Tag Archives: Russia

Reuters reports: China, which Russia has sought as an ally since being cold-shouldered by the West over its invasion of Ukraine, has called the United States the “main instigator” of the crisis. In an interview with the Russian state news agency TASS published on Wednesday, China’s ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, accused Washington of backing Russia into a corner with …

The Wall Street Journal reports: As many as 80,000 Russian troops have been wounded or killed in less than six months of fighting in Ukraine, the Pentagon said Monday, the first time the U.S. military announced its estimates of the toll of the invasion on Russia. According to U.S. estimates, Russia has suffered 70,000 to 80,000 casualties, Colin Kahl, the …

Reuters reports: Russian airlines, including state-controlled Aeroflot, are stripping jetliners to secure spare parts they can no longer buy abroad because of Western sanctions, four industry sources told Reuters. Sanctions imposed on Russia after it sent its troops into Ukraine in late February have prevented its airlines from obtaining spare parts or undergoing maintenance in the West. Equipment was being …

The Washington Post reports: The way to stop Russia from annexing any more of Ukraine’s territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday, is for Western countries to announce that they would ban all Russian citizens in response. In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Zelensky said that “the most important sanctions are to close the borders — because the Russians …

NBC News reports: The prospect of a nuclear catastrophe spurred growing international alarm Monday after shelling attacks hit a Russian-controlled power plant in Ukraine that is almost twice the size of Chernobyl. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for international inspectors to be given access to the sprawling nuclear site as fears grew of a disaster after the weekend strikes …

The Insider reports: In an interview with Insider, Paul Manafort, who served as Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, made his first public admission that in 2016 he shared polling data from the Trump campaign with Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime business associate with suspected ties to Russian intelligence. Kilimnik then passed the data on to Russian spies, according to the US Treasury …

The Hill reports: President Biden on Friday said he’s “hopeful” about Brittney Griner’s situation after the WNBA star was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia. “I’m hopeful. We’re working hard,” Biden told reporters when asked about Griner, who a day earlier was sentenced by a Russian judge on charges that she illegally brought drugs into the country. White …

NPR reports: A Russian court has found Brittney Griner guilty on drug smuggling and possession charges. The widely expected verdict comes after a monthlong trial and nearly six months after the basketball star was arrested at a Moscow-area airport with cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage. The judge sentenced Griner to nine years in prison. The trial’s outcome was not …

Reuters reports: A Russian prosecutor demanded U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner be sentenced to nine and a half years in prison on drugs charges at a trial that is expected to end in a verdict later on Thursday. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Feb. …

The New York Times reports: The war is adding impetus to a drive to legalize gay marriage, with a petition recently reaching the desk of President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for same-sex partners to have the same rights as heterosexual couples, including the right to marry. “At this time, every day can be the last,” says the petition. The petition’s author …

The Sunday Times reports: Russian students heading back to school in the autumn will be taught about the country’s values amid the Kremlin’s wider campaign to implement “patriotic” education in schools. Starting from September 5, schools across the country will dedicate hours to so-called “conversations about important things”, Sergei Novikov, head of the presidential directorate for social projects, told Tass, …

Mediaite has the transcript: She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they’re very vigilant about drugs. They don’t like drugs. And she got caught. And now we’re supposed to get her out — and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess. We’re supposed to get her out for an absolute killer …

The Hill reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged civilians remaining in the easternmost Donbas region of the country to leave as the most intense fighting with Russian forces continues there. Zelensky also called on the world, and specifically the U.S. State Department, to recognize Russia as a terrorist state. He said it would not be just a political gesture but …

ABC News reports: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that he’s open to a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss a possible prisoner swap involving American basketball star Brittney Griner. Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had offered Russia a deal that would bring home Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan. A person familiar with …

The Guardian reports: The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, ex-US marine Paul Whelan, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday. In a sharp reversal of previous policy, Blinken also said he expects to speak with his Kremlin counterpart for the first time since …

Axios reports: The versatile Jonathan Lemire — Politico’s White House bureau chief and host of MSNBC’s “Way Too Early” — is out Tuesday with “The Big Lie,” his new book that includes this account of President Trump’s disastrous press conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018: “Fiona Hill, the senior Russia expert on the National Security Council, who was …

The Associated Press reports: Russia will opt out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country’s newly appointed space chief said Tuesday. Yuri Borisov, who was appointed earlier this month to lead the state-controlled space corporation Roscosmos, said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will fulfill its …

CNN reports: US law enforcement officials recovered what appeared to be a Fabergé egg from a yacht seized from a Russian oligarch in Fiji, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Wednesday. The $300 million yacht, owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, was sailed by US law enforcement officials from Fiji to the San Diego Bay late last month, where …

Reuters reports: Russian lawmakers have proposed extending a ban on the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relationships to minors to include adults as well, a senior legislator said on Monday. Russia’s existing “gay propaganda” law, passed in 2013, has been used to stop gay pride marches and detain gay rights activists. Under the proposed changes, any event or act regarded as …

Politico Europe reports: The absence of a picture is worth a thousand words. Foreign ministers of the G20 countries, who are meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali this week, did not take a customary group photo, after several Western leaders reportedly refused to be pictured with Russia’s Sergey Lavrov over his country’s invasion of Ukraine. According to a report …