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…
A court in Belarus sentenced a journalist to three years in prison on Thursday for writing an article critical of the authoritarian country’s powerful KGB secret police, state-run media reported. Moscow-aligned Belarus, ruled by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, has forced most independent media into exile, while critical journalists who remain in the country have…
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…
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group is likely to shift his attention away from the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Yevgeny Prigozhin plans to turn his focus back to Africa, where his fighters are believed to have a presence in Sudan, the Central African…
Russia’s economy will have finished adapting to Western sanctions by 2024, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told the State Duma on Thursday, adding that the country had survived the international attempts to isolate it. After the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine last year, Moscow’s economy was hit with a flurry of sanctions and the exit…
A massive new gas pipeline to China could help reduce Russia’s reliance on European buyers, but analysts say the project reveals a growing imbalance between the longtime strategic allies. Beijing emerged as an economic lifeline for Moscow last year, above all for its energy purchases, after Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cut Russia…
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…
Russia’s AYYA T1 smartphone brand has sold fewer than 1,000 units since it came to market over a year ago, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources close to retailers. Only 905 AYYA T1 devices have been purchased since retail chains began selling them in October 2021, just 18% of the 5,000 AYYA T1…
Russia has significantly raised its volume of gasoline exports in recent months after rerouting supplies to Africa and the Middle East due to Western sanctions, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday, citing trade data. Russian gasoline exports averaged 193,250 barrels per day (bpd) between December 2022 and March 2023 so far, according to estimates by…
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…
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. …
MOSCOW — Underdog, a tiny bar in the central Kitai-Gorod neighborhood, was crowded and noisy on Tuesday night despite a violent police raid days earlier in which visitors had been threatened with electric shock devices and forced to sing pro-Kremlin songs. “I think we need to show our support,” one visitor at this punk, hipster…
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 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…
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’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…
Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first trip to Russia since 2019 this week in a state visit that was designed to project the ever-closer relationship between Moscow and Beijing to the world. While Beijing sought to frame the visit as a peacemaking endeavor, positioning itself as a potential mediator in peace talks with Ukraine,…
Russia’s former election chief Vladimir Churov, who was ultimately removed from his post after overseeing massive electoral fraud that led to some of Russia’s biggest pro-democracy protests, has died at age 70, state media reported Wednesday. Churov suffered a “massive stroke” last week and died in hospital on Wednesday morning after undergoing surgery, the state-run…
The Russian navy “repelled” a drone attack on the port of Sevastopol in Moscow-annexed Crimea early on Wednesday, the Kremlin-backed governor of the city said. The peninsula, seized by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, is home to Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet and has been hit by a series of drone attacks since the Kremlin’s offensive…
Russia ramped up its fish exports to the European Union in 2022 despite tensions over the war in Ukraine, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday, citing trade data. Last year’s supply volumes to the European Union increased by 18.7% to a total of 198,800 metric tons, according to the Russian Fishery Industries Association (VARPE). The…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Moscow would be “forced to react” if Britain gives Ukraine military supplies, including armour piercing ammunition which contains depleted uranium. “The United Kingdom… announced not only the supply of tanks to Ukraine, but also shells with depleted uranium. If this happens, Russia will be forced to react,” Putin…
An Italian court has approved the extradition to the United States of a Russian entrepreneur accused of smuggling U.S. technologies to Russian arms manufacturers, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported Tuesday. Artyom Uss, 40, the son of a Siberian governor, was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa Airport on Oct. 17, 2022. He was one of five…
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s closely watched visit to Moscow this week has been filled with statements trumpeting a new era of relations between the two allies as they increasingly align themselves against the West. But while it dominated headlines, Xi’s reunion with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who he has called a “dear friend,” is unlikely…
Xi Jinping promised to strengthen coordination with Russia at a Kremlin summit with President Vladimir Putin on the Chinese leader’s first visit to Moscow since the beginning of Russia’s assault on Ukraine. Both nations seek allies to counteract Western power and the two are expected to sign a raft of economic cooperation agreements. Putin called…
