Canada Sanctions 13 Russian Officials Over Navalny’s Death

Canada has sanctioned over a dozen high-ranking Russian law enforcement officials believed to be responsible for the death of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, the country’s Foreign Minister announced Tuesday. According to a Canadian Foreign Ministry statement, the new sanctions target individuals involved in the poisoning of Navalny in 2020, his arrest in Moscow upon returning to…

Details

Mine Blast Kills 2 in Russia’s Bryansk Region

Two people were killed and a third was injured in a mine explosion in western Russia’s Bryansk region, regional authorities said Tuesday. “On the territory of the Klimovsky district, local residents entered the restricted border zone, despite signs warning about the mine danger,” Byransk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram. “Two residents died at…

Details

Russia Refuses to Release Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva

A Russian court on Tuesday refused to release imprisoned U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who faces up to 10 years in jail on charges of spreading “false information” about the country’s army. Tuesday marks eight months since Kurmasheva, a joint U.S. and Russian citizen, was arrested in Russia on charges of breaching its “foreign agent” law.…

Details

Estonia Jails Russian Professor 6 Years for Spying

An Estonian court on Tuesday sentenced Russian university professor Vyacheslav Morozov to six years and three months in prison on charges of spying against the Baltic country on behalf of Moscow. Morozov, a political scientist and former professor at the University of Tartu, was “found guilty of activities against the Republic of Estonia in the…

Details

At the construction site of Xudapu NPP power unit No. 4 (China), the dome has been lifted and installed on the VVER-1200 reactor building

This single-stage operation was performed for the second time in the history of the Russian nuclear power industry. On June 18, 2024, the dome was successfully lifted and installed at a single stage on the reactor building of Xudapu NPP power unit No. 4 (China) constructed with involvement of the Rosatom Engineering Division. This single-stage…

Details

Moscow Police Arrest 3 After Mass Food Poisoning

Police in Moscow have detained three people following a mass food poisoning incident that left dozens hospitalized, Russian state media reported Tuesday, citing law enforcement officials.  Health officials said Monday that more than 120 people had sought medical help and at least 30 were in intensive care with suspected foodborne botulism, a life-threatening condition that attacks…

Details

Russia to Hold Naval Drills in Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan

Moscow will start a 10-day naval exercise on Tuesday, involving dozens of ships sailing in the Pacific Ocean and waters close to South Korea and Japan, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. “The sailors will practice anti-submarine operations, defending ship detachments at sea, joint missile strikes against groups of ships belonging to a hypothetical enemy, training to…

Details

Putin Promotes ‘Cousin’ in Latest Military Shake-Up

Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed a woman the West has called his “close relative” to a top Defense Ministry post on Monday as part of an ongoing shake-up of Russia’s military leadership. The appointment comes after Putin removed his longtime defense chief Sergei Shoigu last month, replacing him with economist Andrey Belousov, and following the…

Details

Kremlin Confirms Putin’s Trip to North Korea

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea this week, the Kremlin announced Monday, confirming previously reported travel plans that come amid suspicions in the West that Pyongyang is supplying Moscow with weapons for use in Ukraine. Putin will visit North Korea on Tuesday, his second trip to the isolated country since he first came to…

Details

Peace Summit Calls for Dialogue With Russia, Backs Ukraine’s ‘Territorial Integrity’

Dozens of countries meeting for a landmark international summit on peace in Ukraine agreed Sunday that Kyiv should enter dialogue with Moscow on ending the war, while strongly supporting Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity. More than two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, leaders and top officials from more than 90 countries spent the…

Details

Russian Journalist Killed in Ukrainian Drone Strike

A Russian journalist was killed in a drone attack in eastern Ukraine, his employer announced Sunday, coming just days after a cameraman from the pro-government NTV channel was killed near the front line. “Our correspondent Nikita Tsitsagi was killed during an attack by Ukrainian army drones,” NEWS.ru said in a statement on Telegram. The outlet…

