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…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday told the new U.S. Ambassador in Moscow, Lynne Tracy, that Washington was responsible for the “Ukrainian crisis” while accepting her credentials in a Kremlin ceremony. Ties between Moscow and Washington have disintegrated since Putin sent troops to Ukraine last year. Putin spoke a week after Moscow detained a U.S.…
A Russian activist who has been documenting Russia’s war losses in Ukraine was forced to flee the country after the authorities opened two criminal cases against him, local news outlet Protokol reported Wednesday. “I’ve left Russia. I’m starting life anew,” the VCHK-OGPU Telegram news channel cited Vitaly Votanovsky as saying of his departure from Russia. …
Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was laughing about bombs with his apparent assassin at an event in St. Petersburg minutes before he was killed by a bomb hidden inside a gifted statuette, eyewitnesses told The Moscow Times. Daria Trepova, who gave Tatarsky the golden figurine of himself, told the pro-war blogger in front of the…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a married couple in the country’s tank manufacturing hub on suspicion of sharing details of a defense enterprise with Ukraine, state media reported Tuesday. Video of the detention in the industrial Ural Mountains city of Nizhny Tagil posted by the TASS news agency showed agents in military uniforms forcing a…
The Kremlin on Wednesday said it did not want to comment on the indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump, accused of making payments to cover up embarrassing deals ahead of the 2016 presidential election. “We will not comment on this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said after being asked a question by reporters. “We…
Russia’s second-largest bank, VTB, reported a record annual loss of $7.7 billion on Wednesday after it was battered by Western sanctions last year. VTB was one of the first banks to be excluded from the SWIFT global payments system after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Both the U.S. and Britain placed individual sanctions on…
At least 200 Russian journalists have signed an open letter calling on the Russian government to release American journalist Evan Gershkovich after he was detained and charged with espionage last week. The signatories dismissed allegations that Gershkovich had been collecting state secrets about Russia’s defense industry while reporting a story for his employer, the Wall…
Russia exported a record volume of oil products in March as Moscow successfully developed alternative routes for its deliveries one month after a Western embargo came into force, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday. Supplies of seaborne Russian oil products totaled 3.13 million barrels per day (bpd) in March 2023, according to the commodities analyst…
Three of the world’s largest grain distributors have announced that they will pull out of Russia by July, a move likely to reinforce Moscow’s control over the global wheat market. Government pressure and operational difficulties in the wake of Russia’s war against Ukraine have made staying in the country unfeasible for Cargill, Louis Dreyfus (LDC),…
Russian investigators on Tuesday charged Darya Trepova with terrorism over a bombing attack in St. Petersburg that killed a prominent military blogger and wounded dozens of people. Trepova, a 26-year-old woman, was detained after an explosion ripped through a cafe in Russia’s second city at the weekend, killing Vladlen Tatarsky, a high-profile blogger and supporter…
Central Asian Uzbekistan has canceled a music festival in which Russian artists supporting the Kremlin’s Ukraine invasion were due to perform, officials told AFP Tuesday. The decision came after neighboring Kazakhstan made a similar decision earlier this year. Both countries are close to Moscow but have not voiced support for the invasion of Ukraine, which…
A Russian entrepreneur wanted by authorities in the United States revealed Tuesday that he had returned to Russia after escaping from house arrest in Italy, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. Artyom Uss, 40, the son of the governor of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region, was one of five Russians detained last year at Milan’s Malpensa Airport…
Russian copper magnate Igor Altushkin, whose wealth Forbes estimates at $3.4 billion, is the principal financial backer of the Urals Battalion, a volunteer group fighting with the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, according to multiple sources who spoke with The Moscow Times. “He provides equipment and other things. This is his battalion. I received [this]…
Belarusian troops have begun training on a nuclear-capable Russian missile system following President Vladimir Putin’s recent decision to deploy tactical weapons on Belarusian territory, Moscow and Minsk said on Tuesday. Back in March Putin announced that Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a move that drew sharp criticism from the West, while…
Russia warned Tuesday that it will take military and other steps to respond to its neighbor Finland joining NATO after decades of non-alignment. Finland became the 31st member of the U.S.-led military alliance after a historic strategic shift, and one of the fastest membership processes in NATO’s recent history, triggered by Russia’s invasion of its…
The killing of a leading Russian military blogger by a bomb explosion and its aftermath were caught on camera, footage shows, as details in new reports potentially shed light on the targeted assassination that has enraged pro-war figures. Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed Sunday in an explosion during an event…
An officer responsible for providing encrypted communications to President Vladimir Putin said he has fled Russia over the war in Ukraine and disclosed details about the Russian leader in an interview with the Dossier Center investigative website Tuesday. Gleb Karakulov had served as an engineer in the Federal Guard Service (FSO) presidential communications unit and accompanied…
