Updates with comments and background The Russian Defence Ministry on Friday accused Kyiv of executing at least 10 prisoners of war in what Moscow said constituted a “war crime,” the latest allegation of abuses after nearly nine months of fighting in Ukraine. Moscow’s claims come after the UN this week published a report saying prisoners…
Finland unveiled a plan on Friday to build a 200-kilometer fence along its border with Russia, amid increased security concerns since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine began in late February. “In this situation, we have every reason to reconsider our arrangements,” Brigadier General Jari Tolppanen of the Finnish Border Guard agency told AFP. Some 200 kilometers of…
The Netherlands summoned the Russian ambassador on Friday after Moscow accused a Dutch court of a politically motivated verdict in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 above Ukraine. Russia’s foreign ministry had on Thursday described as “scandalous” the ruling by Dutch judges that saw two Russians and a Ukrainian sentenced to life imprisonment in…
Russia’s war in Ukraine has had a “significant impact” on the security of other countries, G7 interior ministers said on Friday, warning of attacks on key infrastructure and risks posed by returning foreign fighters. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reaffirmed the Group of Seven’s “unwavering solidarity” with Ukraine, after hosting two days of talks in…
Belarus’s autocratic president, Alexander Lukashenko, on Friday ridiculed McDonald’s after the announcement it would be replaced by a Russian franchise following its departure over the Ukraine conflict. McDonald’s in Belarus will from Tuesday operate under the name ‘Delicious. Full Stop.’, the moniker of the Russian chain that took over the U.S. burger group in Russia in…
While usually greeted with excitement, the first snows of the winter were this year met with unease in Ukraine, as millions of people were left without power after a fresh barrage of Russian missile strikes targeting the country’s infrastructure, and millions more feared being left without heat as the mercury plummeted. While the recent recapture…
Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny says he has been moved to a small, isolated cell and deprived of family visits, his team announced on social media. Navalny said he had been placed in a “cramped cell” used for prisoners accused of bad behavior, adding: “Congratulate me!” Under the toughened detention conditions, he is only…
Russian authorities in annexed Crimea are fortifying the peninsula’s defensive positions, its governor said Friday in a signal of Moscow’s growing concerns over Ukrainian forces’ push to reclaim captured territories in the south. Attacks on the Black Sea peninsula have increased in recent weeks as Kyiv presses on with a counteroffensive to retake territory in southern…
The blasts which destroyed sections of the Nord Stream pipelines carrying natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea in September were acts of sabotage, Swedish officials confirmed Friday. The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have been at the center of geopolitical tensions as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation…
The Russian military has dismissed as “fake” a video address by mobilized soldiers who accuse commanders of endangering them during last week’s chaotic retreat from southern Ukraine’s city of Kherson, state media reported Thursday. In the video published Tuesday, the soldiers said they had suffered losses during two days of Ukrainian shelling while they were…
Russia said Friday it hoped the United States will return notorious Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout in a prisoner swap after American basketball star Brittney Griner was transferred to a penal colony. “I would like to hope that the prospect (of an exchange) is not only still a topical issue, but that it is being…
A soldier from a Russian unit accused of committing war crimes in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha said he is ready to testify in an international court as he seeks asylum in Spain, The Guardian reported Thursday. Nikita Chibrin, 27, told The Guardian he heard “widespread rumors” of fellow soldiers committing sexual violence and killing civilians…
Basketball star Brittney Griner, whose plight has generated widespread anger in the United States, has been sent to a remote Russian penal colony, her lawyers said on Thursday. The U.S. athlete was handed nine years in prison in August for possessing vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannabis oil, after she was arrested at a…
The scale of torture that has been discovered in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson taken back from Russian troops this month is “horrific,” a Ukrainian ombudsman said on Thursday. “I have not seen a scale like this before,” Dmytro Lubynets said. “The scale is just horrific.” Since the Russian army retreated last week following eight months…
YEREVAN, Armenia — A growing number of Russians who fled abroad because of the Ukraine war are seeking Armenian citizenship as the fighting drags on and it appears increasingly unlikely they will be able to return home anytime soon. Muscovite Igor Plekhanov, 45, was one of tens of thousands of Russians who relocated to Armenia…