Details

Dutch Businessman Helps Russia Import Western Brands Like Nike, Lego – Reuters

Russian consumers enjoy continued access to Western brands like Nike and Lego thanks to a Dutch businessman who imports them via grey-market methods, Reuters reported Saturday. Wijnand Herinckx, 40, has built a “thriving” business ferrying these brands’ products into Russia after they exited the country in 2022 over the war in Ukraine, Reuters said, citing customs data,…

Details

Ukraine Seeks Path to Just Peace at Swiss Summit

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to find paths to a “just peace” as soon as possible, as a first international summit on pathways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine opened Saturday. More than 50 world leaders were joining Zelensky at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland for a two-day peace summit — though with Moscow rejecting…

Details

Sweden Says Russian Bomber Violated Its Airspace

A Russian Su-24 bomber violated Swedish airspace near the strategic Baltic Sea island of Gotland, leaving only after Sweden scrambled two JAS-39 fighter jets, Sweden’s military said on Saturday. The incident on Friday occurred three months after the Scandinavian country became a full member of NATO, dropping two centuries of military non-alliance. “On Friday afternoon,…

Details

Ukraine Fighting ‘Intense’ Battles in Donetsk Region

Ukraine said on Friday that Russian forces were concentrating their firepower on the Pokrovsk front in the eastern Donetsk region, where overnight strikes wounded at least six civilians. The Kremlin annexed the industrial territory in late 2022, months after invading, and its forces are making incremental gains there. “The enemy is intensively attacking Ukrainian defenders…

Details

Russian Inflation Rises Once Again in May

The pace of inflation in Russia accelerated yet again in May as officials warn huge public spending to support the military offensive on Ukraine is overheating the economy. Increases in government expenditure have supported Russia’s economy in the face of a barrage of Western sanctions but also triggered surging prices and labor shortages in many…

Details

Putin Says Almost 700K Russian Troops Fighting in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on television Friday that almost 700,000 Russians are fighting in Ukraine. “In the zone of our special military operation there are almost 700,000,” Putin said during a televised meeting with decorated participants from the offensive. In December at his end-of-year press conference, Putin gave the figure of 617,000 taking part…

Details

Moldova Turns Back Plane Carrying Pro-Russian Activists

Moldova’s authorities and an opposition politician said Friday aviation officials had denied landing permission to a flight bound for the capital Chisinau carrying pro-Russian opposition activists. According to Romanian authorities, the flight from Armenia was redirected to an airport near the capital Bucharest. Moldovan pro-Russian MP Marina Tauber announced the incident in a post on…

Details

2024 Pushkin House Book Prize Awarded to Elena Kostyuchenko for ‘I Love Russia: Reporting From a Lost Country’

On Friday evening the Pushkin House announced the winner of the 2024 Book Prize: “I Love Russia: Reporting From a Lost Country,” written by Elena Kostyuchenko and translated from Russian by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse and Bela Shayevich. The announcement was made at the awards ceremony held at Swedenborg House in Bloomsbury, hosted by Andrew Jack,…

Details

Russia Reckons With Loss of Regional Influence as Armenia Eyes Exit from Moscow-Led Military Bloc

Russian officials privately admit that their chances of preventing an Armenian exit from the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are slim, two Russian officials, one current and one retired Russian diplomat, and a former CSTO official have told The Moscow Times. Some of The Moscow Times’ sources agreed to speak on condition of anonymity…

Details

Russian-Ukrainian Activist Convicted of ‘Plotting Treason’ Dies in Prison – Reports

A Russian-Ukrainian activist imprisoned on charges of plotting treason died in custody earlier this week, the U.S.-funded regional news outlet Sibir.Realii reported Friday, citing the activist’s family.  Igor Pokusin, 61, was arrested in May 2022 on suspicion of vandalizing pro-war banners in Abakan, the capital of Russia’s Siberian republic of Khakassia.  Though Pokusin was soon…

Details

Russia Says Downed 87 Ukrainian Drones Overnight

Moscow said Friday it had downed 87 Ukrainian drones overnight, among which 70 targeted the southern Rostov region where the command center for Russia’s military operation against Kyiv is based. “During the night, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to commit a terrorist attack with drones… was foiled,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. “In…

Details