Russia’s largest lender Sberbank has sold its digital ecosystem to an obscure new company in what experts call an attempt to shield those services from Western sanctions, media reported Thursday. Sber said it sold its video, audio and sports streaming platforms, as well as its cloud technology and biometric system research center, on Tuesday “as…
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday Moscow was nearing full control of Ukraine’s eastern separatist region of Luhansk. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24 under the guise of protecting the Russian-speaking population there, especially in the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia recognized the independence of the…
Incessant bombardment has turned Ukraine’s Donbas region into “hell,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as the first post-invasion trial of a Russian soldier for war crimes neared its closely watched climax Friday. Zelensky’s government received a fresh boost as the U.S. Congress approved a $40 billion aid package, including funds to enhance Ukraine’s armored vehicle fleet…
A Siberian entrepreneur who played the Ukrainian national anthem in public has been found guilty of “Nazi propaganda,” a local court said Thursday in the latest example of Russia’s ongoing crackdown on wartime dissent. The Tyumen resident, identified as Vladimir Fofanov by the OVD-Info police-monitoring website, was shown performing the anthem on a piano set up on an…
Videos and eyewitness testimony provided evidence of Russian troops executing eight Ukrainian men in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, implicating them in a possible war crime, The New York Times reported Thursday. “I was shot and I fell down,” the lone survivor of the March 4 execution, 43-year-old builder Ivan Skyba, recounted to the NYT. …
The United Nations on Thursday urged Russia and Ukraine to “build on” contacts and coordination that enabled the evacuation operations from Mariupol in order to resume stalled peace talks. The successful operations to evacuate civilians and later fighters from the sprawling Azovstal steelworks in the devastated Ukrainian port points the way back towards broader negotiations…
The Kremlin said Thursday it was important to ensure basic living conditions in war-torn Ukraine as signs multiplied that Moscow was seeking to permanently occupy or even annex the pro-Western country’s southeast. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24 but Moscow has repeatedly stressed it is not seeking to occupy Ukrainian…
The Russian-appointed head of Ukraine’s Kherson region said Thursday that the area will “soon become part” of the Russian Federation. De-facto governor Volodymyr Saldo was installed by Russian forces after they took control of the southern Ukrainian region in early March. “We are looking at the Russian Federation as our own country because it is…
McDonald’s will sell its Russian restaurants to Siberian businessman Alexander Govor, the U.S. fast-food giant announced Thursday. Govor, who co-owns oil firm NefteKhimServis, already operates 25 of the chain’s restaurants in Russia. Once approved by regulators, the deal will see the 62-year-old take over all 850 McDonald’s locations within Russia under a new brand, business…
Ukrainian prosecutors on Thursday requested a life sentence for the first Russian soldier on trial for war crimes since the start of Moscow’s invasion, AFP journalists in the courtroom reported. The prosecution asked the judge to sentence the 21-year-old Russian army sergeant to “life imprisonment” for killing 62-year-old civilian Oleksandr Shelipov in the first days…
Russia is approaching Chinese companies to join in its bid to revive the Soviet-era Moskvitch car, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday, citing two unnamed sources. The report comes days after Moscow’s mayor announced plans to bring back the Moskvitch (Muscovite) by nationalizing a Renault majority-owned factory that the French automaker handed over in its…
Russia had taken steps to prepare itself for a food crisis even before President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine, a Kremlin aide said on Thursday. Russia and Ukraine alone produce 30 percent of the global wheat supply. Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine and a barrage of unprecedented international sanctions on Russia have disrupted supplies…
Timofei Voronov, 21, a cultural studies student at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE), was summoned to see the prestigious university’s deputy head in March after being detained at an anti-war rally. Along with several other students, Voronov was shown a list of new laws at the March meeting, including those that mandate long jail…
A Russian rock legend has been charged with “discrediting” the Russian military after making an anti-war speech at a show in central Russia. Yury Shevchuk, the frontman of 1980s rock band DDT, is already known for his direct confrontations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, support for anti-Kremlin activist collective Pussy Riot and opposition to Russia’s…
A new investigation has named the former director of the Bavarian State Ballet as the partner of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s second-eldest daughter. Igor Zelensky, 52, is reportedly in a serious, long-term relationship with Katerina Tikhonova, 35, widely believed to be Putin’s daughter, Russian news outlet iStories and German news site Der Spiegel reported Thursday.…
