Rwanda said Saturday it was counting on Russia training its citizens to become specialists in nuclear energy, as the African country bets on nuclear power to boost its energy supply. Moscow is courting fresh diplomatic and economic ties with African countries, and its expertise in nuclear power is seen as one of the major draws…
Moscow is exploring a plan to merge its three largest oil companies into a single mega oil producer, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Under the merger, state-backed Rosneft Oil would absorb Gazprom Neft—a subsidiary of the natural gas giant Gazprom—and Lukoil, sources familiar with the discussions told The Wall Street Journal. The deal would…
Burkina Faso’s foreign minister praised cooperation with Russia on Saturday as “suiting” his country better than its historic ties with France. Following a 2022 military coup, Burkina Faso’s new leadership broke with Paris and has embraced Russia, which has sent army instructors to help Ouagadougou’s fight against an Islamist insurgency. Attending a Russia-Africa summit in…
With the U.S. stock market making record gains on the back of Donald Trump’s election victory, analysts doubt the Russian market can benefit from a Trump rally to the same extent as it did in 2016. The S&P 500 index of 500 leading publicly traded U.S. firms broke the historic 6,000 mark on Nov. 8 for…
Moscow summoned a Canadian diplomat on Friday to rebut Western allegations that Russia’s secret services had orchestrated a campaign to mail explosive packages to addresses in NATO countries, including Canada. After a series of fires at DHL depots in Britain and Germany this summer, Russia was accused of being behind a brazen plot to ship…
Russian prosecutors requested a six-year prison sentence for a Moscow pediatrician accused of criticizing the invasion of Ukraine during a private appointment Friday, despite the medic insisting she was innocent. Nadezhda Buyanova was accused by the ex-wife of a soldier killed in Ukraine of criticizing the war. She was arrested in February. The case against…
Authorities in Russia designated the exiled stand-up comedian Denis Chuzhoi as a “foreign agent” on Friday. Russia’s Justice Ministry accused Chuzhoi, who used to write for comedy shows on Russian television, of opposing the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — or what the Kremlin insists on calling a “special military operation.” The Justice Ministry used his real…
A Russian military court sentenced two soldiers to life in prison for the murder of a family of nine, including two children, in occupied Ukraine, the business newspaper Kommersant reported Friday. The soldiers, Anton Sopov, 21, and Stanislav Rau, 28, were arrested on Oct. 30, 2023, two days after the Kapkanets family was found shot…
Russian law enforcement officers seized weapons and handed out military summons to Roma amid a fresh wave of police raids in the Chelyabinsk region, where a murder last month ignited long-simmering ethnic tensions and sparked local reprisals against the local Romani community. Chelyabinsk region police have carried out at least six “crime prevention” raids over…
Pro-Russia hacking groups have ramped up attacks against South Korea amid North Korean troop deployments in Russia, South Korea’s presidential office said Friday. Authorities in Seoul said they have convened an emergency meeting due to recent attacks targeting some government and private websites. No major damage has been reported, aside from temporary outages, South Korea’s…
Ukraine’s military intelligence claimed responsibility for a drone strike on an oil refinery in southern Russia’s Saratov region that eyewitnesses said sparked a blaze late Friday, according to media reports. “A drone was eliminated over the territory of Saratov overnight. Part of the debris fell in an industrial zone in the Zavodsky district,” Saratov region…
A Russian court has sentenced a man to 13 years in prison on “treason” charges after he was reported to have donated around $54 to Ukraine’s military. The Moscow City Court said Friday it had found Alexander Kraychik guilty of “high treason” saying he provided “financial assistance to a foreign state [to support] activities against…
Russian and Western traders and brokers are optimistic following Donald Trump’s election victory, the Financial Times reported, citing market sources. “All the talk this morning is about how to trade Russia and whether sanctions will be thrown off… [traders at Western banks] are questioning suddenly whether the ruble is now tradeable,” FT wrote. The value of Russian assets rose…
A Russian army general in charge of a unit alleged to have tortured its own soldiers and murdered a U.S. citizen was reportedly killed in Ukraine this week, becoming the eighth Russian general to die since President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Major General Pavel Klimenko commanded the Russian ground forces’ 5th Separate…
The owner of Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has sold its last remaining property in Russia to a little-known businessman amid an ongoing wartime redistribution of assets. “We are now in the last part of the scaling down process, and we can confirm that we have sold [Ye]sipovo Distribution Center outside of Moscow, as well as remaining…
