Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), confirmed Wednesday that he held a phone call with CIA director William Burns in the days after Wagner’s mercenary mutiny last month. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous U.S. officials, reported that Burns had called Naryshkin in late June to reassure him that Washington…
The Kremlin on Wednesday vowed to respond with “countermeasures” if Ukraine used cluster bombs against its invading troops after the United States pledged the weapons to Kyiv. “The potential use of this type of munitions changes the situation, and of course, it would force Russia to take countermeasures,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, without…
Kyrgyzstan announced Wednesday it had reversed a decision to close the local branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after the U.S.-funded outlet agreed to remove a video criticized by authorities. Award-winning Radio Azattyk is a prominent outlet in the Central Asian country that regularly reports on opposition groups and investigates alleged corruption. “Azattyk Media removed…
At least four people are missing along southern Russia’s Black Sea coast, which has been battered by heavy rains and flash floods since the weekend, news agencies reported Wednesday. The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s Krasnodar region branch said it was organizing a search and rescue operation where local authorities issued a state of emergency earlier…
Russian officials are opting out of traditional European travel destinations in favor of those closer to home for their summer vacations, the investigative outlet Vyorstka reported Wednesday, citing multiple anonymous lawmakers and regional officials. Western sanctions and the Kremlin’s strict controls on foreign travel are limiting options for Russian civil servants to domestic resorts, ex-Soviet…
Western powers will offer Ukraine a package of long-term security commitments on Wednesday, after NATO dashed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hopes of a clear timeline for joining the alliance. The Ukrainian leader was to hold talks with NATO’s 31 leaders at their summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, a day after blasting them for not moving…
Russians withdrew 100 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) from banks during the panic that ensued as Wagner mercenaries marched on Moscow last month, Russia’s Central Bank said Tuesday. “The need for cash increased in June and led to a 500 billion ruble liquidity outflow,” the bank said in a monthly monetary policy report. One-fifth of the…
Ukraine said Wednesday it had shot down 11 Russian drones overnight in a second consecutive night of attacks on the capital Kyiv, as NATO leaders prepared to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Vilnius. “A total of 15 kamikaze drones were involved in the strike. Eleven of them were destroyed in the areas of responsibility…
The war in Ukraine will not end until the West “abandons its plans” to defeat Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Indonesian media on Wednesday. His comments came ahead of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s symbolic talks with NATO leaders at their summit in Lithuania on Wednesday. In an interview with…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday pushed for Ukraine to join NATO in a speech in Vilnius, as alliance members gathered for a key summit in the Lithuanian capital. “NATO will give Ukraine security, Ukraine will make NATO stronger,” said Zelensky, standing alongside Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, before a Ukrainian army flag from the key…
Russian forces have advanced 1.5 kilometers near the town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine after repelling a Ukrainian attack in the area, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday. “Russian units launched a counterattack, advancing 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) along two kilometers of the front,” Shoigu said on Russian state television. But he said…
Belarusian artist and political prisoner Ales Pushkin died early Tuesday at a hospital where he was urgently transferred from a prison facility, the Belarusian human rights center Viasna reported, citing the artist’s wife. The reasons for the 57-year-old dissident’s hospitalization in intensive care as well as the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. An acclaimed artist…
Russia’s Wagner mercenaries will train the army of neighboring Belarus where they were exiled following a failed mutiny, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. “They’ll tell us about weapons: which ones worked well, which ones did not,” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in a statement issued by his ministry. He said Wagner would also share…
A mock-up of Kremlin critic Alexei Navaly’s prison cell has been vandalized ahead of a NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Navalny’s supporters have toured European cities with the 2×3 meter gray box that replicates the Kremlin critic’s real punishment cell to raise awareness of the dire conditions in which he is being…
A senior Russian draft officer and former submarine commander who Kyiv accuses of being behind missile attacks on Ukraine has been shot and killed in southern Russia, authorities said late Monday. Captain Stanislav Rzhitsky, 42, served as deputy head of the Krasnodar city administration’s mobilization department when he was reported as having been gunned down during a morning…
