Prigozhin Says Moscow Strikes Kill ‘Huge’ Number of Wagner Forces, Vows to ‘Stop’ Top Brass

The Moscow Times is collecting all the latest breaking news and developments around Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner Group. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our reporting, claims and counter-claims are sometimes impossible to verify. The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group on Friday accused the country’s military leadership of ordering…

Prigozhin Charged With ‘Inciting Armed Revolt’ After Vowing to Stop ‘Evil’ Military Leadership

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin was charged with “inciting an armed uprising” and military vehicles were deployed to the streets of Moscow and Rostov-on-Don after he made an extraordinary threat to “stop” Russia’s top military brass. Prigozhin on Friday accused Russia’s military leadership of ordering strikes on Wagner’s camps and killing a “huge”…

Russia Urges Azerbaijan to Unblock Access to Karabakh

Russia on Friday urged Azerbaijan to unblock access to Nagorno-Karabakh as concern grows over a deepening humanitarian crisis in the breakaway region. Residents of Karabakh reported new shortages of food and medicine after the International Committee of the Red Cross said Azerbaijan had blocked access for convoys delivering aid to the Armenian-populated region last week. “We…

Russia-Held Bridge ‘Unusable for Movement’ After Ukraine Strike – Pro-Kremlin Official

A Russian-held bridge that connects southern Ukraine to the annexed Crimean peninsula has been badly damaged and is “unusable” at present, a Moscow-installed official said on Friday. “It is unusable for movement,” said Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, adding that the Chongar bridge would be closed to traffic…

Russia Plunders Industrial Goods from Occupied Mariupol – Reports

Russian companies have been systematically looting industrial goods from factories in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion, according to a report by the independent news outlet Mozhem Obyasnit’.  Citing customs records, journalists estimated that Russia had plundered more than 1 billion rubles ($15 million) worth of goods — including…

‘The World Must Hear the Sound of War,’ Russian Nobel Laureate Muratov Says After Sirens Disrupt Speech

Russian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov said Thursday that “the world must hear this sound” of the Kremlin’s war on Kyiv following an incident where Ukrainian journalists played the sound of an air-raid warning during his speech earlier this week. Muratov, the chief editor of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, was speaking earlier this…

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to Share Data with Moscow on Anti-War Russians, Conscripts

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia will share their citizen’s personal data with each other for law enforcement purposes, the press service of Kyrgyzstan’s presidential office announced Wednesday. Under the agreement, each country will share information on the residence status, citizenship, migration registration, visas, property, criminal records and identity documents of individuals living within their borders. “Today we received…

Russian Gov’t Officials Banned From Bringing iPhones Into Cabinet Meetings – Report

Russian government officials have been banned from using their iPhones during cabinet meetings and for work purposes amid claims that the U.S.-made smartphones are equipped with spying technology, ​​independent journalist Farida Rustamova reported Thursday, citing sources. The ban on Apple devices, which applies to deputy prime ministers, ministers and other staff, came after a warning from…

Russia Says Ukraine Forces ‘Regrouping’ After Offensive Losses

Russia said Thursday that Ukrainian forces in eastern and southern Ukraine were temporarily limiting their efforts to reclaim Moscow-held territory, after Kyiv launched its highly anticipated counteroffensive. “After conducting active hostilities over the past 16 days and having suffered significant losses, the enemy has reduced its activity and is currently regrouping,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu…

Zelensky Claims Russia Preparing Radiation Leak at Nuclear Plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Moscow’s forces were considering launching a “terror attack” at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, a recurring flash point of concern throughout Russia’s invasion. “Intelligence services have received information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant — a terrorist act with the release of…

20 Russian Volunteer Units Sign Military Contracts – Defense Ministry

Updated with Shoigu’s 50,000 volunteer fighters figure. More than 20 Russian volunteer detachments fighting alongside regular soldiers in Ukraine have signed contracts with the military, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday. “The signed contracts define the legal regulation and activities of the volunteer corps formations in the zone of the ‘special military operation’,” the military said,…

Soviet Hydrogen Bomb Creator Dies By Suicide

A Russian physicist and co-creator of the Soviet Union’s first two-stage hydrogen bomb committed suicide in his central Moscow apartment at the age of 92, Russian media reported late Wednesday, citing investigators.  Grigory Klinishov’s body was found by his 67-year-old daughter on Saturday alongside a death note, according to the Kommersant business daily.  He was…

Russia Accuses Kyiv of Striking Bridge Linking Crimea to Mainland Ukraine

Russian-installed authorities in occupied Ukraine accused Kyiv of striking a bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to mainland Ukraine early Thursday. “The criminal Kyiv regime barbarically shelled civilian bridges on the administrative border between the Kherson region and Crimea near Chonhar,” Kherson’s Kremlin-installed leader Vladimir Saldo said, without specifying the number of bridges targeted in the…

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank Suspends Euro Transfers in Russia and Neighboring Countries