Russia announced Tuesday that it was extending until the end of June oil production cuts of 500,000 barrels per day, a response to Western sanctions that were due to expire at the end of March. “In accordance with the current market situation, the decision to voluntarily reduce production by 500,000 barrels per day will be…
More than 60 environmental groups in Russia have called on President Vladimir Putin and the Justice Ministry to remove the “foreign agents” label from the Russian chapter of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “We consider the listing of the WWF as a foreign agent to be extremely erroneous, unfair and unreasonable,” the activists said in…
Russian energy giant Gazprom announced it had reached a record level of daily gas volume supplied to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline on Tuesday. The announcement came as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the second day of a state visit with the leaders expected to sign agreements in areas…
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…
A military drone has attacked an oil pumping station for the Druzhba pipeline near the Ukrainian border, the regional governor said Tuesday, blaming Kyiv for the strike. The Druzhba pipeline, one of the largest oil pipelines in the world, runs through Russia’s Bryansk region several dozen kilometers from the border with Ukraine. “The armed forces of Ukraine, using…
Xi Jinping said Tuesday that China would prioritize ties with Russia, calling the two “great neighboring powers” as he prepared for a second day of talks with Vladimir Putin expected to focus on Ukraine. The Chinese president also said he invited the internationally isolated Putin to visit China later this year as both leaders seek…
A local state of emergency has been declared in the town of Dzhankoi in the north of Russian-annexed Crimea following a drone attack late Monday, Interfax quoted the head of the city administration Igor Ivin as saying on Tuesday. Ukraine said the attack had destroyed Russian cruise missiles, though it denied responsibility for the “mysterious”…
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…
Russian state oil giant Rosneft posted a sharp drop in its annual profit on Monday in the wake of Western sanctions against the country. The company announced a net profit of 813 billion rubles ($10.5 billion) for last year, down 7.9% from 2021. Rosneft said “non-monetary factors played a large role in determining the dynamics”…
A Russian university student has been added to the federal wanted list after she fled the country to evade prosecution for criticizing the war in Ukraine, the independent Sota news outlet reported Monday. Olesya Krivtsova, 20, from the northern city of Arkhangelsk, faces more than 10 years in prison on charges of “justifying terrorism” and…
In Russia, the anniversary of the 2014 annexation of Crimea has traditionally been marked with nationwide festivities including concerts, fireworks and speeches by top officials — but not this year. While the Kremlin was reportedly planning to go ahead with the usual lavish celebrations this weekend, they pulled the plug at the last moment. Instead,…
President Vladimir Putin said Monday that deepening ties between Russia and Africa was a key goal for the Kremlin, as Moscow seeks to expand its influence on the continent. He added that Russia would continue supplying the continent with grain if Moscow exits a landmark agreement with Ukraine to allow exports from the country’s Black…
Russia said Monday that it had opened a criminal investigation into International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan after the court based in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin. “The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Ahmad Khan” and several ICC…
Russia has halted its disposal of Soviet-era weapons since invading Ukraine last year, The Moscow Times’ Russian service reported Monday, citing procurement data. The report comes amid widespread reports of the Russian army being plagued with equipment shortages throughout the 13 months of its offensive. Russia had spent 7.7 billion rubles ($100.3 million) on contracts to…
Xi Jinping hailed his landmark visit to Moscow Monday as giving “new momentum” to Chinese-Russian ties ahead of talks with Vladimir Putin on Beijing’s proposals to stop the fighting in Ukraine. The summit between the Russian president and the Chinese leader comes as China seeks to portray itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine…
Prominent pro-Kremlin figures have lashed out at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, on Monday threatened ICC judges with missile strikes. “It’s quite possible to imagine a surgical application…
Kremlin staff involved in President Vladimir Putin’s 2024 re-election campaign have been banned from using their iPhones for fear of espionage, the Kommersant daily reported Monday, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the decision. Officials in the Russian presidential administration’s domestic policy, public projects, State Council and IT departments — known as the Kremlin’s…
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise trip to Mariupol, the Kremlin said Sunday, his first visit to territory captured from Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s invasion. Just hours after Putin visited Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s annexation, video distributed by the Kremlin showed him landing by helicopter in Mariupol,…
Russian strikes killed two people and wounded eight in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Saturday, the mayor said, accusing Moscow of having used cluster bombs in the attack. “Russia continues to spread terror,” Oleksandr Goncharenko said in a Facebook post. “Consequences of Kramatorsk bombardment with cluster bombs: two people were killed and eight…
Pro-Kremlin activists rallied in Moscow Saturday outside embassies of countries considered “unfriendly” by Russia on the ninth anniversary of its annexation of Crimea, a youth movement said. The pro-Kremlin youth movement “Molodaya Gvardia” (“The Young Guard”) said that over 5,000 people demonstrated outside the embassies of 20 “unfriendly” nations including the United States, France, Germany…