Russia was condemned Tuesday by Europe’s top rights court for failing to adequately investigate the shooting of top opposition politician Boris Nemtsov in 2015, including possible links to Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov. Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, was gunned down crossing a bridge a short walk from the Kremlin in Moscow.…
Russian officials are working to lure back the hundreds of thousands of citizens who moved abroad since the launch of the country’s military offensive against Ukraine — but have so far given them little, if any, incentive to go back. Between 700,000 and 1.5 million Russians are estimated to have left the country following the…
Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian attack drones overnight had targeted grain facilities at a southern port in the Odesa region, which houses three maritime terminals key to an expiring export agreement between Moscow and Kyiv. “The air defense forces did not allow the enemy’s plan to attack the grain terminal of one of the ports…
Berlin prosecutors said Monday they had charged a 55-year-old Russian man with attempted murder for trying to set fire to a building housing employees of Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency. The man is suspected of having placed an improvised incendiary device in a basement shaft of the apartment building in late April 2022, just weeks after Russia’s…
Russia’s first transgender politician announced Monday that she will not run in this year’s upcoming gubernatorial elections as federal lawmakers pursue a ban on legal or surgical sex changes. Yulia Alyoshina, the former head of the Civic Initiative party in Siberia’s Altai region, had been nominated as her party’s candidate for the regional governor elections…
Moscow is unaware of the missing Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov’s Russian citizenship and has not been approached by her relatives, the country’s ambassador in Iraq said Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that Tsurkov — an Israeli-Russian dual citizen — was being held by a pro-Iranian Shiite militia in Iraq, where she…
Updated with Lobanov’s comments to The Moscow Times. Prominent Kremlin critic and trade union activist Mikhail Lobanov said Monday he had fled Russia, just hours after revealing that he was fired from a leading Moscow university. “Our team made a decision: I am going on a long-term trip abroad,” the activist wrote on the Telegram messaging app,…
President Vladimir Putin met with Russia’s Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters after their failed mutiny, the Kremlin confirmed Monday. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had welcomed Prigozhin and 34 Wagner commanders at the Kremlin on June 29. “The commanders themselves outlined their version of events, emphasizing that they are soldiers…
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Sunday that his Akhmat military unit has been deployed to the site of “difficult” fighting in the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Fighting has picked up near Bakhmut, the site of the longest battle of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in recent days despite the Wagner mercenary group claiming to have…
Russia’s top military commander in Ukraine Valery Gerasimov on Monday made his first public appearance following Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed mutiny last month. Gerasimov was shown in a Defense Ministry video listening to reports and instructing subordinates on Russia’s response to increased Ukrainian missile attacks on Russian territory and annexed Crimea. “I’m tasking the Aerospace Forces…
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has won a third term that will keep him in charge of the tightly controlled, gas-rich Central Asian state until 2030, the electoral commission said on Monday. The 65-year-old has promised to open up Uzbekistan to foreign investment and tourism and implement major reforms in Central Asia’s most populous country. Mirziyoyev,…
Russian shelling on an aid hub in the town of Orikhiv in southern Ukraine has killed four people, the regional governor said on Monday, calling it a “war crime.” “They hit a humanitarian aid delivery spot in a residential area… Four people died on the spot: women aged 43, 45 and 47 and a 47-year-old…
Heavy rains struck southern Russia’s Black Sea coast over the weekend, leading to evacuations as overflowing rivers washed away cars and flooded homes. Emergency authorities in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region issued a flash flood warning from late Sunday into Monday due to the heavy rains. Footage published early Sunday showed several cars piled together in…
At least 47,000 Russian troops have been killed fighting in Ukraine, the independent news outlets Mediazona and Meduza reported in an investigation published Monday. Citing data from Russia’s national probate registry — a public database that records information on inheritances — and the government statistics agency Rosstat, journalists used a surge in probate cases opened…
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Sunday that next month’s BRICS summit, which Vladimir Putin has been invited to, will be held in-person despite an arrest warrant on the Russian leader. “The BRICS summit is going ahead and we are finalizing our discussions on the format,” Ramaphosa told journalists on the sidelines of a conference…
