Russia’s Defense Ministry on Monday published an interview with a former Massachusetts city councilman who is wanted in the United States on child pornography charges, an apparent confirmation of previous reports that he fled the U.S. and enlisted in the Russian army. Wilmer Puello-Mota, a former city councilman in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is believed to have…
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…
Rosneft and the Government of Stavropol Krai signed a memorandum on the development of motor tourism in the region
At least three people were injured by an explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant in the republic of Bashkortostan, local authorities said early Monday. The mayor’s office in the city of Sterlitamak said the explosion occurred at a “product pipeline” of the Sterlitamakskiy Neftekhimicheskiy plant. The city is located around 120 kilometers (74.6 miles)…
A Russian court on Monday rejected an appeal by a U.S. soldier who was sentenced to nearly four years in jail for alleged death threats and theft. In June, a court in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok sentenced Gordon Black to three years and nine months in prison. He was arrested the month before…
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…
The strongman leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, published a video on Saturday showing him driving a gun-mounted Tesla Cybertruck and praising the carmaker’s billionaire owner Elon Musk. Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya with an iron fist for over 17 years, is a vocal ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and says he has…
Ukraine said Sunday it had struck a second key bridge in the Kursk region, seeking to disrupt Moscow’s supply routes as Kyiv’s unprecedented incursion on Russian soil stretched through its second week. Russia meanwhile ramped up pressure in east Ukraine, claiming to capture another village just a few kilometers from the Ukrainian-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk.…
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…
Ukrainian drones attacked an oil storage facility in Russia’s southern Rostov region early Sunday morning, sparking a large fuel fire, the local governor said. Videos published on social media showed thick black smoke and bursts of flames coming from the site of the blaze, which the governor said was in the town of Proletarsk. “In…
Russia opened a criminal probe on Saturday into two Italian journalists who reported on Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region, accusing them of crossing the border illegally. Italian public broadcaster RAI aired a report on Wednesday showing the journalists driving into the region accompanied by Ukrainian military. Kyiv has been carrying out a major cross-border…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his forces were “strengthening” their positions in Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv has been mounting a major ground offensive. His comments come a day after Russian officials accused Ukraine of destroying a key bridge across the river Seym that cuts through the border region, as Kyiv seeks to disrupt…
Ten days since launching its surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, Ukraine controls over 1,100 square kilometers of Russian territory. The attack has caused consternation in the Kremlin, changing the cadence of the fighting from a sluggish positional war to a new bout of emotionally charged confrontation which may have repercussions beyond the military state…
Ukrainian forces on Friday destroyed a key bridge in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region, disrupting a link between Russian-controlled areas and those where Kyiv has made incremental advances, according to pro-Kremlin media and military bloggers. The bridge, which spanned the Seym River near the town of Glushkovo, was partially damaged earlier in the day in an…
A pro-Kremlin political organization said two of its members were killed Friday while helping evacuate civilians from southwestern Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have waged a lightning incursion for nearly two weeks. The All-Russia People’s Front said that one of its medical staff and a media coordinator died in a shelling attack on their…
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…
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 said Friday that it had repelled a night-time attack using 12 U.S.-made missiles on the landmark Crimea Bridge built on the orders of President Vladimir Putin after Moscow annexed the peninsula. “Air defenses were used last night to deflect a group strike by 12 ATACMS missiles made in the U.S. on the Crimean bridge.…
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 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,…
Rosneft and the Krasnoyarsk Territory Tourism Agency have announced a joint initiative to develop motor tourism in the region
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…
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…
Rosneft Oil Company’s research expedition to study and monitor the population of polar bears in the Kara Sea has started in the Dikson settlement of the Krasnoyarsk Territory
Ukraine on Thursday rejected as “absolute nonsense” suggestions it was involved in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which transported Russian gas to Europe via the Baltic Sea. The Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday that Ukraine’s then-top military commander, Valery Zaluzhny, oversaw the plan to blow up the pipelines in September…
A Russian strategic bomber crashed during a routine flight over the Siberian region of Irkutsk, killing one of the crew members, regional authorities said early Friday. Russia’s Defense Ministry initially reported the crash of the Tu-22M3 bomber late Thursday, saying the crew managed to eject from the aircraft. “The plane crashed in an uninhabited area. There…
