Russia is simplifying its bureaucratic requirements for foreign IT workers to live and work in the country, authorities announced Wednesday, in a reflection of how the country’s tech sector has been hit by the wartime exodus of Russian software engineers. “The employment and residence permit acquisition procedures have been simplified for foreign citizens who are IT…
Russia is simplifying its bureaucratic requirements for foreign IT workers to live and work in the country, authorities announced Wednesday, in a reflection of how the country’s tech sector has been hit by the wartime exodus of Russian software engineers. “The employment and residence permit acquisition procedures have been simplified for foreign citizens who are IT…
Sergei Grigoryants, a leading dissident in the Soviet Union and a Russian human rights activist, has died at the age of 82, his family said Tuesday. “My father passed away today,” Grigoryants’ daughter Anna Grigoryants wrote on Facebook without specifying the cause of his death. “Eternal memory.” Grigoryants, an Armenian-Ukrainian national who was born in Kyiv…
Russia’s oil-export revenue sank by almost half in February compared to last year as Western powers tightened sanctions on the country, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. The country earned $11.6 billion from its oil exports last month after the European Union imposed a ban on Russian petroleum products alongside a price cap agreed…
Moscow warned against “hostile” U.S. flights on Wednesday, as tensions simmered after a Russian fighter jet was accused of colliding with an American drone over the Black Sea. Though Russia has denied its Su-27 plane clipped the propeller of an unmanned Reaper drone, Kyiv said the incident over international waters was a Kremlin attempt to…
A small concrete box marked with the word SHIZO (punishment cell in Russian) in giant red letters sits incongruously next to a 13th-century church just behind the Louvre museum in Paris. The grey box is a mock-up of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s punishment prison cell that his team unveiled in the French capital on Tuesday. The…
The British and German air forces carried out their first joint interception of a Russian aircraft near NATO airspace, the BBC reported Wednesday. The U.K. Royal Air Force and the German Air Force reportedly scrambled two Typhoon fighters to intercept an Il-78 refueling plane near Estonian airspace Tuesday. The Il-78 was said to fail to…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained a woman in the city of Khabarovsk in Russia’s Far East on Monday for allegedly donating 2,500 rubles ($33) to a charity supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The woman, whose name and background have not been made public, is to be charged with treason according to an FSB report…
In an interview to mark 500 days until the start of the Paris Olympics, organizing committee head Tony Estanguet stressed that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would have the “last word” on whether athletes from Russia and Belarus would be allowed to compete next year. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was facilitated by…
Ukrainian police have caught and detained a Russian soldier who spent six months in hiding in the northeastern Kharkiv region following Russian forces’ retreat from the area. The unidentified 42-year-old Russian soldier had been hiding in abandoned buildings in the village of Kupyansk-Uzlovoy, which was recaptured by the Ukrainian army on Sept. 27. The detainee,…
Russian lawmakers introduced a bill raising the upper age limit for military conscription on Monday, drawing criticism that it may be attempting to compensate for troop losses in Ukraine by expanding eligibility for mobilization. At present, Russian law requires men aged 18-27 are required to perform military service. The new bill, which was authored by…
Russian lawmakers have passed legislation introducing criminal punishment for “discrediting” and spreading “fake” information about any force fighting for Russia in Ukraine, not just the Russian Armed Forces. Russia outlawed “discrediting” and spreading “deliberately false” information about the Russian military shortly after the country invaded Ukraine last February. The move has led to the silencing of…
Russian lawmakers have passed legislation introducing criminal punishment for “discrediting” and spreading “fake” information about any force fighting for Russia in Ukraine, not just the Russian Armed Forces. Russia outlawed “discrediting” and spreading “deliberately false” information about the Russian military shortly after the country invaded Ukraine last February. The move has led to the silencing of…
Moscow played host Tuesday to an event that organizers touted as the first international gathering of Russia lovers as the country finds itself isolated over its invasion of Ukraine. The founding congress of the so-called “International Russophile Movement” describes itself as a meeting of “those who sincerely love our country, its history and culture,” the…
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday he had complained to Russian President Vladimir Putin about “problems” linked to Russian peacekeepers in restive Nagorno-Karabakh. Caucasus arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two brutal wars for control of the Armenian-majority region and the latest conflict in 2020 ended with the deployment of Moscow’s forces. “In a…
