FSB Accuses Moldovan Man, 2 Russians of Plotting Crimea Attacks

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it detained three men, including a Moldovan citizen, suspected of plotting bomb attacks in annexed Crimea and sharing military intelligence with Ukraine. “All those detained are providing confessions,” the law enforcement agency said in a statement published on its website. Russian state media released an FSB video showing the…

Russia Charges CNN Journalist Over Report From Sudzha

Russian law enforcement authorities said Thursday that they have filed criminal charges against a CNN reporter and two Ukrainian journalists for illegally crossing the border into Ukrainian-held territory of the Kursk region during a reporting assignment. “Criminal charges have been filed, and investigations are underway,” a spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) told the…

Kursk Region Installs Makeshift Bomb Shelters at Bus Stops Amid Air Attacks

Authorities in the embroiled Kursk region of southwestern Russia have begun setting up makeshift bomb shelters near bus stops to protect civilians from ongoing air attacks. “At my instruction, the Kursk city administration has identified key locations to place modular concrete shelters,” acting Kursk region Governor Alexei Smirnov wrote on Telegram. “We plan to equip…

Russia Blames Telegram, WhatsApp Outage on Cyberattack as Experts Point to Censorship

Russia said Wednesday that brief outages of Telegram and WhatsApp were caused by a cyberattack, while internet experts suggested that the authorities themselves may have attempted to block the popular messaging services. Federal media regulator Roskomnadzor blamed the outage on a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyberattack targeting Russia’s telecom operators.  A DDoS attack is designed to force…

Russian Police Detain Israeli-Canadian Racecar Driver Wanted in U.S. for Fraud – Reports

Russian law enforcement authorities detained an Israeli-Canadian racecar driver and entrepreneur wanted by the U.S. for allegedly defrauding investors of millions of dollars through an illegal online stock trading scheme, media reported Tuesday. Joshua Cartu, 45, was detained at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport by the Interior Ministry’s Interpol bureau on Monday, according to the local news…

This Week in the Republics

The Moscow Times is republishing the weekly news wrap spotlighting the latest developments in Russia’s ethnic republics and Indigenous communities, which was originally published by From the Republics.  Tyva & Sakha ablaze Authorities in the Siberian republic of Tyva on Sunday declared a region-wide state of emergency for the second time this month due to…

Don’t Use Dating Sites Amid Kursk Incursion, Russia Tells Border Region Residents

Russian law enforcement authorities are urging residents in regions bordering northeastern Ukraine to avoid using dating websites amid Kyiv’s ongoing incursion, state media reported Tuesday, citing an Interior Ministry spokesperson. “The use of online dating services is strongly discouraged. The enemy is actively using them to gather information,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by…

Putin Signs Decree Granting Residency to Foreigners Who Share ‘Traditional’ Russian Values

President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree allowing foreign citizens and stateless individuals to apply for temporary residency in the country if they share “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values,” even in cases when a person does not speak Russian. The decree states that those who oppose the “destructive neoliberal ideological agenda” in their…

‘Traditional’ Values Will Protect Russia From Mpox Outbreak, Top Health Official Says

The head of Russia’s consumer protection watchdog said Monday that “traditional” values will help the country avoid an outbreak of the infectious viral disease mpox, which spreads through close physical and sexual contact. The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency last week as mpox, also known as monkeypox, continued to spread in the Democratic…

Russian Army Says Captured ‘Major’ Settlement in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday its troops captured a “major” settlement in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where Moscow’s forces are advancing even as Ukraine mounts its own armed incursion into Russian territory. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had “liberated” the town of Artemovo, which is called Zalizne in Ukraine, describing it as one of the…

Putin Says ‘Would Be Happy’ to Facilitate Azerbaijan-Armenia Peace Deal in Aliyev Talks

Russia “would be happy to” facilitate the signing of a peace treaty between longtime foes Armenia and Azerbaijan, President Vladimir Putin said during talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart on Monday. “If we can do something that leads Azerbaijan and Armenia to sign a peace agreement… we’d be very happy to do so,” Putin told President Ilham Aliyev…

Russia Blacklists Clooney Foundation

Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office on Monday banned a charitable foundation created by U.S. film star George Clooney and his wife Amal. “The activities of The Clooney Foundation for Justice are deemed undesirable on the territory of our country,” it said in a statement. The organization “conducts extensive work aimed at discrediting Russia, actively supports false patriots…

Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake Strikes off Russian Far East

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s Far East Kamchatka Peninsula early Sunday morning local time, according to the regional earthquake monitoring service. The local emergencies ministry said tremors were felt along the coast including in the region’s capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. “Operational teams of rescuers and firefighters are inspecting buildings,” the regional branch…

Russia Adds Navalny Allies Pevchikh, Yarmysh to ‘Terrorists and Extremists’ List

Russian authorities on Friday added several close allies of the late activist Alexei Navalny to the government’s list of “extremists and terrorists.” Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s former spokeswoman, and Maria Pevchikh, head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, are among the latest to be included on the Rosfinmonitoring list. According to the independent news outlet Mediazona, at least…

‘I Never Believed I Could Get on That Plane’: Freed Political Prisoner Sasha Skochilenko

St. Petersburg artist Sasha Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in prison last year for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army after she replaced supermarket price tags with statements criticizing the invasion of Ukraine and the killing of Ukrainian civilians. Defending her actions in a court hearing ahead of her sentencing, the 33-year-old Skochilenko…

Russia Says Ukraine Struck Shopping Mall in Occupied Donetsk

A crowded shopping mall in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Donetsk caught fire after alleged Ukrainian shelling on Friday. Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-appointed governor of the Donetsk region, accused Ukrainian forces of wounding at least seven civilians in “targeted massive strikes” on southwestern Donetsk. He said the attacks damaged a local hospital and burned the Galaktika shopping…

Belarus Warns of Ukrainian Border ‘Provocations’ Amid Kursk Offensive

Belarus again claimed that Ukraine is planning “armed provocations” with continued troop movements along their shared border, state media reported Friday. Kyiv previously claimed Minsk, Russia’s close ally, was playing up tensions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border to divert attention from Ukraine’s incursion into Russian territory. “Given the presence of Ukrainian armed formations in the border areas,…

Major Power Outage Hits Far East Russia

At least two regions in Russia’s Far East faced blackouts on Friday after authorities held previously scheduled regionwide power outage drills. People reported being stuck in traffic, at shopping malls and inside elevators in the regions of Khabarovsk and Primorye, where the city of Vladivostok is located. Earlier, the Primorye region’s Energy Ministry announced that it…

Ukraine’s Military Publishes Videos Showing First Moments of Kursk Attack

The Ukrainian military on Friday released several videos capturing the first hours of its surprise incursion into southwestern Russia’s Kursk region last week. One of the videos, nearly two minutes long, shows missile strikes, armored vehicles driving through open fields and residential areas, as well as captured Russian servicemen. Toward the end of the video, Ukrainian…