Russia and Ukraine have entered negotiations to exchange prisoners captured during Kyiv’s unprecedented incursion into southwestern Russia’s Kursk region, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner said Wednesday. “There was a proactive conversation [with Russian human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova],” ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets told Ukrainian television in a segment he posted on his Telegram channel, voicing hopes that the…
Scores of job advertisements for trench diggers and construction workers in the Kursk region have appeared online in recent days as Russian forces struggle to hold back advancing Ukrainian troops following their surprise offensive last week. The BBC’s Russian service reported Wednesday that it found at least 30 listings for trench diggers on the classifieds…
The United Nations Human Rights Office said Thursday that it has asked authorities in Moscow to allow its representatives to visit Russian regions impacted by cross-border attacks from Ukrainian forces. “I can confirm that the UN Human Rights Office has sent a request to the Russian authorities,” Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the department, said in…
Russia’s military said Thursday that its forces captured Ivanivka, a frontline village just 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the Kyiv-held transport hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Pokrovsk lies on the intersection of a key road supplying Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern front line and has long been a target for the Russian…
Russian law enforcement authorities refused to launch a criminal investigation into the death of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, his widow said Thursday, citing a letter she received from investigators. In February, Navalny died under unclear circumstances at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony, where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence on a string…
The Russian division of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank will suspend foreign currency transfers for nearly all of its clients in the country starting next month, the bank said in a statement on Thursday. “From Sept. 2, 2024, outgoing cross-border transfers in foreign currencies will no longer be available for our clients except for a limited number…
Veteran human rights defender Oleg Orlov was one of the 16 prisoners freed by Russia on Aug. 1 in a historic exchange between Russia and the West. Orlov, 71, a vocal critic of the invasion of Ukraine, had been imprisoned this year for “discrediting” the Russian army’s actions in Ukraine. A co-chair of the Nobel…
A court in the Ural Mountains region of Yekaterinburg sentenced U.S.-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison for “treason” on Thursday after she allegedly donated around $50 to a pro-Ukraine charity. Karelina was arrested in January while visiting her family in the city of Yekaterinburg. Last week, her lawyer said she pleaded guilty to…
Suppliers of bread, dairy, chocolate and beer in Russia have informed retailers of impending price increases of up to 40% over the next month, the business daily Kommersant reported Thursday, citing price-increase notices from at least 13 companies. The price hikes, slated for August and September, are being attributed to a combination of high inflation…
Continental shelf exploration in the Arctic Ocean continues with Rosneft’s support as part of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s strategic initiative ‘Geology.Revival of a Legend’
At least four people including two paramedics were injured in drone attacks on the Belgorod region town of Shebekinio, authorities said early Thursday. Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a female paramedic suffered injuries to one of her legs and arms. A male paramedic received a concussion and shrapnel wounds on his back due to…
Authorities in Russia have launched more than 10,000 cases against people accused of “discrediting” the army since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the independent news outlet Mediazona reported Thursday. Legislation passed soon after Russia’s February 2022 invasion punishes public acts or statements seen as critical of the Russian armed forces. Thousands of people have been…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that his troops were “moving further” into Russia, as Kyiv’s biggest ever cross-border attack stretched into a second week. The Ukrainian army stormed into Russia’s Kursk region on Aug. 6, capturing dozens of settlements in the biggest offensive by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.…
Hackers with suspected connections to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) are using sophisticated phishing attacks to target civil society figures in Russia, Europe and the United States, according to a report published by digital rights groups on Wednesday. The Russian rights organization First Department said that phishing attacks since the start of this year have…
Law enforcement authorities in Moscow arrested a U.S. citizen for allegedly assaulting a police officer, state media reported Thursday, citing investigators. The American, later identified as Joseph Tater, was approached by police on Monday night after he tried to check into a hotel without a Russian migration card — a document issued to foreign citizens when…
German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diver believed to have been involved in the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion, German media reported Wednesday. The man, identified as Volodymyr Z., is suspected to have been part of a team that planted explosive devices on the pipelines. The warrant was issued in June,…
The Russian government announced Wednesday that it was reintroducing a ban on gasoline exports for another six months to “maintain a stable situation” on the domestic fuel market after major price hikes. The government said in a statement that it has “brought in a restriction on exports of gasoline from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31,…
