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Ukrainian drones have targeted several regions in central and southwestern Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday, as Ukrainian media reported that Kyiv was behind alleged attacks against at least two Russian oil refineries. “Air defense forces destroyed and intercepted 6 Ukrainian drones, three of which were over the Voronezh region, one over the Ryazan…

A Russian missile attack has killed at least three people in Odesa, the mayor of the southwestern Ukrainian port city said early Wednesday. “The enemy attacked Odesa with ballistic missiles. As a result of the attack, three people were killed and three more were wounded,” mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov wrote on the messaging app Telegram. Odesa…

Five Russians accused of setting fire to a helicopter on behalf of Ukraine appeared before a Moscow court on Tuesday and were charged with “terrorism.” The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intelligence agency HUR published a video late last week of what it claimed was a Ka-32 transportation helicopter being set ablaze at a Moscow airport. “The aggressor…

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…

A powerful dust storm swept through the Siberian city of Irkutsk on Tuesday, with local authorities reporting damage to buildings and a local energy provider shutting down power lines as a safety precaution. “Irkutsk was hit by inclement weather, the wind speed has reached 28 meters per second,” Irkutsk Mayor Ruslan Bolotov said in an…

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.”…

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…

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…

The head of Nizhny Novgorod’s city government has been arrested in occupied eastern Ukraine on charges of embezzlement, Russian media reported Tuesday. Oleg Lavrichev, who serves as chairman of Nizhny Novgorod’s City Duma and is a member of the ruling United Russia party, was taken into police custody over the weekend, according to an official citied by local…

The head of a property management company in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk issued a public apology after residents complained about a curbside that was painted in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, media reported. “It’s already being painted over [into red and blue],” Vladimir Simonov, who heads the property management company, told the online…

A cyber specialist who briefly worked at the top secret U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison on Monday for attempting to spy for Moscow, the Justice Department said. Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, spent less than four weeks working at the NSA, the U.S. government’s signals intelligence agency,…

The death toll from a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa rose to five early Tuesday after a man died at the hospital, regional authorities said. Russia’s military on Monday afternoon struck Odesa, which is located on the Black Sea, injuring nearly two dozen people in the blast. “Unfortunately, the…

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…

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…

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday that its troops had taken control of another village near the captured town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk region. Russian forces gained control over Avdiivka in February after one of the bloodiest battles since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine over two years ago. In its daily…

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…

At least two police officers and five assailants have been killed in a firefight in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Russian law enforcement officials said Monday, the second such attack in the region over the past week. A gunfight broke out late Sunday when the unidentified attackers approached officers on duty and fired an explosive…

Ukraine said Monday that it had thwarted over 50 Russian attacks in the eastern Donetsk region, a day after it admitted to a worsening situation on the front line. Moscow over the weekend announced that it had captured the eastern village of Novobakhmutivka, as struggling Ukrainian forces await the arrival of crucial U.S. military aid…

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Sunday claimed its forces had taken control of another village in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow’s troops press their advantage in manpower and ammunition on the battlefield. Russia’s forces have made notable gains in the eastern Donetsk region over the last week, prompting rare criticism by Ukrainian military bloggers of the country’s…

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…

Three members of a well-known Russian metal band — Korrozia Metalla — were on Saturday arrested in the middle of a concert and charged with displaying “Nazi symbols”, authorities said. The three band members aged 19, 42 and 57 are accused of “propaganda or public exposition of Nazi accessories or symbols”, said regional police in…

Russia shot down 17 Ukrainian drones overnight in several western regions, the defense ministry said on Sunday. “The air defense systems intercepted and destroyed seventeen Ukrainian UAVs,” the ministry said in a Telegram post. Most of the drones were shot down in regions that border Ukraine, with nine downed in Bryansk, three in Kursk and…

U.S. intelligence agencies believe that while the Russian president was ultimately responsible for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, he didn’t order it to take place when it did, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The finding, which the Journal said was based on both classified intelligence and an analysis of public facts, raises…

A Russian journalist has been arrested on “extremism” accusations for helping create YouTube videos for the team of late opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny, Moscow courts said on Saturday. Konstantin Gabov, who according to media reports worked for Reuters, Russian television channels Moskva 24 and MIR, and Belarusian news agency Belsat, will remain in pre-trial detention…

Russia launched a “massive” missile strike on Ukraine overnight, hitting energy facilities and damaging power plants in several regions, officials in Kyiv said on Saturday. Moscow has escalated its strikes against Ukraine’s power network in recent months, causing blackouts and triggering Ukraine to ask consumers to ration their energy supplies. “Russian armed forces staged another…

