Tag Archives: Russia

Der Spiegel reports: The Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany’s foreign intelligence service, has acquired gruesome new insights into the atrocities committed by Russian military forces in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. DER SPIEGEL has learned that the BND intercepted Russian military radio traffic in which the murder of civilians in Bucha was discussed. Some of the intercepted …

The Washington Post reports: Finnish Customs has seized artwork en route to Russia as part of sanctions imposed by the European Union. The paintings, sculptures and antiquities are worth 42 million euros ($46 million), the agency said. Finnish Customs stopped three shipments headed to Russia at the Vaalimaa border crossing, the agency said in a news release. The artwork was …

Ars Technica reports: Roskomnadzor, Russia’s censorship authority, issued another demand on Tuesday for Wikipedia to remove what it called “unreliable socially significant information.” The agency warned that failure to comply could lead to fines of up to 4 million rubles ($50,000). A March 3 statement on the Wikimedia website declared that “we will not back down in the face of …

CNN reports: The US announced new sanctions Wednesday on Russian financial institutions and individuals, including Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, as it aims to increase economic pressure on Russia and Putin himself following horrific images from the Ukrainian city of Bucha. The US is targeting Putin’s two adult daughters because they believe the Russian President may be hiding …

Popular Info reports: In an internal email obtained exclusively by Popular Information, Stand Together, the influential non-profit group run by right-wing billionaire Charles Koch, argues that the United States should seek to deliver a partial “victory” to Russia in Ukraine. The email was sent to Stand Together staff by Dan Caldwell, the group’s Vice President of Foreign Policy, on March …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: A $300 million slice of Florida’s nearly $200 billion public pension portfolio is invested in Russian companies, even as the pariah nation faces mounting accusations of genocide and other war crimes in Ukraine. Democrats want Florida to divest that tiny part of the fund, arguing the state’s leaders should act swiftly to dump Russian investments. Florida’s …

Politico Europe reports: Italy is to expel 30 Russian diplomats, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced on Tuesday during a visit to Berlin. He said the move was “for national security reasons.” Also Tuesday, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod tweeted: “Denmark will expel 15 Russian intelligence officers working at the Russian embassy in Copenhagen. They pose a threat to our …

The Hill reports: Attorneys representing former President Trump asked that a judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton recuse himself from Trump’s recent lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton of being part of a conspiracy claiming his 2016 campaign was colluding with Russia. In a motion filed Monday, Trump attorneys Alina Habba and Peter Ticktin argued that U.S. District Court Judge Donald …

San Diego’s Fox News affiliate reports: Ukrainian Americans held a silent protest outside Awaken Church in San Diego County as it hosted a controversial guest speaker Saturday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Saturday’s protesters claimed Carlson spreads pro-Russia propaganda. They arranged strollers, car seats and baby shoes to represent the more than 150 children killed by the war in Ukraine. …

CNBC reports: President Joe Biden said Monday that evidence needs to be gathered to put Russian leader Vladimir Putin on trial for war crimes related to his nation’s invasion of Ukraine. “He is a war criminal,” Biden said of Putin, on the heels of reports of mass killings of civilians by Russian troops in the town of Bucha, northwest of …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. government seized a mega yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to the Russian president on Monday, the first in the government’s sanctions enforcement initiative to “seize and freeze” giant boats and other pricey assets of Russian elites. Spain’s Civil Guard and U.S. federal agents descended on the yacht at the …

“The war. What is more opposite of music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people. Our children draw swooping rockets, not shooting stars. Over 400 children have been injured and 153 children died, and we will never see them drawing. “Our parents are happy to wake up in the morning in bomb shelters, but alive. Our loved ones don’t …

Reuters reports: Ukraine on Sunday accused Russian forces of carrying out a “massacre” in the town of Bucha, while Western nations reacted to images of dead bodies there with calls for new sanctions against Moscow. Russia’s defence ministry denied the Ukrainian allegations, saying footage and photographs showing bodies in Bucha were “yet another provocation” by the Ukrainian government. The defence …

Reuters reports: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said images of dead Ukrainian civilians found in the town of Bucha after Russian troops left were a “punch in the gut” and those responsible for any war crimes must be held accountable. Blinken’s comments in a CNN interview on Sunday came a day after Ukrainian forces moved into the town near …

Axios reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced what he called Russia’s attempt to eliminate “the whole nation” during an appearance Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” saying, “this is genocide.” As Ukrainian forces retook the Kyiv region on Saturday, officials and independent photographers have reported bodies of civilians — some with their hands tied behind their backs — strewn in …

CNN reports: The lifeless bodies of at least 20 civilian men line a single street in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital. Some lie face down on the pavement while others are collapsed on their backs, mouths open in a tragic testament to the horrors of Russian occupation. The hands of one man are tied behind his back …

The Verge reports: Russia says it will end cooperation with other nations on the International Space Station until the sanctions put on the country are lifted. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, announced in a thread on Twitter that the “restoration of normal relations between partners” on the ISS and other projects is only possible with the …

Euronews reports: Pope Francis offered his most pointed condemnation of the war in Ukraine, calling out “infantile and destructive aggression” on Saturday during a trip to Malta. In words that appeared to directly call out President Vladimir Putin, the pope said that “some potentate” caught up in “anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts”. “We had thought …

The New York Times reports: The stream of antiwar letters to a St. Petersburg lawmaker has dried up. Some Russians who had criticized the Kremlin have turned into cheerleaders for the war. Those who publicly oppose it have found the word “traitor” scrawled on their apartment door. Polls and interviews show that many Russians now accept Mr. Putin’s contention that …

Posted today to Franklin Graham’s Facebook page: This is a man-made disaster, a historic humanitarian crisis—and I believe God is the only solution. I am urging Christians around the world to pray for God to work in the hearts of leaders involved and to intervene and bring peace and an end to the conflict. I have written to Russian President …