By Pressing Onward With Elections in Battlefield Kursk Region, Kremlin Seeks to Show Everything Is Business as Usual

The Kremlin refuses to cancel next month’s elections in the Kursk border region despite Ukraine’s ongoing offensive there, deeming it to be “only a local crisis” from a military perspective, three Russian officials familiar with the election preparations told Politika.Kozlov.  The officials agreed to speak on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the…

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Russian Missile and Drone Attacks Hit Energy Sites Across Ukraine, Killing 3

Russian missile and drone strikes targeted energy facilities across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, killing at least three civilians, Ukrainian authorities said Monday. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said 15 of Ukraine’s 24 regions came under attack from drones, cruise missiles and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. “To stop the barbaric shelling of Ukrainian cities, it is necessary…

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Ukrainian Drone Attack Damages High-Rise in Russia’s Saratov Region, Injures Residents

An overnight Ukrainian drone attack in southern Russia’s Saratov region damaged several high-rise apartment buildings and injured multiple people, local authorities said early Monday. “Air defense systems shot down drones early this morning,” Saratov region Governor Roman Busargin wrote on Telegram. “Debris fell on residential buildings in both Saratov and Engels.” The cities of Saratov…

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Durov: Mysterious and Controversial Telegram Founder

Russian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov has founded wildly popular social networks as well as a cryptocurrency, amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune and locked horns with authorities not just in Russia but around the world. Still a few months shy of his 40th birthday, the man once dubbed the “Russian Zuckerberg” after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg now…

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Kyiv Says Belarus ‘Concentrating’ Troops on Border, Warns Against ‘Unfriendly Actions’

Ukraine accused its Moscow-allied neighbor Belarus on Sunday of “concentrating” troops on the countries’ shared border and warned Minsk against “unfriendly actions,” in a statement by Kyiv’s foreign ministry. The statement came as Kyiv mounts an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region and as Russia continues its advance into eastern Ukraine. Belarus had allowed Russian troops…

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Zelensky Vows More ‘Retribution’ for Russia, POWs Exchanged

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed more “retribution” against Russia on Saturday as he celebrated Independence Day near where his forces launched a surprise offensive into Russian territory two weeks ago. Zelensky also signed a law banning the Russia-linked branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, calling the legislation a “liberation from Moscow’s devils,” drawing a sharp…

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Russia Frees Israeli-Canadian Racer Wanted by U.S.

A Russian court on Saturday freed Israeli-Canadian citizen Joshua Cartu who was arrested earlier this week at the request of the U.S. over alleged financial crimes. Dubbed “Ferrari fugitive,” the racing car driver and entrepreneur has been accused along with his brothers of defrauding investors of millions of dollars. He was detained on Monday by…

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Russia, Ukraine Exchange 230 Prisoners of War

Russia and Ukraine announced Saturday they had exchanged 115 prisoners of war each, just over two weeks after Kyiv launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. The exchange came as Kyiv mounted its offensive in Kursk and as Russia eyes more east Ukrainian towns. It also came on Ukrainian Independence Day. Both countries thanked…

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Russian Court Jails 5 More Dagestan Airport Rioters

Five men who took part in last year’s airport storming in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan were handed varying jail sentences, court authorities said Friday. Hundreds of people descended on Dagestan’s Makhachkala International Airport in late October as they searched for Israeli citizens rumored to be onboard a flight arriving from Tel Aviv. The mob paralyzed…

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Police ‘Neutralize’ 4 Inmates After Hostage Standoff at Volgograd Region Prison

Knife-wielding inmates killed at least three Russian prison guards Friday in a prison siege, officials said, with the assailants having apparent connections to the Islamic State (IS) group. Russian special forces stormed IK-19 Surovikino penal colony in Russia’s southern Volgograd region and shot dead all four attackers after an hours-long standoff. “Four criminals took eight colony…

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The new name of the management company of the Wind Energy Division of ROSATOM – Rosatom Renewable Energy, JSC

The legal entity’s name was changed as part of the implementation of the the state corporation branding policy. In order to switch to a «monolithic» brand, JSC NovaWind, the management company of the Wind Energy Division of the State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM, was renamed into Rosatom Renewable Energy, JSC (in Russian — Акционерное общество…

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Atoms Empowering Africa winners travel to Russia to see nuclear innovations and cultural destinations

In an inspiring showcase of talent and ambition, twenty talented young individuals from across Africa have emerged as winners of ROSATOM’s Atoms Empowering Africa competition. This unique initiative offered these future leaders the invaluable opportunity to delve into the latest advancements in nuclear technology while immersing themselves in the rich cultural heritage of Russia.  The…

