Russian billionaire Alexei Kuzmichev, an associate of Vladimir Putin targeted by EU sanctions, was charged with tax fraud in France on Wednesday, the country’s financial prosecutor said. Kuzmichev was “placed under judicial supervision” and banned from leaving the country, according to the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). He also faces charges of concealing work…
U.S. prosecutors charged two Russian nationals and a Russian-American Wednesday over an alleged plan to evade export controls to help Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, a day after three others were charged in a similar scheme. Nikolay Grigorev, Nikita Arkhipov and Artem Oloviannikov were charged by federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York…
Russia said Wednesday it had sentenced three more Ukrainian soldiers who fought in the city of Mariupol to jail, as it continued to put soldiers held in captivity on trial. Around 2,500 people were taken into Russian captivity after the fall of Mariupol last May, some of whom were sent to Russia or occupied east…
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has resumed recruiting fighters in at least two regions months after the death of its founder and longtime leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, local media have reported. Wagner halted recruitment in the chaotic months following Prigozhin’s late-June mutiny against Russia’s military leadership. In August, Prigozhin and his close associates were killed in a…
Bulgaria on Wednesday said it had expelled the correspondent of the Russian state-owned newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, weeks after sending home the head of the local Russian Orthodox Church. Journalist Aleksander Gatsak had been found to be performing “activity that poses a threat to Bulgaria’s national security,” Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security said in a…
One of Russia’s youngest lawmakers and a fugitive deputy sentenced in absentia on bribery charges have been kicked out of Russia’s lower-house State Duma. Vasily Vlasov, 28, and Vadim Belousov, 63, were formally dismissed for skipping committee meetings for more than a month, Russia’s lower house of parliament said in a statement on Wednesday. Vlasov…
When Fatima Abdulkarim arrived in her native republic of Dagestan early on Sunday, she had hoped to take care of business matters, visit family and — not least importantly — obtain a permit to hold a rally in support of Palestine in the region’s capital Makhachkala. “We applied for a protest permit to ensure that…
Members of the feminist activist group Pussy Riot on Wednesday released their latest anti-war music video “Swan Lake,” where they decry the effects of Kremlin propaganda and call for the return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred to Russia since the start of the war. “Children are the most vulnerable in this war. Children should not suffer,” the group said…
Russian courts have sentenced 15 anti-Israeli rioters who stormed an airport in the North Caucaus republic of Dagestan to short terms in prison. Hundreds of protesters overran Dagestan’s Makhachkala International Airport on Sunday, charging onto the tarmac and jumping onto an airplane as they searched for Israelis rumored to have arrived on a flight from Tel…
A volcano in Far East Russia’s Kamchatka region has begun spewing large amounts of ash and lava, destroying roadways and forcing schools and kindergartens in surrounding areas to close, Russian media reported Wednesday. The Klyuchevskaya volcano, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, began erupting in late June, although experts said at the time that it…
The elderly father of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s top aide Ivan Zhdanov has been released from prison, he said Wednesday, after serving what his son called a political sentence. Yury Zhdanov, 69, the father of lawyer Ivan Zhdanov, wrote on Instagram that he was released from a prison colony in northwestern Russia’s Arkhangelsk region. “I’ve had…
North Korea has sent Russia over one million artillery shells to use in its war against Ukraine, with Pyongyang appearing to receive advice on the development of satellite technology in return, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday, citing information provided by Seoul’s spy agency. Russia and North Korea are both heavily sanctioned by Western nations —…
A “large number” of aerial weapons targeted annexed Crimea on Wednesday, Russian-installed authorities said. “The military is working to destroy a large number of various air targets in different areas throughout the peninsula,” Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, said on the Telegram messaging app. He did not specify what types of…
President Vladimir Putin has replaced the governor of northwestern Russia’s Vologda region in what observers see as the start of annual cadre changes ahead of key elections. Late Tuesday, Putin signed an executive order “accepting the voluntary resignation” of Governor Oleg Kuvshinnikov and appointing Georgy Filimonov as Vologda’s Acting Governor until the next regional elections, which…
Ukraine said on Wednesday that Russia had shelled more than 100 settlements over the last 24 hours — more than in any single day so far this year. Moscow has fired millions of artillery shells on Ukrainian cities, towns and villages along the frontlines since it launched its offensive last February, reducing several across the…