A senior Ukrainian security source told AFP on Friday that Russia had increased attacks on railway infrastructure with the aim of disrupting movement of military cargo that includes Western aid. Russian forces have firepower and manpower advantages over Ukrainian forces across the front line and Kyiv has warned that fighting will be especially difficult over…

Police carried out searches at Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Russian media reported Friday. The Ostorozhno Novosti news channel on Telegram said officers were at the museum’s archival building and a second building where Garage offers walking tours. “Garage supervisors and curators are being held and are banned from using their phones until the [searches] end,”…

Ukrainian bombardments killed three people in separate attacks on Russian border regions and in occupied Ukrainian territory, Russian and Moscow-installed officials said Friday. Ukrainian forces over recent months have escalated fatal missile and drone attacks on Russian border regions, and also targeted Russian energy infrastructure. “The village of Korovyakovka was shelled from the Ukrainian side…

Russia’s Central Bank on Friday held interest rates unchanged after President Vladimir Putin cautioned against cutting borrowing costs prematurely. Moscow last year hiked its key interest rate to 16% to combat a surge in inflation, as the Russian currency wobbled under the pressure of Western sanctions. The Central Bank said on Friday it was still…

Читайте русскую версию здесь. BRUSSELS — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to the seat of the European Union this month underscored the country’s delicate balancing act as it branches outside Russia’s sphere of influence. After talks with EU President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Brussels and Washington promised…

Russian officials said on Friday that Ukrainian bombardments had left two people dead in separate attacks on the border region of Kursk, and in Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian soldiers. Ukrainian forces over recent months have escalated fatal missile and drone attacks on Russian border regions, and also targeted Russian energy infrastructure. “The village of…

Two Russian soldiers have been arrested on suspicion of going on a drunken killing spree in the Moscow-occupied part of southern Ukraine’s Kherson region this week, according to media reports. Alexander Osipov, 34, and Alexander Kaigorodtsev, 36, were detained Wednesday after several people were found dead in the neighboring villages of Podo-Kalynivka and Abrykosivka, the…

Russia has arrested a journalist from the Russian edition of Forbes magazine for social media reposts over accusations of Russian atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, his lawyer and Forbes said on Friday. Rights groups say hundreds of Russians have been arrested, fined and jailed for criticizing Russia’s offensive on Ukraine under tough military…

Russia is reopening the first of several regional airports that were closed when the country invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, state civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia announced Friday. All flights to and from 11 airports in southern and central parts of the country have been grounded over safety concerns since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops…

Nearly four decades ago today, the Soviet Union witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history when the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded. In the present-day Russian capital, another potential radioactive threat lies dormant beneath Muscovites’ feet. In Moscow’s northwestern Shchukino district, city authorities are planning new developments atop underground…

Russia is seeking to ban the vaguely defined “anti-Russian separatist movement” as an “extremist” organization, the Justice Ministry said Friday. According to the ministry, the so-called movement’s goal is to “destroy the multinational unity and territorial integrity of Russia.” The ministry’s request is set to be heard by Russia’s Supreme Court on June 7. The independent…

A teenager from the Siberian city of Chita has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for anti-war graffiti and social media posts, a Russian court said Thursday. Russian media said this was the first time a minor was imprisoned for their anti-war views. Tenth-grader Lyubov Lizunova, 17, was detained alongside Alexander Snezhkov, 19, and Vladislav Vishnevsky, 23,…

Russian soldiers returning from Ukraine have killed 107 people since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor over two years ago, the independent investigative news outlet Vyorstka reported Thursday, citing media reports and court filings. Vyorstka said it tallied up the violent crime convictions of 91 ex-convicts pardoned after fighting in Ukraine and 84 regular…

After being held up by half a year of partisan infighting in Congress, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a $61 billion package of desperately needed aid for Ukraine, showing that Kyiv’s most vital ally will continue to support its fight against Russia’s invasion — at least for now. But while Kyiv has welcomed the news,…

Russia on Thursday denied reports that it was considering barring its own citizens from renewing passports abroad, a move that would further disadvantage exiled dissidents who fled political persecution. The independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta said earlier Thursday that it had obtained a copy of a draft Foreign Ministry decree suspending passport renewals and other consular services for Russians…

The Ukrainian city of Mariupol was almost entirely raised to the ground during an 80-day-long conquest waged by Russia in 2022. At least 8,000 residents of the city died of war-related causes during the siege, according to Human Rights Watch. Images of life and death in the besieged city — which were also depicted in…

