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Thousands of protesters in central Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan braved freezing temperatures on Monday as they called for the release of an activist who is standing trial on charges of inciting ethnic hatred. Authorities accuse Fayil Alsynov of inciting ethnic hatred against migrant workers when he spoke at a rally in April 2023, referring to…

The Kremlin said Monday it has “no information” about Russian military aircraft that Ukraine claims to have shot down over the Azov Sea. Ukraine’s top general Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced earlier on Monday that a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and an Il-22 aerial command center had been “destroyed” over the Azov Sea, which lies…

Russia has sentenced more than 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war to lengthy jail sentences, state-run media reported Monday, citing a top law enforcement official. Since invading Ukraine, Moscow is believed to have captured thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom were taken during the siege of the port city of Mariupol in early 2022. Kyiv…

Alcohol dependency in Russia has increased for the first time in 10 years, Russia’s business daily Kommersant reported Monday, citing data from the state statistics agency Rosstat. In the decade between 2010 and 2021, first-time alcohol use disorder diagnoses declined from 153,900 to 53,300. But in 2022, doctors issued 54,200 first-time diagnoses of alcohol use…

Russia has handed a five-year jail sentence to a 20-year-old student for allegedly working with Ukrainian special services and planning sabotage attacks on military bases, law enforcement authorities said Monday. The Kurgan region branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said the student, whose name it did not provide, had been detained earlier on suspicion…

Updated with Ostorozhno Novosti report, Duntsova’s remarks. Former Russian presidential candidate Yekaterina Duntsova was briefly detained and taken in by police for a drug test, the Ateo Breaking Telegram channel reported late Sunday. Duntsova, 40, a journalist and local politician from the Tver region northwest of Moscow, announced her bid for the presidency in November…

Former Russian presidential candidate Yekaterina Duntsova was briefly detained and taken for a drug test, the Ateo Breaking Telegram channel reported late Sunday, without citing sources. Duntsova, 40, a journalist and local politician from the Tver region northwest of Moscow, announced her bid for the presidency in November on a pro-peace, pro-democracy platform. The Central…

North Korea’s Foreign Minister will visit Russia this coming week, state media reported Sunday, with Washington leading a chorus of global condemnation over Pyongyang’s alleged transfers of weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine. Traditional allies, Russia and North Korea have recently boosted ties anew, with Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un making a rare overseas…

A massive fire spread through online retailer Wildberries’ warehouse in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said, without any reported casualties. Fires are relatively common in Russia due to old infrastructure or non-compliance with safety standards. “In total, the fire spread through 70,000 square meters,” Igor Ulubikov, an official at the St. Petersburg branch…

Russia launched dozens of attacks over Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Saturday, as Kyiv pushes for more air defense. “A total of 40 means of enemy air attack were recorded,” the Air Force said, adding it destroyed eight missiles. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia attacked with a wide range of weapons including cruise,…

Russia’s annual rate of inflation unexpectedly slowed in December after ticking up continuously for seven months, official data showed Friday, in a boost for the Kremlin ahead of elections. Inflation had been predicted by economists to rise in December 2023 but instead edged down to 7.4% year-on-year, compared with 7.5% in November. Friday’s figure is…

Russia’s Interior Ministry has issued an arrest warrant for the former vice president of the state-owned Gazprombank, who joined the Ukrainian army after Moscow’s invasion, the state-run TASS news agency reported Friday. Igor Volobuyev was born in northeastern Ukraine in 1971 but lived most of his life in Moscow, where he served as chief spokesman for…

Ukraine’s military spy chief Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview published Friday that Kyiv’s attacks against Russian-annexed Crimea were set to intensify, adding that Moscow’s economy was proving surprisingly resilient despite sanctions. “In 2023, the first Ukrainian incursions took place in temporarily occupied Crimea,” Budanov told the French daily Le Monde, adding: “And this is…

A music channel owned by the media arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom was fined $11,300 for spreading “LGBT propaganda among minors” in a 90s-era music video that shows two women kissing, the independent Vyorstka news outlet reported Friday. The music video with the offending kiss aired in July on the channel Lya-Minor TV, which is…

Russia is preparing a legal challenge to prevent the United States and Europe from seizing some of its $300 billion in frozen assets that the West wants to use to help rebuild Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing anonymous officials in Moscow familiar with the matter. The news agency reported Wednesday that the Biden administration supported…

Russian shelling on Friday killed two people in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, while a drone attack by Kyiv in the Moscow-controlled east killed another two, officials said. As the war approaches its second anniversary, both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of killing dozens of civilians in a sharp escalation of attacks.…

The U.S. Olympic Committee and the fencing association it governs have asked Congress to grant American citizenship to three Russian fencers who face wartime criminal charges at home, USA Today reported Friday.  Konstantin Lokhanov, Sergei Bida and Violetta Bida — who fled to the United States after Russia invaded Ukraine — may be able to compete…