Americans’ views of Russia have reached their most negative levels in more than three decades as the war in Ukraine shows no signs of ending after just over one year, according to the latest Gallup poll. Russia’s favorability among U.S. respondents stood at 9% in early 2023, down from 15% last year. Ninety percent of…
Russia has agreed to extend the Ukraine grain export deal following talks with the United Nations on Monday — but only for a further 60 days. Moscow said it wanted to see “tangible progress” on a parallel agreement on Russian exports before the deal comes up for renewal again. The grain export deal has helped ease…
Russia has resorted to recruiting inmates from women’s prisons to serve in the Russian military in a bid to make up for its growing losses in Ukraine, according to both Ukrainian officials and an independent Russian prisons watchdog. “Last week, a train with sleeping cars for the transfer of prisoners was spotted moving towards the…
Updated to add the Kremlin’s response. The International Criminal Court (ICC) will open two cases against Russian officials over the invasion of Ukraine, The New York Times reported on Monday. A spokeswoman for the office of ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said it “offers no comment about this story.” In its report, The New York Times…
Russia on Monday began the closed-door trial of jailed opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who faces more than two decades in prison on charges including treason for comments critical of the Kremlin. 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…
Russia’s Federal Customs Service is to resume publication of the country’s official foreign trade data after a year-long hiatus, the agency announced on Monday. Russia’s customs body abruptly suspended the publication of its import and export statistics in March last year as the country found itself enduring wave upon wave of international sanctions in response to Russia’s…
While Moldova does not currently face “imminent military danger” it is subject to “hybrid warfare generated by Russia” in a bid to “overthrow state power,” Moldovan Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii told AFP in an interview Monday. Nosatii sat down for an interview with AFP at his office in the capital Chisinau after the latest in a…
The United Nations and Russia began talks Monday on renewing the Ukraine grain export deal, which has helped ease the global food crisis triggered by Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor. UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffith did not comment to reporters as he arrived for the talks at the Palais des Nations UN headquarters in Geneva,…
The presidents of Iran and Belarus hailed their close ties in talks in Tehran Monday at a time both countries are sharply at odds with Western powers, including over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Ex-Soviet state Belarus serves as a rear base for Russian troops, and Iran is accused of supplying Moscow with armed drones for…
Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to visit President Vladimir Putin in Russia as soon as next week, Reuters reported Monday, citing unnamed sources briefed on the matter. Putin invited Xi to visit Moscow this spring during a video call between the leaders on Dec. 30. If confirmed, Xi’s visit will take place much earlier than previously…
Russia has lost its share of global arms exports over the past five years as the invasion of Ukraine limited supplies and demand from most traditional partners declined in 2022, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank said in a new report Monday. While Russia accounted for 22% of global arms sales in…
The Kremlin maintains direct control over the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as its own territory amid continuing fighting and a lack of established borders, Russia’s Kommersant daily reported Monday, citing unnamed presidential administration sources. Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are not included in any of Russia’s eight federal districts and do…
Moldovan police said Sunday they had arrested members of a network “orchestrated by Moscow” in a bid to destabilize the small ex-Soviet nation as an anti-government protest kicked off. After searches on Saturday night, 25 men were questioned and seven of them detained, police chief Viorel Cernauteanu told media. An agent managed to infiltrate the…
When thousands of Georgians protested this week to demand a bill similar to controversial Kremlin legislation be scrapped, some Russian exiles joined rallies that would have been unthinkable in their homeland. Viktor Lyagushkin, 52, is one of tens of thousands of Russians who fled to Georgia in the aftermath of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last…
The Ukrainian military was preparing Sunday for an upcoming counteroffensive, with a top commander saying his forces’ ongoing defense of Bakhmut in the face of fierce and sustained Russian attacks was necessary to “buy time” for that push. The remarks came as British intelligence said the frontline had shifted in the fight for Bakhmut —…
The chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner said in a clip posted Saturday that his forces were close to the centre of the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut. In a video posted on messaging app Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen standing on the rooftop of a high-rise building in what is said to be Bakhmut. “This is…
Canada on Friday announced a ban on imports of Russian aluminum and steel products, with the aim of denying Moscow revenues to fund its war in Ukraine. The imports were worth almost $180 million in 2021, according to the latest government data. The ban comes as a 200% tariff on Russian aluminum imports announced last…
Russian officials and employees of state-owned companies are increasingly being told to surrender their passports to members of the security services to ensure they cannot flee the country, a joint investigation by independent media outlets Current Time and Radio Liberty has concluded. Requirements vary from job to job, with some state employees told to hand…
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced the opening of Wagner recruitment centers in dozens of cities across Russia on Friday. Wagner has been spearheading offensives against cities in eastern Ukraine including Bakhmut, in what has become the longest and bloodiest battle of Russia’s year-long invasion. Both sides have suffered heavy…
Moscow on Friday accused the West of fomenting days of mass protests in Georgia, likening them to an attempted coup designed to sow tension on Russia’s borders. Hundreds of Georgians rallied outside parliament for a fourth day on Friday, as lawmakers dropped a controversial new “foreign agent” law that triggered violent clashes between police and…
Ukraine’s SBU security service said Friday it has detained two former aerospace officials over the destruction of the world’s largest plane, the Antonov-225 cargo plane, soon after the Russian invasion. With an 88-meter (290 feet) wingspan, the unique Antonov An-225 plane named “Mriya,” which means “dream” in Ukrainian, was destroyed last year during attacks on…
Georgia’s parliament voted Friday to drop controversial new legislation, which it earlier approved in an initial reading, sparking an international outcry and mass protests in the Caucasus country. Tens of thousands took to the streets this week after lawmakers moved to introduce the “foreign agent” law. On Friday, the bill was voted down in its…
The protests in Georgia reflect internal political turmoil over its geopolitical destiny in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, analysts say. The ruling Georgian Dream party has insisted it remains committed to Georgia’s EU and NATO membership. But a “foreign agent” bill reminiscent of Russian legislation used to silence critics has in recent days…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday congratulated Xi Jinping on his appointment to a third term as China’s president, hailing the growing links between the two nations. “Dear friend, please accept sincere congratulations on the occasion of your reelection,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin. “Russia highly values your personal contribution toward…
Updates with Alfa Bank confirmation. Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven are set to offload their stakes in Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank, in a $2.3-billion deal, the Financial Times reported late Thursday. Fridman, the co-founder of Alfa Group, and Aven, who headed Alfa until March 2022, are seeking the removal of Western…
The leader of Moldova’s breakaway region said on Thursday that his government would appeal to the UN Security Council to probe a “terror” attack and ensure the security of Transnistria. Pro-Russian authorities in the region earlier on Thursday accused Kyiv of planning such an attack, fueling fears of a spillover of the Ukraine conflict. “I…
Russia and the United Nations will hold talks in Geneva on Monday on renewing the Ukraine grain export deal, with the UN saying the fate of millions rested on its extension. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year saw Ukraine’s Black Sea ports blocked by warships until a deal signed in July allowed…
Russia’s Sberbank on Thursday announced its net profit dropped nearly 80% in 2022, a year marked by unprecedented Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The group published a net profit of 270.5 billion rubles ($3.56 billion) last year, a 78.3% decrease compared to 2021. “2022 has been an extremely difficult year for…
The head of Russia’s notorious Wagner mercenary group Yevgeniy Prigozhin said on Thursday that he’d been cut off from all government communication channels following his recent public plea to the Ministry of Defense to supply his fighters in Ukraine with urgently needed ammunition. “In order to stop me from asking for ammunition, they turned off all…
Russia hit Ukraine with a barrage of missiles on Thursday, killing nine people and triggering a wave of power cuts, including at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. The UN nuclear agency’s chief warned next time “luck will run out” in reference to the danger of repeated electricity outages at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia facility. Russia said the…
