An overnight Ukrainian drone attack set a Russian munitions depot ablaze the Voronezh region, near the two countries’ shared border, Russian and Ukrainian officials said Sunday. “Several drones were detected and destroyed overnight by air defense systems above the Voronezh region,” regional governor Alexander Gusev wrote on Telegram. “Their falling debris set off a fire…
Russian wrestlers who were given permission to participate in this summer’s Olympic Games have rejected the invitation, the Russian Wrestling Federation said Saturday. After initially barring Russian athletes from the Games over Moscow’s war on Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has moved to allow a handful of Russian athletes to take part under a neutral…
Russia on Saturday said its forces had captured a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, as Moscow continues to advance slowly across the battlefield. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its troops “liberated the village of Sokil,” around 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of Donetsk city, the capital of the region by the same name that Moscow…
Russian leader Vladimir Putin congratulated Iran’s reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian on his victory in a presidential runoff, the Kremlin said on Saturday. “I hope that your tenure as president will contribute to a reinforcement of constructive bilateral cooperation between our friendly peoples,” Putin said in a message to Pezeshkian. The two countries, the target of…
The Kremlin on Friday said it was “not optimistic at all” about any change in difficult relations between Britain and Russia following Labour’s victory in the U.K. general election. “As far as we can see from their previous statements, they are not inclined to any flexibility or creativity in normalizing bilateral Russian-British relations,” Kremlin spokesman…
Russian attacks killed four and wounded nearly two dozen others in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine on Friday, regional officials said. Moscow has centered its firepower on the industrial region, which it claims to have annexed and has been partially controlled by Kremlin-backed forces since 2014. Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said a 32-year-old woman…
Multiple Russian attacks killed at least seven and wounded more than two dozen others in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine on Friday, officials said. Moscow has centered its firepower on the industrial region, which it claims to have annexed and has been partially controlled by Kremlin-backed forces since 2014. Russian-installed officials also said Ukrainian…
Jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza has been transferred to a prison hospital and his lawyers were denied access to their client, his wife said Friday. Kara-Murza, 42, suffers from health problems that his wife Evgenia and lawyers say are directly related to alleged attempts to poison him. Russian authorities have refused to investigate the incidents in 2015…
A Russian prosecutor has sought six-year jail terms for a playwright and a director on trial for “justifying terrorism” in a 2021 play about women marrying jihadists in Syria, lawyers said Friday. Director Yevgeniya Berkovich and writer Svetlana Petriychuk are standing trial at a military court over their play about Russian women lured to marry…
Russian authorities have added a 14-year-old teen to its list of “terrorists and extremists,” independent media reported Friday. Gleb Sinitsyn is the youngest defendant to appear on the state financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring’s list, according to the news website Sota. Sinitsyn is listed as a native of the central Russian city of Ivanovo and was born…
Around 120,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the Ukraine war began in 2022, according to a joint investigation by independent media outlets Mediazona and Meduza published on Friday. This updated figure is an estimate based on Russia’s registry of inheritance cases. The report says the true toll likely lies between 106,000 and 140,000 deaths. …
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Viktor Orban on Friday that Ukraine must effectively capitulate if it wants peace, in a visit to Moscow by the Hungarian leader that triggered anger across the EU and in Kyiv. Putin was hosting Orban — the friendliest leader in the EU to Moscow — for talks at the Kremlin, described by…
Kyiv and its Western allies hit out at Hungarian leader Viktor Orban on Friday after Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted him in Moscow for talks on the Ukraine war. Putin told Orban, Russia’s closest EU ally, that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from regions that Moscow has annexed if it wants peace. But Kyiv was…
Russia’s State Social University (RSSU) has launched a “social rating” platform that claims to build a person’s “social portrait” with possible applications in future government policies. Named “We,” the platform promises to determine a user’s comparative “social status” based on a survey that includes questions about income, family status, benefits, creditworthiness, criminal record, lifestyle and…
Video-sharing website YouTube blocked the channels of several Russian singers and artists who support the country’s war in Ukraine on Thursday, following an appeal from the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission (LRTK). The accounts of singers Yaroslav Dronov (who goes by Shaman) and Polina Gagarina were among those suspended. “My YouTube channel was blocked because…
