Ukrainian Civilians Tortured in Russian Jails – Meduza

Ukrainian civilians forcibly deported to Russian jails are regularly beaten and threatened with death, Russia’s independent news website Meduza reported Friday, citing former inmates. Prison guards routinely subject Ukrainian detainees to beatings, air gun shootings, electric shocks and threats of execution, Meduza cited several detainees as saying.  “We were turned into hunted animals,” said Alexander Tarasov,…

Ex-Putin Son-in-Law’s Land Seized as Part of Dutch Criminal Probe – Guardian

Authorities in the Netherlands have seized land belonging to the Dutch former son-in-law of Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of a criminal investigation, The Guardian reported Thursday. The confiscated land southeast of Amsterdam was owned by Jorrit Faassen, who married Putin’s eldest daughter Maria Vorontsova in 2008. The couple reportedly subsequently divorced. Protesters had…

Armenia, Azerbaijan Optimistic on Normalization at Moscow Talks

Arch foes Armenia and Azerbaijan are advancing toward normalizing ties following mutual recognition of territorial integrity, the two countries’ leaders said Thursday as they held talks in Moscow. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the three held joint negotiations late on Thursday. The…

Kazakh President Warns Against Further Integration of Russia-Led Economic Bloc

Kazakhstan’s president on Thursday criticized the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and appeared to caution against political integration between its members. Kazakhstan, an oil-rich state and traditionally been Moscow’s closest ally in Central Asia, has been shaken by the invasion of Ukraine that sparked fears about Russia’s geopolitical ambitions. Speaking at a plenary session of…

Russia Dissolves Oldest Opposition Party

Russia’s Supreme Court has ordered the closure of the country’s oldest liberal opposition party, the independent news website Mediazona reported Thursday. The Party of People’s Freedom (Parnas) is the second iteration of the Republican Party of Russia, which was originally formed in 1990 and advocated for human rights and federalism before it too was dissolved. Parnas’ members have…

Russia Shutters Swedish Consulate, Expels Diplomats

Russia will expel five Swedish diplomats in a tit-for-tat move, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced Thursday as tensions persisted over allegations of Russian spying and Stockholm’s bid to join NATO in response to the invasion of Ukraine. “The Swedish ambassador was informed that Russia reciprocated by declaring five Swedish diplomats ‘personae non grata’,” it said…

6 Drones Downed in Crimea, No Victims – Governor

Six drones were downed or blocked overnight in Russian-annexed Crimea, the region’s Moscow-appointed governor said on Thursday. “During the past night, six drones were shot down or blocked … in different parts of Crimea,” Sergei Aksyonov wrote on Telegram, adding “there were no victims or injured.” The incident comes after Moscow deployed jets and artillery…

Putin’s Antique Map Stunt Stirs Meme Storm

President Vladimir Putin donned his historian cap on Tuesday when Constitutional Court chairman Valery Zorkin brought a 17th-century French map to his office and presented the artifact as evidence that Ukraine did not exist as a state before the Soviet period, a view the Russian leader himself has expressed repeatedly both before and during Moscow’s…

Prigozhin Says 20K Wagner Fighters Killed in Battle for Bakhmut

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group lost 20,000 fighters while fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, half of which were convicts recruited from prisons, the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an interview published late Tuesday. Prigozhin, a Kremlin-linked catering magnate, has relied heavily on convicts from Russian prisons to fuel Wagner’s offensive in eastern Ukraine,…

Georgia Leader Says Russia Sanctions Would ‘Devastate’ Economy

Georgia’s prime minister told an international forum Wednesday that his government cannot afford to impose sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war as they would “devastate” the economy. Facing international criticism, Irakli Garbashvili strongly defended his country’s reluctance to take action against its giant neighbor which occupied about 20% of Georgian territory in a 2008…

Russia Seizes Zelensky’s Crimea Apartment

Russian authorities have confiscated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s $800,000 apartment in annexed Crimea, the peninsula’s Kremlin-installed governor said Wednesday. Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov listed the property, which Zelensky’s wife Olena Zelenska purchased near the resort city of Yalta in 2013, alongside several Ukrainian-owned assets subject to seizure. These include “large wineries, banking structures, Zelensky’s apartment and…

China’s Xi Offers Russia ‘Firm Support’ in ‘Core Interests’

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered Beijing’s support on Moscow’s “core interests” at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Wednesday. China and Russia have in recent years ramped up economic and diplomatic cooperation, growing even closer since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine despite Beijing’s insistence that it is neutral in that conflict. Mishustin’s trip…

How Are Pro-Kremlin Figures Responding to the Belgorod Incursion?

This week’s incursion into Russia’s western Belgorod region sparked mixed reactions from prominent pro-Kremlin voices. The armed incursion, the most serious since the beginning of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine last year, prompted the Kremlin to express “deep concern” and the evacuation of nine villages in the Belgorod region. Ukrainian officials denied involvement as two anti-Kremlin…

‘Dragon’s Teeth,’ Hedgehogs and Minefields: How Russia Is Preparing to Defend Occupied Ukrainian Areas

Russian troops have spent the past six months constructing extensive defensive fortifications aimed at preventing Ukraine from launching its widely anticipated counteroffensive and liberating its occupied territories.  However, analysts warn that the effectiveness of these defenses will largely depend on Russian troops’ ability to repel the Ukrainian armed forces’ assault. Lines of defense Satellite images…

Russian Border Region Says Ukrainian ‘Sabotage’ Unit Carried Out Incursion

The head of Russia’s Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, claimed Monday that a Ukrainian “sabotage group” had infiltrated the region, while anti-Kremlin Russians fighting alongside Ukraine’s forces appeared to take responsibility.  “A VSU [armed forces of Ukraine] sabotage group entered the territory of Grayvoron district,” Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram, referring to a…

Belarus ‘Pardons’ Dissident Blogger Protasevich

Belarusian authorities have pardoned dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, the state-run Belta news agency reported Monday.  “I have signed all the documents about my pardon literally just now. This is, of course, simply wonderful news,” Belta quoted Protasevich as saying.  Protasevich, 27, was arrested in 2021 when Belarusian authorities forced his EU-bound plane to land in Minsk,…

Senior Russian Official Dies After Privately Bemoaning ‘Fascist’ Invasion

Russia’s Deputy Science Minister Pyotr Kucherenko has died months after a prominent journalist recalled him criticizing the invasion of Ukraine in private conversations. Kucherenko, 46, fell seriously ill on board a flight returning from Cuba on Saturday, Russia’s Science and Higher Education Ministry said Sunday.  The flight made an emergency landing in southern Russia but doctors who…

Russia Says Zelensky Made G7 a ‘Propaganda Show’

Russia on Sunday accused G7 leaders of turning their summit in Japan into a “propaganda show” by inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and whipping up “anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria.” “The leaders of the G7 brought to their meeting the ringleader of the Kyiv regime they control and turned the Hiroshima event into a propaganda show,” the…