Ukraine: As It’s Happening
displaced population In Photos: Evacuees from Donbas Arrive in Russia Tens of thousands of women, children and elderly have crossed the border into Russia after separatist leaders accused Ukraine of planning to invade.
Jailed Ex-Minister Ulyukayev Granted Early Release – Reports
A Russian court has granted early release to former economic development minister Alexei Ulyukayev after less than five years in jail, Russian news agencies reported Friday. Ulyukayev was found guilty of bribery in December 2017 and sentenced to eight years in prison in a high-profile criminal case that rocked the political elite. The ex-minister was…
Moscow, St. Petersburg Rehearse WWII Parade as Ukraine War Rages
Moscow and St. Petersburg held nighttime World War II victory parade rehearsals late Thursday as Russian forces continued their push to capture territory in eastern Ukraine. Russia marks 77 years since the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany on May 9 with a landmark military parade on Red Square aiming to boost domestic patriotic sentiment and…
Russia Strikes Kyiv During UN Chief’s Visit, Biden Asks for $33Bln for Ukraine
Russian forces bombarded Ukraine’s capital late Thursday during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who decried the “absurdity” of war in the 21st century, as U.S. President Joe Biden asked for $33 billion more to support Kyiv. At least three people were wounded in the strikes in the western part of the city, which…
Russia Sees First Ukraine War Casualty on Home Soil – Reports
Russia has lost its first soldier on home soil since the start of the country’s war with Ukraine, local media reported Thursday. Conscript Nikita Koshelev, 19, died when his base on the Ukrainian border came under bombardment, his friend Kirill Kulikov told news website NN.ru. Koshelev’s relatives in the town of Arzamas in the Russian…
Ukraine Probing Russian Soldiers on Bucha War Crime Suspicions
Ukraine is investigating at least 10 Russian soldiers accused of committing war crimes against civilians while occupying the Kyiv suburb of Bucha last month, the country’s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said Thursday. Images of civilians apparently executed in the streets and harrowing accounts of torture emerged from Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs as Russian forces…
Gazprom Profits Soar on High Energy Prices
Russian energy giant Gazprom on Thursday announced a soaring net profit for 2021, boosted by high energy prices. “The main factor that affected the financial result was an increase in gas and oil prices,” the state-controlled group said in a statement. “This resulted in an increase in sales and an increase in the cost of purchased gas and oil.” The group…
Kazakhstan Set to Ban Russian Presenter Over Ukraine Tirade
Kazakhstan has admonished a pro-Kremlin television presenter after he unleashed a tirade against the ex-Soviet country over its perceived distancing from Moscow since Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Central Asia’s richest country, Kazakhstan shares a land border with Russia, has a significant ethnic Russian minority and was forced to call in troops from a Russia-led bloc to quell unprecedented unrest in January. But…
Russia’s Yandex Sells News and Blogging Products to VK
Russian tech giant Yandex will sell its digital news and blogging products to fellow internet conglomerate VK, the companies announced Thursday. The sale of Yandex.News and Yandex.Zen to VK comes as Yandex, once the jewel of Russia’s rising IT scene, faces an increasingly uncertain future due to Western sanctions and an exodus of Russian IT…
Mercenaries Pulled From Libya as Ukraine Invasion Strains Russia’s Military – FT
Some 1,200 Syrian and Russian mercenaries have been pulled out of Libya as Moscow’s protracted invasion of Ukraine begins to place strain on the country’s military, the Financial Times reported Thursday. Unnamed Libyan officials told FT that 1,000 Syrians and 200 Russians from the Wagner Group had been moved from the war-torn North African country in…
Western Arms Shipments to Ukraine Endanger Europe, Kremlin Says
Western countries’ increased supply of military assistance and weaponry to Ukraine endangers the whole of Europe, the Kremlin said Thursday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s comments came as British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called on all Western countries to double their military support for Kyiv and start shipping heavy weapons to Ukraine to help the country defend…
Russia Says ‘Alarmed’ by Tensions in Breakaway Transnistria
