The Russian military has withdrawn a regional task force from neighboring Belarus, Ukrainian border authorities and independent Belarusian war monitors have said.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…
Armenia will host joint drills with U.S. forces next week, officials in Yerevan said Wednesday, the latest sign of the ex-Soviet republic’s drift from its traditional ally Russia. The announcement came a day after Moscow dismissed criticism from Armenia that Russian peacekeepers were failing to maintain order over the only route linking Armenia to the…
Russia’s Central Bank announced Wednesday that it plans to step up support for the ruble, which has gradually weakened over the past 18 months due to Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The Bank of Russia said that between Sept. 14 and 22 it would sell 21.4 billion rubles ($218.5 million) worth of foreign…
Authorities in Moscow have detained two men accused of harassing a female metro passenger for wearing traditional Islamic clothing, Russian media reported Tuesday. Video of the conflict surfaced last week, showing one young man demanding that the woman take off her niqab — a full veil with a small slit for the eyes — and…
Russia’s Defense Ministry has removed the biography of General Sergei Surovikin from its website amid reports of his dismissal after Yevegny Prigozhin’s failed mutiny in late June. Surovikin was long seen as the main intermediary between the Wagner mercenary group and the Russian Defense Ministry, where he had served as head of Russia’s Aerospace Forces since…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday it has busted a major weapons smuggling ring in dozens of Russian regions. Between June and July, authorities seized thousands of firearms and artillery shells in sting operations across 53 Russian regions, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. The listed regions cover nearly every time zone in Russia and…
A Kremlin-installed official in southern Ukraine admitted Tuesday that Russian forces have withdrawn from the village of Robotyne more than a week after Kyiv announced its recapture. “The Russian army abandoned — tactically abandoned this settlement,” said Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-appointed governor of Ukraine’s occupied Zaporizhzhia region. Ukraine, which launched a grinding counteroffensive in June,…
Western academic journals have continued to publish articles by President Vladimir Putin’s oldest daughter since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the independent news outlet Mozhem Obyasnit reported Tuesday. Maria Vorontsova is a candidate of medical sciences, roughly equivalent to a Ph.D. in Western countries, and an endocrinologist by training. Her profile on the Moscow State…
Russia-based recruiters are targeting Cuban nationals online for the war in Ukraine, promising them lucrative military contracts, help with relocating to Russia and even citizenship for them and their families, according to an investigation by The Moscow Times’ Russian service. In a rare accusation against longtime ally Moscow, Cuban authorities announced Tuesday that they had…
A leading Russian university has fired prominent opposition activist Yulia Galyamina over her “foreign agent” status, less than a day after she was reinstated at the same university by court order following a previous dismissal. Former Moscow city councilor Galyamina said in December that she had been fired from the Russian Academy of National Economy…
Throughout her career, independent renewables expert Tatiana Lanshina has launched innovative research and nonprofit projects related to Russia’s energy transition, including initiatives such as renewable energy certificates under the international I-REC standard. Following the Kremlin’s military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022, Lanshina realized that her experience in Russia was now worth nothing. Currently based…
A bomb went off outside a military enlistment office in St. Petersburg, the local news website Fontanka reported Tuesday, citing eyewitnesses. Local residents reported hearing sounds of explosions near the enlistment office around noon on Tuesday. Authorities cordoned off a nearby abandoned bomb shelter, which Fontanka said sustained “minor damage.” Investigators believe the explosion occurred…
A Kremlin-installed official was targeted in a bomb assassination plot at his home in occupied eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian media reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. Yury Afanasyevsky, head of the customs office in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), was at his home during the bomb attack, according to an anonymous Ukrainian security service…
The Kremlin on Tuesday declined to confirm a possible summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which U.S. officials have said they expect. U.S. officials and media have said they believe Kim will make a rare trip abroad to neighboring Russia to meet Putin. “No, we cannot” confirm this,…
Russian border agents have thwarted a Ukrainian sabotage group’s third attempt this past month to infiltrate western Russia’s Bryansk region, its governor said late Monday. Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz shared photographs of weapons and an ammunition cache he said were seized from the sabotage group by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) border guards and…
Cuba has identified an alleged human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting its citizens to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine, the foreign ministry said Monday. The government was working to dismantle a “trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces involved in…
Russian General Sergei Surovikin has resurfaced more than two months after his last public appearance in a video urging Wagner fighters to stand down from their march on Moscow, media reported Monday. Surovikin, long considered the main intermediary between the Wagner mercenary outfit and the Russian Defense Ministry, disappeared from public view after Wagner chief Yevgeny…
Russian air defense systems destroyed three drones early Tuesday on their approach to Moscow, according to the city’s mayor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defense had “destroyed drones which were trying to carry out an attack” on the Russian capital, adding that there had been no casualties. Russia’s Defense Ministry said one of the…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow is just weeks away from supplying free grain to six African countries after scrapping a deal allowing Ukrainian food exports through the Black Sea. His comments during a press conference with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi came hours…
Universities across Russia have admitted 8,500 veterans of the war in Ukraine and their children this academic year, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko announced Monday. President Vladimir Putin in 2022 ordered a 10% university admission quota for war veterans and their children, granting them priority and clearing them of entrance exams. “On the president’s instructions,…
Voters across Russia are set to cast ballots in regional and municipal elections starting Sept. 8 in which they will choose, among others, 21 regional heads and deputies for 16 regional parliaments. Though the Kremlin’s tight grip on the electoral system and alleged widespread vote-rigging will ensure the victory of government-backed candidates in many of…
Russian authorities have detained a math graduate student and self-described anti-fascist immediately as he left prison after serving a previous jail term, the independent student news site DOXA reported Monday. Azat Miftakhov, 30, was released earlier in the day from a penal colony where he had served a four-year sentence for breaking the office window…
Rosneft and RUSSPASS travel planning service launched a joint project “Travel to Moscow with Rosneft” with the support of the Moscow City Tourism Committee.
