Russian lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow the National Guard to deploy heavy weapons, including tanks, in the wake of a short-lived insurrection by the mercenary group Wagner. The National Guard was created by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2016 with the aim of warding off unrest and breaking up protests. The…
The Wagner mercenary outfit’s short-lived mutiny against Russia’s military leadership has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the future of the private military group’s far-flung presence abroad, where it worked to covertly advance the Kremlin’s geopolitical interests. While the Kremlin swiftly moved to dissolve Wagner’s structures in Russia and Ukraine by handing its military hardware…
Municipal deputies in the Russian city of Volgograd voted Wednesday to temporarily rename their city to Stalingrad for a total of 10 days out of the year. Volgograd had carried the name Stalingrad in honor of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin starting in 1925. The site of the Battle of Stalingrad, where the Soviet army beat…
Kyiv on Wednesday said Russia had destroyed 60,000 tons of grain meant for export in overnight strikes around the port of Odesa. Russia has fired missiles at Ukraine’s southern Odesa region for two nights in a row, hitting ports on the Black Sea after backing out of a grain deal that allowed the safe passage of cargo ships. …
President Vladimir Putin will not attend a BRICS nations summit in South Africa in August, the country’s presidential office said Wednesday, ending months of speculation over whether the Russian leader would visit while under an international arrest warrant. “By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit,” Vincent Magwenya, a spokesperson…
The United States may soon impose secondary sanctions on Kyrgyzstan for helping Russia procure sensitive technologies for its war effort in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing two anonymous U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The small Central Asian republic saw a “striking” expansion of import-export companies profiting from sales of Chinese and European…
Russia’s military courts have convicted at least 100 deserters every week so far in 2023, the independent news outlet Mediazona reported Wednesday. The soldiers are prosecuted under Russia’s sweeping new laws that tighten punishments for wartime acts committed during mobilization, which is legally still in force despite the Kremlin’s claims of its completion. Russian courts…
Kremlin loyalists will take control of the seized assets of French food maker Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg, media outlets reported late Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin ordered the seizure of Danone and Carlsberg’s Russian subsidiaries Sunday in retaliation to foreign moves against Russian companies abroad after Moscow invaded Ukraine last year. Russia’s state property agency…
Russia launched strikes on Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, the local governor said early Wednesday, the second consecutive night of attacks on the area since Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal. Oleg Kiper said there had been a “massive attack” and asked residents to stay in shelters. Ukraine’s air force said it had…
Recast with Budanov’s comments. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for a fire that broke out early Wednesday at a Russian military training area in annexed Crimea. “A successful operation was carried out in occupied Crimea. The enemy hides the extent of the damage done and the number of casualties,” said Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian Defense…
Correction: An earlier version of this article cited a Telegram account claiming to be Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, which falsely stated that Kyiv was responsible for Wednesday’s fire. A fire broke out Wednesday at a military training area in annexed Crimea, the Russian-installed governor said, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of more…
Russia’s health minister has criticized the trend of women prioritizing their education and careers over having children, labeling it an “improper practice.” Addressing a plenary session of the State Duma on Tuesday, Mikhail Murashko lamented the prevalent mindset in society that a woman should first pursue education, build a career, and secure her financial status before…
Russia has banned the U.S.-headquartered Wild Salmon Center (WSC) as an “undesirable” organization Tuesday, accusing the conservation NGO of working to hinder the country’s economy. The label means the WSC, which works to protect wild salmon populations and their habitats, must cease all operations in Russia. It is also illegal for Russians to carry out…
Arresting Vladimir Putin would amount to a declaration of war on Russia, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote in court papers released on Tuesday as the country wrangles over hosting the Russian leader. Putin has been invited to a BRICS summit in Johannesburg next month but is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant…
Saudi Arabia and Turkey are hoping to broker a deal to return Ukrainian children taken to Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing several anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Russia and Ukraine have refused to engage directly on the issue — over which the International Criminal Court indicted President…
