Pegasus spyware was used to hack into the cellphone of Galina Timchenko, the CEO of the independent Russian news website Meduza, the outlet said Wednesday. The incident marks the first known case of Pegasus being used against a Russian journalist, Meduza said. Timchenko’s phone appeared to have been hacked in February just hours before she…
When journalist Yevgeniya Baltatarova arrived in Kazakhstan in March 2022, she had no plans to stay in the country long-term. Just days before, the Federal Security Service (FSB) raided her apartment in Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Siberian republic of Buryatia. According to Baltatarova, the officers were searching for evidence proving that she violated a then-unpassed “army…
Moldova has deported the local bureau chief of Russia’s state-run Sputnik news agency, Russian media reported Wednesday. “I was issued a 10-year ban on entering Moldova,” Vitaly Denisov, head of Sputnik Moldova, told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. Denisov said Moldovan migration officers had informed him that he posed a threat to national security…
The EU will keep Russian tech billionaire Arkady Volozh under sanctions despite his recent condemnation of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported late Tuesday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Volozh co-founded Russia’s internet giant Yandex and announced his resignation in mid-2022 after being targeted by EU sanctions. His lawyers last month petitioned the…
As the Russian ruble has slumped to post-invasion lows in recent months, talk of a possible exodus among millions of Central Asian labor migrants has bubbled to the surface. Federal and local news channels have been awash with stories about how hundreds of thousands could leave Russia altogether, as the value of their salary has…
Moscow will not discuss “speculation” about the inclusion of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in a list of candidates for a prisoner swap with the West, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday. “This is speculation that requires neither official commentary nor informal discussion,” Zakharova said at a briefing on the sidelines of the…
Updated to clarify that the ban applies to passenger vehicles. Estonia has banned passenger vehicles with Russian license plates from entering the country, authorities in the Baltic nation announced Wednesday amid heated debates over an EU directive on sanctions enforcement. “Starting from today… Estonia will deny entry to all Russian registered vehicles,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna…
A Russian Su-24 bomber on Tuesday crashed in southern Russia during a training flight, state-run media reported, citing Russia’s Defense Ministry. The two-man crew’s fate remains unknown more than 12 hours after the incident, which occurred in the Volgograd region. The Su-24 was not equipped with weapons and crashed in an uninhabited area, Interfax reported,…
“We will always be with Russia,” Kim said, according to footage broadcast on Russian TV. “An old friend is better than two new ones,” Putin said, quoting a Russian proverb and referencing the Soviet Union’s role in the Korean War. Their talks as well as discussions with delegations lasted around two hours before the leaders…
Updated with confirmation by the Ukrainian military. A Ukrainian cruise missile and seaborne drone attack on a shipyard in annexed Crimea damaged two Russian warships that had been undergoing repairs, Russian and Ukrainian military officials said Wednesday. The overnight attack targeted a shipyard in the port city of Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet,…
A court in Russia’s republic of Chechnya has reduced the prison sentence for the mother of prominent Chechen activist Abubakar Yangulbaev, a civil rights group said Tuesday. Zarema Musaeva in July was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison on charges of assaulting the authorities and fraud. She denies the accusations. Rights groups criticized Musaeva’s conviction, describing it…
A former Austrian foreign minister who danced with Russian President Vladimir Putin at her wedding has moved to St. Petersburg along with her two ponies, according to the independent news outlet The Insider. Karin Kneissl will head the Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues (GORKI), a research center at St. Petersburg State University that was established in…
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a wide-ranging address on Tuesday at the annual Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, touching upon Moscow’s protracted war against Ukraine and anti-war elites in exile, while also playing up Russia’s development of “weapons based on new physical principles.” Putin’s remarks come ahead of a rare and closely watched summit with North Korean…
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced independent journalist Abdulmumin Gadzhiev to 17.5 years in prison on charges of participating in and financing a terrorist organization, Mediazona reported Tuesday. The former editor of Chernovik, a leading independent news outlet in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, was arrested in June 2019 and has since remained in…
