Lithuania is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine despite Russia’s nuclear threats, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in an interview with the Financial Times published Wednesday. Her comments follow the Russian Defense Ministry’s announcement that its forces were preparing to conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises in response to Western…
Moscow on Tuesday designated the U.S.-funded rights group Freedom House as an “undesirable organization,” effectively banning anyone from working for or having links with the group. Russia’s Prosecutor General said in a statement that Freedom House had called for “comprehensive assistance for Ukraine to defeat Russia” and had “discredited” the Russian army. “The organization provides…
A Moscow court has placed journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova in pre-trial detention for two months on charges of “justifying terrorism” over posts she made on social, the Russian capital’s court system announced Tuesday. Kevorkova, 65, is a Russian war correspondent, author, and filmmaker who has written about the Middle East and Russia’s North Caucasus for both independent…
Georgia’s controversial “foreign influence” bill has sharply divided Georgian politics and stirred accusations that the ruling coalition seeks to draw the country closer to Russia, as the draft law’s critics argue that it is a facsimile of repressive legislation adopted by Moscow more than a decade ago. In Russia, officials are observing from the sidelines…
A Russian court has sentenced the wife of exiled journalist Kirill Martynov to nine years in prison for the attempted murder of her daughter almost two decades ago, Russian media reported Tuesday. Antonina Martynova, whose maiden name is Fyodorova, had evaded criminal punishment for 16 years after a Russian jury in 2008 found her guilty…
Belarus said Tuesday it had started a surprise inspection of its non-strategic nuclear weapon carriers on the orders of President Alexander Lukashenko. The announcement comes a day after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear drills in Russia, raising fears that the powerful weapons could be used in Ukraine. Non-strategic nuclear weapons, also known as…
Volunteers from the Syzran refinery (part of Rosneft’s Samara group of enterprises) planted 2,500 birch saplings in a specially protected natural area in Samara Oblast. For the past four years, Syzran Refinery employees have been organising mass planting activities in local forest areas
Authorities in Kyiv announced Tuesday that they detained two Ukrainian security officials involved in a plot coordinated by Russia to assassinate senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement that it had exposed a network of agents run by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), whose aim was…
Armenia could ban Russian television broadcasts if Moscow continues ignoring Yerevan’s requests for more balanced coverage, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday. “We expect the broadcasts of Russian TV channels to respect the citizens and the state system of Armenia,” Pashinyan said during a marathon press conference, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. “We…
Vladimir Putin was sworn in as President of Russia for a fifth on Tuesday, setting the stage for another six years in power as he leads the country in its devastating war against neighboring Ukraine. After Putin took the oath of office, led by Constitutional Court head Valery Zorkin, he was officially sworn in as…
Ukraine said Tuesday that one person was killed by Russian artillery fire in the northeastern Sumy region. Sumy and the neighboring region of Kharkiv, where the country’s second-largest city is located, have come under increasing aerial bombardments in recent weeks. “As a result of an enemy attack, one civilian was killed and four were wounded,…
A regional minister has been detained on suspicion of soliciting 5 million rubles ($55,000) as a bribe in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan, investigators said Tuesday. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, did not identify the official by name, saying only that he is a 47-year-old ex-transportation minister. But Bashkortostan Governor Radiy Khabirov identified the…
Updated with White House comments. Russia said Tuesday that it will hold an American soldier who was detained in the Far East over the weekend in custody until early July on theft charges. The U.S. Army said the soldier, identified by a Russian court in the city of Vladivostok as Gordon Black, had been detained…
Authorities in Russia’s Irkutsk region declared a state of emergency on Monday after a fast-spreading fire fueled by strong winds and dry weather ripped through villages, destroying homes and injuring at least one person. A woman was hospitalized and in critical condition after she suffered burn wounds in the Bratsk district, Irkutsk region Governor Igor…
Russian law enforcement authorities have charged journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova with “justifying terrorism” over posts she made on social media, her lawyer said Monday. Kevorkova, 65, is a Russian war correspondent, author, and filmmaker who has written about the Middle East and Russia’s North Caucasus for both the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the Kremlin-funded broadcaster…
