Category: another
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Putin Increases Fines for ‘Foreign Agents’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that increases fines for news media or their employees designated as “foreign agents” Monday. The new fines come two weeks after Putin signed another piece of legislation allowing authorities to label individual journalists and bloggers “foreign agents.” Starting Feb. 1, 2020, any individual who distributes information online…
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Rosneft Starts Selling Euro 6 Gasoline at Gas Stations in Moscow and Moscow Region
Rosneft Oil Company expands the sales of high-octane gasoline with enhanced environmental properties RON-95-K5 Euro 6 and Pulsar 95 Euro 6.
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3 Things Russia Censored on TV in the Past Week
A series of censorship scandals rocked Russia’s television landscape in the past week. Here’s a look at the three high-profile cases where words, episodes or entire shows were taken down from Russian television screens: “Servant of the People” The Gazprom-owned TNT entertainment channel pulled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s political satire “Servant of the People” off…
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The 5 Biggest Russian Headlines of 2019
A lot has happened in 2019 — nowhere moreso than in Russia, where geopolitical drama, civil unrest, natural disasters and more played out across the country. As we approach 2020, here’s a look at the stories and events that shaped the narrative across Russia this year: Summer of discontent This summer saw a nearly unprecedented…
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Did Russia Register Its First Transgender Marriage?
Authorities in Russia have registered one of the first transgender marriages in a country that positions itself as a bastion of traditional family values. Erika Askarova and Viktor Manuilin’s otherwise ordinary wedding made national headlines after the two posted photographs from the registry office in the city of Kazan on Dec. 12. Askarova, 30, and…
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Russian Tech Giant Sues Amazon’s Twitch for Record $3Bln
Russia’s third-largest internet company Rambler wants a record 180 billion rubles ($2.87 billion) in compensation from Amazon’s streaming giant Twitch over illegal streams, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday, the second high-profile action Rambler has taken against a U.S. tech company in less than a week. The lawsuit follows raids on popular web hosting software…
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Russia Seeks to Lift Ban on ‘Blood Diamonds’ From African Ally
Russia is proposing to move toward ending the ban on selling so-called blood diamonds from the Central African Republic, a former French colony that’s struck recent military and commercial ties with Moscow, amid resistance from the U.S. and Europe. The CAR, which is mired in civil conflict, should be granted a “road map” outlining the…
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Moscow’s Urban Renewal Budget Equals Rest of Russia’s
The city of Moscow spent nearly as much money on urban renewal over the past decade as the rest of the country combined, the Vedomosti business daily reported Friday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin made urbaniztion a top priority when he took office in 2010. In 2015, Sobyanin launched the Moya Ulitsa (My Street) initiative, which…
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Russia Developing Nuclear Arms Beyond U.S. Arsenal, U.S. Military Says
Russia is developing nuclear weapons that the United States does not yet have, a senior officer of the force that oversees the U.S. nuclear arsenal was cited by the state-run TASS news agency as saying Friday. U.S. Strategic Command deputy commander Vice Adm. Dave Kriete spoke to reporters as the U.S. tested a missile that…
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7 Things British PM Boris Johnson Has Said About Russia
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has secured a majority in a landslide election victory, results showed on Friday. In addition to leading Britain through its withdrawal from the European Union, Johnson will be tasked with navigating British-Russian relations, which have been fraught since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and a former Russian spy…
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Russia’s Natural Population Decline to Hit 11-Year Record in 2019
Russia’s natural population decline will set an 11-year record this year as the country’s demographic crisis shows no signs of letting up, the RBC news website reported Friday. Russia’s overall population totaled 146.7 million in January-September 2019, the State Statistics Service Rosstat said in a report last week. While migrant inflows had offset its natural…
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World’s Largest Nuclear Icebreaker Starts Sea Trials
Painted in the Russia’s flag’s tricolor, the new Arktika sailed out to the Gulf of Finland on Thursday for a two-day test voyage. During sea trials, the icebreaker will test its ballast system, navigation equipment, anchors and electric installations as well as maneuvering characteristics, Rosatomflot informs. Arktika is the lead vessel in the new class…
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Russia Backs Penalties for Attending ‘Undesirable’ Courses Abroad
Russian lawmakers tasked with weeding out foreign interference have endorsed penalties for Russian nationals who attend “undesirable” NGO courses abroad, the country’s parliament said Thursday. The lower-house State Duma formed a special commission on foreign meddling in Russia after mass anti-government rallies rocked Moscow this summer. Since then, it has accused foreign news outlets, U.S.…
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Russia Jails Jehovah’s Witness for 6 Years for Extremism