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‘Everyone Is On Their Own’: In Battlefield Kursk Region, Civilians Feel Forgotten By Their Own Country

As Kyiv’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region continues for a third week, civilians on the ground are voicing growing anger toward Ukraine, fellow Russians and their own government, which they feel has abandoned them and tried to downplay the incursion. Kursk region residents who spoke to The Moscow Times expressed frustration with what they see…

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Moscow Activist Kotov Detained for Allegedly Donating to Navalny’s ‘Extremist’ Groups

An activist who previously served prison time for breaking Russian protest laws was detained for donating money to Alexei Navalny’s outlawed political organizations, independent media reported Thursday. Programmer Konstantin Kotov was arrested during the 2019 Moscow election protests and ended up serving 18 months for “multiple breaches” of Russian protest laws. His original four-year sentence…

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Russian Universities Admit Twice as Many Ukraine War Veterans for 2024-25 Academic Year

Russian universities admitted almost twice as many Ukraine war veterans and their children for the upcoming academic year compared to 2023-24, Russia’s Education and Science Ministry said Thursday in comments to the Interfax news agency. President Vladimir Putin in 2022 ordered a 10% university admission quota for war veterans and their children, granting them priority…

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Kursk Governor Says 133K Evacuated, 20K Remain in Border Areas

Around 20,000 Russian civilians remain in border areas of the southwestern Kursk region, authorities said Thursday, coming after more than 133,000 people were evacuated amid clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Acting Kursk region Governor Alexei Smirnov provided the latest evacuation figures in a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin and other government officials. “As…

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Russia Charges CNN Journalist Over Report From Sudzha

Russian law enforcement authorities said Thursday that they have filed criminal charges against a CNN reporter and two Ukrainian journalists for illegally crossing the border into Ukrainian-held territory of the Kursk region during a reporting assignment. “Criminal charges have been filed, and investigations are underway,” a spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) told the…

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Installation of the lower part of the outer containment has been completed at Power Unit No. 1 of the Akkuyu NPP (Turkey)

A fully mounted containment will ensure the maximum level of safety of the nuclear power plant. August 22, 2024 – Büyükeceli, Mersin Province, Türkiye. Russian and Turkish specialists have completed the installation of the lower dome part of the outer containment (OC) in the design position at Power Unit No.1 of the Akkuyu NPP (being…

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Russia Hands 8-Year Term To Exiled Kremlin Critic Gudkov

A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced exiled opposition politician and former MP Dmitry Gudkov to eight years in prison “in absentia” for criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Gudkov, who served as a lawmaker in Russia’s parliament from 2011 to 2016, was found guilty of publishing “false information” about the Russian military, motivated by “political…

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Russia Blames Telegram, WhatsApp Outage on Cyberattack as Experts Point to Censorship

Russia said Wednesday that brief outages of Telegram and WhatsApp were caused by a cyberattack, while internet experts suggested that the authorities themselves may have attempted to block the popular messaging services. Federal media regulator Roskomnadzor blamed the outage on a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyberattack targeting Russia’s telecom operators.  A DDoS attack is designed to force…

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Northern Russia’s Murmansk Region Targeted in Drone Attack

Authorities in northern Russia’s Murmansk region issued a drone attack warning on Wednesday, as local airports imposed flight restrictions following unverified reports of an unmanned aircraft being shot down. “A drone threat has been detected in the Murmansk region,” Governor Andrei Chibis wrote on Telegram. “All necessary security measures are being taken.” Shortly before the…

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Kyrgyz Banks Suspend In-App Money Transfers to Russia

Major banks in Kyrgyzstan have suspended money transfers to Russia via their mobile apps following U.S. sanctions, local media reported Wednesday. The former Soviet republic is one of several Central Asian countries that have become a “backdoor” for Russia to maintain economic ties with the West despite sanctions imposed over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.…

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Russian Police Detain Israeli-Canadian Racecar Driver Wanted in U.S. for Fraud – Reports

Russian law enforcement authorities detained an Israeli-Canadian racecar driver and entrepreneur wanted by the U.S. for allegedly defrauding investors of millions of dollars through an illegal online stock trading scheme, media reported Tuesday. Joshua Cartu, 45, was detained at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport by the Interior Ministry’s Interpol bureau on Monday, according to the local news…

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This Week in the Republics

The Moscow Times is republishing the weekly news wrap spotlighting the latest developments in Russia’s ethnic republics and Indigenous communities, which was originally published by From the Republics.  Tyva & Sakha ablaze Authorities in the Siberian republic of Tyva on Sunday declared a region-wide state of emergency for the second time this month due to…

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