Moscow said Monday that its forces had captured two more frontline villages in eastern Ukraine, including one in the northeast Kharkiv region, where Kyiv managed to repel Russian troops at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its soldiers “liberated the village of Kotlyarivka in the Kharkiv region” and “the village of…
Germany has temporarily recalled its ambassador to Russia after members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s political party were targeted in what Berlin said was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack, the German Foreign Ministry said Monday. A newly concluded government investigation revealed that the cyberattack targeting members of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) had been carried out by…
Russian lawmakers on Monday passed a bill that bans “foreign agents” from running for any political office in the country, the latest in a series of tightening restrictions against those whom the Kremlin accuses of working in the interests of Western governments. Hundreds of cultural figures, journalists, businesspeople, as well as news outlets and organizations, have been…
A Russian man accused of trying to blow up two court buildings on behalf of Ukraine has been detained and charged with terrorism, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday. The man, described as being in his mid-forties, was found “placing unknown objects in construction waste” near a railway station in the central city of…
The South Caucasus nation of Georgia has for weeks been gripped by mass protests against a controversial “foreign influence” bill that critics say resembles legislation in Russia used to crack down on independent media and the opposition. Introduced into parliament last month by the country’s ruling Georgian Dream coalition, the bill would force organizations receiving…
Russian shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure led to widespread power outages overnight in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Monday. Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities in recent months, knocking out a significant chunk of production, and triggering blackouts and energy rationing across the country. “The enemy shelled energy…
Updated with Peskov’s remarks. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Monday that its forces were preparing to conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises in response to Western “threats and provocations.” “At the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat…
A Ukrainian drone strike in Western Russia’s Belgorod region has killed at least six people and wounded 35 others, Russian authorities said Monday, marking one of the deadliest attacks inside Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion over two years ago. Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said several drones struck a car and two vans carrying…
Russia said Sunday its armed forces had seized the village of Ocheretyne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the latest in a string of small territorial gains for Moscow. After capturing the nearby industrial hub of Avdiivka in February, Russia has pressed its manpower and weapons advantage on the battlefield, advancing several kilometers deeper into Ukraine…
New Russian military advisers and military equipment have arrived in Niger, according to state television in the African country that wants U.S. forces to leave. A first set of about 100 Russian advisers had arrived in Niger on April 10 along with air defense systems. Two military transporters arrived Saturday, according to Tele Sahel that…
A Russian rocket strike on Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region killed two people and a drone attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv injured at least six, officials said Sunday. The overnight attacks came as Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Russia celebrated Easter. “In Pokrovsk, rocket attacks killed two people and damaged a house,” Vadim Filashkin,…
Russia has added Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to its list of wanted criminals, a government database showed on Saturday. Zelensky appeared in the Russian Interior Ministry’s “wanted” list, an online database of alleged criminals sought by the authorities. It stated that the Ukrainian leader was wanted “under an article of the criminal code,” without providing…
Russia on Saturday said it had downed four U.S.-made ATACMS long-range missiles recently supplied by Washington to Kviv over the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula. The Defense Ministry said it had “foiled” the night attack but did not specify if the falling debris had caused any damage. In April, the U.S. confirmed it had sent these missiles…
A Russian military court on Friday extended the pre-trial detention of theater director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk by six months on charges of “justifying terrorism.” Berkovich and Petriychuk face up to seven years in prison if found guilty. They were charged over the content of their award-winning play, “Finist the Brave Falcon,” which…
TBILISI, Georgia — Anton reached into his backpack and pulled out a pair of plastic goggles and a meager cloth face mask — protection against tear gas and pepper spray. That night, like the night before, the 34-year-old Russian emigre and self-described political activist planned to stay out until daybreak alongside Georgian protesters, showing solidarity…