Russia’s defense ministry said Thursday that 1,730 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered this week at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol. “Over the past 24 hours, 771 militants of the Azov nationalist regiment surrendered,” the ministry said in its daily briefing on the conflict. “In total, since May 16, 1,730 militants…
Russia reported Thursday its second civilian death since the start of the invasion of Ukraine as fighting near Russia’s border with Ukraine intensified. “Another enemy attack that took place at dawn unfortunately ended in tragedy,” Roman Starovoit, the governor of western Russia’s Kursk region, wrote on Telegram. A truck driver making a delivery to a…
A top Russian official claimed Wednesday that Europe’s largest nuclear power station – that was captured by Russian forces in Ukraine – will provide electricity to Russia . Ukraine’s energy providers dismissed the comments on the seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as a technical impossibility. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, on a visit to the…
Russia is shutting down the Moscow offices of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in retaliation to Ottawa banning Russia’s state-run RT and RT France networks, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry is also withdrawing the press accreditations and canceling the visas of CBC’s journalists in Russia, Zakharova told reporters. “A decision…
The first Russian soldier on trial in Ukraine for war crimes during Moscow’s invasion pleaded guilty on Wednesday, facing possible life imprisonment in Kyiv. Asked in court if he was guilty of the allegations, including war crimes and premeditated murder, 21-year-old sergeant Vadim Shishimarin responded “yes.” The captured soldier is accused of killing a 62-year-old…
Google’s Russian branch has initiated a bankruptcy procedure over its inability to pay a $100-million fine for keeping up content Moscow deems illegal, media reported Wednesday as Russia continues to intensify its pressure on Big Tech following its invasion of Ukraine. A Moscow court fined Google 7.2 billion rubles ($113.5 million) in December 2021 for…
Google’s Russian branch has initiated a bankruptcy procedure over its inability to pay a $100-million fine for keeping up content Moscow deems illegal, media reported Wednesday as Russia continues to intensify its pressure on Big Tech following its invasion of Ukraine. Google confirmed the reports the next day. “Google Russia has published a notice of…
Talks aimed at ending hostilities in Russia’s nearly three-month attack on Ukraine have come to a standstill because of a “lack of willingness” on Kyiv’s part, the Kremlin said Wednesday. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have held several rounds of peace talks since the start of the invasion in February. But the talks have lost momentum…
Moscow said Wednesday it was expelling 34 “employees of French diplomatic missions” in a tit-for-tat move following the expulsion of Russian diplomats from France as part of joint European action over Russia’s campaign in Ukraine. “Thirty-four employees of French diplomatic missions in Russia have been declared persona non grata,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a…
Moscow on Wednesday kicked out diplomats from France, Italy and Spain in retaliation for the expulsion of Russian diplomats from European countries as part of a joint action against Russia’s campaign in Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it was expelling 34 “employees of French diplomatic missions” in Russia and gave them two…
The de factor leader of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia has announced that the territory will hold a referendum on joining Russia on July 17. But can the vote actually go ahead and would the outcome change anything? Holding the vote will be complicated by the fact that the South Ossetian leader, Anatoliy Bibilov,…
Belarus has introduced the death penalty for attempts to carry out acts of terrorism, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday, charges that several opposition activists face in the ex-Soviet country. Belarus — a close ally of Russia that has supported its military offensive in Ukraine — is the only country in Europe that continues to carry…
Russia said Wednesday that another 694 Ukrainian soldiers defending Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant have surrendered over the past 24 hours as Kyiv’s effort to retain its last holdout in the devastated southern port comes to a close. They join the 265 soldiers that Russia’s Defense Ministry said had surrendered earlier, bringing the total to 959 in…
A Russian gymnast who sported an insignia linked to his country’s invasion of Ukraine on a medal podium has been banned for one year, a disciplinary panel said. Ivan Kuliak’s singlet had the letter ‘Z’ prominently placed as he stood next to Ukraine’s Kovtun Illia, the gold medalist at a World Cup event in Doha in March. The ‘Z’ has been…
Russia spent more than $300 million per day on defense last month as its invasion of Ukraine continued to drag on, according to Finance Ministry data, more than doubling its pre-war defense spending. Defense spending has increased every month since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in late February as Russia’s Armed Forces failed…