A Russian serial killer pardoned by President Vladimir Putin in exchange for fighting in Ukraine was killed on the front lines, the independent Mediazona news website reported Thursday. Denis Zubov, 41, from the southern Russian city of Volgograd, was sentenced to 21 years in a maximum-security colony in 2017 for the murders of three people.…

A Russian man working for a state-owned firm was arrested for allegedly planning to pass sensitive information to Poland in exchange for help in fleeing the country, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday. Russian security services have detained a slew of foreigners and Russian citizens accused of working for foreign intelligence since Moscow invaded…

Trade between China and Russia reached a record $240 billion in 2023, official Chinese data showed on Friday. China’s General Administration of Customs Data said two-way with Russia in 2023 grew by 26.3% from the year earlier. Similarly, Chinese exports to Russia increased by 46.9%, while imports from Russia rose 13% last year. Presidents Vladimir Putin…

Russia’s Interior Ministry has issued an arrest warrant for journalist Andrei Serafimov, who is believed to have fled the country, news outlets reported Friday. The law enforcement body’s online database of wanted persons lists Serafimov but does not specify which criminal charges he faces in Russia. The journalist said in December he had been charged with public…

Authorities in western Russia’s Belgorod have begun reinforcing bus stops with cement blocks and sandbags to protect residents amid a recent surge in Ukrainian airstrikes against the city.  Images shared on social media showed municipal workers laying large bricks around benches and shelters at bus stops.  Belgorod Mayor Valentin Demidov announced the safety measures during…

Updated with Kremlin’s remarks. The Kremlin on Friday condemned the United States and the United Kingdom for military strikes against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, while Russia’s mission to the UN requested an urgent Security Council session. The U.S. and U.K. air forces said they struck multiple Houthi targets in Yemen late on Thursday in…

Moscow said Thursday it will seek retribution for Latvia’s confiscation of a building it owns in Riga. Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, voted earlier Thursday to seize the Moscow House, which has been funded by the Moscow Mayor’s Office since its opening in 2004 as a cultural and activities center for Russian nationals living in Latvia. In…

Aslan Mohammed Ocherkhadzhiev has just sat down at a safe house near Chasiv Yar, one of the last Ukrainian strongholds near the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. On the table before him sit stacks of paper coffee cups and cans labeled in Arabic. Lost in thought, he calmly sips a cup of coffee. With…

Animal rights activists in the Far East Russian republic of Buryatia have been evacuating stray dogs to other regions of the country after the republic legalized the euthanization of homeless animals in certain conditions. At least 600 dogs have already been evacuated to safe locations, but hundreds more are still awaiting evacuation, local animal rights…

Finland will extend the closure of its eastern border with Russia until Feb. 11 due to the continued threat of illegal migration that Helsinki blames on Moscow, the Nordic country’s Interior Ministry announced Thursday. The ministry said it has information that migrants from third countries remain on the Russian side of the border, waiting to…

Nearly 10,000 companies with foreign involvement have exited Russia in the two years since it invaded Ukraine, the Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday, citing corporate data. The number of legal entities with foreign affiliation declined by 6,200 in 2022 and 3,400 in January-October 2023, totaling 9,600, according to the publication. Overall, Vedomosti said 23,500 companies with…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Thursday that any “pauses” in Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion would only help Moscow to re-arm and allow it to “run us over.” Zelensky spoke in Estonia on the second leg of a Baltic tour aimed at boosting flagging support for his country’s almost two-year-long fight against Russia. “Give the…

President Vladimir Putin’s oldest daughter Maria Vorontsova has given a rare interview in which she described Russia as a “human-centric” state, the investigative news website Agentstvo reported Thursday. Putin has never publicly acknowledged Vorontsova and her younger sister Katerina Tikhonova as his daughters, while the Kremlin has kept details of their lives a closely guarded…

Hundreds of civilians including children departed the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine, amid weeks of cross-border shelling that have left over two dozen dead. “The Belgorod region is going through hard times,” Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Thursday. Here’s a look into the evacuation efforts:

A heating system breakdown has flooded the streets of Russia’s third-largest city of Novosibirsk, authorities said Thursday, with over 100 apartment buildings left without heat. Video published by local news outlets showed steaming-hot water engulfing streets and entire blocks of residential neighborhoods. “Residential buildings and public facilities in the Leninsky district were disconnected from heating and hot…

Russian left-wing activist Sergei Udaltsov has been charged with justifying terrorism on social media, the state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported Thursday, citing an anonymous law enforcement source. Udaltsov, who heads the socialist group Left Front, has been a vocal participant in anti-Kremlin demonstrations dating back to mass rallies held in 2012.  In 2014, he was sentenced…

Updated with court order. A Moscow court on Friday jailed left-wing activist Sergei Udaltsov until Feb. 15 after he was detained and charged with justifying terrorism in social media posts, state media reported.  Udaltsov, who heads the socialist group Left Front, has been a vocal participant in anti-Kremlin demonstrations dating back to mass rallies held in 2012.  In…