Three Russian nationals were arrested Tuesday in New York for evading U.S. sanctions on the shipping of dual-use electronic components to Russia. Nikolay Golstev, 37, and his wife, Kristina Puzyreva, 32 — both Russian-Canadian citizens — were arrested along with their alleged partner Salimdzhon Nariddinov, 52, who has Russian-Tajik citizenship. The trio is accused of evading sanctions…
A Russian court on Tuesday denied an appeal by Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva against her pre-trial detention on charges of failing to register as a “foreign agent.” Kurmasheva is the second U.S. journalist to be arrested in Russia this year after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in March for “spying” — a charge that…
A court in the Netherlands has sentenced a dual Russian-Dutch citizen to 18 months in jail for violating EU sanctions by selling computer chips to companies linked to Russia’s defense sector. The Rotterdam District Court said Tuesday that the unidentified businessman exported dual-use electronic goods to companies “closely related to” Russia’s arms and defense industry.…
Moscow has introduced strict new currency controls for foreign companies selling off their Russia-based assets as it attempts to shore up a weakening ruble, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The new restrictions add to existing rules requiring foreign companies that seek to leave the country to sell their Russian…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday it had detained a man allegedly involved in the attempted murder of Oleg Tsaryov, a former Ukrainian lawmaker who was once purportedly slated to lead a pro-Russian puppet government in Kyiv. Tsaryov’s associates said Friday that he was shot and badly wounded at his home in annexed Crimea, while…
An explosion on Tuesday occurred at one of Russia’s largest ammunition manufacturing plants, emergency officials said. Authorities in central Russia’s Perm region, located some 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow, said a “bang” was heard at the Solikamsk Plant Ural early afternoon on Tuesday. “Windows and doors were broken [but] there are no victims, there is…
Russian authorities will spend the earnings from the sale of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s apartment in annexed Crimea on Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, a Russian-installed official said Tuesday. Crimea’s Kremlin-backed government auctioned off Zelensky’s confiscated apartment for 44.3 million rubles ($481,500) on Monday, with its buyer identified as Moscow resident Olga Lipovetskaya. “We unequivocally determined that the…
French police have arrested Russian billionaire Alexei Kuzmichev, one of the co-founders of the Alfa Group who is targeted by EU sanctions, on suspicion of tax fraud and violating sanctions, sources close to the case said. Kuzmichev was apprehended in the Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez, a source who asked not to remain anonymous, told AFP…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has issued shoot-to-kill orders against protesters to prevent unrest similar to Sunday night’s anti-Israeli riot in neighboring Dagestan, state media reported Tuesday. The RIA Novosti news agency said Kadyrov had instructed Interior Ministry and National Guard forces to detain anyone who takes to the streets in the Muslim-majority republic of Chechnya…
The Kremlin has reduced the mandatory quarantine period to meet President Vladimir Putin to five days as the 2024 presidential election, in which he is widely expected to run for a fifth term, draws nearer. At the same time, personal meetings with Putin now hold greater significance for members of the establishment than ever amid…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused Ukraine and the West of instigating the anti-Israel riot at Dagestan’s Makhachkala airport Sunday evening, an accusation that Washington has called absurd. Security forces have detained over 80 people since the incident, which saw rioters in the Muslim-majority region take over the runway in an attempt to encircle…
An anti-Israeli mob stormed Makhachkala International Airport in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday evening, searching for Jews and Israelis rumored to have arrived on a flight from Tel Aviv. To some observers, the scenes harkened back to the pogroms of the 19th and early 20th centuries, during which Jews in the Russian Empire…
The anti-Israeli riot in Russia’s republic of Dagestan has exposed the Kremlin’s failure to maintain stability as it has exerted total control over the country, three Russian officials, a former Kremlin official and independent experts told The Moscow Times. Dagestan, a majority Muslim region and political stronghold for the Kremlin in the North Caucasus, was…
Russia’s senior rabbi has called on authorities to “severely punish” anti-Israeli rioters who stormed an airport in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday as they searched for rumored Jewish passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv. Alexander Boroda, president of Russia’s Federation of Jewish Communities, said the Sunday evening violence laid bare the extent to…
President Vladimir Putin has replaced the commander of Russia’s Dnipro grouping of forces in southern Ukraine, the state-run news agency TASS reported Monday, citing an anonymous source. Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, who served as the head of the Russian Airborne forces, was reportedly named commander of the Russian Army in southern Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region.…
