Exiled Experts Lament Dashed Hopes for Russia’s Green Energy Transition

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Throughout her career, independent renewables expert Tatiana Lanshina has launched innovative research and nonprofit projects related to Russia’s energy transition, including initiatives such as renewable energy certificates under the international I-REC standard.  Following the Kremlin’s military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022, Lanshina realized that her experience in Russia was now worth nothing. Currently based…

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Bomb Detonates at St. Petersburg Military Enlistment Office

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A bomb went off outside a military enlistment office in St. Petersburg, the local news website Fontanka reported Tuesday, citing eyewitnesses. Local residents reported hearing sounds of explosions near the enlistment office around noon on Tuesday. Authorities cordoned off a nearby abandoned bomb shelter, which Fontanka said sustained “minor damage.” Investigators believe the explosion occurred…

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Kremlin-Installed Official Targeted in Bomb Attack – Reports

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A Kremlin-installed official was targeted in a bomb assassination plot at his home in occupied eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian media reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. Yury Afanasyevsky, head of the customs office in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), was at his home during the bomb attack, according to an anonymous Ukrainian security service…

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Top Russian General Resurfaces 2 Months After Wagner’s Failed Mutiny

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Russian General Sergei Surovikin has resurfaced more than two months after his last public appearance in a video urging Wagner fighters to stand down from their march on Moscow, media reported Monday. Surovikin, long considered the main intermediary between the Wagner mercenary outfit and the Russian Defense Ministry, disappeared from public view after Wagner chief Yevgeny…

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Russian Universities Admit 8.5K Ukraine War Veterans and Their Children

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Universities across Russia have admitted 8,500 veterans of the war in Ukraine and their children this academic year, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko announced Monday. President Vladimir Putin in 2022 ordered a 10% university admission quota for war veterans and their children, granting them priority and clearing them of entrance exams. “On the president’s instructions,…

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Russian Government Bucks Putin’s Call to Forgo Foreign Cars – Agentstvo

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Russia’s government has continued to buy foreign-made cars despite calls by President Vladimir Putin last month for officials to start using domestic-made vehicles, the investigative news outlet Agentstvo reported Monday. Overall, Russian government bodies, agencies and state-affiliated companies purchased 151 foreign-made cars worth 566 million rubles ($5.9 million) in August, according to state procurement data cited…

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Russia Deploys Sarmat ICBM for Combat Duty

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A strategic next-generation missile that Russian President Vladimir Putin once described as “invincible” has been deployed for combat duty, the head of state space agency Roscosmos said Friday. The Kremlin had previously stated that the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile would be ready for combat duty by the end of 2022, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news…

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Russian Street Artist Faces Prison Term for Anti-War Graffiti – Polygon Media

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Russian street artist Filipp Kozlov, who goes by the name Philippenzo, could face up to three years in prison for anti-war graffiti, just days after his release from prison over past minor offenses, the independent outlet Polygon Media reported Friday. Video published by Polygon Media showed Kozlov escorted by law enforcement officers wearing civilian clothing.…

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Russian Region Appoints Male Official to Head Women’s Rights Council

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Authorities in Russia’s southern Rostov region have appointed a male official to lead the region’s newly formed council on women’s rights.  The government body will be tasked with creating policies on topics ranging from women’s health to strengthening women’s role in society to combating poverty and social disadvantage among women. But women will hold just eight seats…

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Towns in Russian Border Region Scrap In-Person Return to School Amid Drone Strikes, Shelling

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Authorities in western Russia’s Bryansk region have scrapped in-person back-to-school day this Friday in towns that face regular drone and artillery strikes. Each year on Sept. 1, Russian schools open their doors to students, parents and teachers in what is known as Den’ Znanyy, or the Day of Knowledge. Bryansk region Governor Alexander Bogomaz said…

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Belarus Leader Slams ‘Stupid’ Polish, Baltic Calls for Wagner Withdrawal

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Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday criticized what he called “stupid demands” from Poland and the Baltic states for Wagner fighters sheltering in his country to leave. Wagner fighters took refuge in Belarus after they staged a short-lived rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership in June, prompting concerns from neighboring countries. “They are whipping up hysteria…

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2 Russian Planes Damaged in Ukraine Drone Strikes – RFE/RL

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At least two Russian military aircraft were damaged as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes on an airbase in northwestern Russia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) investigative project Skhemy reported Thursday, citing satellite imagery. Authorities in the Pskov region said its airport came under a large-scale attack on Wednesday. Emergency officials told state media at…

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Siberian Court Jails Veteran Activist for Attacking Police Officers

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A court in the Siberian republic of Buryatia has sentenced activist Natalya Filonova to nearly three years in prison on charges linked to anti-mobilization protests that swept Russia last fall, the regional news outlet Lyudi Baikala reported Thursday.  Filonova, a 61-year-old pensioner and a veteran activist, was detained at a September 2022 rally in Buryatia’s capital…

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Russia Says Killed, Detained Ukrainian Saboteurs in Border Region

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Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it has repelled a Ukrainian sabotage group’s attempt to infiltrate western Russia’s Bryansk region, the second attempted incursion this month. Two Ukrainian fighters were purportedly killed and five others were detained Wednesday, the FSB said in a statement. Russia’s intelligence agency did not say how many Ukrainian fighters…

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Previously Unseen Video of Prigozhin Emerges Days After Secret Funeral

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A Wagner-affiliated channel on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday published a previously unseen video of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was buried two days earlier after perishing in a plane crash in northwestern Russia.  “To those who talk about my liquidation, private life and earnings or whatever else, strictly speaking, everything’s alright,” Prigozhin said in the video posted…

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Russia Downs Drone Heading for Moscow

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Russian air defenses destroyed a drone on its approach to Moscow, the city’s mayor said Thursday morning. Air defense systems in the Voskresensky district, located around 60 kilometers from the Russian capital, “destroyed a drone flying toward Moscow,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app. He did not specify where the drone had…

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Russians, Belarusians to Be Allowed Back to International Badminton Competitions

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Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to return to international badminton competitions starting February 2024, the sport’s governing body announced. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said players from the two countries, who have been banned due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would be able to compete as neutral athletes. The International Olympic Committee has…

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‘We Don’t Need Heroes Who Marched on Moscow’: How the Kremlin Silenced Prigozhin’s Funeral

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The decision to keep Yevgeny Prigozhin’s funeral a secret was made by the Russian presidential administration and the security services, two acting Russian officials told The Moscow Times on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.  Even after his Aug. 23 death in a plane crash near President Vladimir Putin’s residence in…

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1.3K Ukrainian Schools Destroyed in Russian Invasion – UNICEF

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Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to the destruction of more than 1,300 Ukrainian schools over the past 18 months, disrupting education for millions of children in the war-torn country, according to UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency. “More than 1,300 schools have been totally destroyed [in Ukraine’s government-controlled regions],” said Regina De Dominicis,…

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