The mayor’s office of the Siberian city of Tomsk removed makeshift memorials commemorating victims of Soviet-era repression less than a month after a group of local historians installed them. In late September, historians in Tomsk erected five wooden posts with the names and photos of 30 people who were executed and buried in the city’s…
Russian airstrikes on sites including a furniture workshop in northwest Syria killed 10 people and wounded 30 others, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late Wednesday. “The number of people killed in Idlib has risen to ten civilians including a child, due to the Russian airstrikes on Idlib countryside,” the U.K.-based war monitoring organization said,…
Moldova claimed Wednesday that authorities in Russia were planning to undermine the country’s upcoming presidential election and a referendum on joining the EU by bussing in voters to polling stations at the Moldovan Embassy in Moscow. Moldova’s Foreign Ministry said it was alarmed by reports of Russia allegedly preparing to “artificially create the impression of…
A Russian official who resigned after a federal lawmaker accused him of being in a relationship with a man has fled the country and denounced Moscow’s war against Ukraine. In April, State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein outed Denis Leontovich, an ex-employee of the Samara region’s youth policy agency, as a member of what he claimed to…
Two Russian men arrested in Poland on espionage charges went on trial Wednesday for allegedly distributing leaflets and stickers promoting the Wagner mercenary group, a Polish court said. The pair, identified by Polish counterintelligence as Alexei T. and Andrei G., were detained in August 2023 for distributing leaflets about the Wagner Group in the cities…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has declared a “blood feud” against three federal-level lawmakers hailing from the neighboring republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia. The statement was yet another twist in the months-long dispute between Tatiana Kim, the CEO of Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberries, and her estranged husband Vladislav Bakalchuk. The Moscow Times spoke to prominent…
A man who died in police custody amid a regionwide crackdown on protesters and activists in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan earlier this year was beaten to death by police, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Wednesday, citing an independent forensic analysis conducted at the request of his family. Rifat Dautov was among more than 80 people…
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that Berlin wants to explore ways of ending the war in Ukraine, hinting at possible talks with Moscow, but stressing that any efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict would need to happen in cooperation with authorities in Kyiv. “Alongside clear support for Ukraine, it is time for…
Russian pro-war singer Shaman filed to trademark the phrase “Ya Russky” (“I’m Russian”) for alcoholic beverages, various household products and even sex toys, the Moskva news agency reported Wednesday, citing documents it obtained. “Ya Russky” has become Shaman’s calling card after he emerged from relative obscurity with patriotic pop songs in the wake of Russia’s…
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its forces captured two more villages in different parts of eastern Ukraine, with one of them lying just several kilometers away from the critical logistics hub of Pokrovsk. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have fled to Pokrovsk as Russia’s military wages a campaign to capture the whole of eastern Ukraine’s…
The Kremlin said Wednesday it had yet to see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan” to end the war, but urged authorities in Kyiv to “sober up” and admit what it called a futile effort to defeat Russia. Zelensky unveiled details of the plan earlier Wednesday, telling Ukrainian lawmakers it could help the country win…
Russia’s government approved plans to reduce the country’s temporary migrant worker quota by nearly half in 2025, the state-run TASS news agency reported Wednesday, citing a government document it obtained. According to the document, Russian authorities set next year’s quota at 5,500 migrants, roughly half of this year’s quota of 10,595. The quota determines the…
Two federal lawmakers have denied ordering the assassination of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov after he declared a “blood feud” against them and a senator amid a dispute over the merger of Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberries. Last week, Kadyrov accused State Duma deputies Bekhan Barakhoyev and Rizvan Kurbanov, as well as influential billionaire and Federation…
A prominent Moscow bar owner’s business partner was arrested as part of an investigation into a car bomb attack that injured the owner and his six-year-old son this week, authorities and Russian media reported early Wednesday. CEO and co-founder of the Shaker Group, Viktor Mishachev, his son and his neighbor were hospitalized after an explosive…
Spanish authorities on Tuesday said they had arrested four people suspected of orchestrating a sanctions-busting commercial network after intercepting 13 tons of chemical products bound for Russia. The investigation began in 2022 after Western countries imposed waves of sanctions on Russia to prevent it from acquiring equipment and technologies for its war with Ukraine. Police…
Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of the late Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, announced the creation of a non-profit foundation aimed at helping Russian independent media, saying that Russian civil society lacks a “transparent and competitive” donor system. Shortly after Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian government introduced draconian wartime censorship…
The Ukrainian government has reiterated it will not renew its gas transit agreement with Russia when it expires in January 2025. The European Union is also preparing for life with even less Russian gas as it seeks to phase out Moscow’s supplies. If this gas route is lost, it may intensify Europe’s battle with Asia…
Moscow said Tuesday that a defense pact it signed with North Korea earlier this year is “unambiguous,” as tensions flared over Pyongyang’s destruction of roads leading to South Korea. North Korea blew up sections of roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas on Tuesday, prompting Seoul…
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday temporarily handing over control of a major canned food maker to the Russian government. In April 2023, Putin authorized the government to seize the Russia-based assets of foreign companies from countries the Kremlin views as “unfriendly,” a move widely seen as retaliation to the West freezing around $300…
Russian authorities will no longer try to prevent the ruble from falling past 100 against the U.S. dollar as they expect the low exchange rate will benefit Russia’s state budget amid plans for more wartime spending, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the situation. Shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s…
The head of Russia’s Olympic Committee announced his resignation on Tuesday, a surprise move that comes as Moscow faces isolation in international sporting organizations over its invasion of Ukraine. Stanislav Pozdnyakov, a five-time Olympic medallist, said in his resignation letter that there were “timely” reasons why Russian sport needed a new leader, but did not…
Russia’s state media regulator Roskomnadzor said the popular video game platform Steam agreed to remove all banned content from its Russian store, state media reported Tuesday. Steam, a game distribution platform owned by the American company Valve, offers a catalog of more than 100,000 games, with 132 million users worldwide. There are an estimated 9.5…
Alexei Moskalev, the father of a Russian girl who drew an anti-war picture at school, was released from prison on Tuesday after serving a sentence under Russia’s wartime censorship laws. In March 2023, Moskalev was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian military. Moskalev did not attend his…
Russia’s southwestern Kursk region bordering Ukraine has been engulfed in battles with Kyiv’s troops for over two months. Ukraine has claimed over two dozen Kursk region settlements since launching its surprise incursion on Aug. 6, in the most significant cross-border attack on Russian territory since World War II. With most of the territory captured by…
Russia could be in a position to attack NATO by 2030 and is ramping up efforts to disrupt Ukraine’s Western backers through sabotage, German intelligence chiefs warned Monday. Germany is Ukraine’s second-biggest military backer after the United States. “In terms of personnel and material, Russian armed forces are likely to be capable of carrying out…
Russia could be in a position to attack NATO by 2030 and is ramping up efforts to disrupt Ukraine’s Western backers through sabotage, German intelligence chiefs warned Monday. Germany is Ukraine’s second-biggest military backer after the United States. “In terms of personnel and material, Russian armed forces are likely to be capable of carrying out…
A British woman who died after being exposed to the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok was unwittingly caught up in an “illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt,” a public inquiry was told on Monday. Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three children, died in July 2018 after spraying herself with what she thought was perfume from…
A British woman who died after being exposed to the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok was unwittingly caught up in an “illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt,” a public inquiry was told on Monday. Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three children, died in July 2018 after spraying herself with what she thought was perfume from…
A British woman who died after being exposed to the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok was unwittingly caught up in an “illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt,” a public inquiry was told on Monday. Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three children, died in July 2018 after spraying herself with what she thought was perfume from…
Pope Francis’ Ukraine peace envoy met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday in what the Vatican said was a follow-up talk about efforts to bring home children forcibly taken to Russia and prisoner exchanges. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi was expected to “assess further efforts to facilitate the reunification of Ukrainian children with…