A Russian court jailed a Jehovah’s Witness adherent for six years on Friday after finding him guilty of extremist activity, part of a crackdown on the group that human rights activists say violates religious freedom. A court in Penza, around 350 miles (563 kilometers) southeast of Moscow, said in a statement it had jailed Vladimir Alushkin,…
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Yegor Zhukov Wants to Be Russia’s President One Day
Yegor Zhukov was tired of giving interviews. So instead of using the main entrance to an event in his honor, where a television crew was waiting for him, he slipped past a security guard and headed for a side door. He didn’t go unnoticed. “Please, young man, follow the rules,” the guard ordered, running after…
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Ukraine Detains 5 People for Killing Russian-Belarussian Journalist in 2016
Ukrainian police have detained five people, including a pediatric surgeon and a rock musician, over the killing of an investigative journalist in a car bomb in July 2016, law enforcement officials said on Thursday. Briefing journalists alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the officials said the motive for killing 44-year-old Pavel Sheremet, a Belarussian, was to destabilize…
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Russian Police Raid U.S.-Owned Web Server Nginx’s Moscow Office
Russian police raided the Moscow offices of a popular U.S.-owned web server over a Russian search engine giant’s ownership claim of its source code, Forbes Russia reported Thursday. Authorities raided Nginx’s Moscow office based on a copyright infingement claim by Russian oligarch Alexander Mamut’s Cyprus-registered investment vehicle Lynwood, Forbes Russia cited an unnamed source at the…
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EU Leaders To Extend Sanctions on Russia
European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday agreed to extend their main economic sanctions against Russia for six months to the end of July 2020, four diplomatic sources told Reuters. The bloc first slapped sanctions on Moscow after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and went on to back separatists facing off against…
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U.S. Senate Confirms Next U.S. Ambassador to Russia
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed the nomination of John Sullivan, President Donald Trump’s pick to be Ambassador to Russia, at a time when ties between Washington and Moscow have been strained. Sullivan, a lawyer who has served in previous Republican administrations before becoming deputy secretary of State in 2017, will replace Jon Huntsman, who…
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Fire at Russia’s Only Aircraft Carrier Kills 1, Injures 12
At least one military serviceman was killed and 12 people were injured by a fire at Russia‘s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russian news agencies reported Thursday. The Admiral Kuznetsov caught fire on Thursday during maintenance work in Russia‘s Arctic port in Murmansk. Hours later the fire has been brought under control. The body of a military…
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Pointing to Russian Mercenaries, Turkey’s Erdogan Weighs Joining Fight in Libya
Turkey could send troops to Libya if its UN-backed government requests help, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday, pointing to Russian military contractors currently in the war-torn country. Libya’s internationally recognized government said last week it plans to confront Russia over the private mercenaries with a list of up to 800 Russian fighters supporting…
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Muscovites Say Goodbye to Former Mayor Yury Luzhkov
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
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Putin Adviser Vows to Highlight Climate Activists’ Demands
Vladimir Putin’s environmental adviser has promised to bring Russian climate activists’ demands to the president later this month, the activists said Wednesday. The activists met Putin’s special representative on climate issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev at the UN climate conference in Madrid for over an hour, the Meduza news website reported. “He agreed to convey our demands…
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2 Russian Pilots Killed in Military Helicopter Crash
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
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Russian TV Pulls Ukraine President’s Comedy Series After Putin Joke
A Russian television channel has pulled a popular Ukrainian comedy starring current President Volodymyr Zelenskiy the day after its premiere, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday. Zelenskiy, 41, played a disgruntled teacher whose viral rant catapults him into Ukraine’s presidency in the series called “Servant of the People.” Partly thanks to the sitcom’s popularity, Zelenskiy…
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Russian Nationalist Party Leader Endorses Johnson in U.K. Election
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a heartfelt endorsement from Russian nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky on the day of an election that may decide the future of Brexit. Polls show Johnson’s Conservative Party winning a majority in the general election, despite recent figures narrowing its gap with the Labour Party. Opponents have accused him of…
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7 Men Attack Teenager in Russia for ‘Lesbian’ Appearance
A group of seven men attacked and beat an 18-year-old girl in St. Petersburg after insulting her over her “lesbian appearance,” local media reported earlier this week. According to a study by the St. Petersburg-based Vykhod LGBT center, at least 149 people suffered homophobic attacks in the city in 2018, including 62 who were attacked…
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Rosneft Wins Auctions for Three Blocks in the North of Krasnoyarsk Territory
Rosneft Oil Company has won auctions for the Mezeninskoye, Severo-Dzhangodskoye, and Yangodskoye licence blocks located in the Dolgano-Nenets municipal district of Krasnoyarsk Territory.
