Russian Strikes Cut Power for Nearly Half a Million Homes in Ukraine

Russian shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure led to widespread power outages overnight in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Monday. Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities in recent months, knocking out a significant chunk of production, and triggering blackouts and energy rationing across the country. “The enemy shelled energy…

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Russia Says Preparing Non-Strategic Nuclear Strike Drills

Updated with Peskov’s remarks. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Monday that its forces were preparing to conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises in response to Western “threats and provocations.” “At the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat…

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Russian Military Court Extends Playwright, Director’s Pre-Trial Detention by 6 Months

A Russian military court on Friday extended the pre-trial detention of theater director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk by six months on charges of “justifying terrorism.”  Berkovich and Petriychuk face up to seven years in prison if found guilty. They were charged over the content of their award-winning play, “Finist the Brave Falcon,” which…

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‘My Moral Compass Demands It’: Russian Emigres Rally Alongside Georgians Against ‘Foreign Influence’ Bill

TBILISI, Georgia — Anton reached into his backpack and pulled out a pair of plastic goggles and a meager cloth face mask — protection against tear gas and pepper spray. That night, like the night before, the 34-year-old Russian emigre and self-described political activist planned to stay out until daybreak alongside Georgian protesters, showing solidarity…

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Russia’s FSB Says Killed Ukrainian ‘Saboteur’ Planning 3 Attacks

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday it had shot and killed a Ukrainian military saboteur who was planning to attack Russian military and energy sites. “The saboteur planned to commit a series of terrorist acts in Russia on the orders of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s HUR [military intelligence], including against Russia’s Defense Ministry facilities,…

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Washington Says Russian Soldiers Deployed at Niger Airbase Housing U.S. Military

Russian military instructors are operating at the same airbase in Niger as American troops, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday, confirming previous media reports that Russian troops had entered the same base amid the West African nation’s deepening ties with Moscow. “The Russians are in a separate compound and don’t have access to U.S. forces or…

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Putin Rumored to Sack Deputy PM Abramchenko After Inauguration – Vedomosti

Russian President Vladimir Putin is purportedly mulling the removal of Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko from her post following his inauguration next week, the Vedomosti business newspaper reported Thursday, citing four anonymous sources close to the Kremlin. Abramchenko, 48, has overseen environmental projects, natural resources, and Russia’s agro-industrial complex since 2020 as a member of…

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In Photos: Georgian Riot Police Clash With Protesters Rallying Against ‘Foreign Influence’ Bill

Thousands of Georgians this week have rallied against a controversial “foreign influence” bill being debated in Georgia’s parliament. Critics compare the legislation to Russia’s “foreign agents” law, which since its adoption over a decade ago has been used to crack down on independent media and the political opposition. In the latest escalation, police used pepper…

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Russians Returning From Abroad Help Boost Kremlin’s War Economy – Bloomberg

Russians who initially fled the country but are now returning from abroad have helped boost Russia’s economic growth in the face of unprecedented Western sanctions, Bloomberg reported Thursday.  An estimated 1.1 million people left Russia in 2022 after Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Between 40% and 45% have since returned, according to client…

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Russia Seeks 10-Year Jail Term for Wife of Exiled Journalist in Attempted Murder Case

Russian prosecutors have requested a 10-year prison sentence for the wife of exiled journalist Kirill Martynov in a controversial case surrounding the alleged attempted murder of her daughter nearly two decades ago, the online news outlet Mediazona reported Thursday. Antonina Martynova, whose maiden name is Fyodorova, had evaded criminal punishment for 16 years after a…

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Ukrainian Drone Attacks Damage Energy Sites in Western Russia

Ukrainian drones targeted energy infrastructure in at least two regions of western Russia overnight, Russian regional authorities said early Thursday, coming just a day after Kyiv reportedly attacked oil refineries inside the country. “The Oryol region was once again attacked by enemy drones,” Oryol region Governor Andrei Klychkov said shortly after midnight on Thursday. Klychkov…