The Kremlin warned Tuesday that exporting grain from Ukraine’s Russia-blockaded ports carried “risks,” one day after Moscow pulled out of a landmark deal to allow wartime exports of Ukrainian grain. “Without appropriate security guarantees, certain risks arise here. If [a future agreement] is formalized without Russia, then these risks should be taken into account,” Kremlin spokesman…
Members of the Wagner mercenary outfit have announced the closure of the group’s main base in southern Russia as it redeploys in neighboring Belarus following a failed mutiny against Russia’s military leadership. The Molkino military range in the Krasnodar region had served as Wagner’s main training grounds until mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a short-lived…
Monday’s strike on the sole bridge connecting mainland Russia to annexed Crimea, the second attack in 10 months, has been met with little surprise among Russian political and business elites despite killing two people and disrupting a key transit link. As the war in Ukraine drags on, the Crimea bridge — which takes both Russian military…
The United Nations has expressed alarm over the growing number of treason and espionage arrests made in Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year. Sixteen people were convicted in Russia for treason and espionage in 2022, according to UN experts on human rights and freedom of expression. At least 43 others faced similar charges so…
A wave of Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s southern coast damaged port and industrial infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday, hours after Moscow refused to extend a deal allowing the safe export of grain from the region. Six Kalibr missiles “launched from the waters of the Black Sea at Odesa” were destroyed by air…
Russian authorities have partially resumed road traffic across the Crimean bridge connecting the annexed Black Sea peninsula to mainland Russia that was damaged in a drone attack Monday. “As we reported to [President Vladimir Putin] today, we prepared the bridge for launch as soon as possible,” Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said early Tuesday. Undamaged…
Russia has resorted to sending aging, Soviet-made tanks to the battlefield in Ukraine in a desperate bid to compensate for its staggering artillery losses, experts and analysts have said — to mixed effectiveness. According to the Dutch OSINT project Oryx, Russia had by May 31 lost over 2,000 tanks out of the 3,000 combat-ready vehicles…
The bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia was damaged in an overnight attack, Russian officials confirmed Monday. The attack, which killed two people and injured one other while cutting off traffic to and from the peninsula, is the second attack on the bridge since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A…
Russian-installed authorities in occupied southeastern Ukraine announced they would temporarily suspend President Vladimir Putin’s martial law order for those seeking alternative exit routes from Crimea after a deadly drone attack damaged a bridge connecting the annexed peninsula to mainland Russia early Monday. Putin declared martial law — which restricts movement and sets curfews — in…
A Russian military aircraft on Monday crashed into the Sea of Azov off the coast of the southern port town of Yeysk in the Krasnodar region, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing local officials. Russian military authorities said a Su-25 fighter jet crashed after taking off from a local airfield for a training flight,…
The Kremlin is looking for buyers of Russia’s internet giant Yandex who would later sell the company to a Kremlin-linked oligarch sanctioned by the West, independent media reported, citing several anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The Bell business outlet and the news website Meduza said the search follows a breakdown of Yandex’s Dutch-registered holding…
Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian filmmaker who has joined fighting against Russian forces, said Monday he has been treated for shrapnel wounds after coming under artillery fire on the southern front. The 47-year-old film director from Crimea spent several years imprisoned in Russia on a terrorism charge. He was freed in a prisoner swap and joined Ukrainian special…
A deal brokered by the UN and Turkey that allowed for the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea is “de facto” over, the Kremlin said Monday. “Unfortunately, the Russian part of these Black Sea agreements has not been implemented so far, so it’s terminated,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “That’s the de…
Russia’s Wagner mercenary fighters have arrived in neighboring Belarus as part of an agreement with the Kremlin, Ukrainian and Polish officials confirmed over the weekend. Minsk said Friday that Wagner mercenaries were acting as military instructors for Belarusian territorial defense forces, three weeks after the group’s aborted mutiny in Russia. “As of now, available information…
Two people were killed in a reported explosion on the Crimea bridge, which links the annexed peninsula to southern Russia’s Krasnodar region, state-run media and Russian officials said Monday. “Traffic was stopped on the Crimean bridge: an emergency occurred in the area of the 145th pillar from the Krasnodar Territory,” the Russia-installed governor of Crimea…