Russia on Thursday raised the alarm over “acts of terrorism” in Moldova’s Moscow-backed breakaway region of Transnistria after separatist authorities reported several attacks there this week. “We are alarmed by the escalation of tensions in Transnistria,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during her weekly briefing, pointing to reports of shootings and explosions. “We regard…
Russian-Occupied Kherson Names New Leadership Amid Pro-Ukraine Protests, Rocket Attacks
Occupying Russian forces have appointed a new “military-civilian administration” in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region amid pro-Kyiv protests and rocket attacks. Russian soldiers occupied the city of Kherson on the banks of the Dnieper River in early March. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it gained control of the entire Kherson region this week. Russian troops have dismissed Kherson’s…
Russian Air Defenses In Action Near Ukraine Border
The Russian border region of Belgorod has confirmed using its air defense systems early Thursday, the day after an unexplained fire at a nearby ammunition dump. Regional authorities told state news agencies that late-night explosions heard by residents just 30 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border were the work of air defense systems. They provided no further…
Russian Disposable Income Drops, Inflation Highest Since 1999
Russia’s war in Ukraine and double-digit inflation drove down real disposable incomes in early 2022, the Rosstat statistics agency reported Wednesday. Real disposable income, a closely tracked indicator of Russian households’ financial wellbeing, calculates the amount residents have left to spend or save after payments. According to Rosstat, Russian households spent 17.1 trillion rubles ($231…
Russia Oil Output to Drop to Lowest Level in 18 Years – Siluanov
Russia’s oil production is on track to drop to an 18-year low this year as Western sanctions and departing foreign oil companies complicate extraction and reduce demand. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters Wednesday that Russian oil output could decline 17% this year. “How sales will be conducted further is difficult to asses now,” Siluanov…
Russia Coordinating Cyberattacks With Military Strikes in Ukraine – Microsoft
A handful of hacker groups aligned with the Russian government have carried out hundreds of cyberattacks against Ukraine since Moscow invaded, U.S. tech giant Microsoft said in a report Wednesday. It added that in “hybrid” warfare tactics, Russia often matches cyberattacks with military assaults on the battlefield. “Starting just before the invasion, we have seen…
Putin Warns of ‘Lightning Response’ to Intervention in Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that if any other country intervenes in Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, Russia will launch a quick-fire military response. Speaking to lawmakers, Putin said that “if anyone sets out to intervene in the current events from the outside and creates unacceptable threats for us that are strategic in nature, they…
In Photos: Russians Strip Yellow and Blue From the Nation’s Streets Over Ukraine War
Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February, the country’s streets have been filled with both anti-war messages and symbols of support for Russian troops. But with the Russian authorities cracking down on anti-war sentiment, some Russians have rushed to clear away anything that could be seen as support for Ukrainian forces. Sometimes farcically, this has included…
Russian Journalist Jailed for Social Media Post on Mariupol Theatre Strike
A Russian journalist and activist has been jailed ahead of her trial on accusations of spreading “fake” news about the war in Ukraine in a social media post, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday. Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist for the RusNews outlet, was charged over a March 17 Telegram post that said Russian…
Russia Swaps Ex-U.S. Marine Reed for Pilot Yaroshenko
Russia exchanged jailed ex-U.S. Marine Trevor Reed for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was in an American prison on drug smuggling charges, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said Wednesday. The surprise prisoner swap comes as Moscow and Washington’s diplomatic relations crumble over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The exchange took place “as a result of a…
‘This War Is a Vampire’: Buryat Activists Protest Ukraine Invasion