Venezuela and its most powerful ally Russia signed agreements Thursday on intelligence-gathering and counter-espionage, as well as energy cooperation, during a visit by a senior Kremlin official to Caracas. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko told Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez that his country stood ready to support Venezuela’s armed forces with “the most sophisticated…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he was “ready” to hold discussions with “courageous” Donald Trump, as he congratulated him on his victory in the U.S. presidential election. “I take this opportunity to congratulate him,” Putin said in remarks to the Valdai forum in the southern city of Sochi. Asked whether he was open…
The toll from a Russian strike on the Ukrainian frontline city of Zaporizhzhia has risen to four, while two people were killed in a separate attack in the Donetsk region, officials said. Russian forces have stepped up their attacks in Zaporizhzhia in recent days and are making rapid advances in the industrial territory of Donetsk,…
Russian aerial attacks on the frontline city of Zaporizhzhia on Thursday killed at least four people and wounded another 40, including children, officials said. Another two were killed in a separate attack on the eastern Donetsk region, strikes that followed a wave of overnight drone attacks, including on the capital Kyiv. Russian forces have stepped…
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday praised Donald Trump for his victory in the U.S. presidential election and said the president-elect would deserve a Nobel Peace Prize if he fulfills his campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine. “If he [ends the war], we’ll petition for the Nobel Prize. He’ll be rewarded for doing a…
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday praised Donald Trump for his victory in the U.S. presidential election and said the president-elect would deserve a Nobel Peace Prize if he fulfills his campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine. “If he [ends the war], we’ll petition for the Nobel Prize. He’ll be rewarded for doing a…
U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump has faced repeated scrutiny for what some consider being too soft on Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and even outright accusations of collaboration with Moscow, since he announced his first run for the presidency in 2015. In 2019, the U.S. Congress impeached then-President Trump for a phone call in which he pressured Ukrainian…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Thursday that offering concessions to Russia to end the war would be “suicidal” for Europe, coming as top Russian officials threatened the “destruction” of Ukraine’s population unless the West engaged in peace talks. Authorities in Kyiv have for months called on their Western allies to double down on past commitments to…
Unhappy at Turkey’s continued delivery of guns to Ukraine, Russia is on the other hand only too happy to get hold of a share of Turkey’s butter. Russia began importing Turkish butter last week with an initial 20-ton shipment. President Vladimir Putin has previously contended that Russia’s war economy is well balanced to supply both guns and butter, but fine words…
More than 500 Russian tourists are stranded on a cruise ship docked in Japan, awaiting permission from Tokyo to return home, Russia’s Embassy in Japan said Thursday. The Spectrum of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean International, is currently in Yokohama port due to an engine problem, according to social media posts from passengers aboard…
Russian President Vladimir Putin may speak with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump before his inauguration in January, but the Kremlin leader will not initiate contact, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. Trump, who secured a historic second term in the White House on Wednesday, has pledged to end the war in Ukraine before taking the oath…
Unlike Trump’s first presidential victory in 2016, which Russian elites greeted with jubilation, the Republican’s comeback is being met with more apprehension in Moscow. At least from an economic point of view, there are no good omens for a second Trump administration. Sanctions pressure set to continue Trump made all sorts of controversial (and contradictory)…
Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump have put forward several proposals that would effectively freeze the war in Ukraine, solidifying Moscow’s territorial gains, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources close to Trump. Trump, who criticized outgoing President Joe Biden’s handling of the Ukraine conflict, vowed during his campaign to end the war before…
The United Kingdom on Thursday introduced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia’s military, private mercenary groups and an intelligence agent suspected of involvement in the 2018 Novichok poisoning in Salisbury. “New targets include suppliers supporting Russia’s military production, Russian-backed mercenary groups operating in Sub-Saharan Africa and a GRU agent involved in the use of…
A Siberian court sentenced a foreign student to 14 years in prison on charges of promoting and participating in terrorist activities, state media reported Thursday, citing law enforcement officials. The First Eastern Military Garrison Court in Khabarovsk found the student guilty of “justifying and propagandizing” an international terrorist organization since early 2023, according to the…
