A shooting at a military deployment site in southwestern Russia’s Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine has left a number of Russian soldiers dead and wounded, media reported Friday. Baza, a Telegram news channel believed to have links to Russia’s security services, said a manhunt was underway for a serviceman armed with a Kalashnikov automatic…
Australian police have charged a married Russian-born couple with spying for Moscow, top officials said Friday, accusing them of accessing national security-related material from the military. The 40-year-old woman, Kira Korolev, and her 62-year-old husband Igor — both holders of Russian passports — had lived in Australia for more than 10 years and obtained citizenship,…
Russia had plans to assassinate the CEO of German defense company Rheinmetall, a key producer of artillery shells and military vehicles for Ukraine, CNN reported Thursday, citing five anonymous U.S. and Western officials familiar with U.S. intelligence. U.S. intelligence had informed Berlin of these plans, allowing German security services to foil the plot against Papperger, the…
Russian lawmakers have called on the country’s largest lender Sberbank to remove a rainbow-colored unicorn from its bank cards for kids, saying that “rainbow symbols” are an attribute of the “international LGBT movement.” In an appeal to Sberbank head German Gref, the lower-house State Duma’s Family, Women and Children Committee said that it had received…
Three EU citizens were detained this week for illegally entering the Russian-controlled Baikonur Cosmodrome in central Kazakhstan, local authorities said Thursday. The secretive space launch facility in a remote area of the Kazakh steppe has become a magnet for daredevil tourists, many of whom attempt to break into the hangars housing old Soviet-era spacecraft. The…
A Russian court Thursday sentenced a student in the Far East city of Birobidzhan 6,000 kilometers from Ukraine to five years in prison for passing troop locations to Kyiv. The unidentified man collected information “using the internet” on “Russian troops and locations of military units in the zone of the special military operation” in Ukraine…
Exiled Russian opposition politician Leonid Gozman has been sentenced to 8.5 years in prison in absentia for criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Moscow judicial press service said Thursday. Gozman, 73, was charged in connection with his criticism of the invasion of Ukraine on his Facebook profile and Telegram channel, as well as in appearances on political shows…
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday granted Russian citizenship to 22 foreigners including a Serbian national who said he faced prosecution in his native country for fighting on Russia’s side in Ukraine. Aleksandar Jokic recorded a video appeal to Putin this spring to ask the Russian president to help him avoid serving 25 years in Serbian prison on mercenarism…
Russian authorities have added exiled opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya to the federal list of “terrorists and extremists” days after issuing a warrant for her arrest, media reported Thursday. A Moscow court said this week that it placed Navalaya, who currently lives outside Russia, in pre-trial detention in absentia for “participating in an extremist organization.” Russian authorities…
Russian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov has called on foreign leaders to facilitate the exchange of political prisoners from Russia in a rare video appeal published Wednesday. “Let’s start exchanging civilians imprisoned on politically motivated charges. Many of them simply won’t survive [in prison],” Muratov said in a 20-minute long YouTube clip. “Let’s exchange…
A court in Latvia has sentenced a pro-Kremlin activist to three years in prison for publicly displaying Russian and Soviet flags, media reported Wednesday. Jelena Kreile has previously been seen wearing pro-war symbols and holding pro-Russian signs at anti-war rallies in the Latvian capital of Riga. The Latvian-born housewife, who only speaks Russian, faces 15 administrative cases for…
A Moscow court on Thursday rejected an appeal by jailed human rights defender Oleg Orlov against his imprisonment for criticizing the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine. Orlov, 71, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison this year on charges of “discrediting” the Russian military with his anti-war pickets and the 2022 article titled: “They Wanted Fascism.…
Russia will not attend a second planned international summit on peace in Ukraine because it will ignore Moscow’s proposals, a senior diplomat said Thursday. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told the state-run news agency RIA Novosti that the first summit attended by more than 90 countries in Switzerland last month had “failed.” Moscow and its ally…
Kyiv said Thursday that it had seized a foreign cargo ship and detained its captain, alleging that the vessel had illegally exported Ukrainian grain from the annexed Crimean peninsula. Since Russia’s capture of swaths of agricultural land in Ukraine in early 2022, Kyiv has accused Moscow of illegally harvesting and shipping grain produced on occupied…
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the European Union that Russian and Chinese leaders expect Ukrainian peace talks by the end of 2024, the Spanish daily El Pais reported Wednesday, citing his confidential reports filed after visiting the countries. One of President Vladimir Putin’s closest Western partners, Orban has sparked the ire of the EU…
Editors’ Note The Moscow Times was founded in 1992 in Russia with the mission of delivering independent, high-quality news about the country, newly emerged from the Soviet Union, to English speakers. For over 30 years, we have stayed true to this mission, expanding with a Russian-language service in January 2022. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine…
NATO allies announced Wednesday they had started the long-promised transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine as leaders meet for a summit in Washington clouded by political uncertainties in the United States. With the pomp of the three-day gathering in the US capital, President Joe Biden is aiming to rally the West and also reassure U.S.…