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In Photos: Russia Shows Off Captured Western Military Hardware at Moscow Expo

Visitors on Wednesday flocked to the opening of a month-long exhibition of Western military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine. The showcase, which is located at a World War II memorial park in Moscow, features 32 pieces of heavy equipment, including a U.S.-made M1 Abrams tank, a German-made Leopard 2A6 tank, a U.S.-made Bradley armored fighting vehicle, as well…

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Russia Says Carried Out Strike on Ukraine’s Southern Command Center

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its forces carried out a strike on the Ukrainian military’s southern operational command center. “Operational and tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces’ military group has struck [Ukraine’s] ‘South’ operational command headquarters,” the Defense Ministry said in its daily briefing. Ukraine’s Operational Command South is based…

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Russia Says Intercepted U.S.-Supplied ATACMS Missiles Fired From Ukraine

Updated with Politico report. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its forces shot down six U.S.-supplied missiles launched by Ukraine, with Moscow-backed officials in annexed Crimea claiming some of the weapons were downed over the Black Sea peninsula. Washington quietly shipped an unspecified number of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine in recent…

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Russian Strikes Kill Railway Worker in Ukraine’s Kharkiv

Russian strikes on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv have killed at least one person and wounded nine others, regional authorities said Tuesday. “Nine people were wounded and one person was killed as a result of enemy bombardment of Kharkiv,” regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Earlier on Tuesday, he said Russian forces “attacked Kharkiv with guided aerial bombs.”…

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River Levels in Western Siberia Set to Peak Later Than Forecast Due to ‘Abnormal’ Flooding

Authorities in western Siberia’s Tyumen region said Tuesday that “abnormal” flooding has led to revised predictions for the anticipated peak water levels in the Tobol and Ishim rivers. “Along the Tobol River, hydrologists have observed abnormal behavior. The water moves very slowly because it’s spilling over the floodplain,” Tyumen region Governor Alexander Moor said on…

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Russian Philosopher Dugin Rails Against Western Liberalism in Tucker Carlson Interview

American conservative pundit Tucker Carlson on Tuesday released an interview with Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin, who criticized “Anglo-Saxon” individualism and warned that Western liberal ideas would bring about the loss of “human identity.” In the 20-minute conversation with Carlson, who is known for spreading far-right conspiracy theories, Dugin argued that liberalism frees people from “any kind…

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Tajikistan Summons Russian Ambassador Over Alleged Rights Violations Against Citizens

Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Russia’s ambassador in Dushanbe over alleged rights violations against Tajik citizens in Russia, the state-run news agency TASS reported Monday. The ministry handed Russian ambassador Semyon Grigoryev an official note of protest “expressing serious concern over the huge number of cases of an emphatically negative attitude toward citizens of the Republic…

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Major European Banks Paying Russia More in Taxes Than Before Ukraine Invasion – FT

Major European banks that continue to do business in Russia paid the government four times more in taxes in 2023 than in the year before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times reported. The seven lenders — Austria’s Raiffeisen, Italy’s UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, the Netherlands’ ING, Germany’s Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, as…

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Russia’s Ishim River Swells to Record High Amid Widespread Flooding

Water levels in the Ishim River in Russia’s Tyumen region have hit an all-time high, regional authorities said Monday, causing a large traffic backup along a major highway. “The water level in the Ishim River isn’t decreasing. It even increased due to yesterday’s rainfall. The historical maximum of [12.15 meters] has been reached,” Tyumen region Governor Alexander Moor…

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Russia Arrests Journalist Over Videos for Late Dissident Navalny’s Team — Agency

Another Russian journalist has been detained in Russia for “extremism”, accused of making videos for the team of late dissident Alexei Navalny, the Associated Press international news agency said on Sunday. Sergei Karelin, who has worked for the AP, is the second journalist arrested over such allegations after Konstantin Gabov, who occasionally worked for Reuters…

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