Russia said Monday it would boost its military presence in the west and northwest of the country in response to Finland joining NATO. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced earlier in the day that Finland will become the 31st member of the military alliance on Tuesday. “We will strengthen our military potential in the western and…
The assassination of leading Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky has ignited calls for revenge and intensified attacks on Ukraine from pro-war figures. Tatarsky, a vocal Ukraine war supporter whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed Sunday in an explosion during an event at a cafe in Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg. Famous for…
The Kremlin expects a higher-than-normal turnout for the 2024 presidential election with President Vladimir Putin winning at least three-fourths of the vote, the RBC news website reported Monday, citing sources. The Kremlin’s benchmarks are for a 70% voter turnout and for Putin to win 75% of the vote, according to the presidential administration’s strategy presented…
Jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s attorneys have appealed his arrest on suspicion of espionage, the Vedomosti business daily reported Monday, citing the press service of Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court. “An appeal has been filed with the court,” the newspaper cited the court’s press service as saying. “The date of the hearing on his…
General Rustam Muradov, a top Russian commander in Ukraine, has been dismissed in the wake of unsuccessful Russian assaults near the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, two Defense Ministry sources told The Moscow Times. Russian attacks on the strategic coal-mining town in January and early February resulted in heavy losses of men and equipment. In…
Russian payment services provider Qiwi posted an all-time record profit in 2022 as Russians found themselves cut off from cross-border transactions and other payment services due to the war in Ukraine, the Vedomosti business daily reported Monday. Qiwi’s net revenue last year totaled 34.137 billion rubles ($436.5 million), up from 23.113 billion rubles ($295.5 million) in 2021.…
The Kremlin said on Monday that a surprise announcement by OPEC+ to cut oil production is “in the interests” of global energy markets. On Saturday the group of oil-producing countries, which includes Russia, Saudia Arabia, and other major suppliers, pledged to cut production by more than one million barrels per day, calling the decision a…
President Vladimir Putin’s technological advancement initiative has established a joint venture fund to invest in drones and microchips amid shortages exposed by the war in Ukraine, the Vedomosti business daily reported Monday. Putin created the National Technology Initiative (NTI) in 2014 to ensure Russia’s long-term technological leadership. According to Vedomosti, NTI’s project support fund has partnered…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree creating a special fund to support soldiers fighting in Ukraine and their families. Russia rarely gives any estimates of its losses in its military operation launched in February 2022, where its military has faced a series of setbacks. The decree in support of the “Defenders of the…
The Kremlin on Monday blamed Ukraine for the bomb blast in St. Petersburg that killed a leading military blogger and injured dozens of others, while Kyiv denied involvement. Military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, died Sunday and 32 others were wounded when an explosion ripped through a cafe in the…
A leading Russian military blogger was killed Sunday in an explosion at a cafe in Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg, the Interior Ministry said. “One person was killed in the incident. He was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky,” the ministry said on messaging app Telegram. “Sixteen people were injured,” it added. The TASS news agency…
Ukraine on Saturday branded Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of April “a slap in the face,” joining a chorus of outrage from Western countries. Moscow assumes the presidency as part of its monthly rotation between the Security Council’s 15 member states, with ties with the West at their lowest point since…
The Russian resort town of Sochi, which hosted the 2014 winter Olympics, has some of the highest luxury housing prices in the world, with only Hong Kong and Monaco boasting pricier real estate, a study by consulting agency NF Group has found. At present, $1 million would allow you to buy just 29 square meters…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday announced a new foreign policy strategy aimed at curtailing Western “dominance” while drawing the country closer to China and India. The new strategy appears to view the deterioration of Moscow’s relations with the West over its invasion of Ukraine as a long-term geopolitical reality. “The Russian Federation intends to…
A court in the republic of North Ossetia-Alania in Russia’s North Caucasus has found a Russian national guilty in absentia of attending an anti-war rally in Georgia and issued him with a fine for “discrediting” the Russian army, independent regional news outlet Caucasian Knot reported. Vladimir Zagalov, who comes from North-Ossetia-Alania but has been living…
The Russian authorities’ decision to arrest Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges came under intense scrutiny Friday, with speculation over why the Kremlin decided to take a step that was not only provocative but has no analogy in post-Soviet Russia. As the dust settled on Gershkovich’s detention on Thursday in the Ural…
The Russian company that made President Vladimir Putin’s limousine has taken over Japanese car maker Toyota’s St. Petersburg plant, the Russian Trade and Industry Ministry announced Friday. The former Toyota production facilities have been transferred to the Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engine Institute (NAMI), a subsidiary of the ministry. NAMI was responsible for…
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed an order allowing Russia’s Defense Ministry to enlist 147,000 men for their compulsory military service in the upcoming spring call-up. The number of draftees to be called up this year marks an increase of 12,500 compared to last year’s recruitment figures. The Defense Ministry will kick off the conscription…