Elite Russian Marine Unit Slams Military Leaders for ‘Baffling’ Battle Losses

An elite Russian naval infantry unit has blasted its superiors’ decision-making after suffering massive losses in what its members called a “baffling” assault on an eastern Ukrainian village, pro-war reporters said Sunday. Russian forces launched an offensive on the Ukrainian garrison in Pavlivka southwest of Donetsk on Nov. 2 to seize control of a key…

Details

No Electricity, Water in Kherson after Kyiv Strike: Moscow-Installed Authorities

Ukraine’s Moscow-occupied southern city of Kherson was cut off from electricity and water supplies after a Kyiv strike on nearby power lines, Russian-installed authorities said Sunday. “In Kherson and a number of other areas in the region, there is temporarily no electricity or water supply,” the city’s Moscow-installed administration said on Telegram.  It said it…

Details

Iran Admits Sending Russia Drones

Iran admitted for the first time on Saturday that it has sent drones to Russia, but insisted they were supplied to its ally before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We supplied Russia with a limited number of drones months before the war in Ukraine,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, quoted by the official news agency…

Details

Russian Strikes Leave 4.5 Million Without Power in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of “energy terrorism” on Thursday night, after renewed strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure left some 4.5 million people without power. “Tonight, about 4.5 million consumers have been temporarily disconnected from energy consumption,” Zelensky said in his daily evening address. “The very fact that Russia is resorting to energy…

Details

UN Reports ‘Progress’ on Talks to Allow Russian Fertilizer Exports

Negotiations underway to unblock exports of fertilizer from Russia have made “important steps forward,” one of the main United Nations negotiators said on Thursday, while acknowledging that there was still a way to go. Russian grain and fertilizer exports continue to face issues over sanctions imposed after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, despite two agreements…

Details

Russian Flag Disappears from Kherson Administration in First Signal of Potential Retreat

The Russian flag hanging in front of the regional administration in Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region has been taken down, pro-Russian Telegram channels said Thursday. “I drove up to the building of the former government of the Kherson region; I confirm that there is no [Russian] flag over it,” pro-Kremlin war correspondent Alexander Kots said on…

Details

Russian Officials Mull Seizure of Zelensky’s Crimean Apartment

The Russian authorities in annexed Crimea said Thursday they are considering nationalizing Ukrainian-owned property on the peninsula, including an $800,000 apartment owned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A commission is currently compiling a list of properties owned by “unfriendly” foreign individuals and states that could be subject to nationalization, Vladimir Konstantinov, the head of Crimea’s…

Details

Dutch Owner to Sell Russian Telecoms Firm Vimpelcom

The Dutch firm that owns Russian telecoms operator Vimpelcom will sell its Russian operations, the company announced Wednesday, reportedly due to the growing complications of Western sanctions. Vimpelcom, which operates popular Russian phone and internet provider Beeline, has been owned by Netherlands-based multinational Veon, formerly Vimpelcom Ltd., since 2009. Veon is now “conducting a competitive…

Details

Russian Military Discussed Nuclear Weapons Use in Ukraine – NYT

Russian military officials recently met to talk about the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing U.S. intelligence. Washington learned last month of the conversations, which did not include Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the newspaper.  U.S. officials did not disclose the possible scenarios in which…

Details

‘I Don’t Trust What They Say’: Russian Draft Dodgers Stay in Hiding Even as Putin Announces Mobilization’s End

Nikita moved to his family’s summer cottage outside the Russian capital to lie low after President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial” mobilization for the war in Ukraine.  Although Putin said earlier this week that mobilization was over, Nikita told The Moscow Times that he has no plans yet to return to his normal life in…

Details

Putin Orders Unilateral Visa-Free Travel

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered to allow visa-free travel from countries regardless of their visa policies toward Russian citizens. A Kremlin decree dated Oct. 30 instructs Putin’s cabinet to facilitate visa-free tourism, business, educational, sports and cultural travel even if these countries require visas for Russians to visit. Ukraine, for example, introduced visa requirements…

Details

North Korea, Russia End 2-Year Hiatus in Railway Trade

North Korea and Russia have resumed cross-border railway trade, ending a two-year hiatus caused by Covid-19 border restrictions, media reported Wednesday. Russia’s Interfax news agency reported that the first freight train carrying 30 thoroughbred horses has departed for the country’s only border crossing with North Korea, Khasan-Tumangang. Russian federal customs service data viewed by The…

Details

Putin Demands ‘Real Guarantees’ From Kyiv Before Restoration of Grain Deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday that he wanted “real guarantees” from Kyiv before potentially rejoining the grain deal.  In a phone call, Putin told Erdogan that Russia sought “real guarantees from Kyiv about the strict observance of the Istanbul agreement, in particular about not using the humanitarian corridor…

Details

Kremlin Accuses U.K. of ‘Directing and Coordinating’ Nord Stream Blasts

The Kremlin on Tuesday accused Britain of “directing and coordinating” explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. “Our intelligence services have data indicating that British military specialists were directing and coordinating the attack,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. “There is evidence that Britain is involved in sabotage, in a terrorist attack on vital energy…

Details

Fourth Billionaire Renounces Russian Citizenship Over Ukraine

The Russian-born co-founder and CEO of British digital bank Revolut has become the fourth billionaire to renounce his Russian citizenship, The Telegraph reported on Saturday. Nik Storonsky, 37, had dual British and Russian citizenship until his decision to renounce his Russian citizenship earlier this year, the report said. Storonsky, who has publicly condemned Moscow’s invasion…

Details

Russia Targets Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure in New Strikes

Russia’s military said it successfully hit several Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities in the latest round of missile strikes fired at the war-torn country Monday.  “The Russian Armed Forces continued to launch strikes with high-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons against Ukrainian military and energy facilities,” the Defense Ministry said in an update on its Telegram…

Details

Finnish Police: Weapons Bound For Ukraine End Up on Europe’s Black Market

Police in Finland have raised the alarm over the smuggling of Western-donated weapons from Ukraine by criminal gangs, Finland’s Yle broadcaster reported Sunday. Weapons originally sent as military aid to Ukraine including assault rifles, pistols, grenades and combat drones, had been found in multiple European countries, Christer Ahlgren, head of organized crime at the Finnish…

Details

Putin Congratulates Brazil’s Lula on Election Win, Says Hopes for ‘Cooperation’

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday after the leftist ex-president narrowly won a divisive runoff against far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. “The results of the vote have confirmed your high political authority,” Putin said in a telegram published by the Kremlin after Brazilian electoral officials called the election for…

Details