Russia has set up a covert trade route to obtain critical electronics from India for its war in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing leaked government documents and anonymous sources. The Moscow-based Consortium for Foreign Economic Activity and International Interstate Cooperation in Industry (Ved MMKP) reported to Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry in October 2022 that…
Ukraine’s government reshuffle will not affect potential peace talks with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Wednesday. At least six top Ukrainian officials including cabinet ministers have submitted their resignations since Tuesday, while a presidential aide was dismissed. David Arakhamia, who heads the ruling party’s parliamentary faction, declared Wednesday a “day of dismissals.” “This reshuffle…
A Russian strike on the historic center of Lviv in western Ukraine has killed seven people including three children, officials said Wednesday, a day after a particularly bloody attack in the central city of Poltava in which dozens died. Moscow has stepped up its aerial attacks after Ukraine’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, which caught…
A sanctioned central banker is to represent Russia on the board of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, the current holder of the post said on Tuesday. Ksenia Yudaeva is the former first deputy governor at Russia’s Central Bank and a current adviser to its Governor Elvira Nabiullina. “Yes, I confirm. From November 1 Ksenia will be…
UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi said he discussed the safety of Russia’s Kursk nuclear plant with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, four weeks after Ukraine launched its unprecedented cross-border incursion. Ukraine sent thousands of troops into the Kursk region on Aug. 6, triggering fighting less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from the nuclear…
The head of Russia’s Far East republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has called on state employees to “not be ashamed” of studying at American universities, calling it an opportunity to “learn from the enemy” to improve things at home. “Don’t be ashamed of going abroad to learn something — including from our enemies — [especially] if…
A military court in southern Russia sentenced a Ukrainian special forces soldier to 20 years in prison after he was captured during a mission in annexed Crimea, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Oleksandr Lyubas was captured in October during an amphibious operation in which Ukrainian military intelligence soldiers reportedly arrived in Crimea on jet skis, unfurled…
Russian law enforcement authorities decided to extend a preliminary investigation into the death of Alexei Navalny at an Arctic prison earlier this year, the late opposition activist’s allies said Tuesday. Navalny was serving a 19-year prison sentence on extremism charges when he died under unclear circumstances at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony on Feb. 16. Authorities…
Russian Orthodox priests drove around the western Bryansk region with a religious icon in an attempt to protect it from a potential Ukrainian incursion, the local diocese said. “Today’s prayer was for the salvation of our fatherland and our native Bryansk region from enemy invasion,” the diocese of Bryansk said in a social media post published…
The pressure of Western sanctions saw Russia scramble to maintain its market power as a key energy exporter, as well as preserve the supply of technologies necessary for its military and civilian sectors. Domestically, this has meant Russia’s increasing state control over the economy, coupled with a tolerance of “grey” schemes to evade sanctions and…
President Vladimir Putin invited his Mongolian counterpart to attend the next BRICS summit in Russia next month, the Kremlin said Tuesday. “I’d like to conclude my opening remarks by inviting you to Russia, to Kazan, where we will host the BRICS summit this year,” Putin told Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh during his visit to Mongolia’s…
The Rosneft Scientific Institute in Ufa has opened a master’s programme in Petroleum Engineering for international students at the Ufa State Petroleum Technological University (USPTU)
A French citizen accused of gathering information about the Russian military and violating the country’s laws on “foreign agents” is set to stand trial on Tuesday. Laurent Vinatier, who worked for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO before he was arrested in Moscow in June, faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the…
Ukrainian drone strikes targeted three towns in Russia’s Belgorod region, seriously damaging a church and hitting public and commercial buildings, local authorities said early Tuesday. “An FPV drone struck St. Nicholas Church in the village of Gruzskoye in the Borisov district,” Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. Gladkov shared photos showing the church’s…
Two U.S. researchers claim to have identified a new potential deployment site of Russia’s nuclear-armed cruise missile Burevestnik, Reuters reported Monday. Decker Eveleth, an analyst with the CNA research and analysis organization, and Jeffery Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey said they identified a construction project near a nuclear warhead storage facility 475…
