Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday directly appealed for long-term U.S. support on his first foreign trip since Russia’s invasion, saying aid was not “charity” and had helped keep his country “alive and kicking.” Three hundred days after Russian leader Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine with hopes of swift conquest, Zelensky enjoyed a hero’s welcome on a…
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin-linked businessman and Wagner Group founder, has voiced his support for commuting the sentences of female prisoners in Russia who agree to fight in Ukraine, according to a Wednesday press release. Women could serve “not only as nurses and signallers but also in sabotage groups and sniper pairs,” Prigozhin said, adding that…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday inaugurated the Kovykta natural gas field in eastern Siberia, which will allow Russia to increase its gas exports to China amid soaring tensions between Moscow and the West. “We are launching the unique Kovykta gas field, the largest in eastern Siberia. Its recoverable reserves are 1.8 trillion cubic meters…
Adds further comments by Putin and Shoigu Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would continue developing its military potential and the combat readiness of its nuclear forces as Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine continued to face severe challenges. “The armed forces and combat capabilities of our armed forces are increasing constantly and every…
A series of anonymously produced Russian military recruitment ads has stirred heated debate among pro-war bloggers over what truly motivates men to fight Ukraine. The sleek productions, which first appeared online last week, portray poverty-stricken Russians whose fortunes turn for the better after they join the Russian Armed Forces. Some of the widely shared videos…
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday in an unannounced visit to Beijing, where he passed on President Vladimir Putin’s message hailing “unprecedented” cooperation. “The talks were quite useful,” Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said in a video posted on his Telegram messaging app channel.…
President Vladimir Putin established a task force Tuesday to coordinate work between the government and pro-war military bloggers on Russia’s chaotic mobilization campaign. The move fueled questions over possible plans to launch a second round of mobilization, despite Putin declaring its end in late October, as Moscow faces mounting losses in Ukraine. The Kremlin has denied that…
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet U.S. leader Joe Biden and address Congress in Washington on Wednesday, during a visit the White House said will send Russia a strong message of Western unity. The secretly arranged trip comes on the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet his top military officials to assess the dire…
The Russian leadership has conflicting views on whether to launch a winter offensive in Ukraine, which has warned of a fresh Russian attempt to seize Kyiv, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly called for his top military brass to present him with “short- and medium-term” plans on how to…
Russia’s Justice Ministry has filed for a court order to shut down one of the country’s most prominent and respected human rights organizations, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported on Tuesday. In its legal filing, the Justice Ministry claimed that the Moscow Helsinki Group had violated unspecified “legal requirements” while carrying out its activities, a…
Three people died on Tuesday when a key gas pipeline in the Republic of Chuvashia in western Russia caught fire, the regional governor told Russian television. Images circulating on social media showed a large ball of fire billowing over one and two-story buildings in a snow-blanketed village, with residents moving closer to inspect the blaze.…
Around 100,000 IT specialists have left Russia this year, an official said Tuesday, following the start of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24. Young Russians fled the country in droves, especially those working in the IT sector and able to work remotely, sparking fears of a brain drain. Some months later, the announcement of the…
A Russian court ordered the seizure of a luxury hotel complex owned by Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska after he criticized President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine earlier this year, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The court order to seize the $1bn Imeretinskiy hotel and marina complex in Sochi came in September after the Kremlin…
The head of Russian space agency Roscosmos on Tuesday praised Russia-U.S. cooperation at the International Space Station following a major coolant leak from a Soyuz crew capsule. “Say hello to the entire American team. They proved themselves to be very worthy in this situation and lent us a helping hand,” Borisov said, speaking to the…
A senior Russian diplomat has accused the United States of holding more than 60 Russian citizens as “hostages,” the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin’s comments come nearly two weeks after Russia freed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in exchange for Viktor Bout, a notorious arms dealer imprisoned in…
