Authorities in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region have raised one-time payments for new military recruits for the third time in two months, as efforts to bolster recruitment intensify across the country. New recruits from the Ural Mountains region, which has a population of 4.2 million, will now receive 1.5 million rubles ($16,100) as a sign-up bonus, the…
Russia’s digital military draft system will be fully implemented at the start of next year, while the upcoming fall conscription drive will still rely on paper summonses, a senior lawmaker said Monday. Andrei Kartapolov, chair of the State Duma’s defense committee, said that the digital draft system — originally expected to launch this fall —…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday that its agents arrested 15 people in the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, accusing them of spreading “radical ideology” via WhatsApp. Law enforcement officials said the individuals were “involved in the public dissemination of a radical ideology based on the rejection of traditional Islamic norms and Russian laws”…
A Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv wounded 21 people including three minors, the regional governor said Sunday. Oleg Synegubov posted on Telegram that eight of the victims were hospitalized, two in critical condition, after the strike late Saturday, when dozens of people were asleep in the two multi-storey…
Russia said Saturday it would not attend a possible second Ukraine peace summit in November, despite Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky signaling that this time he would invite Moscow’s representatives. Moscow rejected the idea ahead of Zelensky’s travels to the United States, where he is due to present his peace proposals to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and…
Kyiv said Saturday it struck two weapons depots in southern and western Russia — including a key site for Moscow’s forces — with Russian authorities announcing some evacuations and declaring a local emergency situation. Kyiv also said a Russian nighttime strike on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rih killed a 12-year-old boy and two…
A Communist Party lawmaker in Russia’s lower-house State Duma is facing allegations that he invited a sex worker to his office after Kremlin-linked media released a video Friday purportedly showing him receiving oral sex from a woman. In the video circulated by the Telegram news channel Shot, a man who appears to resemble 36-year-old Duma member…
Over 70,000 Russian soldiers have been confirmed killed in Ukraine since the Kremlin launched its invasion more than two and a half years ago, according to an independent tally by the BBC’s Russian service and the independent Mediazona news website. The two outlets have been verifying the number of Russian troops killed through open-source information…
At least two cities in Russia canceled pro-war singer Shaman’s concerts due to low ticket sales for his “Victory” tour, the independent news outlet Agentstvo reported Friday. Shaman kicked off his 100-city tour on Red Square last month, with plans to perform in Ukrainian cities occupied since Russia’s invasion. The singer said he aims to “program” his audience…
A U.S. court ruled that a 27-year-old protester from Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan can remain in the United States without the risk of deportation, media reported on Friday. Zahir Mukhamedyarov fled Russia in March, entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico to avoid arrest following large-scale protests in January over the imprisonment of prominent indigenous rights activist…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will not meet his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken despite both attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York this weekend, Moscow said Friday. Tensions between Russia and the United States have worsened in the two and a half years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Washington…
Four Russian soldiers have been arrested and charged with torturing and murdering Russell Bentley, a U.S. citizen who had fought alongside pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine, Russian investigators said Friday. Bentley, a 64-year-old self-described communist from Dallas, Texas, joined pro-Russia separatists in 2014 to fight against Ukrainian forces. He went missing in the Russian-occupied city…
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake shook Siberia’s Kemerovo region overnight Thursday, according to Russia’s seismic monitoring center. The quake struck around midnight local time, with the intensity at the epicenter measured at 5.8. Videos shared on social media showed damage to apartments, with tiles falling from walls and sections of ceilings collapsing. Despite the damage, the…
Russia’s military had anticipated a possible Ukrainian incursion into the southwestern Kursk region for months, according to documents seen by The Guardian. Ukrainian troops crossed into the Kursk region on Aug. 6, advancing several kilometers into Russian territory and capturing scores of towns and villages, including the border town of Sudzha. Russia has since claimed…
A man accused of helping organize attacks on allies of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was detained in Poland, the independent news outlet Sirena reported Thursday, citing a letter from the Polish Prosecutor’s Office. Last week, Navalny’s team published an investigation claiming that Leonid Nevzlin, an exiled billionaire and associate of Kremlin critic Mikhail…