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrival in Mongolia marks his first trip to an International Criminal Court (ICC) member state since the body issued a warrant for his arrest over the illegal deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia in March 2023. While bolstering Putin’s defiance of the West, the visit carries wider implications for international law…
Russia advanced on 477 square kilometers (184 square miles) of Ukrainian territory in August, Moscow’s biggest monthly increase since October 2022, according to data supplied by the Institute for the Study of War and analyzed by AFP. The Ukrainian army, for its part, made rapid gains in early August in Russia after a surprise incursion…
Viktor Bout, the notorious Russian arms dealer released in a 2022 prisoner exchange for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, has applied to trademark his name for beverages. According to the news website RBC-Wine, Bout applied to register his first and surname in Cyrillic, the Latin transcription “Victor Bout” and the phrase “Kroot Kak Boot” (“Tough…
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mongolia late Monday, marking his first visit to a country that is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it issued an arrest warrant for him last year. Russian state television broadcasted Putin’s plane landing in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. Putin is wanted by the ICC for…
Russia imported more than $29 million in U.S. dollar and euro banknotes from Rwanda this year, despite Western sanctions on cash imports, the investigative outlet Vyorstka reported on Monday, citing confidential customs data. The United States and the European Union banned the export of their banknotes to Russia in March 2022 following the full-scale invasion…
Rosneft financed the renovation of primary general education school No. 28 and secondary comprehensive school No. 29 in Syzran
A small village in a national park in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region is boycotting the upcoming regional elections where the pro-Kremlin incumbent governor seeks to secure his mandate because they have been cut off from the outside world by authorities’ negligence. The village of Tyulyuk, some 1,700 kilometers from Moscow, is located in a region nicknamed…
Russia’s manufacturing sector saw its slowest pace of growth in more than a year in August, a business survey published on Monday showed. S&P Global’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Russian manufacturing fell to 52.1 last month compared to 53.6 in July. A PMI value above 50 points indicates growth, whereas anything below signifies a…
With the support of Bashneft (a subsidiary of Rosneft), a new multifunctional educational centre was opened in the village of Elan-Chishma in the Ermekeyevsky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan
A large fire at an oil storage facility in southern Russia’s Rostov region has been extinguished two weeks after a Ukrainian drone strike set it off, Russian state media reported Monday, citing emergency services. Ukraine’s military claimed responsibility for the Aug. 18 attack on the Kavkaz oil and petroleum storage facility in the town of…
A Beluga whale whose unusual harness sparked suspicions it was trained by Russia for spying purposes has been found dead in Norway, according to an NGO that tracks the animal’s movements. Nicknamed “Hvaldimir,” a pun on the Norwegian word for whale hval and the Russian name Vladimir, the beluga first appeared off the coast of…
Rescuers on Sunday said they found 17 bodies after a helicopter with 22 people on board crashed in Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula in the Far East. The helicopter went missing shortly after takeoff Saturday, carrying 19 tourists and 3 crew members, according to authorities in Kamchatka, a picturesque region popular among adventure tourists and known for its active…
Relatives of the victims of the Beslan school siege gathered Sunday to pay tribute at the ruins of the school, remembering the 330 people, including 186 children, who lost their lives in Russia’s deadliest terror attack. School bells rang at 9:15 a.m. local time, marking the start of the siege 20 years ago, while mourners laid…
Russia’s Defense Ministry said early Sunday that its air defense systems downed nearly 160 Ukrainian drones across 15 regions, including two over Moscow, making it one of the largest coordinated attacks on the country since the start of the war. “During the night, the Kyiv regime attempted a terrorist attack using drones against targets in…
Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona said Saturday more than 66,000 Russian military personnel have died during the war in Ukraine according to its estimates. Mediazona has been drawing up a list of known soldier deaths in conjunction with the BBC Russian Service using open-source data. Previously in April, they announced they had found more than…
A helicopter with 22 people aboard, most of them tourists, has gone missing in Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula in the far east, regional authorities said Saturday. “Today at about 16:15 [0415 GMT] communication was lost with a Mi-8 helicopter…which had 22 people on board, 19 passengers and three crew members,” Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in…