From her California home, quantum computer scientist Maria Vyushkova uses open-source information to track how many Russian soldiers from the Siberian republic of Buryatia have been killed in the invasion of Ukraine. An ethnic Buryat born in Russia and member of the anti-war Free Buryatia Foundation, Vyushkova analyzes social media posts, official statements and media…
Netherlands Halts Visas at Moscow Embassy After Diplomat Expulsions
The Netherlands said it has stopped issuing visas to Russian nationals from Wednesday following a slew of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions during Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Dutch Embassy in Moscow told Russian media it still plans to issue humanitarian visas and temporary residence permits. The Netherlands is a member of the European Union and the Schengen…
Russia’s Gazprom Halts Gas Supplies to Poland, Bulgaria
Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said Wednesday it had stopped all gas supplies to Poland and highly dependent Bulgaria after not receiving payment in rubles from the two EU members. President Vladimir Putin last month said Russia will only accept payment for deliveries in its national currency, with buyers required to set up ruble accounts or…
Transnistria Rebels Say Drones Seen, Shots Fired Near Russia Arms Depot
The interior ministry of Transnistria, a Moscow-backed separatist region of Moldova bordering Ukraine, said Wednesday that shots were fired at a village housing a Russian arms depot after drones flew over from Ukraine. This came after the unrecognized region has reported a series of explosions that it called “terrorist attacks,” raising fears of a spillover…
Russia Hikes Rates By Another Full Percentage Point
Russia’s Central Bank raised its key rate by a full percentage point to 9.5% on Friday in its latest attempt to tame surging inflation, bringing borrowing costs to their highest level in five years. This is the second time in a row the regulator has made the rare move of hiking the rate by a…
Macron’s Refusal of Russian Covid Test Behind Distanced Putin Talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talks with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron this week was held with social distancing after the French leader declined to take a Russian-administered coronavirus test, the Kremlin said Friday. Putin and Macron spoke from opposite ends of a 13-meter table in the Kremlin on Tuesday, with the French president hoping to convince…
Russia Sees Record 200K Covid-19 Cases
Russia reported more than 200,000 new Covid-19 infections Friday for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The country has been gripped by a surge in cases since the start of the year, fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The country reported 203,949 new infections over the last 24 hours, Russia’s nationwide…
New Satellite Images Indicate Ongoing Russian Military Buildup on Ukraine Border
New satellite images released by the U.S.-based technology company Maxar appear to reveal continuing Russian military buildup near Ukraine, despite a flurry of international efforts to defuse the Ukraine crisis. Stephen Wood, a senior director at Maxar, told CNN that the firm identified new large deployments of troops and equipment in annexed Crimea as well…
Britain’s Top Diplomat ‘Mocked’ Over Russia Trip Gaffes
The British Embassy in Moscow was forced Thursday to clarify a series of remarks made by Foreign Minister Liz Truss during a tense meeting with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. In the closed-door meeting, Lavrov had asked Truss whether the U.K. accepted that two Russian regions — Voronezh and Rostov — belonged to Russia and…
On This Day 1993: Women Should Stay at Home, Minister Says
Feb. 11, 1993 — Russia’s labor minister turned back the clock Wednesday with a startling official message for working women: Stay at home, raise children, keep house — and leave the other jobs to men. “Why should we employ women when men are unemployed? ” Gennady Melikyan said at a news conference. “It’s better that…
Biden Urges Americans to Leave Ukraine as Fears of Russian Invasion Mount
U.S. President Joe Biden urged Americans Thursday to immediately leave Ukraine, as Russia’s live-fire drills and build-up of troops around the ex-Soviet state deepened fears of an invasion. Washington-Moscow tensions are at their highest since the Cold War, with some U.S. estimates saying some 130,000 Russian soldiers are grouped in dozens of combat brigades near…
Rosneft will report its Q4 and 12M 2021 IFRS financial results on Friday, February 11, 2022.
Rosneft will report its Q4 and 12M 2021 IFRS financial results on Friday, February 11, 2022.