Russian humanitarian aid arrived Tuesday in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh via territory controlled by Azerbaijan, separatist authorities in the Armenian-populated enclave said. Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of spurring a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh by closing the single road linking the mountainous territory with Armenia. That roadway, known as the Lachin corridor, is policed by…
Updated with Peskov’s remarks about Sergei Shoigu. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s armored train has crossed into Russia ahead of a rare and closely watched summit with President Vladimir Putin, Russian media reported Tuesday. Kim left Pyongyang accompanied by military, government and ruling party officials on Sunday afternoon, according to North Korean state media, his first…
Two Ukrainian drones attacked a town in western Russia’s Kursk region overnight, the regional governor said early Tuesday. “An explosive device was dropped from a Ukrainian drone in Rylsk,” Kursk region Governor Roman Starovoit had initially reported late Monday. Two buildings had their facades damaged and windows were blown out as a result of the…
A Russian passenger plane flying from the Black Sea resort of Sochi to the Siberian city of Omsk with 167 people on board made an emergency landing in a Siberian field on Tuesday, officials said. Authorities released footage of the Ural Airlines Airbus A320 in a field next to a forest in the Novosibirsk region, saying…
Moscow’s Foreign Ministry has slammed a European Union ban on Russian citizens from bringing their personal vehicles and other belongings across EU borders as a “racist” move. In a Sept. 8 explanatory note to its rules on sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission said that the regulation “prohibits the purchase, import,…
At the northeastern edge of Eurasia lies Kamchatka, a remote peninsula in Russia’s Far East which is home to the Volcanoes of Kamchatka, a natural site inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996 as one of the world’s most remarkable volcanic regions. Spanning almost 4 million hectares, the Volcanoes of Kamchatka is a…
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Zvezda Shipyard in the town of Bolshoi Kamen in Primorsky Territory
The European Union on Monday slammed elections in Russian-occupied Ukraine, warning Kremlin-backed officials and vote organizers that they would face “consequences.” Russia’s Central Election Commission claimed that the pro-Kremlin ruling United Russia party secured overwhelming majorities in the legislative votes in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as in annexed Crimea. “The European Union…
Joint military exercises between Armenian and U.S. forces began on Monday, the latest sign of Yerevan’s drift from its longtime ally Moscow. The drills come amid mounting frustration in Armenia over what it sees as Russia’s failure to act as a security guarantor as tensions escalate with neighboring Azerbaijan. “Exercise Eagle Partner’s opening ceremony has…
Belarus on Monday accused Poland of firing warning shots and using tear gas and physical force to push back migrants trying to enter the European Union through their volatile border. Ties between Minsk and Warsaw, frozen for years, hit new lows after Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko allowed Russia to use his country to attack Ukraine,…
Kyiv said Monday its forces had recaptured an oil and gas drilling platform in the Black Sea that had been controlled by Moscow since 2015. The platform is roughly halfway between the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula and the coast of Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region. “Ukraine regains control of the so-called Boyka Towers (platform),” Kyiv’s military intelligence…
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia “in the coming days” after receiving an invite from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin confirmed Monday. Speculation had been mounting that Kim, who rarely leaves his country and had not travelled since the coronavirus pandemic, would meet Putin to discuss potential arms deals. “At the…
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has won his third term in office by a sweeping margin following a relatively muted wartime campaign, poll results showed Monday. With 100% of the ballots counted as of early Monday, Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) website showed Sobyanin securing 76.39%, or 2.5 million, of the votes. Moscow’s electoral commission said…
Russia said Monday it destroyed two Ukrainian drones in the western Belgorod region, with no casualties being reported. The Russian Ministry of Defense said the incident involved two unmanned aerial vehicles and took place around 1:20 a.m. local time. “Air defense systems on duty destroyed two drones over the territory of Belgorod region,” the ministry…
Russia’s Central Elections Commission claimed on Sunday that the United Russia party, which staunchly backs President Vladimir Putin, was leading local ballots in four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces. The Kremlin claimed to have annexed the eastern and southern territories late last year despite not having full military control over them, and the so-called…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed diplomatic victory on Sunday, declaring a G20 summit in India a “success” after the bloc shied away from direct criticism of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “We were able to prevent the West’s attempts to ‘Ukrainize’ the summit agenda,” Lavrov said as the two-day meeting of leaders closed. “The text…
