Russia

The Hill reports: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Sunday stopped short of criticizing and rejecting a suggestion by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in which the South Carolina Republican called for “somebody in Russia” to take out Russian President Vladimir Putin. “People are watching these images, alright, they’re seeing what’s happening there, and people being murdered and suffering, and it makes …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday his campaign in Ukraine was going according to plan and would not end until Kyiv stopped fighting, as efforts to evacuate the heavily bombarded city of Mariupol failed for a second day in a row. He made the comments in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who appealed for …

USA Today reports: The cold open featured a Fox News special titled “Ukrainian Invasion Celebration Spectacular” with hosts Laura Ingraham (Kate McKinnon) and Tucker Carlson (Alex Moffat). The Fox News anchors kicked off the show by attempting to apologize for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “pathetic” and reducing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “border dispute,” respectively, by hosting a …

Via press release from Radio Free Europe: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has suspended its operations in Russia after local tax authorities initiated bankruptcy proceedings against RFE/RL’s Russian entity on March 4 and police intensified pressure on its journalists. These Kremlin attacks on RFE/RL’s ability to operate in Russia are the culmination of a years-long pressure campaign against RFE/RL, which …

The BBC reports: Visa and Mastercard have announced they will suspend all operations in Russia in protest at its invasion of Ukraine. Cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by their networks, the payments giants said late on Saturday. Both firms have also said that cards issued abroad will no longer work at businesses or ATMs in …

Gothamist reports: As Russian forces lay siege to Ukraine, President Joe Biden warned oligarchs and enablers of the Putin regime this week that the U.S. will “find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.” Lawmakers in Albany are using the moment to go after one of the more popular means of masking assets in New York: limited …

ABC News reports: Thousands of people have booked Airbnbs in Ukraine without plans to travel there as a way to get money directly to Ukrainians. The initiative, which gained popularity via social media, boasted $1.9 million in its first 48 hours, according to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky [photo]. In support of the initiative, Airbnb is waiving booking fees in Ukraine. …

The Associated Press reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a “desperate plea” to U.S. senators on Saturday to send more planes to help the country fight the Russian invasion. Zelenskyy made the request on a call joined by more than 300 people, including senators, some House lawmakers and aides. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said …

The BBC reports: Russian forces continued to shell the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Saturday, despite agreeing to a ceasefire just hours earlier – throwing an attempted mass evacuation of civilians into chaos. “I’m right now in Mariupol, I’m on the street, I can hear shelling every three to five minutes,” said Alexander, a 44-year-old engineer and resident of the …

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as “participation in the armed conflict.” Speaking at a meeting with female pilots on Saturday, Putin said Russia would view “any move in this direction” as an intervention that “will pose a threat to our service members.” …

The Guardian reports: Italian police have seized villas and yachts worth at least €140m (£126m) from four high-profile Russians who were placed on an EU sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sources said on Saturday. A police source said a villa owned by the billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov on Sardinia, and a villa on Lake Como owned by the …

i24 News reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz denied that Russian troops were bombing Ukrainian cities, dismissing such information as fake, the Kremlin said Friday. Putin said reports about “the alleged ongoing air strikes of Kyiv and other large cities are gross propaganda fakes,” the Kremlin said in a statement. He added …

CNN reports: Former Vice President Mike Pence is expected to condemn Republican “apologists” who have complimented Russian President Vladimir Putin amid his invasion of Ukraine, according to excerpts of a Friday speech to top GOP donors, obtained by CNN. “There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin. There is only room for champions of freedom,” Pence is …

The Hill reports: Bloomberg, CNN and the BBC on Friday announced that they would be halting operations in Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation that makes independent reporting in the country a crime. “CNN will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward,” the network said in a statement. …

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill introducing a prison sentence of up to 15 years for those spreading information that goes against the Russian government’s narrative on the war in Ukraine. The bill criminalizing the intentional spreading of what Russia deems to be “fake” reports about the war was quickly rubber-stamped by both …

The New York Post reports: Russian shoppers rushed to local Ikea stores this week after the furniture retailer announced it would temporarily pause operations in the country and neighboring Belarus following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Photos showed long lines forming at the chain’s Russia locations as shoppers filled carts with items in what could be their final chance to shop …

Buzzfeed News reports: Facebook on Friday was blocked in Russia amid President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine. In a statement issued on Friday, Roskomnadzor, the country’s communications regulator, explained the decision was made to block access to the Facebook network after at least 26 cases of “discrimination against Russian media and information resources” since October 2020. The agency …

NBC News reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Friday defended calling for Russians to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, saying it would be the quickest way to end the war in Ukraine. Graham said he hopes someone in Russia will understand that Putin is “destroying Russia and you need to take this guy out by any means possible.” Russian officials pounced …

Kansas City’s ABC News affiliate reports: For six hours every weekday, 1140AM KCXL broadcasts radio programming paid for by the Russian government, called Radio Sputnik. Sales manager Jonne Santoli-Schartel told KMBC on Thursday she and her husband, Peter Schartel, have no plans to pull Radio Sputnik from the station’s airwaves. “If we can’t express our viewpoints anymore, and we have …

CBS News reports: “It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant,” the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said on Friday, hours after Russian forces seized control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Russia claims Ukrainian “saboteurs” started a fire at the Zaporizhzhia power plant, but Ukraine and the U.S. say it was hit overnight by …