Austrian banking group Raiffeisen, one of the last Western lenders remaining in Russia, announced Wednesday that it will suspend transfers of euros to banks in Russia and several other countries popular among Russian travelers. Starting July 3, Raiffeisen’s Russian subsidiary will block euro-denominated bank transfers to several former Soviet republics, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia,…

Russia Bans WWF Environmental Group

Russian authorities on Wednesday labeled the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) environmental advocacy NGO an “undesirable” organization, a designation that renders all of its activities illegal in Russia. The Prosecutor General’s Office accused the Switzerland-based WWF of “threatening” Russia’s economy and “interfering” with Russia’s internal affairs as well as “financing” the activities of Russian organizations designated as “foreign…

Russia Moves to Allow Convicts Join Army

Russian lawmakers have approved legislation allowing convicts to clear their criminal records in exchange for joining the country’s depleted military nearly 16 months into Russia’s war on Ukraine. The move formalizes the recruitment of prisoners for the war in Ukraine, a practice spearheaded by the Wagner mercenary group last year before the Defense Ministry took over prison…

Russia Moves to Allow Convicts to Join Army

Russian lawmakers have approved legislation allowing convicts to clear their criminal records in exchange for joining the country’s depleted military nearly 16 months into Russia’s war on Ukraine. The move formalizes the recruitment of prisoners for the war in Ukraine, a practice spearheaded by the Wagner mercenary group last year before the Defense Ministry took over prison…

4 Killed in Blast at Russian Explosives Plant

Four people have been killed in a blast at an explosives factory in Russia’s central Tambov region, state-run media reported Tuesday, citing local authorities. “At the moment, there is information about four people killed, and two others were injured,” emergency services told the TASS news agency.  Tambov Governor Maxim Yegorov said the explosion was caused…

5 Killed in Blast at Russian Explosives Plant

Updated with revised death toll. Five people have been killed in a blast at an explosives factory in Russia’s central Tambov region, state-run media reported Tuesday, citing local authorities. “At the moment, there is information about four people killed, and two others were injured,” emergency services told the TASS news agency.  Officials later said one…

Moscow Warns Kyiv Against Targeting Crimea with Western Arms

Moscow claimed Tuesday that Ukrainian forces were planning to use Western-supplied missiles to strike targets inside Russia and the annexed peninsula of Crimea, threatening “immediate retaliation.” “The leadership of Ukraine’s armed forces plans to strike Russian territory, including Crimea, with HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during a meeting with military officials. Shoigu…

Russian Movie Portal Charged With ‘LGBT Propaganda’ – Reports

Russian authorities have charged a popular movie portal owned by the country’s largest tech company Yandex with distributing so-called “LGBT propaganda” to minors, independent media reported Tuesday. Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court registered an administrative case against Kinopoisk, a film database and streaming service with more than 150 million monthly visitors, according to the news website Mediazona. The plaintiff…

Russia Labels Rights Group Agora ‘Undesirable’

Russian authorities have labeled the prominent legal and human rights group Agora an “undesirable organization,” state media reported Monday amid an ongoing clampdown on independent activists and rights defenders since the invasion of Ukraine last year. Agora is an association of lawyers that has provided legal advocacy to journalists, opposition activists and other victims of suspected…

Russia Fines Tech Giant Yandex 2M Rubles

A Moscow court fined Russia’s largest tech company Yandex 2 million rubles ($24,000) for failing to turn over user data to domestic intelligence services, state media reported Monday. Yandex was found guilty of repeatedly refusing to provide the Federal Security Service (FSB) data on its users, which law enforcement officials said they needed in order…

Russia Targeted Infamous Double Agent in U.S. Assassination Attempt – NYT

Russia attempted to assassinate a former intelligence officer in the United States in a “brazen” failed bid that led in part to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions, The New York Times reported Monday, citing three anonymous former senior U.S. officials. Alexander Poteyev was a former colonel in Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) who shared state secrets that helped…

7 Wounded in Strikes on Russian Border Regions – Governors

Russian regions bordering Ukraine came under fire early Monday morning, resulting in injuries to seven people, including a child, local authorities said. Strikes in Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region damaged multiple residential buildings in the Valuisk district, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. “The Valuisk municipal district is under attack from Ukrainian forces. According to…

Why a Soviet-American Thinker Moderated Putin’s SPIEF Panel

This year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), called the “Russian Davos,” culminated Friday in a plenary session with President Vladimir Putin and Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Moderating the discussion was Dmitri Simes, a conservative U.S. political scientist and historian of Soviet origin, in another reflection of how far Russia’s standing has fallen on the…

On Father’s Day, Zelensky Praises ‘Brave’ Soldiers Fighting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, Father’s Day, thanked all “strong and brave” soldiers fighting Russia’s invasion, and hoped all dads would eventually return from the front. “Thank you to every Ukrainian father, to every Ukrainian family for our strong and brave soldiers who defended Ukraine’s independence, and fight for the life of Ukraine!” Zelensky said…