Moscow Attack Death Toll Rises to 143 – Authorities

The death toll from the attack on a Moscow concert hall claimed by Islamic extremists rose on Wednesday to 143, Russian authorities said. Authorities listed the names of the dead five days after last Friday’s attack, the deadliest claimed to date by Islamic State on European soil and the worst in Russia in two decades. …

Czechs Bust Major Russian Propaganda Network

Czech intelligence has busted a Moscow-financed network that spread Russian propaganda and wielded influence across Europe, including in the European Parliament, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday. The group used the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site to spread information seeking to discourage the European Union from sending aid to Ukraine, which has been…

Russia, Mali To Strengthen Counterterrorism Efforts

Russia and Mali agreed to strengthen their cooperation over counterterrorism in a telephone call on Wednesday according to both parties, following the attack in Moscow that killed at least 137. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the head of the Malian junta, Colonel Assimi Goita, and the President of Congo-Brazzaville, Denis Sassou Nguesso, the Kremlin…

Woman Injured in Drone Crash at Belgorod Government Building

A woman was injured after a drone crashed into a government building in western Russia’s Belgorod on Wednesday, regional authorities said. “An enemy drone crashed into an administrative building in [the city of] Belgorod,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the messaging app Telegram. “The explosion shattered windows on the building’s third and fourth floors and damaged its…

Police Raid Warehouse Near Moscow for Migrant ‘Document Check’

Russian police have detained dozens of workers at a warehouse of the online retailer Wildberries on suspicion of breaking migration laws, state media reported Wednesday. Wildberries’ press service said a “document inspection” had been carried out at its warehouse in the Moscow region town of Elektrostal, which reportedly employs 8,000 people. “The inspection is over, 38 warehouse [workers]…

Antidepressant Sales in Russia Hit 5-Year High – Vedomosti

Antidepressant sales in Russian pharmacies have hit a five-year high in the first months of 2024, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday, citing the pharmaceutical market research company DSM Group. Experts linked the rise to doctors increasingly prescribing antidepressants instead of Soviet-era sedatives and tranquilizers whose effects have not been scientifically proven. According to the DSM…

Ukraine Says Detained 2 Russian FSB Agents

Ukraine said Wednesday that it detained two agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused of sharing the location of sensitive military targets with the Russian military. Since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv has waged a crackdown on those suspected of having collaborated with Russia, opening thousands of criminal cases. “As a result…

Samsung Pay to Stop Supporting Russia’s Mir Card

Russia’s Mir payment system will no longer be available on Samsung’s mobile payment service starting next week, the South Korean company announced on Wednesday. “Starting April 3, 2024, adding and using Mir cards to Samsung Pay will not be available,” Samsung said in a statement published on its website. “Samsung Pay will continue working in…

Russia Nationalized 15 Defense Firms Since 2023 – Top Prosecutor

The Russian government has seized 15 defense companies valued at some 333 billion rubles ($3.6 billion) since last year, Russia’s Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov told the Kommersant business daily in an interview published late Tuesday. After Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russian authorities have sought to nationalize key assets in the country’s…

Number of Wounded in Crocus City Hall Attack Rises to 360

The number of people wounded in Friday’s deadly concert hall attack has risen to 360, Russian state-run media reported on Wednesday, citing health officials. Authorities previously said that more than 180 people were wounded in the mass shooting at Crocus City Hall, located just northwest of Moscow, which saw camouflaged gunmen indiscriminately kill at least…

Niger Regime Chief Talks ‘Security Cooperation’ With Putin

The head of Niger’s military regime General Abdourahamane Tiani spoke on Tuesday by telephone to Russian President Vladimir Putin about “strengthening security cooperation,” according to an official communique. The two countries had already agreed in January to strengthen military ties when Niger Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine led a delegation to Moscow. Niger, one of…

Russian Security Chiefs Blame Concert Attack on Ukraine, West

Top Russian security officials claimed Tuesday that Ukraine and the West were partly responsible for the deadly concert hall attack outside of Moscow late last week, which saw camouflaged gunmen indiscriminately kill at least 139 people and wound dozens more.  The head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov said that while those who…

Ukraine Says Weekend Missile Attack Damaged 4 Russian Ships

Ukraine said Tuesday that it had damaged four Russian naval ships in a weekend missile attack against annexed Crimea. The Ukrainian navy had previously said that the overnight attack between Saturday and Sunday damaged only two amphibious landing ships — the Yamal and the Azov. According to new information, “Ukraine’s Defense forces [also] successfully damaged the…

Moscow Court Remands Eighth Suspect in Concert Hall Attack

A Moscow court on Tuesday remanded an eighth suspect in connection to the deadly concert hall attack outside the Russian capital late last week. Alisher Kasimov, a 32-year-old Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan, is accused of renting out his Moscow region apartment to four suspected gunmen behind the mass shooting at the Crocus City Hall music…

Ukrainian Shelling of Russia’s Belgorod Region Injures 5

Ukrainian strikes have left five people wounded in western Russia’s Belgorod region, authorities said Tuesday, in the latest bout in escalating cross-border attacks between Russia and Ukraine. Recent months have seen a sharp uptick in Ukrainian attacks along Russia’s western border, as well as incursions by pro-Kyiv militias comprised of Russian volunteer fighters. Belgorod region…

Russian Rights Chief Says Torturing Concert Attack Suspects ‘Inadmissible’

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova has criticized the alleged violent detention of the four suspected gunmen in last week’s deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall, state media reported Tuesday. “Despite the drastic nature of detaining criminals and no criminal punishment stipulated for actions that inflict harm during detention, it’s absolutely inadmissible to use torture…

What Was Putin Doing During the Moscow Concert Hall Attack?

