Jailed Moscow City Councilor Faces ‘Terrorism’ Charges

A Moscow municipal deputy who was imprisoned under Russia’s wartime censorship laws faces additional criminal charges of justifying terrorism, his supporters said Monday. Alexei Gorinov, 62, was sentenced to seven years in prison in April 2022 for spreading “knowingly false information” about the Russian military, charges that he denies. Gorinov’s supporters say investigators launched a…

Details

Russia Claims Killed 34 in Syrian Air Strikes

Russia said it carried out air strikes in Syria’s Idlib province that killed more than 30 members of a “terrorist group.” Moscow is Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s key supporter, providing him with military, political and economic support throughout the country’s decade-long civil war. “On Nov. 11, Russia’s aerospace forces carried out air strikes in Idlib…

Details

Scientists to Study Red Book White-tailed Sea Eagle Population Supported by Rosneft’s Samara Group of Enterprises

Rosneft’s Samara group of enterprises — Samaraneftegaz, Novokuibyshevsk Refinery, Kuibyshev Refinery, Syzran Refinery, Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company, and Novokuibyshevsk Oil and Additives Plant — summed up the results of the first competition of the grant programme for a project to study the nesting sites of the white-tailed eagle in Samara Region.

Far East Region Struggles to Meet Kremlin’s Military Recruitment Quotas, Leaked Video Shows

Officials in Russia’s Far Eastern republic of Sakha (Yakutia) have failed to meet quotas on recruitment of military volunteers for the war in Ukraine set by the Kremlin, according to leaked recordings of closed-door government meetings published by the Free Yakutia Foundation anti-war movement.  Sakha’s military recruitment head Alexander Avdonin said the republic recruited the…

Details

Russia Begins Evacuating Citizens From Gaza Strip

Russia has begun evacuating its citizens who are trapped in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to a statement released by the Emergency Situations Ministry on Sunday.  “The Emergency Situations Ministry together with Russian diplomats have organized the evacuation of civilians from the Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which was published on the messaging app Telegram.…

Details

Senior Ukrainian Military Officer Organized Nord Stream Attack – Washington Post

A senior Ukrainian military officer with intelligence ties coordinated the sabotage attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, The Washington Post and Der Spiegel reported Saturday, citing anonymous Ukrainian and European officials, as well as other people familiar with the operation. Moscow and Kyiv’s Western allies have traded blame over the subsea blasts that…

Details

Moscow Targets Kyiv Region After a Long Period of Calm

A missile targeted Kyiv on Saturday, ending nearly two months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital, while frontline regions fended off waves of drone attacks overnight. Ukraine is bracing for a renewed Russian aerial onslaught this winter, after systematic strikes last year targeted the country’s energy grid, leaving thousands without heating or electricity in…

Details

Moscow Targets Kyiv Region After Lengthy Calm

A missile targeted Kyiv on Saturday without causing casualties but ending nearly two months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital, while frontline regions fended off waves of drone attacks overnight. Ukrainian officials also hailed the anniversary of the recapture of Kherson city, the regional capital liberated a year ago in the last major frontline…

Details

Pozharsky Chicken Cutlets Put Torzhok on the Map

Pozharsky cutlets… crispy outside, succulent inside, always served straight from the stove and never reheated… These minced meat patties take themselves seriously — and diners should take them seriously, too. It’s hard to believe, but these cutlets were first invented and served by Yevdokim Pozharsky, an ordinary innkeeper in the small Russian town of Torzhok.…

Details

Russia Inflation Accelerates to 6.7%

Russia’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 6.7% in October, the country’s federal statistics agency said Friday, as a weak currency and surging military spending push prices higher across the economy. Rising prices have caused concern for the Kremlin and Russia’s Central Bank, which has raised interest rates to 15% in a bid to battle inflation.…

Details

Moscow Accuses Ukraine of ‘Ecocide’ in Occupied Regions

Russia has accused Kyiv of committing environmental crimes in the Ukrainian territories that its troops currently occupy, including soil contamination caused by exploding artillery shells, the state-run TASS news agency reported. Moscow said it will begin collecting evidence of Ukraine’s “ecocidal violations” in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it claims to have…

Details

A Short Guide to Russian Spokesperson-Speak

ТАСС уполномочен заявить: TASS has been authorized to announce… At some time in the future when I have about three years with nothing to do, I will research when and how politicians in various countries around the world began to use weasel words as a matter of course. You know what I mean: “We are…

Details

Private Clinics in Russia’s Kursk Region Stop Providing Abortions

Nearly all private clinics in southwestern Russia’s Kursk region have stopped providing abortion services in a Kremlin-ordered effort to reverse the country’s demographic crisis, a senior official said Thursday. Kursk region Deputy Governor Andrei Belostotsky said authorities in Moscow had instructed regional governments to come up with their own policy solutions for boosting birth rates, according to…

Details

Russia Says Sent 25 Tons of Aid for Gaza

Russia said on Friday it had sent 25 tons of humanitarian aid to Egypt to be delivered to the Gaza Strip, which has been under near-total siege and relentless bombardment. Since Oct. 9, when Israel placed the Palestinian territory under a “total siege,” only very limited quantities of basic human necessities like water, food and…

Details

Latvia Jails Ex-Interior Minister for Pro-Russia Spying

A Latvian court on Thursday jailed former interior minister Janis Adamsons and a Russian accomplice for spying for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). The court in Riga sentenced Adamasons to eight-and-a-half years in prison and Russian citizen Gennady Silonov to seven years in prison.  “Adamsons collected secret and unclassified information for the Russian secret services, in…

Details

Putin Visits Military HQ Overseeing Ukraine War Operations

President Vladimir Putin paid a surprise overnight visit to the military headquarters overseeing Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Friday. It is his second visit to military headquarters, which is located in southern Russia’s Rostov-on-Don, in the past month.  Putin “visited the headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces in Rostov-on-Don, after completing his…

Details

EU Lawmakers Call for Ban on Russian LNG

EU lawmakers on Thursday urged the bloc to ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) and to close loopholes present in existing sanctions against Moscow. The EU has imposed 11 rounds of sanctions on Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Brussels is currently working on proposals for…

Details

Putin to Hold Call-In Show, Annual Press Conference in ‘Combined Format’

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his end-of-year press conference and televised call-in show in a “combined format” this year, the Kremlin announced Thursday. Set-piece political events involving Putin have been delayed or scrapped altogether in the tumultuous months following Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Russian leader did not hold his Direct Line…

Details

Crimean Private Clinics Stop Providing Abortion Services

Private clinics in annexed Crimean have “voluntarily” stopped providing abortion services to patients, Kremlin-installed health officials on the peninsula said Thursday, amid growing concerns about a possible nationwide abortion ban.  Crimea’s Health Ministry was informed about the decision by the region’s private clinics to stop providing abortion services following a meeting with state officials and…

Details

Russian TV Channel Removes ‘LGBT’ Rainbow From K-Pop Music Video

A popular Russian television channel removed the rainbow featured in a K-pop music video over concerns that it could violate the country’s laws against “LGBT propaganda,” Russian media reported. TNT Music, which runs a chart show dedicated to South Korean pop music, has already been fined for violating Russia’s “LGBT propaganda” laws with previous broadcasts of foreign-made music videos.  But…

Details

Russian University to Train ‘Social Media Police’ for Fighting Online Extremism

Russia’s leading management university has launched an undergraduate program to train experts who can monitor and detect “extremism” online, the pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia reported Wednesday. Backed by Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee, the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) program aims to train future media managers as well as spokespersons for government ministries…

Details