Updated with arrest confirmation. A Russian man accused of helping organize attacks on allies of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was arrested in Poland, the Polish Prosecutor’s Office confirmed Friday. Last week, Navalny’s team published an investigation claiming that Leonid Nevzlin, an exiled billionaire and associate of Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, orchestrated the attack…
President Vladimir Putin made an unannounced visit Thursday to a drone manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg that produces reconnaissance aircraft for the Russian military to use in Ukraine. The Kremlin released a brief video showing Putin arriving at the Special Technological Center alongside Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Kremlin aide Alexei Dyumin and other senior officials.…
The ex-husband of Wildberries founder Tatiana Bakalchuk, Russia’s wealthiest woman, was arrested Thursday following a deadly shootout at the online retailer’s headquarters in Moscow the day before, his lawyers said. The shooting incident, which occurred just a few blocks from the Kremlin, left two security guards dead and several others others wounded, including two law enforcement…
One of Russia’s largest business lobbying groups is urging the government to permit hotel construction in protected forests to address the increasing demand for domestic tourism, according to documents obtained by Forbes Russia. At least 260 tourism infrastructure projects, with a projected investment of 304.8 billion rubles ($3.28 billion), are currently in limbo due to…
Telegram founder and executive chief Pavel Durov has not shown any interest in contacting the Russian authorities, Moscow’s ambassador to France told state media Thursday. Durov, who is originally from Russia, was detained last month at Le Bourget airport near Paris and later charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content…
Russian authorities are developing a database of undocumented migrants who will face bans on driving, marrying and enrolling their children in school starting next year, as part of new laws aimed at tightening immigration control. The restrictions stem from legislation signed by President Vladimir Putin last month, which establishes a “deportation regime” allowing for the…
Thursday marks five years since Yakutian shaman Alexander Gabyshev was detained by Russian police during his arduous journey from the Far East republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to Moscow. In March 2019, Gabyshev embarked on an 8,000-kilometer trek with the singular mission to “exorcize” President Vladimir Putin — whom he called the “embodiment of evil” —…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday that its agents dismantled a migrant smuggling network allegedly led by a university instructor from Nigeria. “The illegal activities of an interregional group specializing in the paid entry and transit of immigrants from the African continent through Russian territory to EU countries have been thwarted,” the FSB was…
Russia’s counteroffensive to retake Ukrainian-held territory in the southwestern Kursk region has been “stopped,” a spokesman from Ukraine’s military administration in the region told AFP Wednesday. Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had retaken several villages from Ukraine in the Kursk region. Kyiv has thus far held on to large swathes of Russian territory since…
A 57-year-old father to 29 biological and adopted children signed a military contract to fight in Ukraine, a local official said Tuesday, as regional authorities across Russia double efforts to recruit soldiers for the war. Vakhid Valiyev, who is from the republic of Bashkortostan, said the decision to enlist “was not easy for his large…
A senior military official responsible for tank maintenance in central Russia was arrested on charges of accepting a bribe in exchange for preferential treatment in receiving government contracts, law enforcement authorities said Wednesday. Major General Denis Putilov, who leads the armored vehicle service of the Defense Ministry’s Central Military District, is accused of receiving 10…
Russia has begun testing a website for its new digital military draft system, which could prevent men from leaving the country ahead of a planned call-up later this fall. Last year, President Vladimir Putin signed a law prohibiting draftees from leaving the country once they receive electronic call-up papers. Under the new system, a draft…
Shots were fired outside the headquarters of Russian online retailer Wildberries in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian media reported. The pro-Kremlin Telegram news channel Mash claimed that a group of unidentified men arrived at the Wildberries office and opened fire, allegedly wounding three people. The office was evacuated, and police were dispatched to the scene. The…
At least two people were killed and several others injured in a shooting incident at the headquarters of Russian online retailer Wildberries in Moscow on Wednesday, with the company reporting that an armed group of men led by Vladislav Bakalchuk, the ex-husband of Wildberries founder Tatiana Bakalchuk, attempted to forcibly enter the building. Law enforcement…
Authorities in Moscow on Wednesday condemned deadly attacks that saw pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah explode near-simultaneously across Lebanon the day before, saying the blasts risked further destabilizing an already “explosive situation” in the region. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for the attack, which analysts said was likely caused by explosives concealed in the…