Ukraine said Saturday it was struck overnight by a volley of explosive drones, some of which reached the relatively peaceful Lviv region in the war-battered nation’s west. Russia regularly pounds Ukraine with missiles, artillery and drones, often prompting painful power cuts that have blocked people from warming their homes or getting drinking water. “Around 21:00…
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Saturday introducing lengthy prison terms for “discrediting” and spreading “fake” information about any force, including the notorious Wagner Group mercenary unit, fighting for Russia in Ukraine. Nearly all anti-war voices have been silenced after Russia outlawed “discrediting” and spreading “deliberately false” information about the Russian Armed Forces shortly…
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children during Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor. The Hague-based court also issued an arrest warrant for Russian presidential children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on similar charges. Both Putin and Lvova-Belova “bear individual criminal responsibility”…
Belarus on Friday handed long jail terms to senior staff at the country’s largest independent news site, which was forced to shutter after historic demonstrations against strongman Alexander Lukashenko. The verdicts are the latest in a crackdown targeting journalists, opposition figures and activists who challenged Lukashenko’s claim that he won a sixth presidential term in…
Russian aluminum giant Rusal said Friday its net profit plummeted almost 45% in 2022, blaming inflation and geopolitical tensions for higher production costs. Rusal’s net profit of $1.8 billion marks a huge drop of 44.4% on the previous year, figures released by the group show. “Rusal faced unprecedented pressure and restrictions in 2022” and had…
A part of the Valdai National Park in northwestern Russia has been closed to visitors since an investigation revealed that President Vladimir Putin and his alleged mistress own property in the area, the independent Meduza news website reported Friday. Authorities announced that the specially protected zone of the national park had been expanded due to the “worsening…
Russia has awarded the pilots of two fighter jets involved in this week’s confrontation with a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry said Friday. The United States accused Russia of an “unsafe” and “unprofessional” intercept of its MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone that forced it to be brought down over the Black Sea…
Chinese companies had sent assault rifles, body armor and drone parts to Russia last year in what appears to be the first documented proof of Beijing supplying Russian companies with dual-use goods, Politico Europe has reported, citing customs data. The shipments took place between June-December 2022, the outlet said Thursday, citing the customs data aggregator…
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to Russia for a three-day visit early next week in an apparent show of support for Moscow as it wages war in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced Friday. “On March 20-22, 2023, the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping will pay a visit to Russia for a…
Russia’s forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children to areas under its control amounts to a war crime, UN investigators said Thursday, adding that they are probing allegations of genocide in the Ukraine conflict. Presenting their first report, the high-level team of investigators said they had determined that Russian authorities had committed “a wide range…
A court in the city of Novokuybyshevsk in Russia’s Samara region has found regional deputy Mikhail Abdalkin guilty of “discrediting the Russian armed forces” for posting a video of himself watching Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address with noodles hanging from his ears, TASS reported Thursday. The noodles in the video, which was posted across Abdalkin’s social media…
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who faces up to 25 years in jail on charges including treason, was too unwell to attend his hearing on Thursday, his lawyer said. His high-profile trial is the latest in a string of cases against opposition voices in Russia in a crackdown that has intensified since President Vladimir Putin…
Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday granted a motion made by Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov to recognize the Freedom of Russia Legion as a terrorist organization, RIA Novosti reported. Part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Freedom of Russia Legion was founded just over a year ago with the stated aim of freeing the occupied regions…
A school in central Russia has been filmed instructing its pupils to perform a raised right arm and clenched fist gesture that some have likened to a Nazi salute, independent student news outlet DOXA reported. Video footage published with the report shows a group of children seated in an auditorium being instructed by a woman…
Russian e-commerce platform Wildberries on Thursday announced a three-day suspension of controversial new rules that make employees financially liable for goods returned by customers after its staff launched a nationwide strike, the state-run TASS news agency reported. New rules introduced by Wildberries this month made employees liable for the costs of any defective items that were returned…
Russia’s Orthodox leader and staunch Kremlin ally Patriarch Kirill denounced Thursday the looming eviction of monks from a monastery in Kyiv over its links to Russia. Ukraine last week announced the termination of the lease that allowed the church to occupy part of the 11th-century Pechersk monastery free of charge, but the monks said they…