President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s counterintelligence services on Monday to step up their hunt for “traitors, spies and saboteurs” and prevent threats from abroad. Speaking on Security Agency Worker’s Day, a professional holiday in Russia, Putin laid out “high demands” on Russia’s security agencies to respond to “new threats and challenges.” “You must put a firm…
A Russian court has sentenced four members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to prison terms ranging up to seven years, the religious organization said Monday. The men in the Far East city of Birobidzhan were charged with organizing and financing “extremist” activities by holding joint worship services. They were detained as part of a special operation involving…
President Vladimir Putin denied plans to absorb Belarus as he paid a rare visit Monday to the country whose strongman assisted his invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Putin flew into Minsk with his defense and foreign ministers in tow, hours after Russian forces launched a swarm of attack drones at critical infrastructure in Kyiv, which provoked emergency…
Canada’s government on Monday announced the start of a process to seize $26 million in assets from a company owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. While several of its Western allies have seized yachts, oil and gas ventures, and other assets of people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, this is the first time…
The head of a Russian cultural center in the Central African Republic (CAR) who was hospitalized when an explosive device sent to him in the mail detonated was “urgently evacuated” to Russia, Moscow’s embassy in the country said Monday. The Russian Embassy in the CAR capital Bangui confirmed that Dmitry Sitiy was being evacuated to…
A veteran environmental watchdog in Russia’s Far East announced its closure over the weekend after authorities labeled it a “foreign agent.” Sakhalin Environment Watch (SEW) said it “categorically disagrees” with Friday’s designation by the Russian Justice Ministry. “Someone at the top has suddenly decided that we are under ‘foreign influence’ and engaged in political activities,” SEW…
Updates with Putin’s arrival in Minsk Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday arrived for a rare visit to neighboring Belarus, from where Moscow partially launched its invasion of Ukraine nearly 10 months ago, for talks with close ally and strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko. His arrival on an icy runway in Minsk came hours after Russian…
A court in Moscow-annexed Crimea has sentenced a Russian citizen to 12 years in prison on charges of sharing details about the Russian Navy with Ukrainian intelligence prior to the invasion of Ukraine, Russian security services announced Monday. Yevgeny Petrushin collected and transmitted information to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Directorate of Intelligence as far…
Heavy snowfall blanketed Moscow on Sunday, disrupting traffic, delaying flights and leaving pavements buried with snow across the Russian capital. More than 60% of the monthly norm descended on Moscow over the past 24 hours, producing 25-centimeter-tall snow banks, municipal authorities said Monday. Two and a half months’ worth of snow has blanketed the capital…
Members of the anti-Kremlin activist group Pussy Riot were detained at the World Cup final in Qatar after they tried to storm the pitch to protest issues including the war in Ukraine, Reuters and German media reported Monday, citing activists. Pussy Riot associate Pyotr Verzilov, member Veronika Nikulshina and an unnamed Ukrainian member were stopped seconds…
Russian troops will conduct military exercises in Belarus, which neighbors Ukraine, the Interfax news agency said on Monday, citing the Defense Ministry in Moscow. In October, Belarus announced the formation of a joint regional force with Moscow with several thousand Russian servicemen arriving in the ex-Soviet country. “The final assessment of the combat capability…
Drones attacked Kyiv early Monday, days after the Ukrainian capital withstood one of the biggest missile attacks since the start of Russia’s February invasion. The latest strikes came as Russian President Vladimir Putin travels to Belarus, Ukraine’s neighbor in the north, where Moscow’s troops stationed as part of a regional force are due to hold…
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday it would not “seek permission from anyone” to expand relations with Russia, dismissing U.S. concerns over a growing military partnership between Tehran and Moscow. Western countries have accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia, allegedly used to attack Ukraine, and slapped sanctions on Tehran, which denies the allegations. CIA chief…
Strikes on the Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, killed one person and injured five others on Sunday, the regional governor said, two days after a barrage of attacks by Moscow battered Ukraine’s energy grid. In the regional capital Belgorod, “there are four wounded (with injuries) of moderate severity”, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on…
Washington claimed last month that Russia was buying weapons from North Korea and using those weapons in Ukraine. The allegations that the two heavily sanctioned states were stepping up military cooperation came almost nine months into Russia’s war against its pro-Western neighbor that has severely depleted its stocks of artillery shells, ammunition and cruise missiles. …