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Russia Halts Close Intercepts of American Jets in Europe, U.S. Says
Russia has not buzzed U.S. aircraft and ships in Europe and the Mediterranean in the past three months, the Military.com news website quoted a top U.S. commander in Europe as saying Tuesday. Russian and NATO aircraft have conducted thousands of intercepts over international waters in the past four years, Gen. Tod Wolters said in June.…
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Russia Expels Two German Diplomats in Row Over Berlin Killing
Russia on Thursday expelled two German diplomats in what it called a standard diplomatic response to a similar move by Germany last week and said it hoped a dispute over the killing of a Georgian citizen in Berlin would not damage ties further. Berlin announced the expulsion of two Russian diplomats last week over what it said…
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Russia’s Sole Aircraft Carrier Catches Fire in Northern Port
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
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Giuliani Ally Parnas Got $1M From Russia, U.S. Says
Rudy Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas got $1 million from an account in Russia in September, a month before he was charged with conspiring to funnel foreign money into U.S. political campaigns, according to U.S. prosecutors who asked a judge to jail him for understating his income and assets. “The majority of that money appears to…
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Russia Orders Deportation of U.S. Academics Over University Lecture
A Russian court has ordered the deportation of five U.S. academics for allegedly giving a lecture at a university on a tourist visa, according to local media reports and court documents. The deportation order in the city of Ryazan 200 kilometers south of Moscow comes months after a government order which advised state-affiliated scientists to…
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Russia’s Climate Policy Among World’s Worst, Study Says
Russia ranks 52nd out of 61 countries worldwide for its adoption of climate change goals, according to the 2020 Climate Change Performance Index. Presented at the COP25 climate talks in Madrid, the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) ranking illustrates differences in climate protection among 57 high-emitting countries as well as the EU. It ranks countries…
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These Are Russia’s 100 Most Comfortable Cities
Moscow places smack dab in the middle of a list of the 100 most comfortable and affordable Russian cities to live in, the RBC news website reported Wednesday. RBC cited research from the Urbanica spatial planning institute, which ranked the 100 cities with populations over 173,000 based on ease of life and cost of living. The…
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Siberian Shaman Who Wanted to Banish Putin Banned from Leaving Hometown
Russia on Wednesday banned a shaman from leaving his Siberian hometown after he was detained during a second attempt to hike to Moscow on what he has called a mission to banish President Vladimir Putin from the Kremlin. Alexander Gabyshev became a media curiosity when he set off in March on a more than 8,000-kilometer…
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Germany Unaware of Russian Extradition Request for Georgian Killed in Berlin
The German government said Wednesday it was unaware that Russia had made an extradition request for a Georgian man murdered in Berlin in August, after Russian President Vladimir Putin complained multiple requests had gone unheeded. In an escalation in already tense relations, Germany last week expelled two employees at the Russian embassy in Berlin, saying…
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Germany Contradicts Russia Over Georgian Murdered in Berlin
Germany contradicted Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, saying it was not aware Russia had requested the extradition of a Georgian man who was murdered in Berlin in August. In an escalation in already tense relations, Germany last week expelled two employees at the Russian embassy in Berlin, saying Moscow was not cooperating sufficiently in the investigation into the…
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Children of Stalin’s Terror Win Crucial Housing Case
The children of victims of Stalin-era repressions have the right to receive state housing in the cities where their parents had been deported from, Russia’s Supreme Court has said in a landmark ruling Tuesday. Amendments to the 1991 law rehabilitating victims of Soviet-era political repressions adopted in 2005 contradict the Russian Constitution because they make…
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‘It Starts With a Cup, Ends With a Shooting’: 3 Putin Quotes on Human Rights
Russian authorities were right to jail protesters for throwing plastic cups at police during mass anti-government rallies in Moscow this summer, President Vladimir Putin said at a human rights meeting Tuesday. Putin this fall replaced the presidential human rights council’s longtime chairman and key liberal members with what observers called ultra-loyalist figures. Its new head,…
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Russia’s National Boxing Team Pulls Out of 2020 Olympics Over Doping Ban
Russia’s national boxing team will not compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo under a neutral flag, it announced Wednesday as Russian athletes grapple with the country’s four-year ban from world sporting events. The World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) banned Russia from the world’s top sporting events, including the next summer and winter Olympics and the…
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$6.5M U.S. Tech Bound for Russia Seized by Authorities
The attempted shipment of a Vector 40G turbine from the U.S. to Russia was halted last Tuesday as American authorities caught suspicions that the installation was destined for use in the Russian Arctic, the Kommersant business daily reported. The $6.5 million turbine is produced by U.S. company Dresser-Rand. Its exportation to Russia would mean a violation…
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Airing Fake MH17 Image Was a ‘Mistake,’ Russian State TV Chief Admits
The head of Russia’s largest television channel has admitted that airing footage it erroneously claimed to prove Ukraine’s role in the downing of MH17 was a “mistake,” according to a book excerpt published by The New Yorker. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, killing 298…