NATO allies on Wednesday announced they had started transferring F-16 jets to Ukraine while stepping up promises to Kyiv on eventual membership in the alliance, at a 75th anniversary summit clouded by political uncertainties in the United States. With the pomp of the three-day gathering in the U.S. capital, President Joe Biden is aiming to…
A Moscow-based sex party organizer has said that it has resumed events and pledged to donate money to soldiers who fought in Ukraine after previously shutting down due to Russia’s ban on the so-called “international LGBT movement.” “In this difficult time for our country, we will work with a limited entertainment program, and we will…
Female students in Russia’s republic of Karelia will be paid 100,000 rubles ($1,100) in exchange for giving birth to a healthy baby, according to a new decision by regional lawmakers. Experts warn that the policy — one of several across Russia aimed at boosting the country’s flagging birth rates — is an insufficient and short-sighted…
Jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza is in “relatively stable” condition after being transferred to a prison hospital last week, his lawyer said Wednesday. This is the first update on Kara-Murza’s condition since he was hospitalized, with his wife saying prison and hospital staff had prevented his lawyer from seeing him for six consecutive days. “Kara-Murza’s…
Japan has arrested a Russian trade firm executive suspected of illegally exporting more than two dozen goods that could be converted for military use, Japanese media reported Wednesday, adding that it is the first such case since Russia invaded Ukraine over two years ago. Andrei Sova, who heads the trading company Astrade in Osaka, is…
The Kremlin said Wednesday that it could not intervene in the situation of imprisoned government critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was hospitalized last week without access to lawyers or family, raising fears over his state. Kara-Murza, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics and a dual British and Russian citizen, is serving a 25-year sentence…
Western-designed components are used in the type of Russian missile that struck a Kyiv children’s hospital this week, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing experts and Ukrainian officials. At least 43 people were killed and almost 200 wounded in a Russian missile barrage across Ukraine on Monday, including a direct hit at the Okhmatdyt children’s…
Saudi Arabia privately warned it could sell off European debt holdings if the G7 seized nearly $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter. In what one source described as a “veiled threat,” the kingdom’s finance ministry reportedly implied it would start selling debt…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday that it had prevented “terrorist attacks” against high-ranking Defense Ministry officials in Moscow and on the flagship Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in northern Russia. The FSB detained a Russian citizen who was allegedly sending bombs disguised in gift packaging to three Defense Ministry division heads in the Russian…
Russian strikes killed three people in southern Ukraine, including at the Black Sea port of Odesa, authorities said on Wednesday. Russia has carried out nightly attacks on cities across Ukraine since launching its invasion in February 2022. “The aggressor targeted port infrastructure in the Odesa region. Unfortunately, two people were killed — a security guard…
The United States has disrupted a Russian disinformation campaign involving AI-powered bots used to create fake profiles on the social media platform X, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Officials seized two internet domains and searched 968 social media accounts that Russian operatives allegedly used to create an artificial intelligence “bot farm” and peddle disinformation in…
Only 16 Russians and 17 Belarusians have accepted invitations to compete under a neutral banner at the Paris Olympics, according to the latest count on Tuesday. The updated list, which covers 10 disciplines ranging from cycling to swimming and tennis, could change if competitors withdraw, a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told AFP.…
Over two years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the share of Russians who favor peace talks to end the war has reached an all-time high of 58%. This is one of the key findings from the latest survey by the Levada Center, Russia’s last major independent pollster, conducted at the end of June. Levada Director Denis…
Nearly 600,000 people in southern Russia have been left without electricity amid an abnormal heat wave that led to a spike in energy consumption, the Energy Ministry said Tuesday. The power cuts have affected the Rostov region (324,000 people affected), the Krasnodar region and the republic of Adygea (181,000), and the Astrakhan region (94,300). “Energy workers…
A Moscow court has arrested exiled opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, in absentia on charges of “participating in an extremist organization.” Navalnaya announced that she would continue Navalny’s work shortly after his death in an Arctic prison in February. Russian authorities designated Navalny’s activist network, including the disbanded Anti-Corruption…
Jailed opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza’s lawyers are still being denied access to the politician almost a week after he was moved to a prison hospital, his wife Evgenia said Tuesday. Kara-Murza, 42, was transferred to a prison hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk on July 4. He has suffered from a nerve condition since falling…
Bulgaria’s state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz said Tuesday it was taking Gazprom to court and seeking millions of euros in damages over the Russian company’s cut of supplies after its invasion of Ukraine. Bulgaria, which was almost totally dependent on Russia for its gas, and Poland were the first EU countries that saw their supplies halted…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that waging war instead of engaging in dialogue is “not the solution” more than two years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I know that war cannot solve problems, solutions and peace talks can’t succeed among bombs, guns and bullets. And we need to find…