President Vladimir Putin has held extensive meetings with the military top brass overseeing Russia’s campaign in Ukraine, where Moscow has stepped up bombardments, the Kremlin said Saturday. “On Friday, the president spent the whole day at the army staff involved in the special military operation in Ukraine,” a statement said. He held a meeting with…
Russia claimed Saturday it had prevented the delivery of foreign weapons to Ukraine as part of mass strikes a day earlier that caused power and water outages across the country. On Friday, “military command systems, the military-industrial complex and their supporting energy facilities of Ukraine were hit with a mass strike with high-precision weapons,” Russia’s…
U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner made her first remarks since being released from a Russian prison on Friday, saying that it was “so good to be home” and vowing to play again for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Griner, in a message on Instagram, thanked a long list of people for securing her release with a…
Over 10,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Moscow invaded Ukraine, according to a tally of confirmed military deaths kept by the BBC Russian Service and independent media outlet Mediazona. While the real scale of Russia’s war losses is likely far higher, the tally is the most accurate independent database of Russian fatalities. Russia has…
The head of a Russian cultural center in the Central African Republic (CAR) was hospitalized on Friday after an explosive device sent to him in the mail detonated. Dmitry Sitiy, who runs the Bangui branch of Russian House, a state-funded cultural center that promotes Russian culture around the world, collected a parcel addressed to him…
The governor of Russia’s Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, warned on Friday that the country was facing a growing labor shortage following the conscription of over 300,000 civilians during the Defense Ministry’s recent mobilization campaign. “The external environment for the Russian economy remains challenging and significantly constrains economic activity,” the Central Bank said, adding that Russia’s…
Apple is in talks to terminate a lease on its Moscow office that the U.S. tech giant had opened less than a month before Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian media reported Friday, citing unnamed real estate sources. Apple opened its corporate office in one of Moscow’s most expensive office spaces in early February 2022, becoming the first foreign IT…
A fresh barrage of deadly Russian strikes battered Ukraine on Friday, cutting water and electricity in major cities and piling pressure on the grid in sub-zero temperatures. Kyiv residents in winter coats crammed into underground metro stations as air raid sirens rang out and Russian forces fired off dozens of missiles in one of the…
Russian and NASA engineers were assessing a coolant leak on Thursday from a Soyuz crew capsule docked with the International Space Station (ISS) that may have been caused by a micrometeorite strike. Dramatic NASA TV images showed white particles resembling snowflakes streaming out of the rear of the vessel for hours. The coolant leak forced…
Russian job sites are advertising trench- and fortification-digging jobs in occupied Ukrainian and nearby Russian regions, independent media reported Thursday. Russia started building defensive fortifications near the front lines as well as in its border regions following alleged Ukrainian counterstrikes that stoked authorities’ fears of further attacks that could reach deeper into Russian territory. Popular Russian classifieds…
Russian forces bombarded Kherson on Thursday, killing two people and depriving the Ukrainian city of electricity as the European Union announced its latest slew of sanctions against Moscow and an 18 billion euro aid package for Kyiv. Moscow-allied officials in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, meanwhile, said they have come under some of the heaviest…
The blockade of the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, has sparked concern of a humanitarian disaster in the region, not to mention a fresh outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The crisis has also renewed scrutiny of Russia’s 2,000 peacekeeping troops in the region, who despite…
The U.S. announced financial sanctions targeting one of Russia’s wealthiest men, Vladimir Potanin, the Treasury Department and State Department said Thursday, adding to efforts that curb Moscow’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine. The actions come after similar moves were taken against Potanin and his network by the U.K. and Canada, the State Department…
The Vatican confirmed on Thursday that it had apologized to Russia after Pope Francis made comments in which he singled out the allegedly cruel role of Russian ethnic minorities in the Ukraine conflict. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni was asked about Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova saying earlier on Thursday that the Vatican had apologized for…
Swedish fashion retailer H&M announced on Thursday that it had closed its last remaining stores in Russia and Belarus, wrapping up its progressive withdrawal from both countries due to the invasion of Ukraine. After ceasing sales in Russia in March following Russian troops being ordered into Ukraine, H&M announced in July that it would withdraw…