A village and a sugar refinery near Russia’s border with Ukraine were shelled late Tuesday, according to officials. Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the village of Bezymeno 50 kilometers northwest of Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv was damaged in an attack that wounded at least one person. “There is some damage. A door-to-door assessment…
This article was corrected with the date of Russia’s occupation of Kherson and updated with details about Russian confiscations of agricultural goods and equipment in the surrounding region. A top Russian official has promised to revive the occupied southern Ukrainian region of Kherson by rebuilding roads, bridges and buildings destroyed as a result of the…
Precision-guided missiles have been one of the weapons of choice for the Russian Armed Forces since invading Ukraine in late February. These domestically-produced missiles have been responsible for some of Russia’s most deadly attacks in Ukraine, including on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of…
Mortgage loans in Russia fell by their largest margin ever in April despite government measures to avert the economic fallout from war-related Western sanctions, the RBC news website reported Tuesday. Russian banks approved 37,200 mortgage loans totaling 130.5 billion rubles ($2 billion) in April 2022. That marked a 75% drop from March, when banks issued 529.3…
Moscow said on Tuesday that two employees of Finland’s embassy in Russia will have to leave the country in response to a similar move by Helsinki. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it summoned Finland’s ambassador to Moscow and expressed its “strong protest” against the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from neighboring Finland…
Russia said Tuesday that 265 Ukrainian soldiers holed up in Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant had “surrendered,” contradicting Kyiv’s account that the evacuated soldiers would be exchanged later. “The surrender of fighters from the Azov nationalist unit and Ukrainian servicemen blocked in the Azovstal plant in Mariupol began yesterday,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a…
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday opened an appeal process for a nine-year prison sentence he was handed in March on charges that he and his allies say are politically motivated. After a brief start to the hearing on Tuesday morning, the court said it would resume the process on May 24 following a…
President Vladimir Putin is involved in Russia’s push to capture eastern Ukraine on a tactical level, British media reported Monday, citing unnamed western military sources. Russian forces are currently attempting to encircle cities under Kyiv’s control in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions after abandoning their initial plan to seize the Ukrainian capital in late February.…
Ukrainian authorities said a rescue mission to extract the last defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol was under way on Tuesday, after hundreds of soldiers were evacuated in an earlier operation. The factory complex had become a symbol of resistance, with around 600 soldiers holed up in underground tunnels and bunkers fighting a rear-guard…
A Russian village on the Ukrainian border was shelled early Tuesday, according to the the governor of Russia’s Kursk region, a day after his counterpart on Ukrainian side reported an attempted Russian incursion. “Today at around 5 a.m., large-caliber weapons were fired at the border village of Alekseevka in the Glushkov district,” Kursk region Governor…
The southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol has been under near-constant Russian bombardment since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Securing the strategic port on the Sea of Azov would allow Russia to establish a broad “land bridge” connecting the annexed Crimean peninsula with eastern Ukraine’s separatist-held Donbas region. But the city’s Ukrainian…
A Russian beverage maker has unveiled a new range of soft drinks to replace the iconic brands that have left the Russian market in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. In lieu of Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite, Russians will be able to choose from CoolCola, Fancy and Street, Russian drink producer Ochakovo announced Monday.…
American fast-food giant McDonald’s will sell its Russian business and exit the market completely, The New York Times reported Monday, citing an internal corporate message it obtained. The company aims to sell its business to a Russia-based buyer but the restaurants will no longer be able to use the McDonald’s arch logo or brand name. …
Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev has criticized the banning of Russian and Belarusian athletes from this summer’s Wimbledon tournament as “unfair.” The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which runs the prestigious tournament, indefinitely barred Russian and Belarusian tennis players from competing last month in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Speaking ahead of this…
The Russian border region of Belgorod reportedly came under three separate artillery attacks on Sunday, as Ukrainian troops defending the city of Kharkiv said they have reached the Russian border. Belgorod regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov acknowledged one attack on the border village of Sereda early Sunday, announcing that one person had been injured in the…