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed Friday that Ukraine’s military losses topped 111,000 people since the start of 2024, as Russian forces continued advancing along the eastern front line amid delays in critical Western aid for Kyiv. “Russian troops continue breaking the enemy’s system of strongholds along the entire line of contact,” Shoigu said at…
Czech government officials said Friday that the Central European country has been repeatedly targeted by cyberattacks orchestrated by a group with links to Russia’s GRU military intelligence service. Citing “the mode of operation and the focus of these attacks,” the Czech Foreign Ministry blamed the Russian group APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, for the…
The Kremlin on Friday slammed comments by French President Emmanuel Macron in which he repeated that the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out. In an interview with The Economist published on Thursday, Macron said the question of sending Western troops to Ukraine would “legitimately” arise if Russia broke through Ukrainian…
Russian TV personality and blogger Anastasia Ivleeva, who stirred controversy late last year over her “nearly naked” in Moscow, said she recently traveled to parts of occupied Ukraine. “I didn’t publicize [my visit to the Donbas and the occupied city of Mariupol],” Ivleeva told the popular Russian YouTuber Luka Yebkov in an interview published on…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday it had shot and killed a Ukrainian military saboteur who was planning to attack Russian military and energy sites. “The saboteur planned to commit a series of terrorist acts in Russia on the orders of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s HUR [military intelligence], including against Russia’s Defense Ministry facilities,…
Two people were killed Friday in a Russian attack on the city of Kurakhove, located in the eastern Donetsk region, which is bearing the brunt of ongoing fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. “Various high-rise buildings were damaged. Two people were injured, two people died,” the head of the Ukrainian military administration Roman Padun said…
Two people were injured in three separate drone attacks in western Russia’s Belgorod region, Russian authorities said early Friday. One bus passenger was wounded in a drone strike in the village of Voznesenovka, around 7 kilometers north of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. Another person received shrapnel wounds when…
Russian military instructors are operating at the same airbase in Niger as American troops, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday, confirming previous media reports that Russian troops had entered the same base amid the West African nation’s deepening ties with Moscow. “The Russians are in a separate compound and don’t have access to U.S. forces or…
Germany on Friday blamed Russian state-sponsored hackers for an “intolerable” cyber attack on members of the Social Democratic Party and warned there would be consequences. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a German federal government investigation into who was behind the 2023 cyber attack on the SPD had just wrapped up. “Today we can say unambiguously…
Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it was again urging its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Russia after a surge in reports of increased security checks at the border and denials of entry to Central Asians. “The ministry once again recommends that fellow citizens who don’t have good reasons to go to Russia temporarily…
Russian President Vladimir Putin is purportedly mulling the removal of Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko from her post following his inauguration next week, the Vedomosti business newspaper reported Thursday, citing four anonymous sources close to the Kremlin. Abramchenko, 48, has overseen environmental projects, natural resources, and Russia’s agro-industrial complex since 2020 as a member of…
In early May, the Rosneft pavilion at the international Russia Expo hosted a presentation of the Company’s environmental and volunteer projects
Thousands of Georgians this week have rallied against a controversial “foreign influence” bill being debated in Georgia’s parliament. Critics compare the legislation to Russia’s “foreign agents” law, which since its adoption over a decade ago has been used to crack down on independent media and the political opposition. In the latest escalation, police used pepper…
Moscow said Thursday that its military captured another village in eastern Ukraine, where in recent weeks Russian troops have reported incremental battlefield advances. Russian forces are rushing to claim as much Ukrainian territory as possible ahead of the arrival of U.S. weapons and equipment to Kyiv’s forces after months of wrangling over the military aid…
Russians who initially fled the country but are now returning from abroad have helped boost Russia’s economic growth in the face of unprecedented Western sanctions, Bloomberg reported Thursday. An estimated 1.1 million people left Russia in 2022 after Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Between 40% and 45% have since returned, according to client…