The Russian TV personality and blogger who organized a controversial celebrity “nearly naked” party in December has been fined $542 for “discrediting” the Russian military. Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court found Anastasia Ivleeva guilty of “public actions aimed at discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” and issued a 50,000-ruble fine, according to the Moscow court system’s Telegram channel. A…

The Kremlin said Thursday that Ukraine’s access to long-range weapons, including ATACMS provided by the United States, would not fundamentally change the outcome of the conflict, now in its third year. That comments came hours after the State Department said the United States had secretly sent ATACMS missiles to Ukraine for use inside its own…

Russia on Thursday handed a long jail term to a Siberian man accused of state treason and terrorism over plans to join Russian units fighting for Ukraine. This is the latest arrest of Russian citizens accused of wanting to fight as part of pro-Ukrainian armed groups, which have led several deadly incursions into Russia. The…

A Moscow court has launched hearings against a young woman who backs the invasion of Ukraine on accusations of vandalizing a ballot box with green antiseptic dye, the independent news outlet Mediazona has reported. Alina Nevmyanova, 20, is among several Russians who were caught on camera pouring the dye — zelyonka in Russian — or setting…

A senior Russian proxy official in the occupied Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia said Thursday that two civilians had been killed by a Ukrainian drone. The Kremlin claimed to have annexed Zaporizhzhia in late 2022 despite not fully controlling the industrial territory, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict. “A man and…

Ukrainian and Russian forces exchanged drone and artillery fire on Thursday, leaving at least seven dead, regional officials on both sides of the frontline announced. The uptick in civilian deaths came as Russian forces are pressing in hard in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, ahead of events in Moscow on May 9, hailing the…

Russian security and law enforcement authorities said Thursday they have thwarted a fake bomb threat allegedly organized by a private security firm. Investigators said three members of an unidentified transportation security organization had last November installed three fake bombs under two road bridges in the city of Tver, 160 kilometers northwest of Moscow. “They then provided fake…

The State Department confirmed Wednesday that the United States had secretly sent long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine as part of the March assistance package, fulfilling a long-standing request from Kyiv. “We did not announce this at the onset in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine at their request,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told…

Independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on Monday that Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, has been living with a potentially fatal illness for more than five years, prompting the Kremlin to start working on a plan for a managed transfer of power. In the first part of its investigation into the political…

Kyiv’s SBU security service said Wednesday it suspected a high-ranking cleric and head of east Ukraine’s main monastery of having revealed army positions to Russian forces. The SBU said it had “served a notice of suspicion to the Metropolitan of the Sviatohirsk Lavra who ‘tipped off’” Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region to Russian forces.…

The arrest of a senior defense official on bribery suspicions signals Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s diminishing status and the rising influence of the security services, two sources in the Russian government and a person close to the Kremlin told The Moscow Times.  All spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.…

When the water started rising sharply in Orenburg, a regional capital near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan, Veronika realized that a “gigantic tragedy” was unfolding before her eyes.  “It was such a terrible, nerve-wracking situation because the water kept rising and rising,” Orenburg resident Veronika told The Moscow Times. “Every day you wake up, scroll through…

Russia and Ukraine have for the first time held in-person talks to exchange children displaced by the war, Moscow’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova announced Wednesday. Forty-eight children are set to be exchanged under the deal agreed in Qatar, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted Lvova-Belova as saying. Qatar said it mediated the Russian-Ukrainian children’s…

A veteran of Russia’s war on Ukraine has been appointed as a district head in his home region on Monday, marking the first known example of a participant in the war being named to public office in Russia.  “Today, deputies of the Berezovsky District Duma unanimously endorsed the candidacy of Ruslan Alexandrov for the post…

Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov has been arrested in one of the highest-profile corruption cases involving the military since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. Dubbed “one of the richest siloviki,” 48-year-old Ivanov has been the subject of Russian media investigations into his and his family’s lavish lifestyles. Ivanov is also seen as…

The Russian Orthodox Church has suspended a priest who led a memorial service for the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny last month, according to a ruling on the Moscow diocese website. Priest Dmitry Safronov performed a memorial service at Navalny’s gravesite in Moscow on March 26, 40 days after the Kremlin critic died in an Arctic prison. According…

A Russian deputy defense minister who was exposed in an investigation by late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team was remanded in custody Wednesday on suspicion of taking large bribes. The arrest of Timur Ivanov, a longtime ally of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, is the most dramatic corruption case in Russia in recent years, and comes…