Five people were injured and a child was killed in a drone attack on the southwestern Russian region of Krasnodar, the local governor said Friday. “A six-year-old girl died of injuries in the hospital following a drone attack in Primorsko-Akhtarsk,” a city in the Krasnodar region, Venyamin Kondratyev said on Telegram. He said that five…
Election officials in Moscow have scrapped paper ballots in favor of online voting at an upcoming vote for the Russian capital’s legislative assembly, state news agencies reported Thursday. Watchdogs and researchers say Russia’s opaque online voting system enables electoral fraud by making independent monitoring impossible. Moscow’s election commission voted 12-1 to make electronic voting the default way…
Russia’s central bank chief said Thursday that inflation was running ahead of expectations and hinted the bank was likely to hike interest rates later this month. Prices have risen fast in Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, the Kremlin has massively ramped up spending on its army…
The unusually hot summer weather in the Moscow region this year may trigger an increase in populations of invertebrate species, the regional Environmental Ministry said this week. Praying mantises, burgundy snails and wasp spiders, which were uncommon a decade ago, have already established populations in the region due to winter thaws, warm springs and hot…
At least two VPN services said Thursday that Russian authorities have successfully forced Apple to delete their applications from its App Store in Russia. Identically worded messages from Apple’s app review team to Red Shield VPN and Le VPN state that their applications will be removed “per demand from Roskomnadzor.” Roskomnadzor is Russia’s state media…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8 and 9, the Kremlin said Thursday. This will be his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its military offensive in Ukraine. The war has tested relations between Moscow and New Delhi, even though India has ramped up its purchases of Russian oil…
A Moscow court ruled Thursday to keep French researcher Laurent Vinatier in pre-trial detention. Vinatier was arrested last month and accused of gathering military information. The 47-year-old works for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO and in early June became the latest Westerner to be arrested in Russia having been charged with breaching Moscow’s “foreign agents”…
A bill introduced to Russia’s lower-house State Duma Thursday outlining a formal ban against unauthorized foreign travel for Russian senators and deputies has been passed. The Kremlin said in April that Russian officials face various restrictions on their ability to travel abroad. Reuters reported at the time that Russian officials across state bodies faced “chaotic” travel rules…
Ukraine said Thursday its forces have withdrawn from a district in the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have recently claimed several advances. Losing the small hilltop town is a worrying prospect for Ukraine because it would likely accelerate Russia’s advance toward large civilian hubs in the Donetsk region. “It became…
Russia’s leadership is following the U.S. presidential campaign in private with excitement and interest — and are rooting for their favorite candidate, Donald Trump, to win, three government and presidential administration officials, three Foreign Ministry officials, former officials and two sources from Russia’s business elite told The Moscow Times. Officials in the Kremlin, the government…
Ukraine’s military intelligence and a pro-Kyiv paramilitary unit composed of Russian nationals claimed responsibility for damaging a Russian warship in the Baltic Sea region of Kaliningrad. In April, Ukraine’s military intelligence published a video of the Serpukhov guided missile corvette, stationed in the Kaliningrad region city of Baltiysk, catching fire from the inside. At the time it…
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its troops destroyed a Mig-29 fighter jet during a strike on an airbase in central Ukraine. The jet and other equipment and vehicles were destroyed in the base at Dolgintsevo, which was hit by an Iskandar ballistic missile, it said. The ministry published images of the attack on…
More than 1,300 young specialists of the Company — winners and prize-winners of regional scientific and technical conferences from 95 subsidiaries — took part in the XVII Cluster Scientific and Technical Conference. More than 1,000 projects were presented in 66 specialised sections
The leaders of Russia and China on Wednesday hailed their efforts to harden their anti-Western alliance at a summit in Kazakhstan, seeking to press their influence in the strategic Central Asian region. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were in Astana for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) — a Beijing-led regional bloc that…
Around 40 daily temperature records were broken across Russia and annexed Crimea on Tuesday as hot summer weather gripped the country, the Phobos weather center said Wednesday. The unprecedented temperatures have engulfed Russia from its central regions to the Far East, reaching a maximum of 38.7 degrees Celsius in the village of Mamakan in southeastern…