Russian prosecutors have requested a 10-year prison sentence for the wife of exiled journalist Kirill Martynov in a controversial case surrounding the alleged attempted murder of her daughter nearly two decades ago, the online news outlet Mediazona reported Thursday. Antonina Martynova, whose maiden name is Fyodorova, had evaded criminal punishment for 16 years after a…
The U.S. State Department accused Russia Wednesday of having used chemical weapons against Ukrainian soldiers in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow. In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia also used “riot control agents [tear gas] as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of…
Ukrainian drones targeted energy infrastructure in at least two regions of western Russia overnight, Russian regional authorities said early Thursday, coming just a day after Kyiv reportedly attacked oil refineries inside the country. “The Oryol region was once again attacked by enemy drones,” Oryol region Governor Andrei Klychkov said shortly after midnight on Thursday. Klychkov…
A Russian missile attack injured 13 people in Ukraine’s southwestern city of Odesa, its mayor said early Thursday, after similar strikes earlier in the week killed at least eight. “Another Russian ballistic [missile] attack on Odesa,” the city’s mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said on Telegram. “A total of 13 people were injured,” he said, adding that…
Visitors on Wednesday flocked to the opening of a month-long exhibition of Western military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine. The showcase, which is located at a World War II memorial park in Moscow, features 32 pieces of heavy equipment, including a U.S.-made M1 Abrams tank, a German-made Leopard 2A6 tank, a U.S.-made Bradley armored fighting vehicle, as well…
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its forces carried out a strike on the Ukrainian military’s southern operational command center. “Operational and tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces’ military group has struck [Ukraine’s] ‘South’ operational command headquarters,” the Defense Ministry said in its daily briefing. Ukraine’s Operational Command South is based…
The cigarette maker Japan Tobacco has adjusted its supply chains to comply with Western sanctions against Moscow and keep its business operating in the lucrative Russian market, the company’s CEO Masamichi Terabatake told the Financial Times. “We are making various efforts to ensure a sort of a ring-fence, by sending things from Turkey, for example, since…
The European Union led condemnation against Georgia on Wednesday after police the night before fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators protesting against a controversial “foreign influence” bill. The clashes were the most violent yet in the three weeks since rallies first began against the bill, which critics say resembles legislation used to crackdown…
A Russian guided bomb attack on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region killed two people on Wednesday, the region’s governor said. The region, swathes of which were occupied by Russian forces for months after the full-scale invasion in February 2022, is under near-constant bombardment from Russian artillery, rockets, and missiles. “Today at 10:00 am, Russians struck a…
The U.S. Senate has voted to ban uranium imports from Russia as Washington ramps up pressure on Moscow’s war economy more than two years after President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The bill, which was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in December, was voted for unanimously by senators on Tuesday.…
Ukrainian drones have targeted several regions in central and southwestern Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday, as Ukrainian media reported that Kyiv was behind alleged attacks against at least two Russian oil refineries. “Air defense forces destroyed and intercepted 6 Ukrainian drones, three of which were over the Voronezh region, one over the Ryazan…
A Russian missile attack has killed at least three people in Odesa, the mayor of the southwestern Ukrainian port city said early Wednesday. “The enemy attacked Odesa with ballistic missiles. As a result of the attack, three people were killed and three more were wounded,” mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov wrote on the messaging app Telegram. Odesa…
Five Russians accused of setting fire to a helicopter on behalf of Ukraine appeared before a Moscow court on Tuesday and were charged with “terrorism.” The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intelligence agency HUR published a video late last week of what it claimed was a Ka-32 transportation helicopter being set ablaze at a Moscow airport. “The aggressor…
Updated with Politico report. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its forces shot down six U.S.-supplied missiles launched by Ukraine, with Moscow-backed officials in annexed Crimea claiming some of the weapons were downed over the Black Sea peninsula. Washington quietly shipped an unspecified number of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine in recent…
A powerful dust storm swept through the Siberian city of Irkutsk on Tuesday, with local authorities reporting damage to buildings and a local energy provider shutting down power lines as a safety precaution. “Irkutsk was hit by inclement weather, the wind speed has reached 28 meters per second,” Irkutsk Mayor Ruslan Bolotov said in an…