Finland Seizes Russian Cultural Center in Helsinki After Ukrainian Gas Provider Wins Lawsuit

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Finnish authorities have begun seizing Russian state-owned property in the country after a Hague-based court ordered Moscow to compensate Ukraine’s national gas provider for assets it lost during the annexation of Crimea, the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat reported Monday. Finland’s National Enforcement Authority, an agency of the country’s justice ministry, reportedly seized the 3,326-square-meter (35,800…

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NATO Chief Says North Korean Troops Sent to Russia’s Kursk Region

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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Monday that North Korean troops were sent to Russia’s embroiled Kursk region, decrying the deployment as a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “growing desperation.” Speaking in Brussels after a briefing with South Korean intelligence officials, Rutte said he could confirm that North Korean military units had been sent to…

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Russian Police Raid Homes of Romani People After Ethnic Tensions Flare in Chelyabinsk Region

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Police in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region detained around 20 Roma for “crime prevention talks” after ethnic tensions flared last week over a woman’s murder, local media reported Sunday. Enraged residents in the town of Korkino gathered Thursday night outside homes believed to belong to Roma, where they damaged property and clashed with riot police. The unrest…

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Punitive Psychiatry: An Increasingly Common Tool in Russia’s Crackdown on Activists

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An increasing number of Russian political activists have been placed in forced psychiatric treatment — a practice dating back to the Soviet era that involves confinement in mental hospitals.  According to rights activists, some political prisoners who have undergone this treatment report being subjected to humiliation, beatings and being injected with powerful antipsychotic drugs. The number of…

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Kremlin ‘Strongly Rejects’ Accusations of Election Interference in Georgia

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The Kremlin on Monday said it “strongly rejects” accusations from Georgia’s president that it interfered in this past weekend’s parliamentary elections. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili claimed that Moscow was behind election fraud in Georgia, saying it was part of a “Russian special operation.” “We strongly reject these accusations. There was no intervention. These accusations are…

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St. Petersburg Opposition Lawmaker Vishnevsky Resigns Over ‘Foreign Agent’ Ban

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St. Petersburg opposition lawmaker Boris Vishnevsky said Monday that he would step down from the regional legislative assembly to comply with new amendments to Russia’s “foreign agent” law. In May, federal lawmakers passed legislation prohibiting “foreign agents” from running in elections, changes introduced after several people hit with designation said they planned to run for local…

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Russia’s Vladimir Region Bans Hijabs in Schools

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Authorities in Russia’s Vladimir region have banned students from wearing hijabs while at school. According to the ban, which was enacted last week Tuesday, “clothing and elements demonstrating the student’s religious affiliation… are not allowed inside educational institutions,” including hijabs and niqabs. The Vladimir region’s Education Ministry insisted in a statement on Saturday that the ban…

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Russia Labels Telegram News Channel Astra ‘Foreign Agent’

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Authorities in Russia designated the anti-war Telegram news channel Astra as a “foreign agent” on Friday. Russia’s Justice Ministry accused Astra of spreading “inaccurate information” about government policy in order to promote a “negative image” of the Russian military. “[Astra] opposed the special military operation in Ukraine… The creator and editor-in-chief of the internet portal reside outside…

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Putin Appoints Former Separatist Commander to Security Council

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President Vladimir Putin on Friday appointed Lieutenant Colonel Artyom Zhoga, currently the Kremlin’s envoy to the Urals Federal District, to Russia’s National Security Council. Zhoga, a former military officer from the Russian-occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, gained prominence last year after publicly urging Putin to seek re-election in the 2025 presidential race. Earlier this…

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Police in Central Russia Arrest Politician for Using Slave Labor, Defrauding Soldier

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A local politician in central Russia’s Vladimir region was charged with using slave labor and defrauding a soldier who fought in the Ukraine war, regional investigators said Friday. According to the Vladimir region branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee, the politician allegedly led an organized criminal group that stole 1 million rubles ($10,350) from a soldier’s…

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Kremlin Slams ‘Western Interference’ Ahead of Georgian Parliamentary Elections

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The Kremlin on Friday accused the West of trying to interfere in Georgia’s upcoming parliamentary elections, while also dismissing claims that it was meddling in the South Caucasus country’s politics. Georgia will hold parliamentary elections on Saturday, which some observers have called a key test of the country’s democracy and its prospects of joining the…

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Russia’s Central Bank Raises Key Rate to Historic 21%, Signals Aggressive Fight to Curb Inflation

