to Yekaterinburg’s Yeltsin Center, which houses Memorial’s documents and archives, to retrieve legal documents, according to…
Popular Russian Instagram blogger Yelena Blinovskaya has been detained at the Russian border while trying to flee charges of 918-million-ruble ($11.3 million) tax fraud, the country’s Investigative Committee, which probes high-profile crimes, said Thursday. Blinovskaya is accused of underreporting and laundering her 2019-21 earnings from providing online services. With more than 5.3 million Instagram followers, she…
The Pushkin House Book Prize is celebrating its 11th awards year with six shortlisted books that represent a wide range of scholarship — and memories —about Russia, past and present. Every year a panel of distinguished judges considers dozens of books about or from Russia in every field imaginable, from art to war, from politics…
A blast on Thursday killed a police officer in the Moscow-controlled Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Russian authorities said, in the latest in a series of such attacks. Melitopol, with a pre-war population of around 150,000 people, was captured early after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year and now lies some 65 kilometers (40 miles)…
Russian-made smartphone sales have plummeted to less than half of last year’s figures as they face stiff competition from Chinese imports, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday, citing data from suppliers. Compared with 99,300 units moved in January-March 2022, only 46,900 Russian-made smartphones have been sold in the first quarter of 2023. That marks a…
Russia’s oil export revenues fell by nearly a third between January and March this year compared to the last quarter of 2022, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing a recent study by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). The analysts say the change was largely due to the introduction of price caps on Russian petroleum products by…
A Russian military plane crashed in the country’s northern Murmansk region on Wednesday, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing the Defense Ministry. The Mikoyan MiG-31 supersonic aircraft crashed in an uninhabited area during a training exercise and both pilots safely ejected from the aircraft, according to officials. The incident happened near the town of…
A large fire broke out at the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Cyprus’ capital Nicosia after a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the building, the state-run TASS news agency reported Wednesday, citing the institution’s head. “We heard two explosions at around 1:30 p.m. We couldn’t connect them with anything at first, but then it…
During Russian forces’ spring assault on Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, air strikes played a key role in their attempts to encircle the city. One night in late March, Russian aircraft dropped 11 bombs on Ukraine’s Sumy region in a major attack. And last week, a Russian jet accidently released a malfunctioning bomb on the Russian…
Russian senators voted Wednesday to stiffen punishments of dissent by adding life sentences for treason and stripping citizenship for anti-war speech. The amendments to Russia’s Criminal Code are being advanced amid an intensifying crackdown on the few Kremlin critics who have not fled the country 14 months after its troops invaded Ukraine. Russia’s upper house…
More than 100 homes were destroyed and one man was killed by overnight fires in the Ural Mountains region of Sverdlovsk, Russian media reported Wednesday. The destructive blaze started after eight railcars loaded with lumber caught fire on Tuesday evening in the village of Sosva, located around 260 kilometers northeast of the regional capital Yekaterinburg. …
Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky by phone on Wednesday, the first known call between the two leaders since the start of Russia’s invasion. The nearly one-hour discussion, which reportedly included Xi advocating for peace negotiations, was met by Russian accusations that Ukraine was undermining efforts to end the fighting.…
Local officials in Russia’s third-largest city scrapped direct mayoral elections on Wednesday. Novosibirsk, the most populous city in Siberia, had been one of just three Russian cities with over 1 million residents that retained direct mayoral elections amid a vigorous centralization of power by the Kremlin. The bill abolishing direct voting and introducing elections of…
The Russian football team, shorn of international competition due to the invasion of Ukraine, will not take part in the inaugural edition of the Central Asian Championship despite having been slated to. Russia had been invited but declined the invitation this week claiming it was due to a loaded fixture list despite having been barred…
Russia said on Wednesday it was expelling 10 Norwegian diplomats as a “retaliatory measure” after Norway announced it was kicking out 15 Russians. “(Norway’s Ambassador to Russia) Robert Kvile was handed a note declaring ‘persona non grata’ 10 representatives of the Norwegian embassy in Moscow,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said. In mid-April, Norway announced the expulsion of…
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Wednesday he faces potential life imprisonment on fresh charges of terrorism amid an ongoing campaign to silence one of the most potent opposition forces in modern Russia. Authorities have launched as many as 10 new criminal cases against Navalny, 46, since he was sentenced to nine years in prison on…
A leaked phone call allegedly between two wealthy Russian businessmen highlights frustration with Russia’s leadership and war effort among the country’s elite, the Current Time broadcaster reported late Tuesday. The men in the recorded conversation are identified as Roman Trotsenko, one of Russia’s richest businessmen, and Nikolai Matushevsky, the creator of Moscow’s Flacon and Khlebozavod…
Yevgeny Roizman, a prominent Kremlin critic and popular former mayor, stood trial on Wednesday over accusations of “discrediting” the Russian military. Roizman is one of just a few leading opposition figures who remain in Russia and have not been jailed. He faces up to five years in prison. Since invading Ukraine in February last year,…