A Dutch court on Thursday convicted three men and acquitted one other for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, which killed all 298 people on board. Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were found guilty of murder and intentionally causing an aircraft to crash, while Russian…
A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced three men to life imprisonment over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, in the early stages of a war that eight years later would put the world on edge. Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were found guilty in absentia…
The Kremlin said Thursday that the reason civilians were suffering from blackouts in Ukraine was Kyiv’s refusal to negotiate with Moscow and not missile strikes launched by Russian forces. “The unwillingness of the Ukrainian side to settle the problem, to start negotiations, its refusal to seek common ground, this is their consequence,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday named several supporters of the war in Ukraine to the presidential Human Rights Council in a shake-up of the body which appeared to purge members who have publicly expressed doubts about the war. War correspondent Alexander Kots and two other prominent supporters of the war were added to the…
Kazakhstan said Thursday it had prevented a coup attempt by supporters of an exiled opposition figure as it arrested seven people ahead of a presidential election this weekend. On Sunday, Kazakhstan will hold a snap presidential vote expected to cement incumbent Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s grip on power, months after deadly unrest shook the Central Asian country and…
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) voted late Wednesday to suspend the Russian and Belarusian national committees effective immediately as the war in Ukraine approaches the nine-month mark. The decision raises doubts over Russian and Belarusian Paralympic athletes’ participation at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. The IPC cited the Russian and Belarusian Paralympic committees’ “inability…
The UN-backed agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports safe passage through the Black Sea will be extended by 120 days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday. Zelensky said Kyiv reached the “key decision” with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, both of whom brokered the deal on July 22. “I welcome the…
Russians have moved a record amount of cash out of the country so far this year, state media has reported. The equivalent of $32 billion has been deposited in foreign banks in January-September 2022, according to an analysis of Central Bank data by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. As a result, Russians’ overall foreign bank…
A Dutch court gives its verdict Thursday in the trial of four men over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 above Ukraine in 2014, as tensions soar over Russia’s invasion eight years later. The suspects — Russians Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko — will not be in court as they…
Russia’s economy has entered a recession as gross domestic output fell by four percent in the third quarter, according to first estimates published Wednesday by the national statistics agency, Rosstat. The drop in GDP follows a similar four percent contraction in the second quarter, as Western sanctions pummel Russia’s economy following Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. …
Ukrainian law enforcement said it has caught and returned to prison 166 of 457 inmates who were freed by Russia’s military and Russian-installed authorities as they retreated in the southern Kherson region last week. Among the inmates freed by Russia’s forces, 15 had been serving life sentences, Ukraine’s National Police Chief Igor Klimenko said on…
Moscow’s revenues from fossil fuel exports fell in October to their lowest levels since the Ukraine invasion, but Turkey has become a new route for Russian oil supplies to the European Union, a think tank said Wednesday. Russia collected an estimated 21 billion euros ($21.7 billion) in fossil fuel exports last month, a 7% drop…
Russia said on Wednesday it had banned entry to more than 50 Irish officials including premier Micheal Martin in response to Western sanctions over Ukraine. Among those listed was deputy premier Leo Varadkar, who is set to take back the premiership from Martin next month. It also included Simon Coveney, who is Ireland’s foreign and…
Russia on Wednesday blamed Ukraine for a blast on Polish territory that killed two people and launched a wave of international concern the previous day. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said that the missile which landed in the village of Przewodow near the Ukrainian border was struck down by Ukraine’s air defenses. “Photographs of the…
Border guards in the South Caucasus nation of Georgia have denied entry to at least six independent Russian journalists and activists in the past two weeks, the Agentstvo investigative news website reported Wednesday. Ex-Soviet Georgia, which shares a land border with Russia, became a popular relocation destination for anti-war Russians following the February invasion of Ukraine. But Georgian…