Ukraine’s cross-border incursion into Russia has disrupted Russian mercenaries’ plans in junta-led Burkina Faso, with many now pulled out to help boost Moscow’s defenses back home, a paramilitary commander said on Friday. In an interview with AFP, Viktor Yermolaev, head of a paramilitary unit known as Medvedi (Bears) in Russia and the Bear Brigade in…
Ukraine was fully within its rights to launch its surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk border region as an act of self-defense, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Die Welt. The offensive launched on Aug. 6 caught the Kremlin off guard, with Kyiv claiming to have captured dozens of settlements and more than 1,200 square…
At least five people were killed and 37 others injured in Ukrainian airstrikes on Russia’s Belgorod region Friday evening, local authorities said. Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov accused Ukrainian forces of using “Vampir” multiple-launch rocket systems with cluster munitions in the attack on the city of Belgorod and its surrounding areas. Among the dead were…
Russian authorities designated Galina Timchenko, the exiled founder and CEO of the independent news website Meduza, as a “foreign agent” on Friday. The Russian Justice Ministry accused Timchenko of opposing the country’s “special military operation” in Ukraine and spreading “inaccurate information aimed at forming a negative image of the Russian armed forces.” Timchenko served as…
Russian authorities have added Chechen MMA fighter Ilyas Yakubov to the country’s list of “extremists and terrorists” ahead of a court ruling on a criminal case against him. Yakubov was arrested last fall after posting an Instagram video of a training session set to an audio track featuring Shamil Basayev, a notorious Chechen guerrilla leader.…
Russia’s military said Friday that it captured three more villages in eastern Ukraine, where its forces continue to advance even as Kyiv mounts a major cross-border incursion into Russian territory. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces gained control of towns and villages in Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. Among the settlements captured…
A cultural center dedicated to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin announced the creation of a new Komsomol, the Communist Party’s youth wing, as Soviet-era symbolism continues to resurface in Russia. The Stalin Center, located in the Altai region city of Byisk, launched the Stalin Young Communist League, aiming to attract members aged 14-20 who share the…
The Kremlin said Friday that it was not concerned about authorities in Mongolia arresting President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the Asian country next week, even though it would technically be required to do so after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest last March. Putin will travel to Mongolia…
Russian payments for Chinese goods faced increasing delays and rising costs this past month due to stricter banking compliance in response to U.S. threats of secondary sanctions, Reuters reported Friday, citing Russian sources familiar with the matter. Chinese state banks have reportedly halted transactions with Russian companies “en masse,” leaving payments worth billions of yuan…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday that it detained two Colombian citizens on suspicion of fighting as mercenaries on the side of Ukraine. The detentions came after a Moscow court ruled Wednesday to place Jose Aron Medina and Alexander Ante in pre-trial detention until at least Oct. 22. Both men face up to 15…
A court in Siberia’s republic of Altai sentenced a newspaper publisher to eight years in prison for spreading “false information” about the Russian military, the internet rights group Setevye Svobody (Net Freedoms Project) said Friday. Sergei Mikhailov, who ran the “Listok” weekly newspaper in the regional capital of Gorno-Altaisk, was arrested in April 2022 after…
Lawmakers from the liberal opposition party Yabloko have called on Russia’s Defense Ministry to stop deploying conscripts in the southwestern Kursk region as the Russian military struggles to halt Ukraine’s assault near the border. “A number of media reports said it was conscripts who took up the fight when the Ukrainian armed forces invaded the…
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Mongolia next week, the Kremlin announced Thursday, marking his first trip to a country that is legally obligated to arrest and hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Last March, the ICC issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest over accusations that Moscow unlawfully deported Ukrainian children amid…
Former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov was arrested on fraud charges related to a sprawling military theme park outside Moscow, federal investigators announced Thursday. Popov is accused of misusing Patriot Park resources for personal gain, allegedly coercing the park’s contract workers into performing unpaid construction work at his private property in the Moscow region between…