The trial of Russian artist Sasha Skochilenko, who was arrested in April for an anti-war protest in which she replaced supermarket price tags with information about the death toll in Ukraine, opened at a St. Petersburg court on Thursday. Skochilenko, 32, who has been held in pre-trial detention for over six months, was charged with…
Moscow on Thursday slammed Poland’s designation of Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” calling it part of a targeted Western campaign that has no legal bearing. The Polish lower house of parliament, the Sejm, issued the designation in a late Wednesday resolution. It condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and includes a disputed amendment blaming Moscow…
A Russian man has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison on treason charges, security services said Thursday, in the latest case involving alleged attempts to pass sensitive information to Ukraine. Vyacheslav Mamukov, from the Far East city of Khabarovsk, was accused of trying to sell “state and commercial secrets related to transport…
The Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has been hit by the most intense wave of Ukrainian shelling since hostilities first broke out eight years ago, its Moscow-installed mayor said. “At precisely 7 a.m., Ukrainian fascists subjected the center of Donetsk to the most massive strike since 2014,” Alexei Kulemzin wrote on the Telegram…
Georgia’s jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili called off a hunger strike he had announced a few hours earlier Wednesday over the authorities’ failure to ensure a video link between the hospital where he is being held and his court hearing. Saakashvili has been a key figure of politics in the ex-Soviet Caucasus country for two decades…
Two workers were killed in a powerful blast at the largest oil refinery in Siberia, authorities said Thursday, in the second such incident in recent weeks. Processing unit fumes may have caused the blast at the Rosneft oil giant-owned Angarsk Petrochemical Company, according to emergency officials. The Irkutsk regional branch of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said…
Ukraine’s SBU security service on Wednesday found “propaganda literature” in counter-intelligence searches in churches and monasteries across the country, in its most recent descent on religious sites of the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church. “The Security Service of Ukraine found Russian passports, propaganda literature and laissez-passer” issued by Russian occupation authorities during searches on Wednesday, the…
The cancellation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference earlier this week was a last minute decision taken due to growing fears the televised event would be dominated by the Ukraine war, six Kremlin and government officials told The Moscow Times. Putin has held 17 such press conferences — a set piece of the…
New legislation that punishes organization, financing and recruitment for acts of sabotage with stiff sentences of up to life imprisonment was approved by Russia’s State Duma in its first reading on Wednesday, state-owned news agency RIA reported. The legislation, which supplements an existing law with three new articles, mandates severe punishments including life imprisonment for…
Ukraine announced that it had secured the release 64 Ukrainians and one U.S. citizen in its latest prisoner swap with Russian forces on Wednesday. “64 soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who fought in the Donetsk and Luhansk sectors are going home,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak tweeted. “It was also possible…
The Russian military has formed what it called its first “artistic” units of musicians, actors and other creatives to boost troop morale amid a series of battlefield losses in Ukraine. “Two permanent frontline creative brigades were formed for the first time in the modern history of the Russian Armed Forces,” the Defense Ministry said in a…
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it had not received any proposals from Kyiv to halt fighting in Ukraine during the upcoming holiday period and that a ceasefire was not on Moscow’s agenda. “No, no proposals have been received from anyone and no topic of this kind is on the agenda,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry…
St. Petersburg has contributed 100 million rubles ($1.5 million) toward the reconstruction of Mariupol, the southern Ukrainian port city largely destroyed by Russian troops this year, the independent media outlet Rotonda reported. The allocation has apparently cut into the city’s budget for ice and snow cleanup, making the streets of Russia’s second-largest city — already…
A former Russian presidential guard who fled President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization now faces extradition from neighboring Kazakhstan on charges of desertion and illegal border-crossing, Kazakh media has reported. If approved, Mikhal Zhilin’s extradition would mark the first publicly known time an allied country has returned a draft dodger to Russia, where his family says he faces…
Russia has sourced at least $2.6 billion in computer components and electronics in the months since falling under Western tech sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing purchased Russian customs records. Semiconductors and other technology arrived in Russia between April and Oct. 31 via Hong Kong and Turkey — which have not…