When Russia added the Jehovah’s Witnesses to the country’s list of “extremist organizations” in April 2017, few could imagine the scale and longevity of repressions that the decision would set into motion. “I could never have imagined that this could directly affect not only me, but anyone in the community,” said Alla, whose husband was…
When Russia added the Jehovah’s Witnesses to the country’s list of “extremist organizations” in April 2017, few could imagine the scale and longevity of repressions that the decision would set into motion. “I could never have imagined that this could directly affect not only me, but anyone in the community,” said Alla, whose husband was…
When Russia added the Jehovah’s Witnesses to the country’s list of “extremist organizations” in April 2017, few could imagine the scale and longevity of repressions that the decision would set into motion. “I could never have imagined that this could directly affect not only me, but anyone in the community,” said Alla, whose husband was…
When Russia added the Jehovah’s Witnesses to the country’s list of “extremist organizations” in April 2017, few could imagine the scale and longevity of repressions that the decision would set into motion. “I could never have imagined that this could directly affect not only me, but anyone in the community,” said Alla, whose husband was…
A Moscow court on Monday sentenced Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter Yanina Sokolova to eight years in prison in absentia for making public calls to kill Russians. In August 2022, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, accused Sokolova of “openly threatening the Russian people, emphasizing the need for their merciless destruction” during a television broadcast.…
A Moscow court on Monday sentenced Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter Yanina Sokolova to eight years in prison in absentia for making public calls to kill Russians. In August 2022, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, accused Sokolova of “openly threatening the Russian people, emphasizing the need for their merciless destruction” during a television broadcast.…
A Moscow court on Monday sentenced Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter Yanina Sokolova to eight years in prison in absentia for making public calls to kill Russians. In August 2022, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, accused Sokolova of “openly threatening the Russian people, emphasizing the need for their merciless destruction” during a television broadcast.…
A Moscow court on Monday sentenced French researcher Laurent Vinatier to three years in prison for breaking Russia’s laws on “foreign agents.” Vinatier, a 48-year-old researcher working for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO, was arrested in Moscow in June and charged with gathering information on Russia’s military without being registered as a “foreign agent,” a crime…
The Kremlin said Monday it “categorically rejects” accusations from authorities in Moldova that it is interfering in the country’s upcoming presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union. “There are still many people in Moldova who support having good relations with our country,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “These people are being…
The Kremlin said Monday it “categorically rejects” accusations from authorities in Moldova that it is interfering in the country’s upcoming presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union. “There are still many people in Moldova who support having good relations with our country,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “These people are being…
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, who called for strengthening military cooperation between the two countries. Moscow and Beijing have forged closer ties since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, an alliance that has sparked anxiety in the West as both countries seek to…
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, who called for strengthening military cooperation between the two countries. Moscow and Beijing have forged closer ties since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, an alliance that has sparked anxiety in the West as both countries seek to…
Russia’s government plans to increase state maternity payments by around $500 next year as the country struggles with a shrinking number of births, Labor Minister Anton Kotyakov said Monday. First-time mothers will receive a lump sum of 677,000 rubles ($7,000) starting in 2025, Kotyakov told a meeting of federal lawmakers, a modest increase from the…
Russia’s government plans to increase state maternity payments by around $500 next year as the country struggles with a shrinking number of births, Labor Minister Anton Kotyakov said Monday. First-time mothers will receive a lump sum of 677,000 rubles ($7,000) starting in 2025, Kotyakov told a meeting of federal lawmakers, a modest increase from the…
Russia’s government plans to increase state maternity payments by around $500 next year as the country struggles with a shrinking number of births, Labor Minister Anton Kotyakov said Monday. First-time mothers will receive a lump sum of 677,000 rubles ($7,000) starting in 2025, Kotyakov told a meeting of federal lawmakers, a modest increase from the…