Russia Says Sputnik V Vaccine Does Not Cause Blood Clots
The developer of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said Wednesday its jab did not cause blood clots, a potential side effect that has disrupted rollouts in several Western countries. The United States has recommended pausing its rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after one person out of nearly 7 million Americans died from a…
Russia Says U.S. Troop Pullout from Afghanistan Risks ‘Escalation’
Russia said Wednesday that Washington’s plan to pull out troops from Afghanistan by September could lead to an escalation of the long-running conflict and derail peace talks. U.S. President Joe Biden announced earlier this week that all American forces would withdraw from Afghanistan by this year’s 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The Russian Foreign…
Armenia Says Wants More Russian Troops on Its Soil
Armenia said Wednesday it will seek to expand the presence of Russian troops on its soil in a move that would further strengthen Moscow’s role as the tiny Caucasus country’s security guarantor. Russia helped broker a peace deal between Armenia and its arch-foe Azerbaijan in November which ended six weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh…
Russian Warships Stage Black Sea Drills Ahead of U.S. Arrivals
The Russian Navy has launched drills in the Black Sea ahead of two U.S. warships’ reported arrival in the area amid tensions over Russia’s massive troop buildup near Ukraine, state media reported Wednesday. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet deployed a frigate, minesweeper, three corvettes and an unspecified number of landing ships to navigate simulated minefields, according…
Russian Police Raid Independent Student Outlet Over Navalny Video
Russian police have raided independent student-run publication DOXA’s Moscow offices and charged leading staffers with inciting minors to illegally protest, the outlet said Wednesday. Russian authorities demanded earlier this year that DOXA take down its video explaining that students shouldn’t be afraid to voice their opinions at the Jan. 23 pro-Navalny protest and that it was unlawful…
Putin Aide’s Assistant Jailed 12.5 Years for Treason – RBC
A former assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regional aide has been sentenced to 12.5 years in prison after being found guilty of state treason, the RBC news website reported Wednesday. Alexander Vorobyov, who had spent one year as an assistant to Putin’s then-envoy in the Urals Federal District, was arrested in 2019. Few details…
Putin Receives Second Coronavirus Vaccine Dose
President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that he has received his second Covid-19 vaccine shot with one of Russia’s domestically developed jabs and that he hoped Russians would follow his example. Putin, 68, received his first dose on March 23. “I want to inform you that right now, before entering this room, I also received the second…
Biden Summit Offer Hailed in Moscow as Win for Putin
U.S. President Joe Biden’s invitation to Vladimir Putin to hold a summit was being hailed in Moscow Wednesday as a sign that Washington had blinked first in the showdown with Russia over Ukraine. With indications that work was already underway for a potential meeting in Finland, Russian officials were crowing that Moscow was finally being…
Crimea, Expecting Tourist Surge After Turkey Ban, Sees Rising Covid-19 Cases
New coronavirus cases in Russian-annexed Crimea have nearly doubled in recent days as the Black Sea peninsula anticipates a tourist influx caused by flight restrictions to Turkey, health authorities said Wednesday. Crimean tourism officials are bracing for the new arrivals after over 500,000 Russians were shut out of Turkey by Moscow’s flight reductions from April…
Chechnya’s Kadyrov Tells Navalny to Keep ‘Dirty Hands’ Away From Koran
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has accused Alexei Navalny of “cheap” political pandering by demanding to read the Koran in prison and said the jailed Kremlin critic shouldn’t be allowed to touch it with his “dirty hands.” Navalny said Tuesday that he plans to sue prison officials for denying him access to the Muslim holy book. The opposition…
Biden Warns Putin on Ukraine, Proposes U.S.-Russia Summit
U.S. President Joe Biden told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to ease mounting tensions with neighboring Ukraine on Tuesday, joining a pushback against a buildup of troops along their border which has raised alarm among NATO allies. As a new report from American intelligence said Russia was not seeking direct conflict with the United States,…
Patriarch Kirill Spotted Wearing Mask at Church Synod
Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill wore a mask during the first synod meeting of the year in Moscow’s Danilov Monastery on Tuesday, video posted on the Church’s YouTube channel showed. The Open Media news website reported that this is the first time the Patriarch has been spotted wearing a mask in public. At the start…
Belarus Leader’s Ex-Spokesman, Veteran Opposition Leader Detained – State Media
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s former spokesman-turned-critic who was reported missing in Russia has been detained alongside a veteran opposition leader on unspecified charges, state media said Tuesday. Political analyst Alexander Feduta, 56, served as Lukashenko’s first press secretary in 1994 before falling out with him the next year and defecting to the opposition. Amnesty International…
Navalny’s Wife ‘Worried’ For Kremlin Critic After Prison Visit
