Tag Archives: Russia

Reuters reports: President Vladimir Putin on Monday approved a new foreign policy doctrine based around the concept of a “Russian World”, a notion that conservative ideologues have used to justify intervention abroad in support of Russian-speakers. The 31-page “humanitarian policy”, published more than six months into the war in Ukraine, says Russia should “protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and …

Politico reports: Russia is purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for use in the Ukraine conflict, according to a U.S. official, citing newly downgraded intelligence. The news comes a week after Kyiv began a major counteroffensive in the south of the country to take back territory Moscow captured in its initial invasion. Since the operation began, …

Reuters reports: Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s last independent news outlets, was stripped of its media licence on Monday, and in effect banned from operating. Russia’s media watchdog Rozkomnadzor had accused the publication of failing to provide documents related to a change of ownership in 2006. Speaking outside court, editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel Peace laureate for his efforts to …

Politico reports: A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Trump 2016 presidential campaign adviser Carter Page over surveillance he faced due to suspicions he was part of an effort by Russia to influence the U.S. political process. U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich issued a ruling Thursday tossing out the $75 million suit Page filed in 2020 against …

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday paid tribute to Mikhail Gorbachev but will not attend the late former Soviet leader’s funeral, a decision reflecting the Kremlin’s ambivalence about Gorbachev’s legacy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that prior to departing for a working trip to Russia’s westernmost Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, Putin visited a Moscow hospital where …

Reuters reports: Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Russia’s second-largest oil producer Lukoil died on Thursday after falling from a hospital window in Moscow, two sources familiar with the situation said, becoming the latest in a series of businessmen to meet with sudden unexplained deaths. The sources confirmed reports by several Russian media that the 67-year-old had plunged to his death, …

Sky News reports: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has died at the age of 91, according to Russia’s Interfax News Agency. He was known for ending the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the break-up of the Soviet Union. When pro-democracy protests swept across the Soviet bloc nations of communist Eastern Europe in 1989, he refrained from using …

The New York Times reports: The Vatican on Tuesday for the first time said that Russia was the aggressor in the Ukraine war, condemning Moscow’s invasion in strong terms after earlier comments by Pope Francis prompted criticism from Kyiv. “As for the large-scale war in Ukraine, initiated by the Russian Federation, the interventions of the Holy Father Pope Francis are …

NBC News reports: International inspectors were heading Monday to the Ukrainian nuclear plant at the center of growing alarm about a potential radiation disaster. The United Nations nuclear watchdog mission is set to arrive at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant later this week, offering hope for progress even as the two warring sides exchanged new accusations of shelling around the …

The Guardian reports: Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu is being “sidelined” due to problems in the war against Ukraine and is likely being ridiculed by soldiers for his “ineffectual” leadership, said British intelligence. The latest update from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said: “Recent independent Russian media reports have claimed that due to the problems Russia is facing in its …

Politico Europe reports: EU foreign ministers are set to back a suspension of the bloc’s visa facilitation agreement with Moscow, the Financial Times reported, citing three officials involved in talks. Authorities have discussed limiting travel permits for Russian citizens, with some member states calling for an outright ban on Russian tourist visas, but there is no majority in favor of …

Mediaite reports: Jared Kushner’s own mother asked him if he was colluding with Russia, the former White House official revealed to Newsmax on Friday. “She’s reading articles online. Chuck Schumer and my parents, you know they used to be friends and we were Democrats and he’s going around the Upper East Side telling everybody that I’m going to be indicted. …

The Associated Press reports: Authorities began distributing iodine tablets to residents near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant Friday in case of a radiation leak, amid mounting fears that the fighting around the complex could trigger a catastrophe. The move came a day after the plant was temporarily knocked offline because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: For a time, Anna de Rothschild boasted of her family roots to the European banking dynasty, donning designer clothes, a Rolex watch, and driving a $170,000 black Mercedes-Benz SUV. She talked about developing a sprawling luxury housing project on Emerald Bay in the Bahamas, a high-rise hotel in Monaco, and a Formula One race track in …

Axios reports: The Biden administration announced Friday it will nominate an ambassador-at-large for the Arctic, raising the profile of American policymaking for the region. The move comes at a time of increased militarization in the far north, with NATO members squaring off against Russia, and at a time of rapid climate change that is making the Arctic more accessible. In …

The Associated Press reports: U.K. residents will see an 80% increase in their annual household energy bills, the country’s energy regulator announced Friday, following a record 54% spike in April. That will bring costs for the average customer from 1,971 pounds ($2,332) a year to 3,549 pounds. The latest price cap — the maximum amount that gas suppliers can charge …

Reuters reports: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that his military’s SU-24 warplanes had been modified to carry nuclear weapons and that Minsk would react immediately if the West caused it any problems. Lukashenko said he had agreed the move to modernise Belarusian warplanes with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Belta news agency reported. Belarus, a staunch Russian ally, …

Bloomberg News reports: President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to boost its troop total by 137,000 to 1.15 million, the highest level in more than a decade, as Russia digs in for its war against Ukrainian forces backed by the US and its allies. Putin’s brief decree, published on the Kremlin’s website, didn’t explain the motivation for the increase or …

Reuters reports: The United States on Tuesday urged its citizens to leave Ukraine, saying it believed Russia was preparing to target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days as the war reaches the six-month mark. The warning followed a ban by the Ukrainian government on celebrations in the capital Kyiv on Wednesday’s anniversary of independence from Soviet rule …

The Associated Press reports: Russia’s top counterintelligence agency on Monday blamed Ukrainian spy agencies have organized the killing of the daughter of a Russian nationalist ideologue. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the main KGB successor agency, said that the killing of Darya Dugina has been “prepared and perpetrated by the Ukrainian special services.” Dugina was the daughter of Alexander Dugin …