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Russia’s Central Bank raised its key interest rate from 19% to a historic 21% on Friday, taking it even higher than the emergency rate initially introduced after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as officials scrambled to shield the economy from Western sanctions. A rate increase of 1% had been widely anticipated by analysts, as inflation…

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ROSATOM’s international project, Global Atomic Quiz 2024, starts on November 10

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On November 10, ROSATOM will once again present its international project for raising nuclear awareness – the Global Atomic Quiz 2024 – in celebration of World Science Day. This year’s quiz marks its fifth anniversary and features a special commemorative edition. Conducted online in 13 languages, the quiz will feature events designed especially for schoolchildren…

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Elon Musk Held Secret Talks With Putin Amid Shifting Views on Ukraine – WSJ

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U.S. billionaire Elon Musk held secret talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout the war in Ukraine as his initial support for Kyiv appeared to shift in Moscow’s favor, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing several anonymous current and ex-U.S., European and Russian officials. The private conversations reportedly addressed personal topics, business and geopolitical…

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Russian Police Arrest Current, Former Energy Officials in Fraud Probe

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Russian law enforcement authorities have arrested one current and one former deputy energy minister on suspicion of fraud, the Kommersant business daily reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources. Federal Security Service (FSB) agents reportedly first arrested Anatoly Yanovsky, who oversaw policy on Russia’s coal industry as deputy energy minister between 2008 and 2021. Current Deputy Energy…

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Rosatom Technical Academy and the IAEA Signed an Agreement to Extend the Academy’s Status as an IAEA Collaborating Centre for Knowledge Management and HR Development

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On October 23, 2024, Rosatom Technical Academy and the IAEA signed an agreement to extend the Academy’s status as an IAEA Collaborating Centre in the field of nuclear knowledge management and human resources development and to expand the programmatic areas of collaboration. The Agreement was signed on the sidelines of the first International Conference on…

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Russia Grants Yanukovych’s Oldest Son Citizenship

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The oldest surviving son of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych received Russian citizenship, state media reported Thursday, citing documents it said it had obtained. Government records reportedly list businessman Oleksandr Yanukovych, 51, as a Ukrainian citizen when he registered a financial and industrial services company in St. Petersburg. The state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported that…

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Turkey Quietly Blocks Military-Linked Goods Exports to Russia After U.S. Warnings – FT

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Turkey secretly blocked the export of U.S. military-linked goods to Russia following warnings from Washington, the Financial Times reported, citing three anonymous sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Ankara, which originally embraced the role of Moscow’s lifeline from Western sanctions, reportedly made the move in recent weeks without a public announcement due to the…

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Russian Parliament Speaker Calls for Extradition of Ex-Putin Aide Chubais

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Russian State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Wednesday called for the extradition of former Putin aide and veteran reformer Anatoly Chubais over corruption allegations. Chubais served as the Kremlin’s climate envoy before quitting his position and leaving Russia shortly after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. President Vladimir Putin previously suggested Chubais fled the country…

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Kursk Region Police Search Lawmaker’s Business Over Border Defense Failures

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Law enforcement authorities in southwestern Russia’s Kursk region searched the business of a regional lawmaker over reported defense failures that Ukrainian forces exploited during their cross-border incursion this summer. Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack in the Kursk region on Aug. 6, breaching two lines of defensive fortifications that reportedly cost 15 billion rubles ($109…

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North Korea Sent 1,500 More Troops to Russia, South Korea’s Spy Agency Tells Lawmakers

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North Korea sent an additional 1,500 troops to Russia, South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers Wednesday, with around 10,000 soldiers total expected to be deployed by December. The latest deployment brings the number of North Korean troops in Russia to 3,000, lawmaker Park Sun-won said after the National Intelligence Service (NIS) gave a briefing. “An…

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Poland Closes Russian Consulate in Poznan Over ‘Sabotage’ Attempts

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Poland has ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in the western city of Poznan over Moscow’s alleged “sabotage” attempts inside the country, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Tuesday. “I have information that Russia is behind sabotage attempts in Poland and allied countries. I have therefore decided to withdraw my permission for the Russian…

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Internet Service Disruptions Reported in Russia’s Kazan as BRICS Summit Kicks Off

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Authorities in the Tatarstan capital of Kazan have limited access to mobile internet services as part of enhanced security measures during this week’s BRICS summit in the city, local media reported Tuesday, citing an anonymous telecommunications source familiar with the matter. “Security measures have been tightened due to the BRICS summit in Kazan, with possible temporary…

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