Five new suspects linked to the deadly March attack at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall are now facing trial on terrorism and weapons charges, the city’s court system said Thursday. More than 20 individuals, including four alleged gunmen, were arrested following the March 22 attack, which resulted in 145 deaths and hundreds of injuries, making it…
Russia’s media regulator has warned internet providers to stop efforts that speed up YouTube loading speeds, an apparent acknowledgment of government attempts to throttle the popular video streaming platform, the independent news outlet Sotavision reported late Wednesday. Roskomnadzor’s control and regulatory arm, the main radio frequency center GRChTs, sent out the warning message following reports…
Authorities in southwestern Russia’s Belgorod region late Wednesday ordered schools near the border with Ukraine to switch to remote learning for the start of the upcoming academic year amid intensifying clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent weeks. “We must not only take all measures to ensure the safety of children but also give…
RN-Yuganskneftegaz, Rosneft’s largest oil production asset, continues to implement a large-scale programme to preserve biodiversity and restore aquatic bioresources
Ukrainian strikes on the southwestern Belgorod region killed one person and injured two others, regional authorities said early Thursday. “The town of Shebekino was targeted by Ukrainian forces” and “unfortunately, one person was killed,” Belgorod region Governor Vyachelsav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. Two other people were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, he said, while the airstrikes…
France on Wednesday charged Pavel Durov, the founder and chief of Telegram, with a litany of violations related to the messaging app and banned him from leaving the country while allowing the billionaire to walk free after four days under arrest. Durov, 39, was charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal…
Russian authorities will restrict entry to Kurchatov, the town where the Kursk nuclear plant is located, amid Ukraine’s ongoing incursion in the Kursk border region, the region’s acting governor said Wednesday. “Despite the fact that the security of the Kursk nuclear power plant is maximized, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are not abandoning their attempts to penetrate…
Russia has permanently banned 92 U.S. citizens from entering the country in response to the Biden administration’s “Russophobic” policies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said that the move was a response “to the Russophobic course pursued by Joe Biden’s administration with the declared aim of delivering a strategic defeat to Moscow, which includes…
At least 165 graves of Russian soldiers have been uncovered in the Arctic city of Murmansk, a significantly higher death figure than local authorities have publicly acknowledged, opposition activist Violetta Grudina said Wednesday. Grudina, an exiled former regional coordinator for Alexei Navalny’s now-banned political network, said the graves were found in a separate section of…
A Russian military court sentenced an engineer to 18 years in prison on Wednesday after authorities claimed they foiled his attempt to blow up an army recruitment office, the state-run TASS news agency reported. The court found Artyom Lozovoi, 39, guilty of treason in the form of espionage, of preparing a “terrorist attack” and of…
North Korea has sent Russia at least 13,000 shipping containers believed to be carrying arms since mid-2022, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Tuesday, citing a military intelligence report submitted to lawmakers in the East Asian nation. “To prepare for a prolonged war in Ukraine, Russia has moved to formalize North Korea as a…
Telegram founder and chief Pavel Durov was transferred to a courthouse in Paris on Wednesday where he may be formally charged, a source close to the case against the billionaire told AFP. The Russian-born tech entrepreneur was arrested at the French capital’s Le Bourget airport late Saturday on suspicion of failing to act against illicit…
Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Russia’s Kirov region, located some 700 kilometers east of Moscow, regional authorities said Wednesday, marking the first such attack on the region since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. “Two drones were shot down, and three fell on the grounds of the Zenit plant in the town of Kotelnich, where they…
Siberian journalist and activist Maria Ponomarenko, imprisoned under Russia’s wartime censorship laws, threatened to cut her wrists in protest against the abuse she says she has endured while incarcerated. Ponomarenko was sentenced to six years in prison in February 2023 for spreading “fake news” about Russia’s 2022 bombing of a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine —…
Russian attacks on eastern Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk region killed six people, the governor of the region said Wednesday, as Moscow announced the capture of another village in the area. The industrial region has suffered some of the heaviest fighting since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, as well as going back to 2014.…