France is seeking the deportation of 39 Russian nationals suspected of holding “radical” Islamist views, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Monday. Russian citizens are under “the strictest control” following a deadly Oct. 13 school stabbing in northern France that authorities have described as an Islamist terrorist attack, Darmanin told France’s RMC radio. Shortly after…
Moscow’s Orthodox spiritual leader, Patriarch Kirill, on Monday condemned an anti-Israel riot at an airport in the Muslim-majority region of Dagestan as a bid to “sow discord” between Russia’s Jews and Muslims. The powerful religious leader spoke a day after a violent mob descended onto Makhachkala airport looking for Jews after a flight from Israel…
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and other Russian political prisoners, including journalist and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza as well as opposition politician Ilya Yashin, staged a one-day hunger strike on Monday in a show of solidarity with political prisoners worldwide. Dating back to the Soviet period, “Political Prisoner Day” used to take place each year on Oct. 30,…
Police in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan have carried out a search at the home of a journalist known for his regular protests against political repression, local media reported Monday, citing his relatives. Authorities raided the home of Idris Yusupov in the regional capital of Makhachkala early Monday morning, according to the news outlet…
Ukraine said it had struck part of Russia’s air defense system in annexed Crimea overnight, as Moscow said it repelled a major attempted missile strike on the peninsula on Monday. Kyiv has increased attacks on the Black Sea peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, since it launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces earlier this year.…
Updated with Peskov’s remarks. At least 60 people were arrested after an anti-Israeli mob stormed an airport in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday night, Russia’s Interior Ministry has said. “More than 150 active participants of the riots have been identified, 60 of them have been detained and taken in for further investigation,” law enforcement…
A mob of anti-Israeli protesters stormed an airport in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday night following calls on social media to block a flight from Tel Aviv from landing in the majority-Muslim region. Video shared on social media showed hundreds of people gathered outside Makhachkala International Airport in the evening, with demonstrators brandishing Palestinian…
Russian forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula overnight, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said Sunday. “On the night of October 29, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using air-type drones against facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped,” the ministry…
Russians commemorated the victims of Stalinist terror on Sunday, more than 20 months into Moscow’s Ukraine offensive that has been accompanied at home by a major crackdown on dissent. The Kremlin has doubled down on its version of history as troops fight in Ukraine, which often glosses over Stalinist crimes, with public commemoration of Soviet-era…
Hamas is trying to locate eight Russian-Israeli dual citizens among nearly 230 taken hostage during the Palestinian militants’ attack on Israel after Moscow’s request to free them, Russian news agencies reported Saturday. Russia has good relations with Hamas, which it does not consider a terror group, and has launched a diplomatic effort to try to…
Hamas is trying to locate eight Russian-Israeli dual citizens among nearly 230 taken hostage during its attack on Israel after Moscow’s request to free them, Russian news agencies reported Saturday. Russia has good relations with the Palestinian militant group, which it does not consider a terror group, and has launched a diplomatic effort to try…
To his critics, Maxim Katz’s ideas for uniting Russia’s anti-Kremlin opposition are as realistic as a unicorn. Katz proposed last month what he calls “a concrete plan” to ensure that Putin is removed from power and asked opposition figures, including allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, to unite behind it. “The Russian opposition should…
An updated version of Russia’s climate doctrine signed by President Vladimir Putin on Thursday has dropped language that directly links the burning of fossil fuels to greenhouse gas emissions. Russia’s climate doctrine, first introduced in 2009, outlines the government’s policy on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Thursday’s updated doctrine notes the “unprecedentedly high” rate of…
Moscow’s Roscosmos space chief warned Friday that most Russian equipment on the International Space Station (ISS) was beyond its warranty, weeks after the station’s Russian segment sprang another coolant leak. The leak, Russia’s third in less than a year, raised new questions about the reliability of the country’s space program, even as officials said crew…
A Moscow court has sentenced a physicist who worked on hypersonic development to 12 years in a penal colony on treason charges, the independent Mediazona news website reported Friday. Anatoly Gubanov, 66, is the former head of the Aerodynamics of Aircrafts and Rockets Department at the Moscow region’s Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI). He was detained…