Russia has sentenced three sons of a Russian priest to up to 17.5 years in prison for attempting to join the Ukrainian army, the independent news website Mediazona reported Wednesday. Ioann Ashcheulov, 24, Alexei Ashcheulov, 20 and Timofey Ashcheulov, 19, were detained in July 2023 while attempting to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border. The brothers, whose father…
Russian lawmakers on Wednesday voted to suspend Moscow’s participation in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) parliamentary assembly, branding it anti-Russian and discriminatory. Both chambers of Russia’s rubber-stamp parliament — the State Duma and Federation Council — voted unanimously to cease participation in the body during sessions on Wednesday. The Federation Council,…
Chinese and Russian companies are developing and testing an attack drone modeled on the Iranian-made Shahed for shipment to Russia, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing anonymous European officials familiar with the matter. Although the name of the unmanned aircraft under development has not been revealed, Bloomberg says reports by Chinese defense websites and media outlets suggest…
Russia’s FSB security service said Wednesday that a French citizen arrested in Moscow last month was collecting military information that could be used by foreign intelligence agencies to harm Russia. Laurent Vinatier, a researcher with a Swiss conflict mediation NGO, was arrested on charges of breaching Russia’s “foreign agents” law in June, the latest case…
Russia said Wednesday it had destroyed two Ukrainian naval drones that were advancing on its Black Sea port of Novorossiysk overnight. Ukrainian naval drones have sunk several Russian ships in the Black Sea, but strikes as far east as Novorossiysk are rare. “Two unmanned boats traveling in the direction of Novorossiysk were destroyed in the…
A Russian anti-government protester has been jailed and fined for violating wartime censorship laws with his tattoo of the viral phrase “Russian warship, go f**k yourself,” media reported Tuesday. Authorities detained Stepan Zimin after pro-war bloggers published a video of him with the tattoo, which bears the phrase that became a rallying cry for Ukrainian resistance against…
Russia’s capture of the district was also reported by the DeepState military blog, which has links to the Ukrainian army. It said the area had been flattened by Russian bombardments, and that withdrawing was “a logical, albeit difficult decision.” There was no immediate reaction from officials in Kyiv. ‘Protect lives’ The Russian attack on Dnipro…
A senior Muslim cleric in Russia’s republic of Dagestan announced Wednesday that the niqab, a full-face veil worn by some Muslim women, would be temporarily banned as part of safety measures following deadly attacks last month. Gunmen killed 22 people in coordinated attacks on two churches, two synagogues and a police checkpoint in two cities in the…
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, assuming his usual role of the guardian of Muscovites’ safety, recently issued an unprecedented warning: a tornado was coming to the capital. “Tomorrow, we will face another challenge with extreme weather conditions,” Sobyanin said on Telegram on June 19. “There is a chance of tornado formation, which is particularly dangerous. Please…
The toxic environment near the former Aral Sea in Central Asia has led to impaired growth and reduced levels of reproductive hormones among local young people, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday, citing a joint study by Russian and Uzbek scientists. Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea — located between Kazakhstan and…
Russia has issued arrest warrants for Ukraine’s former prime minister, foreign minister, finance minister and military commander, Moscow’s court system announced on social media Tuesday. Ex-prime minister Volodymyr Groysman, ex-foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin, ex-finance minister Alexander Shlapak and Ukraine army general Ihor Dovgan are accused of using “prohibited methods of warfare.” The crime is punishable by up…
Russia’s energy giant Gazprom exported 23% more natural gas to Europe last month than it did in June 2023, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing its calculations. The European Union was Gazprom’s biggest and most profitable foreign market before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since then, Europe has been trying to end its energy links to Russia…
The World Bank has upgraded Russia from an “upper-middle-income” to a “high-income” country with per-capita gross national income (GNI) totaling $14,250 in 2023. “Economic activity in Russia was influenced by a large increase in military-related activity in 2023,” the international financial institution said Monday. Russia’s move up the ranks was also boosted by growth in…
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday its missile strike on an airfield in central Ukraine has destroyed and damaged seven Ukrainian fighter jets. “As a result of the Russian army’s strike, five active Su-27 multi-purpose fighters were destroyed and two under repair were damaged,” the military said on Telegram. Undated aerial footage accompanying its short statement showed…
At least one person was killed and seven injured when a gas explosion ripped through an apartment building in central Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan, authorities said Tuesday. The blast occurred in the city of Sterlitamak on the second floor of a seven-story building, according to the city’s administration. Municipal authorities named “carelessness in handling household…