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said on Tuesday she was increasingly concerned for her hunger-striking husband’s health after visiting him at his penal colony outside Moscow. Navalny, who is serving a two-and-a-half year sentence on old embezzlement charges, was jailed in February after returning to Russia from Germany where he was receiving…
Moscow Takes Measures in Response to ‘Threatening’ NATO Actions
Moscow has sent troops to its Western borders for “training exercises” in response to “threatening” NATO actions, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday. The statement comes as Kiev and its Western allies have accused Russia in recent weeks of massing tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, while NATO told Moscow to end…
Raided Investigative Journalist Says Russian Independent Media Is Under Threat
Prominent Russian investigative journalist Roman Anin has told The Moscow Times he is worried about the future of independent media in the country after his latest questioning by the Investigative Committee on Monday. His lawyer and editorial team have linked Monday’s questioning — as well as a seven-hour raid on his home and questioning Friday…
Russia Arrests Physicist for Sharing Secrets With West – Reports
A Russian academic who worked in aviation has been arrested for allegedly passing secrets to NATO, state media reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed source. A Moscow court placed Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) professor and Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) employee Valery Golubkin until June 12, according to Interfax. “This criminal case is not…
Russia Detains 2 After Huge St. Petersburg Fire
Russia on Tuesday detained two people after a huge fire gutted a historic factory in St. Petersburg, as firefighters continued putting out the blaze. On Monday, a fire broke out over several floors of the red-brick Nevskaya Manufaktura building in Russia’s second city. The inferno killed one firefighter and left two more hospitalized with serious…
Half a Million Russians Shut Out of Turkey After Virus Restricts Travel Again
Russia restricted travel to Turkey this week, leaving more than half a million Russians scrambling to reimburse tickets to the popular tourist destination and find alternative vacation spots. Flights to and from Turkey will be drastically reduced from April 15-June 1 due to rising coronavirus cases in Turkey, a senior Russian government official announced Monday.…
U.S. Is Russia’s ‘Adversary,’ Leading Diplomat Says
Russia sees the United States as its “adversary,” a top Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday amid heightened tensions with Washington over the eastern Ukraine conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov’s words mark a departure from Russia’s usual description of the U.S. as a “partner.” They follow U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s warning that Moscow…
On Gagarin Anniversary, Putin Says Russia Must Remain ‘Space Power’
President Vladimir Putin called on Monday for Russia to remain a great power in space, as the country celebrated the 60th anniversary of the legendary flight that made Yuri Gagarin the first person in orbit. Russia’s space industry has struggled in recent years and been hit by a series of mishaps, but the sending of…
Russia Claims Continental Shelf in Arctic Ocean
Russia has claimed new slices of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean in two fresh submissions to the United Nations. According to its March 31 submissions, Russia is seeking to define the outer limits of its continental shelf to include the Gakkel Ridge, the Lomonosov Ridge and the Canadian Basin. The new claims overlap…
Russian ‘Thief-in-Law’ Shot Dead in Moscow Gym
Ali Heydarov, a Russian “thief-in-law” known as Albert Ryzhiy, was shot dead in a northwest Moscow gym Monday afternoon, Interfax reported. “Thief-in-law” is a Russian term referring to powerful members of the criminal underworld. Security camera footage published by the 47news.ru news website shows Heydarov using an elliptical as an unknown man enters the gym,…
Drones, Lasers and More: How Russians Celebrated 60th Anniversary of Gagarin Spaceflight
The diamond jubilee of Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight was marked by celebratory events across Russia on Monday, the sheer spectacle of some nearly matching that of the landmark launch itself. On April 12, 1961, then 27-year-old Gagarin embarked on a 108-minute journey orbiting Earth, becoming the first man in space. Sixty years later, his…
Navalny Threatened With Force-Feeding in Prison, Team Says
Russian prison guards are threatening to force-feed jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny nearly two weeks into his hunger strike, his team said Monday via his official Twitter account. Navalny, 44, announced he was going on hunger strike on March 31 to demand proper medical treatment for severe back pain and leg numbness. The opposition figure’s…
2 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed in War-Torn Separatist East
Two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in clashes with pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine’s war-torn east, its military said Monday, as Kiev again accused Moscow of massing tens of thousands of soldiers on its border. Clashes have regularly broken out in the east in recent weeks, undermining a ceasefire brokered last year that had raised hopes of…
In Leaked Tapes, MH17 Suspects Discussed Buk Transfer Hours Before and After Plane Downing
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine frequently discussed the movements of the Buk missile system that investigators believe was used to down Flight MH17 in July 2014, the Dutch Nieuwsuur current affairs program reported Sunday, citing leaked recordings of their phone calls. Nieuwsuur obtained tapes of thousands of phone calls made by MH17 suspect Sergei Dubinsky…