Russia’s deputy foreign minister on Wednesday acknowledged that detained U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich had not been granted consular access, two weeks after his arrest. The Wall Street Journal journalist was arrested in Russia on claims of espionage, which he denies. “The question (of consular access) is under review,” Sergei Ryabkov was cited as saying by…
The leak of a trove of highly sensitive documents online could be a move by the United States to “deceive” Russia, its deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying Wednesday. “It’s probably interesting for someone to look at these documents, if they really are documents or they could be a fake or it could be…
This story contains graphic content that may be disturbing to some readers. A disturbing video that circulated online this week shows the apparent beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian troops. In the clip, a uniformed man with a yellow armband — an identifying mark of the Ukrainian military — can be seen…
Russia has conducted what it said was the successful test launch of an “advanced” intercontinental ballistic missile, weeks after it suspended participation in its last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that a “combat crew successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] of a…
Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been returned to solitary confinement for the 13th time since he began serving his nine-year prison sentence last year, his team said on Twitter on Tuesday. Tweeting on Navalny’s behalf, the Kremlin critic’s press secretary said that he had been sent back to solitary confinement as punishment for…
Moscow began exporting fuel products to Iran by rail for the first time earlier this year after its main purchasers stopped importing Russian fuel in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing three industry sources and export data. Now both subject to strict Western sanctions, Russia and Iran have increasingly…
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday called Russia’s imprisonment of American journalist Evan Gershkovich on spying charges “out of bounds.” Biden, who made the comments as he departed Washington for a trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, also told reporters that The Wall Street Journal correspondent’s jailing was “totally illegal.” The U.S.…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its 2023 economic growth forecast for Russia on Tuesday, predicting that deficit-fueled government spending would help counteract the growing costs of its war in Ukraine. But the Russian invasion is expected to have a significant impact over the medium term, with the IMF predicting the Russian economy would be…
Russian authorities have opened three criminal investigations into the work of Roman Ivanov, a journalist from the Moscow region working for the RusNews website, RusNews reported Tuesday, citing a criminal investigator. The criminal investigations are believed to be linked to posts written by Ivanov on his Telegram channel, which has some 1,600 subscribers. Police started searching…
Ukrainian forces have for months been holding at bay a grueling Russian offensive in battered towns and heavily shelled trenches spanning the eastern front line. But now, with the Kremlin’s forces running out of steam after making only incremental gains over the winter onslaught, Ukraine is preparing to hit back. “If our senior military staff…
The head of Russia’s FSB security service on Tuesday accused Ukraine and the West of recruiting young Russians to stage armed attacks in their home country. The accusation by security chief Alexander Bortnikov comes a week after President Vladimir Putin accused the West of having helped Kyiv stage “terror attacks” in Russia while Moscow pursues…
Russian authorities on Tuesday banned the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum (CSF), an organization created to foster cooperation between Russian and European NGOs, as an “undesirable” organization. The Prosecutor General’s Office said the Berlin-based organization’s activities, which include conferences it organizes and information it publishes, have a common aim of “discrediting the leadership of the Russian Federation.”…
Russian lawmakers voted Tuesday in favor of changes to the country’s military conscription rules that would make it easier to summon recruits and stop them from fleeing the country. The new bill comes amid ongoing speculation that authorities could announce a second mobilization drive aimed at boosting Russia’s flagging campaign in Ukraine. Russia’s “partial” mobilization…
Russian lawmakers voted Tuesday in favor of changes to the country’s military conscription rules that would make it easier to summon recruits and stop them from fleeing the country. The new bill comes amid ongoing speculation that authorities could announce a second mobilization drive aimed at boosting Russia’s flagging campaign in Ukraine. Russia’s “partial” mobilization…
A powerful volcanic eruption in Russia’s Kamchatka region has spewed massive plums of ash across a large swathe of the region, blanketing a nearby village and disrupting air traffic, media reported Tuesday. Monitors in the far-flung peninsula issued an aviation “code red” after the Shiveluch volcano in Kamchatka’s eastern range released an ash cloud that drifted…