Russia said Sunday that it destroyed three military speedboats carrying Ukrainian soldiers in the Black Sea which Moscow claims were headed toward annexed Crimea. “In the western part of the Black Sea… naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed three military Willard Sea Force speedboats,” which are U.S.-made and were carrying Ukrainian troops, the…
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin is expected to win re-election by an overwhelming margin in this weekend’s mayoral elections following the elimination of virtually all other opposition and independent candidates. Sobyanin has led Russia’s capital, a city of 12 million people, through waves of mass protests, the Covid-19 pandemic and, today, regular drone attacks amid the…
Russia on Friday summoned the ambassador of Armenia over “unfriendly steps,” as Yerevan announced drills with the U.S. military and has grown increasingly critical of Moscow’s role in the Nagorno-Karabakh standoff. The move followed warnings by the Kremlin against conducting drills with the U.S. and mounting tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory. …
The Kremlin is working to solidify its control — both militarily and politically — over the four Moscow-occupied regions of Ukraine with this month’s regional elections there, experts and officials told The Moscow Times. Nearly a year after Moscow staged widely disputed referendums to annex Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, Russian authorities now aim…
The Russian military has withdrawn a regional task force from neighboring Belarus, Ukrainian border authorities and independent Belarusian war monitors have said. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced in October 2022 the deployment of a joint regional group of military forces after accusing Ukraine of preparing an attack on his country. On Thursday, the State Border…
Russia’s FSB security services said Friday it had detained a man for plotting a rail bombing in annexed Crimea. The FSB said the suspect — a Russian citizen in his mid-40s — had been “collecting information on the deployment of Russian Defense Ministry facilities and units” and was preparing a railway bombing. “In а hiding…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived Friday to head Moscow’s G20 summit delegation in President Vladimir Putin’s absence, television broadcasts showed. Putin is not attending — or even planning to make a video address at — the G20 in India, with relations between Moscow and many members of the bloc fraught over the Ukraine war.…
Reports of widespread voting irregularities have marred the first day of Russia’s local and regional elections, the independent election watchdog Golos reported Friday. Elections are taking place on Sept. 8-10 in 49 Russian regions, as well as annexed Crimea and the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, with Kremlin-backed candidates mostly expected to clinch easy…
A Russian military song and dance ensemble has arrived in North Korea, state media said Friday, with a Chinese delegation also due for a key anniversary, in fresh signs of border reopening. North Korea has been largely closed off from the outside world since early 2020, when it shut its borders in response to the…
Russian airlines have suffered thousands in additional costs due to regular airport closures prompted by drone strikes inside Russia, the RBC news website reported Friday, citing aviation industry experts. Moscow’s four international airports have repeatedly restricted access to their runways amid an increasing number of drone attacks on the Russian capital. “If a plane was flying…
Overnight drone strikes targeted a major Russian microchip plant near the Ukraine border for the second time in just over a week, according to media reports late Thursday. Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz said a brief fire erupted at an “administrative building” of an “industrial site” in the city of Bryansk, some 100 kilometers north…
Seventeen people have been arrested in Cuba over suspected links to an alleged Russian trafficking network recruiting men for Moscow’s war effort, the interior ministry said Thursday. The Cuban government said Monday it was working to dismantle a “trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba,…
A Russian man who made tens of millions of dollars trading U.S. stocks using hacked, unreleased company earnings reports was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison. Businessman Vladislav Klyushin, 42, was convicted by a federal court in February for hacking and securities fraud. He was tried in Boston after being extradited from Switzerland in…
Hundreds of migrant workers hailing predominantly from Central Asia have been rounded up in a wave of police raids that has swept several Russian cities in recent weeks. The round-ups appear to primarily target male migrants who recently received Russian citizenship but failed to complete their compulsory military registration. Some are handed military summons on…
The United States announced indictments Thursday of nine Russians allegedly part of the Trickbot cybercrime group which plied ransomware schemes to extort businesses including hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. The nine, some of whom were alleged to have links to Russian intelligence services, were named in a series of indictments across multiple U.S. states where…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to fund research into artificial intelligence as competition with the West to develop such technology heats up, according to a Kremlin document published Thursday. Generative AI bots burst into the spotlight late in 2022 after U.S.-made ChatGPT demonstrated its ability to engage in human-like conversations, prompting Russia…