Russians have applied for more visas to Europe’s visa-free Schengen area so far this year than in 2023, despite bureaucratic and geopolitical hurdles, the business newspaper Kommersant reported Wednesday, citing travel industry data. Demand for business and tourist visas to the 29-nation Schengen Zone rose by 35% between January and October compared to the same…
Donald Trump’s sweeping presidential election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris was welcomed by Russian officials on Wednesday, with many expressing cautious hope for better relations with Washington under the new leadership. Unlike incumbent Joe Biden, who has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies in its fight against the full-scale Russian invasion, Trump has built…
Russia’s Central Bank signaled a high likelihood of raising its key interest rate next month as the country’s rumbling war economy continues to drive inflation far above target levels, according to a new summary of policymakers’ meeting in October. Late last month, the regulator hiked its key rate to a record-high 21%, taking it even further than the emergency rate…
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday presided over the launch ceremony for Russia’s latest nuclear-powered icebreaker, as Moscow aims to expand its presence in the Arctic and replace markets lost to Western sanctions. “Strengthening the nation’s icebreaker fleet is crucial to our plans for Arctic development and boosting cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route,” Putin…
Russia’s Supreme Court upheld the four-year prison sentence for nationalist and former rebel commander Igor Girkin, his wife and Russian media reported Wednesday. Girkin, a convicted war criminal in the West and better known by his alias Igor Strelkov, was convicted of “inciting extremism” in January. The 53-year-old was arrested last summer after he criticized…
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to offer his congratulations to Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, as the former U.S. president was on the cusp of securing a second term in the Oval Office. “I’m not aware of any plans by the president to congratulate Trump,” Peskov told reporters shortly after…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Donald Trump Wednesday on his “impressive victory” in the U.S. election and said he hoped his presidency would bring a “just peace in Ukraine closer.” A likely second Trump term raises questions over Washington’s long-term support for Ukraine — which has fended off Russia’s full-scale invasion for almost three years — as the…
Donald Trump claimed a “magnificent” victory over Kamala Harris in the fight for the presidency on Wednesday as results put him on the verge of one of the most stunning comebacks in U.S. political history. A Trump victory holds immense significance not only for Americans, but also for international relations — particularly with Russia. U.S.-Russia…
Lawmakers from Russia’s upper-house Federation Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to ratify a mutual defense treaty with North Korea, as Western news outlets report that Ukrainian forces have engaged in clashes with North Korean soldiers sent to fight in the Kursk region. President Vladimir Putin signed the agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a…
Ukrainian drones targeted the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, media reported and authorities reported early Wednesday, in the first such attack on the region since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “This morning, air defense forces destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle over Kaspiysk,” Dagestan head Sergei Melikov said on Telegram. Kaspiysk, a port city named after…
Moscow is responsible for sending incendiary devices in packages from Lithuania to other countries in Europe, an adviser to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told local media Tuesday. The accusations come a day after The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed Western security officials, reported that Russia was orchestrating a covert sabotage campaign that involved sending packages…
A Ukrainian drone crashed into an apartment complex in the southwestern Russian city of Belgorod, injuring at least one person, regional authorities said Tuesday. Belgorod region governor Vyachelsav Gladkov said emergency workers rescued a man from the fifth floor of the apartment complex. According to Gladkov, the man suffered from a smoke inhalation injury but…
The head of Russia’s republic of Komi announced Tuesday that he was stepping down from office, making him the third regional executive to resign in two days after the governors of Rostov and Tambov “Our president has entrusted me with a new federal-level role,” Komi head Vladimir Uyba said in a video on Telegram. He did…
Russia launched 55 satellites into orbit on Tuesday, including two privately built Iranian devices, in a demonstration of deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran. A Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East at 2:18 a.m. Moscow time, carrying the payload, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency reported. In total, Roscosmos said the…
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Moldovan authorities of blocking thousands of Moldovans living in Russia from voting in Sunday’s presidential election and questioned the legitimacy of the results. “We can objectively assess these elections by noting that hundreds of thousands of Moldovans who live in the Russian Federation were not given the chance to vote,”…