Russia’s government plans to increase state maternity payments by around $500 next year as the country struggles with a shrinking number of births, Labor Minister Anton Kotyakov said Monday. First-time mothers will receive a lump sum of 677,000 rubles ($7,000) starting in 2025, Kotyakov told a meeting of federal lawmakers, a modest increase from the…
A miner was confirmed killed following a rockslide at the Mokhovsky coal mine in western Siberia last week, Russian investigators said Monday. The miner had gone missing on Thursday after the rockslide buried him and another worker during excavation work at the open-pit coal mine in the Kemerovo region. Earlier, rescuers managed to pull one…
A miner was confirmed killed following a rockslide at the Mokhovsky coal mine in western Siberia last week, Russian investigators said Monday. The miner had gone missing on Thursday after the rockslide buried him and another worker during excavation work at the open-pit coal mine in the Kemerovo region. Earlier, rescuers managed to pull one…
A miner was confirmed killed following a rockslide at the Mokhovsky coal mine in western Siberia last week, Russian investigators said Monday. The miner had gone missing on Thursday after the rockslide buried him and another worker during excavation work at the open-pit coal mine in the Kemerovo region. Earlier, rescuers managed to pull one…
A miner was confirmed killed following a rockslide at the Mokhovsky coal mine in western Siberia last week, Russian investigators said Monday. The miner had gone missing on Thursday after the rockslide buried him and another worker during excavation work at the open-pit coal mine in the Kemerovo region. Earlier, rescuers managed to pull one…
Kyiv said Monday that its forces destroyed a Russian military transport plane stationed at an airfield deep inside Russian territory over the weekend. Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency said it had destroyed a Tu-134 transport aircraft overnight on Saturday. The plane was located at a military airfield in the Orenburg region, which lies around 1,000 kilometers…
Ukrainian troops have forcibly taken more than 1,000 residents of southwestern Russia’s Kursk region since launching their incursion in early August, Russia’s presidential human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said Monday. “I’ve received messages regarding more than 1,000 such people from relatives trying to find them,” Moskalkova told the Argumenty i Fakty pro-Kremlin newspaper. “We know…
Ukrainian troops have forcibly taken more than 1,000 residents of southwestern Russia’s Kursk region since launching their incursion in early August, Russia’s presidential human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said Monday. “I’ve received messages regarding more than 1,000 such people from relatives trying to find them,” Moskalkova told the Argumenty i Fakty pro-Kremlin newspaper. “We know…
Ukrainian troops have forcibly taken more than 1,000 residents of southwestern Russia’s Kursk region since launching their incursion in early August, Russia’s presidential human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said Monday. “I’ve received messages regarding more than 1,000 such people from relatives trying to find them,” Moskalkova told the Argumenty i Fakty pro-Kremlin newspaper. “We know…
Russia on Sunday said it has captured another east Ukrainian village as it closes on the important city of Pokrovsk, where its forces have been advancing for weeks. Russian troops have moved westwards in the Donetsk region for months, with Kyiv saying this weekend that the situation was “very difficult.” Moscow’s Defense Ministry said its…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Moscow had attempted to push back Ukrainian positions in the Russian Kursk region but that Kyiv was “holding the line.” Ukraine has held on to swathes of Russia’s Kursk region since early August. “Regarding the Kursk operation, there were attempts by Russia to push back our positions, but…
A fire at a petrol station in Russia’s Chechnya killed four people, including two children, emergency services said Saturday. Authorities released images of more than two dozen firefighters extinguishing the blaze at an almost totally destroyed petrol station with burnt-out cars in Chechnya’s main city, Grozny. “Unfortunately, four people died, including two children,” Russia’s Emergency…
Russia and Ukraine traded attacks overnight, with Russian officials saying on Saturday that Ukrainian drone strikes had killed one person in the Belgorod border region. Russia said it had downed 47 Ukrainian drones overnight, while Ukraine reported it neutralized 24 drones fired by Moscow. The Ukrainian air force said many missiles were fired from Belgorod,…
Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin’s top political opponent before his death in February, believed he would die in prison, according to his posthumous memoir which will be released on October 22. The New Yorker published excerpts from the book Friday, featuring writing from Navalny’s diary before and after his imprisonment. “I…
A Russian court on Friday ordered the arrest in absentia of CNN journalist Nick Paton Walsh for reporting from Ukrainian-held territory in Russia’s Kursk region. Moscow has launched several criminal proceedings against Western journalists who had produced reports from the Kursk region after Kyiv’s surprise August incursion. It has charged them with illegally crossing the…