Elites Allegedly Insulting Putin in Phone Call Cause Sensation in Russia

An audio recording of a telephone conversation allegedly taking place between Russian music producer Iosif Prigozhin and billionaire former senator Farhad Akhmedov continued to send shockwaves through Russia’s elites on Monday, as one media outlet publicly backed its authenticity. The unusually frank discussion between two well-connected and wealthy members of the Russian elite, supposedly a…

Kremlin Exempts Duma Deputies Visiting War Zone From Filing Tax Returns

Members of Russia’s lower house of parliament sent to visit Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine on official business are to be exempted from filing tax returns this year, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported Monday, citing two lawmakers. The news follows President Vladimir Putin’s decision last year to waive a transparency measure requiring government officials to publicly disclose…

Former Presidential Guard Jailed for 6 Years for Deserting Russian Army

A court in Siberia has sentenced a Russian citizen to six-and-a-half years in jail on charges of desertion for fleeing to neighboring Kazakhstan to avoid Russia’s mobilization drive last fall, media reported Friday. Former presidential guard officer Mikhail Zhilin, 36, sought asylum in Kazakhstan after entering the former Soviet republic illegally from Russia last fall. As a…

Russia Names Lawyer Chikov, Journalist Varlamov ‘Foreign Agents’

Russian authorities on Thursday added prominent human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov and journalist Ilya Varlamov to the country’s controversial “foreign agents” registry. Chikov and Varlamov were designated foreign agents for allegedly spreading “inaccurate information about the decisions made by public authorities,” the Justice Ministry said. Chikov, whose Telegram channel has more than 500,000 subscribers, was…

World Athletics Doping Ban on Russia Lifted, But Russians Still Suspended

World Athletics on Thursday lifted the ban on the Russian track and field federation for state-sponsored doping although its athletes remain barred from competition while Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine continues. The Russian federation was banned in 2015 after a damning World Anti-Doping Agency report identified “a deeply-rooted culture of doping.” For the athletics superpower to return to…

Russian Politician Katz Arrested in Absentia for Spreading ‘Fake’ News About Ukraine

Russian politician Maxim Katz has been arrested in absentia on charges of spreading “fake news” about the Russian Armed Forces, the independent Mediazona news website reported Thursday. Katz, 38, is well-known for his YouTube channel, where he discusses and criticizes Russia’s military actions in Ukraine to his more than 1.7 million subscribers. In October, Russia’s…

FSB Bans Climate Activist’s Family From Russia for Half a Century

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has banned the family of prominent Russian-Armenian climate activist and anti-war campaigner Arshak Makichyan from entering Russia for the next 50 years, he announced on social media Wednesday.    “It is a lifetime ban, even for my younger brother,” the activist tweeted. Arshak Makichyan, whose family fled the war in Nagorno-Karabakh…

Moscow: Resumption of New START Treaty Unlikely Due to ‘Hostile’ U.S.

The Kremlin sees no point in resuming talks with the United States on the New START nuclear arms control treaty, a senior diplomat said Wednesday. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called Moscow’s recent suspension of New START, the last remaining arms control agreement between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers, “almost inevitable” given the “cumulative circumstances…

Maria Pevchikh to Replace Leonid Volkov as Head of Navalny Foundation Board

Maria Pevchikh, an investigator for Alexei Navalny, has been named the new chair of the board of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the jailed Kremlin critic announced Wednesday. Navalny’s announcement follows the scandal-ridden resignation of his right-hand man Leonid Volkov from the FBK board chairmanship earlier this month.  “Her public work over the past two years has…

Russia to Modernize Moscow’s Air Defense Systems

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced plans to modernize anti-missile defense systems in Moscow on Wednesday following a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory. Several air defense systems have appeared on rooftops around Moscow this year amid fears that Ukraine, supplied with advanced weaponry from its Western allies, could be capable of targeting Russia’s capital. …

Report: Russian Soldiers in Ukraine Face Increasing Payment Delays

Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine and their families have increasingly been complaining of delayed salary payments, independent news outlet Verstka reported on Wednesday.  Residents of 52 Russian regions as well as the annexed Crimean peninsula have said their family members currently fighting in Ukraine have been receiving delayed or partial salary payments, while some haven’t been…

Russia to Introduce Benefits for Children Wounded in Ukraine

Russia will introduce special social security benefits for children wounded in the war in Ukraine, the state-run TASS news agency reported Wednesday, citing presidential children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. “The president supported this [decision] and now it is being worked out by the corresponding government departments,” the agency quoted Lvova-Belova as saying. “I hope there…

3 Anthrax Cases Confirmed in Central Russia

Authorities in the agricultural heartland of central Russia are bracing for the spread of anthrax after a rash of three cases were registered there in recent days, according to state media. Two people were hospitalized with anthrax symptoms in the republic of Chuvashia 600 kilometers east of Moscow last Wednesday. Authorities quarantined the village of Staroye…

Poland Voices Concern About ‘Dangerous’ Russia-China Alliance

Poland’s prime minister on Wednesday branded the China-Russian alliance “dangerous” after Chinese leader Xi Jinping wrapped up a three-day visit to Moscow. “The Chinese president’s visit to Moscow makes us anxious, this China-Moscow axis is dangerous,” Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters after hosting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Warsaw. Xi left Russia on Wednesday following…

Russia Opens Criminal Case Against Memorial Co-Chair Following Raids

Recast to add Orlov’s criminal charges. Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against the co-chair of Russia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning civil rights group Memorial on Tuesday following sweeping raids against the group’s members. Oleg Orlov has been charged with repeatedly violating Russia’s law against “discrediting” the army, Memorial said on its Telegram channel. The law, passed…

Russian Uranium Delivery to France ‘Scandalous’ – Greenpeace

Russia delivered enriched uranium to France on Monday in a move the NGO Greenpeace described as “scandalous” following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. A cargo ship unloaded cylinders of uranium from Russia at the French port of Dunkirk on Monday morning, according to an AFP journalist. Greenpeace said the delivery confirmed France’s dependence on the Russian nuclear industry, which…