Russian prosecutors are seeking a three-year prison sentence for veteran human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov, who was fined by a Moscow court earlier this month, after he wrote an article saying Russia had become a “fascist” country under President Vladimir Putin, the Memorial rights group said Friday. Orlov, who serves as Memorial’s co-chair, was fined…
Updated with criminal investigation. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has launched a criminal investigation into the attempted assassination of Oleg Tsaryov, a former Ukrainian lawmaker who was reportedly slated to lead a pro-Russian puppet government in Kyiv. Oleg Tsaryov was shot and badly wounded at his home in annexed Crimea, his associates said earlier on Friday. “[Tsaryov]…
Russia’s Central Bank raised interest rates from 13% to 15% on Friday as it warned of higher-than-expected inflation across the economy. “Current inflationary pressures have significantly increased to a level above the Bank of Russia’s expectations,” the Central Bank said in a statement. The bank said domestic demand was increasingly outpacing the provision of goods and…
Far East Russia’s republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has banned Halloween celebrations at schools across the region, local media reported Friday. Sakha’s Deputy Education Minister Alevtina Argunova circulated a letter to school principals demanding that they cancel all Halloween celebrations in classrooms, according to the news website SakhaDay. Instead, Argunova was said to have encouraged school…
Russian security forces killed what they claim was a Ukrainian GUR military intelligence agent and arrested two others in southern Ukraine’s partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday. The FSB described the shootout and arrests as a “special operation” that “thwarted the activities of three large secret intelligence groups.” “One of…
At least three Ukrainian drones attempted to attack a Russian nuclear plant located some 110 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, Russia’s state nuclear plant operator said Friday. Rosenergoatom stressed that the incident at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant did not cause any damage or affect the plant’s operations. “We confirm that on the evening…
Russia is executing soldiers who refuse to follow the orders of their commanders as it carries out a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, the White House said Thursday, noting that Russian forces were suffering “significant” losses of armor and personnel. “We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who are refusing to…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the first segment of the new space station that Moscow plans to construct to replace the ISS should be in orbit by 2027, despite recent setbacks. Russia previously announced its intention to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS), where its cosmonauts are permanently stationed and the country…
Russia’s Sakhalin region has become the first in the country to set carbon quotas, the latest step in its goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2025. In light of President Vladimir Putin’s 2021 announcement of Russia’s aim to reach climate neutrality by 2060, Sakhalin has emerged as a testing ground for mechanisms that could pave…
Russia on Thursday criticized Ukrainian-backed peace talks set to be held in Malta this weekend, warning any discussions without its participation would be counterproductive. The talks, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes will drum up support for his own peace plan, come after similar gatherings in Jeddah and Copenhagen earlier this year. “Obviously such gatherings…
Delegates from the Palestinian militant group Hamas have arrived in Moscow for talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced Thursday evening. “I can confirm that representatives of the [Hamas] Palestinian movement are visiting Moscow,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a weekly briefing. “We will inform you additionally about its contacts,” she added. Moscow had…
Russia has issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian World War II veteran in Canada who fought alongside the Nazis after Russian investigators pressed genocide charges against him. Yaroslav Hunka was celebrated in Canadia’s parliament as a veteran who had “fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians” during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in…
Russian lawmakers backed a record increase in military spending to fund Moscow’s offensive on Ukraine, in a first reading of the bill Thursday. Defense spending will account for almost a third of all outlays in 2024 — up 68% to 10.8 trillion rubles ($115 billion). At more than 6% of the country’s GDP, military spending…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it had killed a Russian man accused of planning to attack a military enlistment office on orders from Ukrainian intelligence services. Video shared by the state-run TASS news agency showed the unidentified man talking on the phone while filming a thermal power station in the city of Tver, located some…
Former Russian state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova has lost custody of her two children after a court battle with her ex-husband, independent media reported Thursday. Moscow’s Shcherbinka District Court issued the ruling behind closed doors as it dealt with issues relating to minors, according to the independent Sota news outlet, which cited the court’s spokesperson in…