Chinese naval vessels set sail this weekend to participate in joint manoeuvres with the Russian military, Chinese defence authorities said Sunday. Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown closer since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, a move China has not condemned. The two have ramped up defence contacts, including joint military drills in recent months.…
Azerbaijan accused Russia on Sunday of failing to fulfil its obligations under a 2020 Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement to end fighting with Armenia for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. “The Russian side did not ensure full implementation of the agreement within the framework of its obligations,” Baku’s foreign ministry said, adding that Moscow “did nothing to…
Russia said Sunday it downed at least ten drones around Sevastopol on the Crimea peninsula, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The Russian defence ministry said air defence shot down two unmanned aerial vehicles and electronically disabled five others. The ministry also said its forces destroyed two naval drones and the thwarted attack resulted…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said the main objective of the deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports to resume was not achieved, in a call with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. The deal that eased fears of a global food crisis sparked by the offensive in Ukraine is due to expire late Monday…
A Russian anti-war activist’s lengthy ordeal at the Serbian border spells trouble for other Kremlin critics based in the Balkan country, independent Serbian and Russian analysts told The Moscow Times. Peter Nikitin, an anti-Kremlin activist who has organized protests against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, was barred entry when returning to Serbia on Thursday, with his…
Ukraine acknowledged Friday its troops were not making speedy headway in their counteroffensive to recapture territory in the east and south of the country from Russian forces. “Today it’s advancing not so quickly,” the head of the presidency Andriy Yermak told reporters, conceding that battles were difficult. “If we are going to see that something…
Minsk said Friday that members of the Russian mercenary force Wagner were acting as military instructors for Belarusian territorial defense forces, three weeks after the group’s aborted mutiny in Russia. “Near Asipovichy, units of territorial defense troops are undergoing training,” the Belarusian defense ministry said. The ministry said the forces were learning skills including tactical shooting, moving…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to extend the Black Sea grain deal which expires next week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. Erdogan told reporters he had spoken with his Russian counterpart about the crucial deal allowing for the export of Ukrainian grain to ease a global food crisis. The deal, signed…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lashed out at criticism Friday over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine at talks with dozens of foreign ministers in Jakarta, the European Union’s top diplomat said. Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year has cemented a deep Cold War-style rupture between Russia and the West, with the United States and major European powers supporting…
Russia turned down a request by South Africa not to send President Vladimir Putin to next month’s BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa’s deputy president told local media Friday. Earlier, Russian officials told The Moscow Times that Putin’s attendance remained uncertain in the face of an International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment over the unlawful deportation…
An elderly woman was killed in the shelling of a Russian village near the border with Ukraine, local authorities said Friday. The Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz said that Ukrainian forces attacked the village of Belaya Beryozka on the border with northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv regions. A woman whose year of birth was given…
South Africa’s graft-tainted ex-leader Jacob Zuma is receiving medical treatment in Russia, his spokesman said Friday, a day after the country’s highest court upheld a ruling that he should return to prison. “Zuma traveled to Russia last week for health reasons,” the 81-year-old’s spokesman Mzwanele Manyi said in a statement. Manyi added that the trip “was private, it was…
An accident at a uranium enrichment plant in central Russia’s Ural mountains has left one worker dead and more than 100 were taken to a hospital for radiation inspections, local media reported Friday. The plant said there was one “victim” in the depressurization of a cylinder containing depleted uranium hexafluoride, without indicating whether the person…
Russian authorities have drafted a 10-point list of requirements that would complicate foreign businesses’ exit from and potential return to Russia, the Vedomosti business daily reported Friday. If a company is owned by an individual or parent from Russia’s list of “unfriendly” countries, the proceeds from its sale to Russian owners may not be transferred abroad, according…
MOSCOW – Alexei, a transgender man, had always planned to someday change the gender marker on his Russian passport — but time is now running out. “I’m in a panic. The process of my gender transition had been delayed because I have been living on my own since I was 18 and I didn’t have…