“Will I be able to shoot at my comrades?” Vlad was tormented by this question during the events of June 24, as a convoy of rebel mercenaries led by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin advanced on Moscow and Russia seemed on the brink of civil war. A former Wagner fighter, Vlad, who asked that his name…
The Kremlin on Saturday slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to repatriate several Ukrainian commanders who should have remained in Turkey until the end of the conflict under a deal. The Ukrainian presidency confirmed that it had secured the return of members of the crack Azov regiment, which is despised in Russia, after “negotiations with the…
Washington’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions is an “act of desperation” that will have no effect on Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. “It is an act of desperation and shows weakness against the backdrop of the failure of the much-touted Ukrainian counteroffensive,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a…
Artyom’s family history in Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian city virtually destroyed in a months-long Russian offensive, goes back almost 300 years. So when the question of if he’ll return to the city comes up, the answer is obvious: Yes. But after evacuating the city and relocating to Russia earlier this year, the former technician –…
President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed “brave” Ukraine on the 500th day of Russia’s invasion on Saturday, as the war’s toll mounted with eight deaths reported in Russian rocket fire. Zelensky published on social media an undated video clip of a visit to Snake Island in the Black Sea — a symbol of Ukraine’s defiance against Russia. “Today we…
Jailed U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich has spent 100 days in detention on charges of espionage that he and his employer, The Wall Street Journal, strongly deny. Newsrooms around the world, including The Moscow Times, made shows of support for Gershkovich to mark 100 days since his arrest. Gershkovich, 31, was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on…
Russian law enforcement and security services have regularly reported investigations, detentions and arrests of Russian citizens suspected of financially supporting Ukraine’s army since March. Over the past month, however, such announcements have become increasingly frequent. Little is known about the veracity of such cases, which are prosecuted as treason and punishable by up to life…
Russia has blocked U.S. tech giant Meta’s competitor app to Twitter just a day after its launch, a senior Russian lawmaker said Friday. Threads — a “public conversation” app built by Instagram developers— was downloaded by more than 30 million people after going live on Apple and Android app stores on Thursday. “This service is…
The former director of a Siberian coal mine has been sentenced to two years in prison over an accident that killed more than 50 people in November 2021, the Russian authorities said Friday. Both miners and rescuers died after smoke filled the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Siberian region of Kemerovo following a gas explosion. It…
Russian journalist Yelena Milashina has vowed to continue traveling to the republic of Chechnya despite a violent attack this week that left her hospitalized with multiple bone fractures and a brain injury. “I will continue to travel to Chechnya, whether [Chechen leader Ramzan] Kadyrov wants me to or not,” Milashina told the independent media outlet…
The Kremlin said Friday it will “closely follow” upcoming talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Turkey counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, describing their meeting in Istanbul as “important.” The Ukrainian and Turkish leaders will meet in Istanbul for talks on the eve of the 500th day since Moscow launched its offensive. “We will very…
At least six people were killed and two others were injured in a blast at an explosives factory in the Samara region of central Russia, state news agencies reported Friday. “Eight people were injured, six of whom died” at the Promsintez plant in the city of Chapayevsk, the RIA Novosti news agency cited the emergency services as saying. …
Russia’s Defense Ministry has launched a recruitment campaign targeting women for roles as doctors, nurses and cooks in the military, with possible deployment in occupied Ukraine, independent media reported Thursday. “Sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry in the same ranks as men,” read an advertisement in the western Siberian region of Omsk. The…
Russian authorities are investigating the U.S. food and chocolate maker Mars Inc. on suspicion of financing the Ukrainian armed forces, state media reported Friday, citing anonymous law enforcement sources. Prosecutors in the Moscow region are carrying out a probe into Mars’ compliance with Russian tax laws, as well as allegations that the company provided financial…
Dozens of Ukrainian clergy members in occupied Ukraine have faced persecution by the Russian military since Moscow launched its invasion last year, according to an investigation by the independent news outlet Vyorstka, citing media reports and civil rights organizations. At least 43 clergy members have faced persecution in the Kyiv, Donetsk and Kherson regions, according…