A fuel depot exploded on Wednesday in southern Russia near Ukraine following a suspected drone attack, Russian authorities said. There were no casualties reported in the alleged attack which took place some 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the Ukrainian border in the province of Oryol. “Today [Wednesday] at 04:00 [01:00 GMT] a suspected drone blew…
A Russian soldier faces up to 15 years in prison after getting into an altercation with his superiors for criticizing poor training conditions and equipment shortages, media reported Tuesday. The soldier identified as Private Alexander Leshkov was filmed shouting profanities and shoving an officer at a parade ground near the Russian military’s mega-church outside Moscow. …
Poland’s military was on high alert Wednesday after a deadly missile strike on a village near the border with war-ravaged Ukraine. In Indonesia’s Bali, Western leaders held an “emergency roundtable” on the sidelines of the G20 summit, where they urged against jumping to any conclusions about the origins of the strike. The talks came after…
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone Tuesday with Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, offering his condolences following reports that an alleged Russian missile attack had left two dead in Poland. “Expressed condolences over the death of Polish citizens from Russian missile terror. We exchanged available information and are clarifying all the facts. Ukraine, Poland, all…
Moscow’s defence minister on Tuesday dismissed reports that Russian missiles had landed in Poland, which borders Ukraine, as a “provocation” intended to escalate tensions. “Polish mass media and officials commit deliberate provocation to escalate situation with their statement on alleged impact of ‘Russian’ rockets at Przewodow (near the Ukraine border),” Russia’s defence ministry said in…
Missile strikes hit cities across Ukraine on Tuesday, plunging 7 million homes into darkness just days after a humiliating Russian retreat, prompting a defiant response from President Volodymyr Zelensky. Seven million homes were without power following the latest attacks, the presidency said, dampening jubilation over the recapture of Kherson city as world leaders gather at…
A Russian zookeeper accused of stealing animals from a zoo in Ukraine’s Kherson amid Russian forces’ retreat from the city told The Moscow Times on Tuesday that he was “helping out the Kherson animals” by “providing them with accommodation for a while.” Video footage that circulated on social media over the weekend showed zookeeper Oleg…
Relatives of Russian draftees on the frontline in Ukraine have been protesting the treatment of their loved ones and accusing local officials of “betrayal” as news of combat conditions and casualty rates trickles back to towns and cities across the country. While anger appears to be growing, it is for now directed primarily at regional…
Russian proxy officials in the city of Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region said Tuesday that they were relocating deeper into Russian-held territory because they were increasingly under fire from Ukrainian forces. The officials’ exit from Nova Kakhovka, located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, comes days after Russian forces withdrew from…
Russia’s state-funded broadcaster RT said in a statement Tuesday that it was launching a local language version in the Balkans nation of Serbia. The broadcaster, which was suspended in the European Union earlier this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said its new branch will cover “the most pressing regional and world events from an…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Ukraine has put forward “unrealistic and inadequate” terms for future peace talks. Lavrov said he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 summit in Bali, where he reiterated accusations that Kyiv “categorically refuses” negotiations with Moscow. “I reminded him that all the problems are on…
A Russian court has sentenced a former manager at Russian flagship airline Aeroflot’s British office to 13 years in prison for treason, state media reported Tuesday. Dmitry Fedotkin, an Aeroflot country and station manager in London since 2012, faced a maximum sentence of 20 years when he was arrested in November 2020. He has maintained…
The head of Russian mercenary outfit Wagner on Tuesday denied the group’s involvement in the execution of one of its fighters in Ukraine, after having said the man deserved a “dog’s death.” Last week, social media accounts linked to Wagner shared footage of the brutal killing of a man who had reportedly surrendered to Ukrainian…
Russia faced mounting diplomatic pressure Tuesday to end its war in Ukraine, as G20 allies and critics alike rued the painful global impact of nearly nine months of conflict. A draft communique obtained by AFP showed the world’s 20 leading economies coming together to condemn the war’s effects, but still divided on apportioning blame. The summit…
President Vladimir Putin issued a decree Monday allowing Russians who hold another citizenship to be conscripted into the army. The draft is now extended to dual citizens, Russians with permanent residency status abroad and stateless people, according to Putin’s amendments to military service regulations. Dual nationals have been exempt from conscription until now. The changes…