Russian forces continue to battle Ukrainian troops for control of the strategic border city and vital gas hub of Sudzha in the Kursk region, according to a senior-ranking military commander. “The enemy is all around and in some parts of the city. Active clashes happen there each day,” Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the…
Russian soldier Yaroslav Tipusyak spent his 19th birthday as a prisoner of war in Ukraine — just a day after he was captured by Kyiv’s forces in Russia’s Kursk region last week. He was serving his compulsory military service — the year of mandatory army service that all Russian men must complete — and never crossed the…
Angarsk Petrochemical Company together with RN-Bitumen (subsidiaries of Rosneft) commissioned a new bitumen tanker loading complex
Russia’s Defense Ministry said early Wednesday that its air defense systems intercepted 117 Ukrainian drones and four missiles across eight regions overnight. All four Tochka tactical missiles and 37 drones were downed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have gained control of hundreds of square kilometers of territory since launching a surprise cross-border incursion last…
Authorities in the Belgorod region declared a regionwide state of emergency on Wednesday, saying the situation was “extremely difficult” amid shelling attacks and Ukraine’s assault on the neighbouring Kursk region. “The situation in our Belgorod region remains extremely difficult and tense due to shellings from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Houses are destroyed, civilians died and…
Russian authorities announced Tuesday that they will help move people displaced from their homes in the Kursk region amid ongoing fighting to parts of occupied eastern Ukraine. Acting Kursk region Governor Alexei Smirnov said he was working in coordination with Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-appointed head of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, to accommodate evacuees in resorts and…
Ukraine controlled at least 800 square kilometers (308 square miles) of territory in Russia’s Kursk region as of Monday, according to an AFP analysis of data provided by the Institute for the Study of War. Kyiv launched a surprise offensive into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region last Tuesday, capturing over two dozen settlements in the most…
Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his calls for Palestinian statehood in a meeting with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday. “We believe that in order to ensure lasting, reliable and stable peace in the region, it’s necessary to… create a full-fledged Palestinian state,” Putin told Abbas at the presidential residence outside Moscow. He also expressed “great…
President Vladimir Putin appointed his aide and former bodyguard Alexei Dyumin to oversee Russia’s military response to the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region, a federal lawmaker said Tuesday, an apparent confirmation of rumors circulated earlier by Russian military bloggers. “Indeed, Alexei Gennadyevich Dyumin was summoned yesterday and tasked with supervising the counterterrorist operation,” State…
Chechen special service units deployed to Russia’s border region of Kursk to repel the Ukrainian incursion are coming under strong criticism from pro-war military bloggers who accuse Ramzan Kadyrov’s men of insubordination, desertion and collaboration with the Ukrainian army. Kyiv’s daring assault entered its second week on Tuesday with Ukraine claiming control of approximately 1,000…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested an employee of a military unit in southern Russia for allegedly passing information to Ukraine, state media reported Tuesday. The woman, a resident of the city of Rostov-on-Don, reportedly joined a unit in the Southern Military District in January 2023. There, she gathered “information on arsenals, bases and depots,” the…
Russia’s Central Bank revoked the banking license of American Express Bank on Tuesday following the lender’s decision to self-liquidate in the country. American Express suspended its operations in Russia and was one of three U.S. credit card giants that blocked Russian banks from their payment networks in response to Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “The…
An expedition of ornithological scientists to study red-listed bird species was organised for the first time on the Brekhovsky Islands of the Taymyr, as well as the Yara and Tanama rivers
KYIV — Before it was ripped apart by a Russian missile strike last month, the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital treated about 700 patients daily. Today, Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital operates at roughly 60% capacity. One month after the devastating strike that killed at least 42 people, including five children, global headlines have moved on. Yet for…
Skywatchers across Russia were treated to a rare overnight spectacle as the northern lights coincided with a meteor shower. The stunning display was visible from the western Pskov region and the southwestern Voronezh region to the Tyumen and Irkutsk regions in the Ural Mountains and Siberia. Images capturing the vibrant scarlet and green auroras, along…
A group of unidentified vandals splattered red paint on the entrance doors of Lithuania’s embassy in Moscow, the Baltic country’s foreign ministry said Monday. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said it lodged a formal protest to Russian Embassy Counsellor Andrei Gasiuk following the incident. Videos shared by media outlets showed several red handprints on the Lithuanian…
President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered his army to “dislodge” Ukrainian troops who stormed over the border last week, as authorities in the Kursk region said over 120,000 people have been displaced due to the fighting. Kyiv launched a surprise offensive into southwestern Russia’s Kursk region on Tuesday, capturing over two dozen settlements in the…