A court in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine has sentenced a Ukrainian soldier to more than two decades in prison for killing a civilian in the occupied city of Mariupol, Russian authorities announced Monday. Gunner Maxim Ovcharenko and two of his unidentified fellow soldiers were accused of shooting a Mariupol resident in April 2022, according to Russia’s…
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold their first face-to-face meeting for the first time in a year on Monday in a bid to resolve the crisis over Russia’s exit from a deal guaranteeing Ukrainian grain exports and stave off a renewed global food crisis. The meeting, which was initially…
Russia’s government has continued to buy foreign-made cars despite calls by President Vladimir Putin last month for officials to start using domestic-made vehicles, the investigative news outlet Agentstvo reported Monday. Overall, Russian government bodies, agencies and state-affiliated companies purchased 151 foreign-made cars worth 566 million rubles ($5.9 million) in August, according to state procurement data cited…
Russia said Monday it had destroyed four Ukrainian military boats carrying troops in the Black Sea. “Naval aviation aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed 4 ‘Willard Sea Force’ U.S.-made high-speed military boats with landing groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. The ministry said the…
Russian drones targeted Ukraine’s southern Odesa region in the early hours of Sunday, with Moscow hitting a Danube port on the border with NATO member Romania in an attack condemned by Bucharest. Moscow has hit Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Black Sea and on the Danube for weeks, since exiting a key deal that allowed…
Russia’s former president and Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday that Moscow had recruited some 280,000 people into the army since the start of the year. Russia has not announced another mobilization — seen as an unpopular measure — but has led an active campaign to attract more men into the military as its…
The Nobel Foundation said Saturday it was reversing its decision to invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year’s Nobel award ceremony in Stockholm, after the move sparked a backlash. In 2022, the Nobel Foundation, which organizes the annual Nobel prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm, decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian…
Russia destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones that targeted the Crimea bridge, Moscow said early Saturday. “On Sept. 2, at about 02:20 Moscow time (2320 GMT Friday), the third Ukrainian semi-submersible unmanned boat, sent by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, was destroyed in the Black Sea,” Russia’s Ministry…
Moscow has stepped up efforts to stamp out dissent since launching the assault on Ukraine, with most high-profile opponents in exile or behind bars. Muratov was seen recently in Russia, being part of the legal team defending his friend Oleg Orlov, co-chair of Russia’s human rights organization Memorial. In 2021, Muratov who works as the…
Russia on Friday branded the non-governmental organization Free Buryatia as “undesirable,” a label that criminalizes the group and puts its staff at risk of prosecution. The NGO was created in March 2022 and focuses on the rights of mobilized Buryats — an ethnic minority in Siberia — and provides them with legal advice. Russia was…
Russia on Friday said it captured several strategic heights near Kupiansk, an eastern Ukrainian city where Moscow’s troops stepped up pressure in August. Ukraine launched a counteroffensive against Russian positions in the south in June but Russia responded by trying to take back territory in the northeast. “In the direction of Kupiansk, units of the…
President Vladimir Putin told pupils at the start of the school year on Friday that it was impossible to defeat Russia as Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine grinds through its 19th month. “I understood why we won the Great Patriotic War,” Putin said, referring to World War II, adding: “It is impossible to defeat this kind…