Law enforcement authorities in the city of Chelyabinsk detained a vice principal and the head of a private security company following a hammer attack at a local school earlier this week, investigators said Wednesday. Police said a 13-year-old student injured three classmates and a teacher with a hammer at School No. 68 on Monday. The…
Russian law enforcement authorities said Wednesday that they uncovered and dismantled a female terrorist cell based in the republic of Tatarstan. In a video published by state-run TASS news agency, armed agents from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) were shown entering a home and detaining women, followed by the officers displaying several books and documents…
Ukrainian drone attacks sparked large fires and prompted a partial evacuation in northwestern Russia’s Tver region on Wednesday, following reports of a major strike on a Russian weapons stockpile. “A fire started in Toropets, Tver region, as a result of falling debris from a drone that was repelled by air defense forces,” the Tver regional…
A Russian man previously convicted of criticizing the war in Ukraine during a street interview had his sentence toughened on Tuesday from five years of hard labor to five years in prison, state media reported. Yuri Kokhovets, 38, accused Russian soldiers of shooting civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha “for no reason at all”…
The head of Russia’s military theme park has been placed under house arrest, state media reported Monday, following his involvement in a plea deal that incriminated a senior defense ministry official. Vyacheslav Akhmedov, director of Patriot Park, and Vladimir Shesterov, a senior defense ministry official, were arrested last month on fraud charges linked to the…
The Moscow-based weekly newspaper Sobesednik will cease publication following its designation as a “foreign agent” last week, one of its reporters told independent media on Tuesday. Sobesednik was declared a “foreign agent” on Sept. 13, with Russian authorities accusing the publication of spreading inaccurate information about government policies and “fakes” about the Russian military, as…
Bordering Russia’s southern regions, the Caspian Sea has long been plagued by industrial pollution, falling water levels and more.This is the only place on earth that is home to the Caspian seal, a species whose numbers have drastically shrunk in recent decades due to environmental degradation. If no additional measures are taken, scientists estimate that…
U.S. authorities arrested a Russian businessman in Florida for allegedly smuggling microelectronics that can be used in drones to Russia, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday. The businessman, identified as Denis Postovoy, was accused of exporting microelectronics through foreign companies without the required licenses, even after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Moscow following the full-scale…
A political activist in St. Petersburg known for his pacifist protests was stabbed to death, local media reported Tuesday. Unconfirmed reports from the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Mash na Moika claimed that a 20-year-old “queer blogger” identified as “Alexander S.” had confessed to murdering activist Vitaly Ioffe. According to the channel, Alexander S. allegedly stabbed Ioffe 20…
A political activist in St. Petersburg known for his pacifist protests was stabbed to death, local media reported Tuesday. Initial unconfirmed reports from the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Mash na Moika claimed that a 20-year-old “queer blogger” identified as “Alexander S.” had confessed to murdering activist Vitaly Ioffe. According to the channel, Alexander S. allegedly stabbed Ioffe…
Russia has approved the construction of a petroleum product pipeline in the oil-rich Republic of Congo, as Moscow continues efforts to strengthen its influence in Africa. The project will involve a joint venture between Russian pipeline builder ZNGS Prometey, which will own 90% of the venture, and the National Petroleum Company of Congo. While no…
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday that its agents killed a suspected Ukrainian military intelligence officer allegedly plotting to assassinate a Russian defense industry executive. The FSB identified the man as a Russian citizen born in 1984, accusing him of illegal trafficking explosives and claiming he was working on behalf of Ukraine’s HUR military…
The Switzerland-based humanitarian aid organization Doctors Without Borders announced the sudden closure of its operations in Russia on Monday, ending its 32-year presence in the country. “After receiving a letter from the Ministry of Justice of Russia, MSF-Netherlands had to close our operations in the country,” the organization, also known by its French name, Medecins Sans…
Facebook owner Meta said late Monday that it would ban Russian state media outlets from its apps due to “foreign interference activity.” The ban comes after the United States accused the Kremlin-funded RT news network and employees of funneling $10 million through shell companies to covertly fund influence campaigns on social media platforms including TikTok,…
A court in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg sentenced a man to eight years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a Gabonese student last year, local media reported Monday. Earlier this month, state prosecutors had requested an 11-year sentence for Daniil Fomin, who was charged with murdering François Ndjelassili in August 2023. Ndjelassili had moved…