A Russian lawyer was attacked and doused in green antiseptic dye at a bus stop in Moscow on Thursday. Yelena Ponomareva, 46, said she was diagnosed with second-degree chemical eye burns following the attack carried out by an unidentified assailant. A photo shared by her colleague showed Ponomareva’s head, arms and dress fully covered in…
The UN’s nuclear watchdog is “making progress” on inspecting several parts of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine after claims it had been mined, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said Friday. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of planning a provocation at the site, raising alarm over risks…
A pair of Russian university students staged a protest at their graduation ceremony Thursday in support of Novaya Gazeta journalist Yelena Milashina, who was brutally attacked in Chechnya earlier this week. St. Petersburg State University student Yelizaveta Antonova and her fellow classmate displayed a poster of Milashina in a hospital gown with her face visibly…
Ukraine and Russia’s tank numbers are now roughly equal to one another’s, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Oryx open-source analysis website. The figures underscore the extent to which Russia’s advantage in heavy weapons has been reduced since it sent troops into Ukraine over 16 months ago. According…
The Russian ruble tumbled past 102 against the euro and 93 against the dollar on Thursday, hitting a new 15-month low as part of a monthslong depreciation that was exacerbated even further last month as Yevgeny Prighzohin’s armed revolt set markets on edge. Russia’s Central Bank said Thursday that the ruble’s weakening was brought on…
Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank is hoping the war in Ukraine will end “soon” to avoid a costly exit from Russia, Reuters reported Thursday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. The news outlet said Austrian officials are resisting pressure from the European Central Bank (ECB) for Raiffeisen to spin off its Russian subsidiary by September. Vienna…
Ukraine said Thursday that “tension” around the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was “decreasing,” after Kyiv and Moscow accused each other this week of plotting provocations at the atomic facility. “Tension is gradually decreasing,” Nataliya Gumenyuk, an army spokeswoman, said, adding that this was thanks to the “powerful work” of Kyiv’s military and diplomatic efforts…
Russia announced Thursday that it was shuttering Finland’s consulate in St. Petersburg and expelling nine of its diplomats, calling the move a response to a “confrontational anti-Russian policy” being pursued by Helsinki. NATO’s newest member Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, earlier this month expelled nine diplomats working at the Russian Embassy in Helsinki for…
A Russian court has sentenced two Ukrainian citizens to more than 20 years in prison over an attempted assassination of a Russian-installed official in occupied Ukraine, state media reported Thursday. Yury Domanchuk and Vitaly Skakun were arrested in December 2022 shortly after an explosion injured Vitaly Bulyuk — the Kremlin-backed deputy governor of southern Ukraine’s partially occupied…
Russian authorities are still investigating Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin over his failed mutiny last month despite the Kremlin’s promise to drop the criminal charges against him, state television reported late Wednesday. “Nobody planned to close this case,” journalist Eduard Petrov said on a state-run political talk show, referring to Prigozhin as a “traitor.” Petrov did…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has shot and killed a man it accused of trying to blow up a gas distribution network in the western Siberian region of Tyumen, state media reported Thursday. The FSB said it had foiled a terrorist attack “carried out by Russian supporters of nationalist ideas, who acted under the command…
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is still in Russia and none of the mercenary group’s fighters have set up in Belarus, its president said Thursday, casting doubt on a Kremlin deal to end their insurrection. “As far as Prigozhin is concerned, he is in St. Petersburg… He is not in Belarus,” Alexander Lukashenko told reporters. He spoke to…
Russian police have carried out searches at the liberal Yabloko party’s regional branch in the northwestern city of Pskov, just weeks after authorities labeled its chairman a “foreign agent,” the branch said Wednesday. Police confiscated office equipment, personal laptops and cellphones belonging to employees and activists present at Yabloko’s Pskov regional office. The party said…
A missile attack on an apartment block in western Ukraine’s Lviv killed four people on Thursday, in what its mayor said was the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in the city since Russia launched its invasion. “The third and fourth floors in two sections of the building were destroyed… As of 7:00 am, four people…
An Israeli-Russian academic who had been missing in Iraq for months is being held by the pro-Iran armed faction Kataeb Hezbollah, the Israeli prime minister’s office announced on Wednesday. Kataeb Hezbollah is a powerful faction of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi, Iran-backed former paramilitaries that were integrated into the Iraqi security forces in recent years. “Elizabeth Tsurkov is…