Russia

Al Jazeera reports: Carlson did not even try to refute Putin’s outlandish and ungrounded claims. One was Putin’s belief that elected leaders do not run the United States. “So, twice you’ve described US presidents making decisions and then being undercut by their agency heads. So, it sounds like you’re describing a system that’s not run by the people who are …

Newsweek reports: Tucker Carlson’s work in Russia could see the former Fox News host in hot water with the EU, Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and current member of the European Parliament, told Newsweek. The lawmaker—who has called for the EU to explore imposing a “travel ban” on Carlson—described Carlson as “a mouthpiece” of former President Donald Trump …

Mediaite reports: A media outlet run by the Russian government delighted in billionaire Elon Musk’s vulgar defense of Tucker Carlson’s upcoming interview with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday after Musk criticized American journalists for “giving a blowjob” to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Musk’s reply caught the attention of the propagandists at RT, which is funded and controlled by the Russian government. …

The New York Times reports: Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, has interviewed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, a sign that the Russian leader is seeking to make a direct appeal to American conservatives as U.S. aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance. Mr. Putin’s government has drastically reduced the ability of Western …

Newsweek reports: The reported appearance of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in the Russian capital has sparked intense speculation over the purpose of the conservative media personality’s visit to Moscow. Carlson arrived in Moscow on February 1, and was spotted attending the Bolshoi Theater in the capital, according to Russian outlet Mash. Carlson said in late September 2023 that …

The Daily Beast reports: A Russian court has sent a girl to jail for wearing rainbow-colored earrings shaped like frogs, according to multiple local reports. The press service for the Sormovsky District Court in the Nizhny Novgorod region confirmed to RBC News that the girl has been jailed for five days on charges of publicly displaying “the symbol of an …

The Hill reports: The State Department brushed off reports of Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his government to look into the nation’s former “real estate” abroad, saying Alaska would be staying in American hands. Putin signed a new decree last week to allocate funds for the research and registration of Russian property overseas, including that in former territories of the …

Via press release from Microsoft: The Microsoft security team detected a nation-state attack on our corporate systems on January 12, 2024, and immediately activated our response process to investigate, disrupt malicious activity, mitigate the attack, and deny the threat actor further access. Microsoft has identified the threat actor as Midnight Blizzard, the Russian state-sponsored actor also known as Nobelium. As …

Bloomberg News reports: Vladimir Putin is going on a property hunt, ordering officials to find Russian assets that once belonged to its former empire or were owned by the Soviet Union. An order from the Russian president published late Thursday allocated funding for a state unit to conduct searches for property abroad and ensure Russia’s ownership rights are registered. The …

The Daily Beast reports: A Russian lawmaker from Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has been found dead under mysterious circumstances at the age of 46. Russian state media confirmed his death. Vladimir Yegorov, a deputy of the Tobolsk City Duma in the Tyumen region, was found lifeless Wednesday in a courtyard in Tobolsk, according to Baza. Bizarrely, Baza reported that …

The Kyiv Independent reports: Russia has lost 356,670 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Dec. 28. This number includes 920 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day. According to the report, Russia has also lost 5,940 tanks, 11,015 armored fighting …

Nikkei Asia reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Russia “will fight for [at least] five years” in Ukraine, sources have revealed. This was apparently Putin’s way of summarizing a situation that at the time was not favorable to Russia and assuring Xi that Russia would emerge victorious in the end. The likely implication was …

Talking Points Memo reports: Unlike thousands of TV reporters around the country, Ben Swann is a registered Russian agent. While taking millions of dollars to produce branded content for Russian state broadcaster RT over the past year, Swann has sought to build a media platform that aims to serve as a means of broadcasting January 6 conspiracy theories, RFK Jr., …

The New York Times reports: A Ukrainian attack hit a Russian warship moored in Crimea early on Tuesday, in what appeared to be one of the most significant strikes against Moscow’s prized Black Sea Fleet in months. The Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement that it had destroyed the Novocherkassk, a large landing ship, in the southeastern Crimean port …

The New York Times reports: Mr. Putin has been signaling through intermediaries since at least September that he is open to a cease-fire that freezes the fighting along the current lines, far short of his ambitions to dominate Ukraine, two former senior Russian officials close to the Kremlin and American and international officials who have received the message from Mr. …

Bloomberg News reports: Veteran Russian pro-democracy politician Grigory Yavlinsky decided against running in the upcoming presidential race in which Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to secure a crushing victory. Yavlinsky, 71, the three-time candidate, won’t take part in the election, his press service said Saturday. He would only consider running if he got 10 million signatures to support his …

Reuters reports: Finland will on Monday Dec. 18 sign a defence cooperation agreement with the United States, the Finnish government said on Thursday, to grant the U.S. military broad access across the Nordic country to the vicinity of its long border with Russia. Russia’s Nordic neighbour Finland became the NATO military alliance’s newest member earlier this year in response to …

CNBC reports: Incumbent Russian leader Vladimir Putin has confirmed he will run in the national presidential elections of 2024, state news agency Tass reported, according to a Google translation. Putin has run Russia for roughly 24 years, alternatively serving as prime minister and president since 1999. Securing another presidential mandate in 2024 would see him remain at the helm of …

The Messenger reports: The Department of Justice on Wednesday filed its first official war-crimes charges against four Russian men accused of torturing an American in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion of the country. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges at a press conference that was described as an event to announce “significant humans rights actions.” It also featured …

ABC News reports: Russian security forces raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow Friday night, less than 48 hours after the country’s top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist organization. Police searched venues across the Russian capital, including a nightclub, a male sauna, and a bar that hosted LGBTQ+ parties, under the pretext of …