A court in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg sentenced a man to eight years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a Gabonese student last year, local media reported Monday. Earlier this month, state prosecutors had requested an 11-year sentence for Daniil Fomin, who was charged with murdering François Ndjelassili in August 2023. Ndjelassili had moved…
Authorities in southwestern Russia’s Kursk region on Monday ordered the mandatory evacuation of two more districts along the border with Ukraine, as Kyiv’s forces remain in control of a large swath of Russian territory despite Moscow’s counteroffensive efforts. “The regional crisis center has decided to mandate the evacuation of towns in the Rylsky and Khomutovsky districts, located within…
As Russia lays the groundwork for deeper engagement with Central Asia, with a fresh presidential summit reportedly in the works, countries in the region are trying to maintain economic distance from their larger neighbor to the north. In one of the latest examples, Kyrgyzstan’s central bank on Sept. 6 banned the settlement of trade contracts unless goods are…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Monday that his country will seriously consider claims that Russian-Israeli businessman Leonid Nevzlin ordered an attack on Navalny ally Leonid Volkov. “We will always support the opposition as they fight against the Putin regime, and we will carefully examine all claims about who organized what,” Nauseda told the Lithuanian broadcaster LRT in…
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday increasing the number of soldiers in the Russian military by 180,000, bringing the total number of active servicemen to 1.5 million for this upcoming winter. The decree, which takes effect Dec. 1, sets the overall number of military personnel within Russia’s army at 2,389,139, including 1.5 million…
Russian law enforcement authorities charged two more military officers with taking bribes, investigators said Monday, the latest in a string of arrests linked to alleged corruption in Russia’s Defense Ministry. Ivan Populovsky, the head of a military representative’s office, and his subordinate, Grigory Zorin, allegedly received over 11 million rubles ($120,000) from two companies that…
Jailed Siberian journalist and activist Maria Ponomarenko declared a hunger strike after prison authorities placed her in an isolation cell, her employer, the RusNews outlet, reported Monday. Ponomarenko, 46, is serving a six-year sentence at a penal colony in the Altai region for spreading “war fakes.” She now faces a new trial for allegedly assaulting prison…
Wildfires swept across several regions in southwestern Russia over the weekend, with emergency crews in the Rostov region struggling to contain some 140 blazes that damaged homes and destroyed woodland. “Strong winds, power line overlaps and careless handling of fire have caused wildfires in several populated areas of the Rostov region,” Governor Vasily Golubev said…
Ukraine said Monday that it asked the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to observe the situation in areas of Russia’s Kursk region that its forces seized following their surprise incursion early last month. “I instructed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to officially invite the UN and ICRC to join humanitarian…
A middle school student in the city of Chelyabinsk attacked several classmates and a teacher with a hammer, law enforcement authorities said Monday, as local media reported at least four people being injured as a result of the attack. “A 13-year-old student in Chelyabinsk caused bodily harm to his peers and teacher with various objects,”…
Russian shelling killed one person in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk on Sunday, local authorities said, as Moscow’s troops inched closer to the key logistics hub. “Around 11 am , the enemy shelled the western part of the city… Unfortunately, one person died,” Pokrovsk’s military administration said on Telegram. The administration also said that…
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “bluster” Sunday over his warning that letting Ukraine use long-range weapons to strike inside Russia would put NATO “at war” with Moscow. US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met at the White House to discuss whether to ease rules on…
Russia said Saturday it swapped 103 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian POWs in an exchange deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates. The Russian troops freed in Saturday’s swap were captured during Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, which began on 6 August, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. There…
Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken on Friday accused Russian media outlet RT of being a “de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus” being used against countries around the world. “We know that RT possesses cyber capabilities and engaged in covert information influence operations and military procurement,” the secretary of state told reporters. “Russian weaponization of…
The Kremlin is working to systematically instill “patriotic” values in children and teenagers through a Soviet-style propaganda campaign as it looks toward preparing the next generation for a life shaped by conflict with Ukraine and the West. “We need warriors, gunmen, stormtroopers — those who, at the president’s first call, will rush to the military…