Hungary’s Moscow-friendly prime minister Viktor Orban urged Kyiv on Tuesday to work towards a “quick ceasefire” in Ukraine that could pave the way for negotiations with Russia to end more than two years of war. Orban issued the appeal standing next to President Volodymyr Zelensky during a surprise visit to Ukraine, the first by the…
A Russian military court on Monday convicted a popular Ukrainian YouTube blogger and journalist in absentia for making public calls to kill President Vladimir Putin. A Moscow military court sentenced Dmitry Gordon to 14 years imprisonment, the TASS news agency reported. Russia has been convicting its opponents in absentia as part of a crackdown since…
The number of people killed in a wave of coordinated attacks in Russia’s southern Dagestan region last month has risen to 22, the regional head said Monday. Gunmen simultaneously attacked two churches, two synagogues and a police checkpoint in two cities in Dagestan on June 23. On Monday, regional Governor Sergei Melikov said the number…
A gay Dagestani man has fled Russia after getting caught in the local police force’s entrapment scheme involving a porn blogger, the North Caucasus LGBTQ+ rights group SK SOS announced Monday. Police in the republic of Dagestan had lured the blogger Matvey Volodin, who performs under the name USSRboy, from Moscow to the majority Muslim republic…
A wind storm enveloped a town in Russia’s Kemerovo (Kuzbass) region in black coal dust on Sunday, media reported. Visibility reportedly dropped to almost zero in the southern Western Siberian town of Kiselyovsk after strong winds lifted dust from the town’s open-pit coal mines into the air. Photos and videos shared on social media showed…
The Kremlin is following the election results in France “very closely,” a spokesman said Monday, after the first round of a snap vote where the far-right National Rally (RN) party won a resounding victory. “The preferences of French voters are more or less clear to us,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The far-right National Rally (RN)…
Authorities in Russia’s Siberian and Far East republics of Tyva and Sakha (Yakutia) have declared states of emergency due to summer wildfires raging across the regions. Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said 75 people died and 2,200 were evacuated from more than 500 active wildfires across the country in the past week. Over two-thirds of these…
Russian attacks killed two elderly women in the town of Ukrainsk in the war-battered eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk on Monday, regional authorities said. The industrial territory has been the target of Russian firepower over more than two years of conflict and the Kremlin’s forces have claimed slow but steady gains there. Donetsk regional prosecutors…
Russia’s patriotic youth organization “Movement of the First” is planning to send schoolchildren to North Korea for summer camp, the group’s Chairman Grigory Gurov told Russian state-run media on Saturday. “We just had a visit by a youth delegation to North Korea … They have the Songdowon camp; we, respectively, have Artek, Orlenok, Smena and…
Russia accidentally dropped at least 38 unguided bombs over its own territory in April 2023-April 2024, The Washington Post reported Monday, citing internal bomb cleanup and evacuation documents it obtained from Ukrainian intelligence. The FAB-500 glide bombs that carry a 500-kilogram payload have fallen on Russia’s Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, the newspaper reported. Russia had started…
Officials in Russian regions bordering Ukraine reported power cuts and water supply issues on Monday after deadly drone attacks by Kyiv. The attacks and shelling on the border region of Belgorod over the past day killed a four-year-old girl and wounded seven people, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Ukraine regularly targets Russian border regions with…
One person was killed and nine others including an eight-month-old baby were injured Sunday in a strike on a post office in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, local authorities said. The head of Kharkiv’s regional administration, Oleg Synegubov, said a post office employee was killed. The city of Kharkiv has been regularly targeted by Russian troops,…
U.S. rapper Kanye West has arrived in Moscow for the birthday celebrations of fashion designer Gosha Rubchinsky. The news followed rumors last month that West will perform a concert in Moscow. Western artists have mostly stopped performing in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which led to massive U.S. and European sanctions on Moscow,…
Russia on Sunday claimed two more east Ukrainian villages as its forces have had the upper hand over Kyiv on the battlefield for months. Moscow has claimed new villages in the east of Ukraine regularly for weeks, as outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian forces struggle to hold them back. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had…
Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region declared a day of mourning Sunday, a day after a Russian strike on the town of Vilniansk killed seven people and wounded three dozen. Kyiv also said four people were killed in eastern frontline villages in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the death toll in Vilniansk —near the…