The number of young workers in Russia has dropped to one of its lowest levels in the country’s post-Soviet history, the RBC news website reported Tuesday, citing research based on official statistics by the Finexpertiza consulting firm. Working citizens under the age of 35 in the Russian labor market totaled 21.5 million in December, accounting…
The leaked classified U.S. documents that rocked Washington and its allies this week have provided a rare glimpse into the Defense Department’s intelligence on Russia’s offensive on Ukraine. The leak raises concerns that Russia could change its methods of communication to conceal its planning and try to ferret out human confidential sources that formed the…
The United States on Monday officially determined that Russia had wrongfully detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and urged his immediate release, stepping up pressure on his behalf. The formal decision by the State Department on Gershkovich, who was taken into custody on March 29, was unusually swift and indicated the seriousness attached by…
Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza said on Monday he stood by all of his political statements, including against the Ukraine offensive, that led him to face 25 years in jail. “I subscribe to every word that I have said, that I am incriminated for today,” Kara-Murza said, citing his fight against the Ukraine offensive and…
The Russian authorities have launched a campaign to warn the Russian public about what it says are the dangers of using virtual private networks (VPNs), the software that allows internet users to access blocked websites. Despite one of the main reasons for using a VPN being the enhanced security it offers users, a statement issued…
Among her feminist-minded and politically active social media followers, petite blonde Daria Trepova was known as Dasha Tykovka (“Dasha Little Pumpkin”). Few of them expected that Trepova — who appears to have mostly used her Twitter account to discuss relationship problems and other personal issues — would become the main suspect in one of the…
Armenian authorities have released a Russian citizen who was detained two days ago at Moscow’s request for alleged desertion, the Armenia Today news website reported Monday. Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office at no point considered extraditing the detained man to Moscow, the newspaper was told. The news of the 23-year-old Russian citizen’s April 7 detention in Yerevan was…
An investigation has been launched into the beating of a mobilized Russian soldier from the North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia, the head of the region said Monday. A video of the incident was posted online Sunday by Vera Adayeva, the director of a charity in North Ossetia that sends aid to Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. …
Russia has lowered its ambitious technological advancement goals after losing access to sophisticated imports due to its invasion of Ukraine, the Kommersant business daily reported Monday. The Russian government late last year revised its list of 18 technological areas that will receive state backing into 2030, Kommersant reported. While the Russian government previously associated its…
At least two Russian regions bordering Ukraine will not hold their traditional military parades marking the Soviet victory in World War II next month, regional leaders have said amid heightened concerns over spillover from the war. Cities across Russia celebrate the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany on May 9 each year, with the parades featuring…
A Russian court has sentenced a former security service officer and a former emergencies officer to 19 years in prison each for setting fire to a city administration building last fall, Russian media reported Monday. Roman Nasryev, a former driver for the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia), and Alexei Nuriev, an officer in the Emergency Situations Ministry,…
A Moscow-backed official announced Monday that he had visited the frontline city of Bakhmut in Ukraine, suggesting that Russia’s forces have made significant gains there. The battle for Bakhmut is the longest and bloodiest of Russia’s offensive, and the city has taken on huge symbolic importance even though analysts say it has little strategic value. Denis Pushilin,…
Russia has stepped up the defense of its northwestern borders following its neighbor Finland’s entry into NATO, the commander of the Russian military air defense and missile defense forces said in an interview published Monday. “Under these conditions, air defense troops are practicing the protection of the state border in the northwest in accordance with…
A 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian missiles struck a house in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said on Sunday. It was the latest Russian strike on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine as Moscow’s invasion stretches into its second year. “The enemy carried out a missile attack on Zaporizhzhia and…
Russia announced its winter offensive in Ukraine with great fanfare, but the ill-fated campaign has been another disappointment for Moscow. As spring arrives, the two armies are deadlocked with troops stretching from the shores of the Black Sea to northeast Ukraine — and the Kremlin has once again been forced to take the long view…
Hundreds of supporters including Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin turned out on Saturday for the funeral of Vladlen Tatarsky, the high-profile Russian military blogger who was killed in a bombing attack last weekend. On Sunday an explosion ripped through a cafe on St. Petersburg’s Neva river embankment, killing the controversial 40-year-old who was known for…