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin-linked businessman and founder of the notorious Wagner Group, a shadowy mercenary organization, has upped the ante in his long-running spat with St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov by requesting the Russian authorities investigate the politician for high treason. The Wagner founder has made formal requests to both the Federal Security Service (FSB)…
The heads of Russian and U.S. intelligence held an unannounced meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday, the Russian Kommersant newspaper reported, the first high-level face-to-face talks between the two countries since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February. The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin arrived in Ankara…
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday visited the newly liberated city of Kherson in southern Ukraine following the retreat of Russian forces across the Dnipro River on Friday. The Ukrainian president joined a large crowd of soldiers and local residents in singing the national anthem, holding his hand over his chest as the country’s blue and…
President Vladimir Putin has put forward legislation that would allow authorities to revoke the passports of naturalized Russian citizens who oppose the invasion of Ukraine, state media reported Sunday. Putin proposed amendments to Russia’s law on citizenship that would make “discrediting” and spreading “fake news” about the Russian military grounds for denaturalization, according to the RIA…
Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said that her country was under de facto “military occupation” by Russia on Monday as she urged the EU to maintain pressure on the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. Moscow used ally Belarus as a key launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine and is deploying thousands of troops to its…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in good health after two health checks at a hospital in Bali, an Indonesian health ministry official said Monday, as Moscow denied the top diplomat had been hospitalized. The Associated Press had reported, citing unnamed Indonesian government and health officials, that Lavrov, 72, had been hospitalized and treated for a…
The Kremlin-linked Wagner mercenary group’s influential leader has voiced approval for the brutal killing of a recruit who deserted in Ukraine. In footage published over the weekend, the man, who identifies himself as Yevgeny Nuzhin, says he surrendered to Ukrainian troops in early September but was kidnapped from the streets of Kyiv on Friday. The…
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Ukrainian forces that retook the city of Kherson found evidence of new war crimes by Russian occupiers. “The Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country,” he said in a nightly address. “Investigators have already documented more than 400 war crimes,” the Ukrainian…
Russian authorities will start publicizing the personal data of people and groups they have labeled “foreign agents” from next month, according to a government decree published Friday. Russia’s Justice Ministry maintains a registry of nearly 200 “foreign agent” individuals and organizations that authorities say have received foreign funding and engaged in political activities. Starting Dec.…
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Russian entrepreneurs Yulia and Ilya Kuleshov worked hard to transform the large house they rented in the Kyrgyz capital into a center for creative volunteer projects after they relocated from St. Petersburg in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But, when President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial” mobilization in late…
Russia’s foreign minister on Sunday accused the United States of driving increased militarisation in Southeast Asia, saying that Washington was trying to contain Beijing and Moscow’s influence in the region. Sergei Lavrov was speaking to reporters at Phnom Penh’s airport after attending the East Asia Summit in Cambodia – and before flying to Bali for…
United Nations chiefs held talks with Russian officials Friday on the Black Sea agreements on exporting grain and fertilisers, eight days before one of the deals is set to expire. The discussions took place behind closed doors at the UN Palais des Nations headquarters in Geneva and wrapped up mid-afternoon. “The discussions updated on progress…
Russian troops withdrew from the right bank of the Dnipro River on Friday in a major military defeat for the Kremlin that led to scenes of jubilation in the port city of Kherson, the only Ukrainian regional capital Russia succeeded in occupying in almost nine months of bitter fighting. Unlike recent Russian retreats in eastern…
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Friday that his organization had started training civilians in Russian regions bordering Ukraine to form a militia and build fortifications. “Wagner is helping and will keep helping the population in border areas to learn how to build engineering structures, to train and to organize…
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Moscow-installed administration in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, was buried in the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Friday, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported. Stremousov, 45, died in an apparent car accident near the town of Henichesk on Wednesday, according to local officials. The funeral ceremony was…