A Russian strike on an infrastructure facility in eastern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia killed six people and wounded nine others, the regional governor said Tuesday. The industrial city, which had an estimated pre-war population of more than 700,000 people, lies around 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the nearest Russian positions on the front line. “Six people were…
A Moscow court on Tuesday upheld a 12-and-a-half year prison sentence for a U.S.-Russian man, Robert Woodland, convicted earlier this year on drug charges. At an appeal hearing at the Moscow City Court on Tuesday, Judge Irina Khorlina ruled to leave the original sentence “unchanged,” an AFP journalist reported from the courtroom. Woodland, 32, took…
The governors of Russia’s Rostov and Tambov regions announced their resignations on Monday, kicking off what political analysts refer to as “gubernatorpad,” or President Vladimir Putin’s annual shakeup of regional heads. “Today, the country’s leadership is setting other tasks for me at the federal level that will need to be carried out,” Tambov region Governor…
An engineer at a Russian tank manufacturer has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for high treason, after being found guilty of giving military information to Ukraine, a court said on Tuesday. Danil Mukhametov, 32, was working as an engineer at Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil in Russia’s Urals when he was detained in 2023…
Estonia’s coalition government on Monday said it hoped to amend the constitution to ban Russian and Belarusian residents from voting in municipal polls next year, to prevent potential meddling by Moscow and Minsk. More than 80,000 Russian citizens hold a residence permit in the former Soviet republic of 1.3 million people, which gained its independence…
Russia demanded that Ukraine drastically reduce its military and cede partially occupied territories, as well as that the West lift its sanctions, in the early stages of peace talks during Moscow’s 2022 invasion, the investigative outlet Systema reported Monday, citing a draft treaty proposal it said it obtained. Russia and Ukraine entered peace talks on Feb.…
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui in the Kremlin on Monday, Moscow announced. The meeting took place amid western claims that Russia plans to deploy thousands of Pyongyang’s troops to the Ukraine conflict. Choe has been in Russia for a week and has pledged that North Korea would…
South Korean intelligence believes Russia could fight alongside Pyongyang in the event of a war against Seoul, the South Korean daily the Korea Herald reported Sunday, citing a lawmaker briefed on the matter. The United States said last week that 10,000 North Korean soldiers were training in Russia and could be deployed to fight Ukraine within…
More than 3,300 foreigners have been awarded Russian citizenship this year in return for aiding Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, according to Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk. In a Telegram post published Sunday, Volk praised her Interior Ministry colleagues for swiftly assisting “a foreign citizen from a neighboring country” who risked being deported from Russia to…
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is in the company of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler because of the iPhone’s impact on society, the head of one of Russia’s biggest state broadcasters said Monday. Channel One CEO Konstantin Ernst called the iPhone “extremely harmful and monstrous for humanity” for “destroying human connection,” according to the independent news website Agentstvo.…
Indonesia and Russia kicked off their first joint naval drills on Monday, as the Southeast Asian archipelago’s new leader seeks to boost ties with Moscow. The region’s biggest economy maintains a neutral foreign policy, refusing to take sides in the Ukraine conflict or in great power competition between Washington and Beijing. But newly inaugurated Indonesian…
Russia on Sunday claimed to have captured another Ukrainian village, just a dozen kilometers from the key eastern logistics hub Pokrovsk, as its troops advance rapidly. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had “liberated the settlement of Vichneve following offensive operations”. Russia has been making swift advances in the eastern Donetsk region for weeks, taking…
Moscow on Saturday denied Washington’s claims that Russia was behind a fake video showing a Haitian immigrant claiming to have voted multiple times. Three U.S. intelligence agencies on Friday said in a joint statement that “Russian influence actors” created the video as part of “Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of…
Surging butter prices in Russia have led to increased thefts in some supermarkets and prompted Moscow to boost imports of the staple food product from nearby countries. According to Rosstat, the state statistics agency, butter prices jumped 25.7% from Jan. 1 to Oct. 28. Rusprodsoyuz, a union of food producers, reported that a kilogram of…
The widow of anti-Kremlin activist Ildar Dadin, who was killed fighting for Ukraine last month, accused the Freedom of Russia Legion of burying her late husband without her permission and suggested that members of the pro-Kyiv paramilitary group may have covered up the cause of his death. Dadin had fought alongside the Ukrainian armed forces…