Recast with Indian foreign minister’s comments. Russia has agreed to discharge Indian nationals from its military after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue with President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow this week, India’s foreign minister said Tuesday. Modi had “strongly raised the issue of early discharge of Indian nationals who have been…
The United Nations on Tuesday said there was a “high likelihood” that the children’s hospital in Kyiv suffered “a direct hit” from a Russian missile. Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, called Monday’s strike “one of the most egregious attacks that we’ve seen since the onset of the full-scale…
The European Union has halted Georgia’s accession talks amid strained ties over Tbilisi’s controversial “foreign influence” law, the bloc’s top diplomat in the South Caucasus country said Tuesday. “Regrettably, Georgia’s EU accession process is stopped for now — this has been decided by EU leaders during the last European Council,” said EU Ambassador to Tbilisi Pawel…
A Kremlin spokesman on Tuesday said that Russia will follow closely a NATO summit about to open in Washington, attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders. Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, told journalists that Moscow would follow “with the greatest attention… the rhetoric at the talks and the decisions that…
At least a dozen Russian oligarchs received more than 1 trillion rubles ($11.3 billion) in dividends in 2023 as the country saw a sharp wartime economic rebound, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing data compiled from publicly disclosed information. The earnings underscore how the Russian economy has adapted to the punishing Western sanctions imposed in response to the…
Russian forces destroyed 38 Ukrainian drones overnight in regions near the border, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday. “Air defense systems on duty destroyed and intercepted three UAVs over Belgorod region, seven UAVs over Kursk region, two UAVs over Voronezh region, 21 UAVs over Rostov region and five UAVs over Astrakhan region,” the ministry said in…
KYIV, Ukraine — “It’s not safe, it’s not safe. We need to go now,” a woman yelled at people running to shelter on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in the heart of the Ukrainian capital as the sounds of air defenses thundered overhead. As the first sirens blared throughout Kyiv at 9:52 a.m., many residents moved to shelters,…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, a day after the Indian leader arrived in Moscow amid global outcry over Russian strikes in Ukraine. Modi, visiting Moscow for the first time since Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine in February 2022, will seek to nurture New Delhi’s…
Volunteers and medics are searching for survivors in the rubble of the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, which was hit by a Russian missile during a daytime barrage on several Ukrainian cities on Monday. It was not immediately clear how many had been killed in Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt hospital. At least 31 people were confirmed dead…
Wives and mothers of mobilized Russian soldiers seeking their return from the war in Ukraine have staged a sit-in protest outside the Defense Ministry in central Moscow, according to videos shared by participants Monday. “We’ve brought sleeping bags and everything we need to wait for when we’ll finally be heard,” one woman could be heard telling…
Western leaders and diplomats expressed outrage after Russian missiles destroyed a children’s hospital in Kyiv, amid a rare daytime attack on Ukrainian cities which killed at least 20 on Monday. Russia fired dozens of missiles at cities across Ukraine in a massive barrage that killed at least 31 people and smashed into Okhmatdyt children’s hospital…
Authorities in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan are slowing access to WhatsApp over the platform’s refusal to curb the spread of “calls to participate in extremist actions,” the state news agency TASS reported Monday, citing an unidentified source. Users in Dagestan began experiencing disruptions with access to WhatsApp on Sunday, with additional reports saying…
Moscow does not “have any particular hope” for improved ties with Paris following France’s snap parliamentary election, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. “So far, we have not seen such a clearly expressed political will [to restore bilateral relations] from anyone,” Peskov said. After leading the election’s first round in June, the far-right National…
A provider of stolen personal data sold on the black market has compiled a list of Russians who left the country following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the independent investigative news outlet Agentstvo reported Sunday. The database lists individuals who left for more than two months between 2022 and 2024, Agentstvo said, without indicating how many names…
Russia struck cities across Ukraine on Monday with a missile barrage that killed 31 people and heavily damaged a Kyiv children’s hospital in an assault condemned as a ruthless attack on civilians. Dozens of volunteers, doctors and rescue workers were digging through debris of a part of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in a desperate search for…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due to arrive in Russia on Monday, as the Indian leader trod a fine line between maintaining a longstanding relationship with Moscow and courting closer Western security ties. The visit is Modi’s first since Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine and since he was returned to power last month as…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday it had prevented an attempt by Ukraine to hijack a missile-carrying strategic bomber. In the process, the FSB claimed it gained intelligence to help Russia’s military strike Ukrainian territory. “The FSB has stopped another Ukrainian special services attempt to carry out an operation to hijack the Tu-22M3 long-range strategic…
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…