Russia will shutter Poland’s consulate in the western Russian city of Smolensk to reach “parity” in diplomatic presence, Russia’s government told Interfax on Friday. The Polish consulate in Smolensk was opened in 2011 to expand contacts between Russian and Polish citizens and to develop bilateral relations. A government decree published Friday orders Russia’s Foreign Ministry…
Lawmakers from the Russian parliament’s lower-house State Duma on Friday approved a ban on legal and surgical sex changes. The bill was passed in its third and final reading, banning “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person” and “the state registration of a change of gender without an operation.” According to the…
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Wagner mercenaries a chance to continue serving after their failed mutiny, he said in comments to the Kommersant business daily late Thursday. “Nothing would have changed for them,” Putin said, recalling a June 29 Kremlin meeting with 35 Wagner officers and founder Yevgeny Prigozhin just five days after the aborted…
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that nothing had been done to meet Russian demands around a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea. “I want to emphasize that nothing was done, nothing at all. It’s all one-sided,” Putin said in a televised interview. In July 2022, the agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports to…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that if Ukraine were to be admitted to NATO, it would make the world more vulnerable, after the bloc vowed closer integration with Kyiv at its summit this week. “I am sure that this will not increase the security of Ukraine itself, and in general will make the world…
A Russian anti-war activist living in Serbia was banned from entering the Balkan country after being stopped at Belgrade’s main airport Thursday, according to his lawyer. Peter Nikitin, who has permanent residency in Serbia, was prevented from entering at the request of the country’s Security Information Agency (BIA), Belgrade-based lawyer Cedomir Stojkovic said in a…
A Russian court on Thursday ordered the extended detention of a suspect in the murder of a military recruitment official and former submarine commander. The suspect, Sergei Denysenko, will be held in custody pending trial, a spokesman for the court in the southwestern city of Krasnodar told the Russian state-run agency TASS. Denysenko admitted to…
Plans are underway to turn the South Caucasus country of Georgia into a transit hub for Russian travelers flying to Europe, the RBC business daily reported Thursday, citing the part-owner of a Russian airline and major airport. Russia has been largely cut off from Europe since its invasion of Ukraine sparked mutual airspace bans between…
At least 204 Russian athletes have changed their sport nationality in order to continue competing in international events and avoid bans over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the independent Kholod news website reported Thursday, citing publicly available information. An athlete’s sport nationality refers to the country they officially represent in their sport, which may differ from their…
President Vladimir Putin’s attendance at next month’s BRICS summit in South Africa is mired in uncertainty as the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeks his arrest and an aborted mercenary mutiny has shaken Russia’s domestic stability, three Russian officials as well as independent experts told The Moscow Times. In what would be his first official trip…
Russian security services have detained at least 13 senior military officers and suspended or fired 15 others in the wake of the Wagner mercenary group’s mutiny last month, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. “The detentions are about cleaning the ranks of those who are believed can’t be…
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians held by Russian forces are tortured and forced to dig trenches for the military, the Associated Press reported Thursday, citing dozens of former detainees, Ukrainian officials and satellite imagery. The report describes a system of detention and abuse of civilians — most without legal status under Russian law — that the…
Companies with known links to Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin have been awarded over 1 billion rubles in government contracts since his attempted overthrow of Russia’s military leadership last month, the RTVI television network reported Thursday, citing public data. The nine contracts, which are all for the provision of food services to various state-run institutions…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it has detained a trans activist on suspicion of financing the Ukrainian military, state news agencies reported Thursday. The FSB did not identify the person by name but described him as “an LGBT movement activist who previously changed his gender identity from a woman to a man,” according to TASS.…
Remittances from Russia have dropped for the first time since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year, the RBC news website reported Thursday, citing central bank data of four ex-Soviet countries that have been major recipients of the inflows. Money transfers from Russia skyrocketed in 2022 after hundreds of thousands of Russians fled to neighboring countries in…