Russian authorities have formally brought espionage charges against arrested U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich, Interfax reported Friday, citing sources familiar with his case. Gershkovich, a journalist with The Wall Street Journal, categorically denied the espionage accusations, the state-run TASS news agency reported. Gershkovich was detained while reporting in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg last week…
Starting in September, Russian high school students in grades 10 and 11 will undergo basic military training as part of changes made to the Russian school curriculum last year following the invasion of Ukraine. During these training sessions, students will learn to shoot Kalashnikov assault rifles, use hand grenades and administer first aid. Independent teachers’…
A British firm registered in London appears to have arranged the sale of about $1.2 billion worth of electronic goods into Russia since the launch of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times reported Friday. Russian records list the company, Mykines Corporation LLP, as having sent technical equipment including servers, laptops and computer parts…
A Minsk court on Friday sentenced exiled Belarusian opposition politician Valeriy Tsepkalo to 17 years in a high-security prison in absentia, the state-run news agency Belta reported. Tsepkalo, a former head of Belarus’ equivalent of Silicon Valley, the High Technology Park, intended to run in Belarus’ 2020 presidential election but was barred from registering as…
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, freed from a U.S. jail last year, on Friday urged U.S. ex-president Donald Trump to seek refuge in Russia as his life was “in peril.” Bout, also known as the “Merchant of Death,” was swapped for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in a high-profile prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington…
Russian security agents have stepped up the humiliation and intimidation of anti-war activists to suppress dissent among the wider public, the BBC’s Russian service reported. Russian anthropologists refer to the tactics, which involve on-camera apologies or acts of performative patriotism to atone for opposing the war in Ukraine, as “guilt-shame rituals.” These rituals “serve two functions:…
After months of relative stability, the Russian ruble continued to weaken rapidly against major currencies on Friday, a trend that analysts say has been spurred by increased imports and a surge in foreign capital outflows. This week the Russian currency slumped to its lowest level since last April. On Friday it was trading above 83…
MOSCOW – Longtime Russian human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov told The Moscow Times that he has no plans to leave the country despite facing years in prison for criticizing the war in Ukraine. The co-chair of Russia’s oldest human rights group, Memorial — which was one of last year’s shared Nobel Peace Prize recipients —…
Moscow wants any Ukraine peace talks to focus on creating a “new world order,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on a visit to Turkey on Friday. The top Russian diplomat was in Turkey — which has retained ties with both Moscow and Kyiv — to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. He…
Russia has become the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency mining country this year, the Kommersant business daily reported Friday, citing Bitriver, Russia’s largest bitcoin mining provider. While the United States remains by far the world’s largest crypto miner, boasting 3-4 gigawatts of mining capacity, Russia’s generating capacity reached 1 gigawatt in January-March 2023. In taking second place for the first…
Three out of four Russian manufacturers have been negatively impacted by Western sanctions over the past year, according to a survey of nearly 2,000 Russian companies cited by the Vedomosti business daily on Thursday. Seventy-seven percent of the manufacturing companies affected by sanctions said the impact was negative, according to the poll by the Moscow-based…
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday it was “pointless” to try to pressure Moscow over its case against U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, who is being held in Russia on suspicion of espionage. “Hype around this case, which is being fanned in the United States, with the aim of pressuring Russian authorities and the court… is pointless…
The head of Russian mercenary outfit Wagner said his forces continue to suffer losses, as a video published Thursday showed him visiting a cemetery where the group’s fighters are buried. Wagner forces have been spearheading offensives in eastern Ukraine, including on the city of Bakhmut, which has become the longest and bloodiest battle of Russia’s…
Russian prosecutors have requested a prison sentence of 25 years for opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Marza, one of his lawyers said Thursday. “Unexpectedly for Vladimir and I, the court heard the arguments today. The process is moving quite fast and the prosecutor has asked for 25 years in prison,” lawyer Mariya Eysmont told journalists in a…
Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill on Thursday established a new senior ecclesiastical position to oversee the Church’s activities in Ukrainian territories where Russia is waging war on Kyiv. Archpriest Dimitry Vasilenkov, who is a clergy member of the St. Petersburg diocese, has been named head military priest, the Church’s press service said in a statement, citing Patriarch…
A Russian court has arrested a Chinese blogger for seven days and ruled to have him deported from the country one day after he was detained on charges of distributing “LGBT propaganda,” the independent rights monitor OVD-Info reported Thursday. Haoyang Xu and his partner Gela Gogishvili, who is a Russian citizen, were accused by a Kazan court of…
Maria Moskaleva, the daughter of the single father who was detained after fleeing house arrest on the eve of his sentencing in a criminal case for “discrediting” the Russian military, has been handed over to her estranged mother, Russian media reported Thursday. In early March, Russian authorities separated 13-year-old Maria Moskaleva from her father Alexei…
Russia’s powerful Federal Security Service (FSB) has begun summoning men who have recently returned to the country after long absences during last year’s nationwide mobilization campaign, Russian investigative news website iStores reported on Thursday. Several residents of Siberia’s Omsk region told iStories they had received phone calls asking them to attend the local FSB office. One…
Russian security forces foiled an attempt of a group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” to enter Russia, the governor of the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine said Thursday. The announcement came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that saboteurs were acting inside Russia. “Today, the border department of the FSB (security service) of the Bryansk region thwarted…
Russia said Thursday its security forces had foiled an attempt by a group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” to enter Russia via the southern Bryansk region that borders Ukraine. The announcement came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned saboteurs were acting inside Russia. “Today, the border department of the FSB (security service) of the Bryansk…
The Kremlin on Thursday said it saw no “prospect” for China to mediate the Ukraine conflict and that it had “no other way” than to press on with its offensive. The comments came as French President Emmanuel Macron was in Beijing to try to dissuade China from supporting Moscow’s campaign. “Undoubtedly, China has a very…
Two Russian conscripts who made headlines last year for refusing to fight in Ukraine during a lineup have been sentenced to three years in prison, Russia’s Kommersant daily reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the case. Drafted as part of President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization drive last fall, Yury Degtyarev and Alexei Selivanov were among…
Three police officers were killed and eight injured in a shootout with armed gang members in Ingushetia on Thursday, the third attack on law enforcement officials in Russia’s North Caucasus over the past week, state media reported. Authorities in the Republic of Ingushetia said that the shootout came as law enforcement was conducting an ongoing…
The resilience of Russia’s economy has over the past year surprised many observers as Moscow adjusts to unprecedented Western sanctions over its assault on Ukraine. But in a rare public admission, President Vladimir Putin late last month warned of possible economic troubles ahead and urged the government to act quickly. “The sanctions imposed against the…
A Ukrainian light aircraft has crashed in Russia’s Bryansk region which borders Ukraine, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported late Wednesday, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB)’s border service. The FSB said the plane “crashed for an unknown reason” near the village of Butovsk located some 30 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Shortly after…
Russian law enforcement authorities on Wednesday said they will probe a stand-up skit by two popular Russian comedians that mocked a recent bombing attack that killed a prominent pro-war blogger. Stand-up comedian Garik Oganesyan was gifted a statuette onstage by fellow comic Sasha Kapadya during a performance in Berlin. It appeared to reference the figurine…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused Western intelligence agencies of “regularly” staging “terrorist attacks” in Russia and in Moscow-occupied Ukrainian territories. “Terrorist attacks targeting government and law enforcement officials, journalists, public figures, teachers of schools and universities are staged regularly,” Putin said at a Security Council meeting dedicated to ensuring law and order in…
A pair of popular Russia-based LGBT bloggers have been arrested in Russia on charges of violating the country’s law outlawing gay “propaganda,” their lawyer said Wednesday. Khaoyan Suy, a Chinese citizen, and Gela Gogishvili, an ethnically Georgian citizen of Russia, document their life as an openly gay, interracial, non-Slavic couple living in Russia on their…
Russia’s additional oil and gas revenues will fall short 113.6 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) below expectations in April, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The difference between expected oil and gas revenues and those received as of March totaled 39 billion rubles ($490 million), it said. To cover the expected shortage, Russia’s Finance Ministry uses a budget…