Turkish customs officials have suddenly stopped permitting the transit of sanctioned goods bound for Russia through Turkish territory, Russia’s Kommersant FM radio station reported on Thursday citing Russian logistics operators. Turkey has been a key hub for Russia’s sanction-busting efforts ever since President Vladimir Putin signed the country’s “parallel import” scheme into law in June. The…
Russian authorities have seized the assets of Pyotr Kanayev, the chief editor of the leading business daily RBC, over a delayed payment of a fine for violation of Russia’s foreign agent law, the publication confirmed Thursday. Kanayev had been fined 5,000 rubles ($66) for failing to add a “foreign agent” label next to a mention…
Alexei Navalny’s top aide Leonid Volkov resigned from the board of the jailed Kremlin critic’s Anti-Corruption Foundation on Thursday, as the political fallout over a letter in defense of oligarch Mikhail Fridman continued to rock Russia’s fragmented political opposition. The letter, which was signed by a group of Russian opposition politicians and activists and addressed to…
Pro-Moscow authorities in Moldova’s separatist region of Transnistria, which borders Ukraine, said Thursday they had prevented an attack organized by Kyiv that targeted separatist officials. Transnistria is a narrow Kremlin-backed region in eastern Moldova that separated from the ex-Soviet republic after fighting in 1992. Russia has maintained a contingent of troops there since. Moldovan President…
The largest Russian strikes on Ukraine in weeks killed at least six people and caused power outages across the war-battered nation on Thursday. Kyiv’s military downed nearly half of the missiles launched by Russia over at least 10 regions, as the fight raged on for control of the symbolic prize Bakhmut in Ukraine’s east. The…
Georgian lawmakers have dropped a controversial “foreign agents” bill, which critics said resembled Russian legislation used to silence critics, following days of mass protests that saw clashes between police and protesters. “We, as an authority responsible to every member of society, have decided to unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported without any reservations,” the ruling Georgian…
Iran has supplied large quantities of bullets, rockets and mortar shells to Russia for use in Ukraine, Sky News reported Wednesday, citing a security source. The deliveries were reportedly made by two Russian-flagged cargo ships that traveled from Iran to the Russian port of Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea earlier this year. Tehran has emerged…
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday praised Russian women participating in Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine at a Kremlin event marking International Women’s Day. “Now that Russia is facing direct threats to its security and sovereignty, we see many examples of bravery and determination,” Putin said during the ceremony. “In this hall there are women who…
The Russian security services have detained a 19-year-old political activist on suspicion of involvement in the sabotage of railway lines, Oleg Filatchev, the head of a group called the Russian Citizen Alliance, told The Moscow Times on Wednesday. Nikita Klunya, who is also a member of Russian Citizen Alliance, was reportedly detained in the Russian…
The Ukrainian government was not involved in the sabotage last year of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, the country’s defense minister said Wednesday. “This is not our activity,” Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told reporters in Stockholm ahead of a meeting with European Union defense ministers, in response to a report in…
Russia marked International Women’s Day on Wednesday amid the ongoing war in Ukraine that has caused significant suffering for women — and seen the Kremlin double-down on its promotion of “traditional” values. “It’s beneficial for the authorities to promote rhetoric about male defenders and women as guardians of the hearth and fragile, vulnerable creatures,” the…
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said Wednesday that his forces had taken “all the eastern part” of Bakhmut, the east Ukrainian town where fierce fighting has raged for months. “Wagner units have taken all the eastern part of Bakhmut, all that’s east of the Bakhmutka river” that bisects the town, Wagner chief and Kremlin…
Hundreds of mourners packed a Kyiv church on Tuesday for the funeral of Ukrainian saboteurs killed on a mission in Russia, following a spate of attacks along Moscow’s frontier. Mourners, many in camouflage and covering their faces, attended a service in a central Kyiv church for four men — one still a teenager — who…
U.S. officials have seen new intelligence that indicates a “pro-Ukrainian group” was responsible for the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. In a cautious report that did not identify the source of the intelligence or the group involved, the Times said the U.S. officials had…
Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that more than 20 people had been detained in connection with an attack on a Russian military plane, claimed by regime opponents late last month. “To date, more than 20 accomplices who are in Belarus have been detained. The rest are hiding,” said Lukashenko, a key Kremlin ally, according…