Three Russian military recruitment offices were attacked over the weekend amid an uptick of violence against the facilities following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The first attack took place in the early hours of Friday morning, when a man dressed in black hurled a Molotov cocktail into an enlistment building in the town of Gukovo in…
Russia warned Monday that decisions by Finland and Sweden to join the NATO military alliance were serious mistakes and Moscow would take measures. “This is another grave mistake with far-reaching consequences,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters. “The general level of military tensions will increase,” he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.…
Russia has nationalized a major factory that belonged to Renault and intends to use it to revive the famous Soviet-era Moskvitch car in what the French automaker categorized as a “responsible choice” for its thousands of employees in Russia. The move appears to be the first major transfer of private assets into state hands after Russian officials…
NATO on Sunday pledged open-ended military support for Ukraine, as Finland hailed its “historic” bid to join the alliance and Sweden’s ruling party said it backed a joint membership application. The promise came after Finland jettisoned decades of military non-alignment, redrawing the balance of power in Europe and angering the Kremlin. On the ground in…
Ukraine’s forces were fighting off a fierce Russian onslaught on the east of the country Sunday after a Eurovision victory gave the country a much-needed boost of morale. President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Saturday that the war in his country risked triggering global food shortages, adding that the situation in Ukraine’s Donbas is “very difficult.”…
Large swathes of Siberia are in flames as what looks to be another record-breaking wildfire season sets in. Environmental group Greenpeace said last month that this year’s wildfires are already twice as large as those of the same time last year. Acting Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupryan said this week that Russia has seen over 4,000…
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday about the Nordic country’s application for NATO membership, expected to be announced this weekend, his office said. The phone call, which was “initiated by Finland… was direct and straightforward and it was conducted without aggravations. Avoiding tensions was considered important,” Niinisto was…
Intense fighting raged in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region where Russia has been concentrating its forces without making significant progress, while “very difficult negotiations” were under way over the fate of the last besieged defenders in the city of Mariupol. Europe on Friday pledged another $500 million in military support for Ukraine as it resists the…
The leader of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia on Friday set July 17 as a date for a referendum on joining Russia. “Anatoly Bibilov signed a decree on holding a referendum in the Republic of South Ossetia,” his office said in a statement, citing his people’s “historic aspiration” to join Russia. South Ossetia was…
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday to move immediately to implement a ceasefire in Ukraine, in their first conversation since before the war began, the Pentagon said. “Secretary Austin urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication,” the Pentagon said in a statement. The Pentagon…
Russia will suspend electricity supplies to Finland this weekend, a supplier said on Friday as tensions rise over Helsinki’s NATO bid following the conflict in Ukraine. “We are forced to suspend the electricity import starting from May 14,” said RAO Nordic, a subsidiary of Russian state energy holding Inter RAO that sells its electricity on…
A Russian court on Friday extended the pre-trial detention on drug charges of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, state media reported. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion, was detained at Moscow airport in February on charges of carrying in her luggage vape cartridges with cannabis oil, which could carry a 10-year prison…
An award-winning artist said Friday that he fled Russia after security forces uncovered his plan to disrupt the country’s annual Victory Day parade with a peaceful protest against the war in Ukraine. Danila Tkachenko said he purchased 140 blue-and-yellow smoke grenades and installed them in air conditioners that he placed outside an apartment building near…
The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) on Friday confirmed the suspension of Russia’s TASS agency for not respecting its standards. The decision came during the EANA’s general assembly in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, the alliance’s president Clemens Pig told reporters. In February, three days after Russia invaded Ukraine, EANA’s executive body composed of five…
Russia has advised its citizens to “refrain” from traveling to the United Kingdom and from trying to obtain a British visa, citing what it called London’s “unfriendly” stance toward Moscow and long delays for visa applications. In a statement Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the British Embassy in Moscow of prioritizing applications from Ukrainian…