On March 7, U.S. officials warned the Russian government that they had information about a planned terrorist attack possibly targeting concerts in Moscow. Fifteen days later, camouflaged gunmen attacked the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, killing at least 137 people, with the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group claiming responsibility.  The deadliest attack in…

Siberian Teenagers Assaulted Over Unconventional Hairstyles

Two teenage girls in Siberia were hospitalized after a young man assaulted them over their unconventional hairstyles, local media in the Krasnoyarsk region reported Monday. Security camera footage in the town of Minusinsk showed the young man approaching and punching one of the girls seated at a cafeteria table. Her friend, who is then seen attempting to…

Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv Wounds 9

Nine people including a teenage girl were wounded on Monday after Ukrainian air defense systems downed two Russian missiles over Kyiv, sending metal debris crashing to the ground. Emergency workers in hardhats could be seen clearing concrete and bent metal from one building ripped apart during the attack, the third aerial bombardment of the capital…

Binance Crypto Firm’s Successor in Russia Announces Closure

A recently established crypto exchange that took over the Russian operations of Binance, the world’s largest exchange, announced Monday it will begin shutting down over the next month and a half. “CommEX platform has decided to begin suspending some services starting from March 25, 2024, and will completely shut down the official website on May 10,”…

Four Moscow Attack Suspects Remanded Pending Trial

Four men accused of carrying out the Moscow concert hall attack that killed at least 137 people were ordered in court Sunday to be remanded in custody pending trial. All four have been accused of “terrorism” and risk a life sentence in prison, said a statement from Moscow’s Basmanny District Court. They were ordered to…

Kyiv Says 2 Russian Ships Hit in Crimea Strikes

Ukraine claimed Sunday to have hit two Russian military ships stationed at the annexed peninsula of Crimea in overnight strikes, as it suffered another night of “massive” Russian aerial attacks. Ukraine’s ally and neighbor Poland said a Russian cruise missile headed for western Ukraine breached its airspace overnight, after it had put its armed forces…

Putin Allies Demand Return of Death Penalty After Moscow Attack

Senior members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime have called for the country to bring back the death penalty following Friday’s attack on a Moscow concert hall. Critics have sounded the alarm over the demand, including due to Russia’s broad use of counter-terrorism and anti-extremist laws to target Kremlin opponents and supporters of Ukraine. Russia…

Russia Says It Shot Down Ukraine Missiles Fired at Crimea

Russia said Saturday evening it had repulsed a barrage of Ukrainian missiles fired at the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, the city’s governor saying two people had been injured. “According to initial information, more than 10 missiles have been shot down,” Sevastopol’s Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram. He added that a child and a…

Putin Wants To Blame Ukraine for Moscow Attack – Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Russia’s Vladimir Putin of seeking to “shift the blame” onto Kyiv for the Moscow concert hall attack that killed 133 people. “What happened yesterday in Moscow is obvious: Putin and the other scum are just trying to blame it on someone else,” Zelensky announced, after Putin said the…

Spacecraft Carrying First Belarus Woman Cosmonaut Lifts Off

Maryna Vasileuskaya, Belarus’ first woman cosmonaut, was aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft that blasted off successfully on Saturday headed for the International Space Station, Moscow’s Roscosmos space agency said. “The Soyuz took off from Baikonur” in Kazakhstan at 12:36 GMT, a Roscosmos statement said, adding that the spacecraft went into orbit “as planned.” Initially programmed…

Moscow Concert Attack: What We Know

An attack by gunmen on a Moscow suburban concert hall Friday left at least 133 dead, according to Russian authorities. Here is what we know about the attack on the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk ahead of a concert by the Piknik rock band: Attackers in ‘tactical uniforms’  The attack began around 8:15 pm before…

Russian Army Claims Seized Ukrainian Village Near Bakhmut

Russia on Saturday claimed a new territorial victory over Ukrainian forces struggling to find weapons and troops while the two sides staged deadly new aerial attacks on each other. As a militant attack on a Moscow concert hall became a new flashpoint dispute between the arch-rivals, Russia’s armed forces said they had seized the Ukrainian…

Russia Arrests Concert Hall Gunmen as Death Toll Rises

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday vowed to punish those behind a “barbaric terrorist attack” on a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133, saying Russia had arrested four gunmen who were trying to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv has strongly denied any connection, and Putin made no reference to claims of responsibility by the…

World Leaders Condemn Russian Concert Hall Attack

World leaders denounced a deadly attack by gunmen on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed more than 60 people and wounded over 100. Attackers dressed in camouflage uniforms entered the Crocus City venue ahead of the start of a rock concert, opened fire and threw a grenade or incendiary bomb, according to a…

Islamic State Group Claims Russia Gun Attack

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a gun attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday, which Russian authorities said killed at least 40 people. IS fighters “attacked a large gathering… on the outskirts of the Russian capital Moscow,” the group said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. The IS statement said…

Timeline of Attacks in Moscow Since 1999

Russia is reeling from a mass shooting and blaze at a Moscow rock concert, which the government has labeled a “terrorist attack.” Here is a look back at previous attacks on the city in the past 25 years. Apartment building bombed, 118 dead (1999) A bomb blast in the early hours of Sept. 13, 1999,…