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Russian Circuses Face Calls to Ban Performing Animals
Twelve big cats loll around the ring of the Moscow State Circus during a public rehearsal as Russia’s most famous animal handlers, brothers Ascold and Edgard Zapashny, train them to jump through flaming hoops. Some stare at the men and growl quietly, while others ignore the trainers and play with their own tails. Eventually, a…
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Trump Hosts Russia’s Lavrov at White House, Warns Against Election Meddling
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the White House on Tuesday, where he warned Russia not to interfere in U.S. elections. Lavrov’s last Oval Office meeting in May 2017 turned into a public relations disaster for Trump when unnamed U.S. officials accused him of divulging highly classified information and when he told…
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Abnormally Warm Winter Keeps Siberian Bears From Hibernating
An unusually warm winter has kept some bears in a Siberian zoo from hibernating and forced others out of hibernation, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday. Several Siberian regions saw temperatures up to 14 degrees Celsius higher than usual in the early days of December, forecasters have said. Two brown bears awoke while two…
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How Russian Media Reacted to 4-Year Olympics Ban
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday hit Russia with a four-year ban from competing or hosting major world sporting events, including the Olympic Games and World Championships. The move comes after WADA’s executive committee unanimously ruled that Moscow had tampered with doping laboratory data. Russian athletes will only be able to compete in these…
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Large Statue of Putin Unveiled in Kyrgyzstan
A ski resort in Kyrgyzstan has unveiled a 2.5-meter statue of Russian President Vladimir Putin, after the resort’s founder received a $1.2 million loan from a Russian-sponsored development fund. Erected last month, the monument sees Russia’s leader wearing a suit as he looks out over a barren landscape of rocky valleys and snow-capped peaks, 30…
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10,000 People Protest Controversial Landfill in Northern Russia
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
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$740Bln U.S. Defense Bill Targets Russian Pipelines
U.S. lawmakers have agreed Monday on a $738 billion annual defense policy bill that includes new measures against two of Russia’s nearly finished energy pipelines to Europe and Turkey. The compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) overcame concerns that it might fail for the first time in 58 years over divides between…
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Life Sentence for St. Petersburg Metro Bomber
A court in St. Petersburg has sentenced the main organizer of the St. Petersburg metro bombing that killed 15 people in 2017 to life in prison, it announced Tuesday, bringing a more than two-year investigation and trial to a close. The court handed jail sentences between 19 and 28 years to 10 other suspects. Investigators suspect…
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From the Archive: Ex-Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov’s Life
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
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Former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov Dies at 83
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
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Rosneft Employees Receive Russian Government Award for Innovative Developments in Science and Technology
Rosneft Oil Company employees have received an award from the Government of the Russian Federation and the award-winning title for their innovative developments in Science and Technology.
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‘No Miracle, But We’ve Advanced’: Russia-Ukraine Peace Summit Results
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held their first face-to-face meeting Monday at a four-way summit in Paris with the French and German leaders as mediators. The last time the so-called Normandy summit met to work out a deal to end the conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass…
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Putin Says Georgian Killed in Berlin Was Behind Moscow Metro Bombing
Russian President Vladimir Putin said a Georgian man murdered in Berlin in August was himself a killer who took part in bloody acts on Russian soil and that Moscow’s requests for his extradition had not been heeded. Asked at a news conference in Paris if Russia would respond in kind to Germany’s expulsion of two Russian diplomats…
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Moscow Could Appeal Russia Sports Ban, Putin Says
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow had grounds to appeal a decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency to bar Russia from major sporting events, a move he said violated the Olympic charter. Russia was banned from the world’s top sporting events for four years earlier on Monday, including the next summer and…
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Putin and Zelenskiy, in First Talks, Agree to Exchange Prisoners
The leaders of Russia and Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to exchange all remaining prisoners from the conflict in east Ukraine by the end of the year, but left thorny questions about the region’s status for future talks. Russia‘s Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in their first face-to-face meeting, took part in nine hours of talks…
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Putin Meets Ukraine’s Zelenskiy for First Time at Paris Peace Summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time on Monday at a summit in Paris aimed at advancing efforts to restore peace to eastern Ukraine. Zelenskiy and Putin are holding talks together with the leaders of France and Germany in a renewed effort to end a conflict that has…
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Russia Plans to Set Up Arctic Air Defense ‘Dome’ With S-400 Missiles
Russia plans to establish an air defense “dome” across its polar region by arming all of its Northern Fleet’s Arctic divisions with S-400 missile batteries, a Russian naval commander said on Monday. Russia has been stepping up its military presence in the Arctic, building new infrastructure and overhauling its ports as it vies for dominance…