Russian air defense systems in the southern Volgograd region downed a drone Thursday afternoon, local authorities and media said, the first such reported incident in the region since the start of the war in Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry “intercepted and neutralized the drone,” Volgograd region Governor Andrei Bocharov said on the Telegram messaging app Thursday…
A group of Russian teachers has quit their jobs after refusing to allow Ukraine war veterans to teach required lessons that they believe promote war to children. The incident reflects the dilemma facing Russian teachers who wish to keep politics out of the classroom. At least 10 teachers and the principal of School No. 12 in…
Russian authorities said Thursday they will “postpone” local elections in two municipalities near the border with Ukraine amid ongoing threats from drone and artillery strikes. Local elections scheduled in the western Belgorod region’s town of Shebekino and the village of Zhuravlyovka were just two of the 4,270 regional and municipal races set to take place across Russia,…
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to make a video address at the upcoming G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, the Kremlin said Thursday. The meeting comes amid fraught relations between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine, which caused deep tensions at last year’s summit in Bali. Asked whether Putin…
The Kremlin on Thursday denounced U.S. plans to provide depleted uranium tank rounds to Ukraine, saying Washington would be responsible for any negative lingering impact of the munitions’ use. Depleted uranium munitions are controversial due to their association with health problems such as cancer and birth defects in areas where they were used in past…
The former commander of the city of Moscow’s air defense force has been charged with bribery in connection with the expropriation of Russian Defense Ministry-owned land, the Kommersant business daily reported Thursday, citing case materials. Investigators accuse Major General Konstantin Ogienko of receiving through his subordinate part of a 30-million-ruble ($300,000) sum promised by a civilian…
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday there was no sign Russia had launched a deliberate attack on Romania after possible drone debris was found near its border with Ukraine. Stoltenberg said Romania, a member of the U.S.-led military alliance, on Wednesday informed its NATO allies of the discovery and that it “demonstrates the risk of incidents…
British American Tobacco will complete its exit from Russia by selling its assets to a consortium of local management members over the next month, the multinational company said Thursday. The maker of Kent and Rothmans cigarettes said the deal would keep its estimated 3,000 Russian and Belarusian employees afloat for at least two years. “BAT has now…
A Russian court has sentenced Siberian journalist Mikhail Afanasyev to more than 5 years in prison for spreading “fake news” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Afanasyev, the chief editor of the republic of Khakasia’s Novyi Fokus outlet, was among the first to be detained on Russia’s wartime censorship laws in the spring of 2022. Investigators…
At least three Russian regions were targeted in overnight drone strikes, including the site of Russia’s central command center for its military campaign in Ukraine, officials and media reported Thursday. Two drones were shot down by air defense systems in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, some 60 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, according to Rostov region…
The European Union condemned the strike along with the “escalation” of Russian attacks on “civilian objects” that has seen hundreds killed or wounded in recent weeks. “Intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes,” the bloc said in a statement. Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that “this Russian war of aggression…
Russia said on Wednesday it will soon finalize its side of the route for the “Power of Siberia 2” pipeline, a huge project to deliver more natural gas to China. Moscow plans to start building the pipeline next year, after its military offensive in Ukraine forced it to move away from the European market in…
Russia’s ruling, pro-Kremlin United Russia party is distancing itself from narratives related to the war in Ukraine in its campaign for the country’s regional and local elections this month. The Kremlin appears highly concerned about the outcome of the vote despite its tightened control over the media and suppressed opposition, sources familiar with the government’s…
At least four Russians have been detained for donating to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s “extremist” organizations, state and independent media reported Wednesday. Law enforcement officers carried out searches in connection with financing Navalny’s groups in the Russian cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow and Krasnoyarsk, according to the independent human rights watchdog OVD-Info. The watchdog…