Two Russian missiles struck a hotel in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, injuring 13 people including foreign journalists, local authorities said Thursday. The strikes on Wednesday evening came as both Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of inflicting dozens of civilian casualties in a sharp escalation of attacks. “Thirteen people were injured,” including a Turkish citizen…

PODOLSK, Moscow region – Residents across Russia affected by unprecedented winter heating outages in recent days have expressed their frustration and urged local authorities to restore heating in their homes. In Podolsk, a town some 30 kilometers south of the capital Moscow, at least 149,000 residents — nearly half of its population — were left…

Russia’s population could drop to 130 million by 2046 due to declining immigration numbers and low birth rates, according to a worst-case projection by Russia’s statistics agency Rosstat, the RBC news website reported. Rosstat predicts Russia’s population will drop from the current 146.1 million to 138.8 million by 2046 under its most likely scenario, which…

BELGOROD, Russia — Flashes illuminate the night sky, quickly followed by loud bangs. As air defense systems shoot down incoming rockets and sirens sound through the city, two girls rush to the train station. One of them is in tears.  “Sasha, calm down!” the other girl reassures her.  “You’ll tell them everything,” the girls’ taxi…

Authorities in Far East Russia’s Primorye region said Wednesday they have launched the country’s first ski tours to neighboring North Korea as Moscow seeks to cultivate deeper ties with Pyongyang. “Would you like to visit one of the most interesting and mysterious countries in the world, North Korea?” the Primorye region’s government wrote in a…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for badly needed air defense systems at the start of a tour of Baltic states Wednesday, warning that Western hesitation on aid for Ukraine was emboldening Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stop at Ukraine, he said, during an unannounced visit to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Zelensky was on…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has appeared in court via video link for the first time since being transferred to a maximum-security prison colony in Russia’s Arctic, the independent news website Mediazona reported Wednesday. “A tear is running down my cheek. I’m so glad to see you all,” Navalny said from a jail cell. The…

Dozens of schoolchildren were evacuated from the Russian border city of Belgorod on Wednesday following a spate of deadly Ukrainian shelling attacks, the region’s governor said. Some 300 residents had already left Belgorod, the biggest evacuation from a major Russian city since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The first group of…

A Russian singer who is on trial for posting anti-war videos on Instagram has sought repentance in a letter to Russia’s Orthodox Church leader and vowed to devote his career to patriotism. Eduard Sharlot was detained in November after returning to Russia from Armenia, where he had posted videos of himself burning his passport and…

A Moscow court has ordered the closure of the nightclub where a “nearly naked” party sparked controversy last month, Russian media reported Wednesday.  Club Mutabor was forced to close its doors for 90 days over “violations of sanitary standards,” the state-run TASS news agency reported. The independent Medizona news outlet reported earlier that Russia’s consumer…

Russian border guards have seized more than 1 metric ton of cocaine from Nicaragua at the Great Port of St. Petersburg, the Federal Customs Service (FTS) said Wednesday. “The smugglers hid 1,000 briquettes with compressed white powder in the upper part of a cargo module,” the FTS said on the messaging app Telegram. Images shared…

Canada has granted Russian anti-war activist Maria Kartasheva citizenship, reversing an initial decision to block her from taking the citizenship oath due to her criminal prosecution in Russia for spreading “fake news” about the war in Ukraine, Canadian media reported Tuesday. Kartasheva, 30, moved to Ottawa in 2019. After invading Ukraine in early 2022, Russia…

President Vladimir Putin has traveled to the Chukotka autonomous district, the Kremlin said Wednesday, the first time he has visited Russia’s easternmost region during his more than two decades in power.  “The head of state will inspect a year-round greenhouse complex, talk to residents and meet with the governor in the city of Anadyr [the…

Authorities in an Italian city said Tuesday that they would no longer host an exhibition and conference on the “rebirth” of the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in Ukraine, a decision welcomed by the government in Kyiv. The Russian cultural association in Emilia-Romagna, a region in northern Italy, had rented the civic hall in Modena for…

Finland will likely extend the closure of its eastern border with Russia due to the continued threat of migrant crossings, top officials in the Nordic country said Tuesday. Last month, Finland closed its 1,340-kilometer border with Russia until Jan. 14, citing what it said was a spike in asylum seekers from the Middle East and…

South Korean automaker Hyundai’s former production plant in St. Petersburg has reopened under new Russian management, state media reported Tuesday, citing the factory’s press service. In December, the Hyundai plant — which suspended operations in March 2022 amid an exodus of foreign companies from Russia — was sold to the company Art-Finance for a reported…

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Tuesday he has been placed in solitary confinement, just weeks after he was transferred to a high-security prison colony in Russia’s Arctic. Navalny’s lawyers found him last month in a “special regime” colony located in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district village of Kharp after he disappeared from public view for…

A woman was killed by Ukrainian shelling in western Russia’s Kursk region, authorities said Tuesday. “This afternoon, the village of Gornal in the Sudzhansky district was shelled from the direction of Ukraine,” Kursk region Governor Roman Starovoit said in a video posted on the messaging app Telegram. “A woman was killed by shrapnel,” Starovoit added without identifying…