Russia

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What on Earth Just Happened in Russia?
What on Earth
Just Happened in Russia?
The rundown
Jun 25, 2023 8:25 AM CDT

What on Earth Just Happened in Russia?

After a short-lived rebellion, analysts see a weaker Putin and much confusion

(Newser) - If you blinked and missed the headlines on Saturday, the news out of the Russia-Ukraine war will cause a double-take on Sunday. Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner Group declared an open rebellion against Vladimir Putin, brought his tanks about 120 miles from Moscow, then abruptly called off the...

To Resist War, Russians Get Creative

Messages are spread through pirate radio, ribbons, fake Tinder profiles

(Newser) - Russia cracked down hard on public displays of dissent after it invaded Ukraine last year, but many citizens have risked being imprisoned—or worse—with creative forms of protest since the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. Activists write anti-war slogans on walls, bank notes, and even price tags in grocery stores,...

Putin Warns of 'Inevitable Punishment' for Uprising

Armed rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is biggest threat to Putin in decades

(Newser) - President Vladimir Putin vowed Saturday to defend Russia against an armed rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led his troops out of Ukraine and into a key city south of Moscow. The uprising, which Putin called "a stab in the back," is the biggest threat to his...

Wagner Leader Calls for Armed Rebellion

'This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,' Prigozhin says

(Newser) - The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in...

Russia Extends Detention of US Journalist by 3 Months
Jailed Journo
Shows 'Strength'
in Court Loss
UPDATED
Jun 22, 2023 8:11 AM CDT

Jailed Journo Shows 'Strength' in Court Loss

Russian court rejects Evan Gershkovich's appeal, meaning he'll remain jailed for months

(Newser) - A Russian court has rejected Evan Gershkovich's appeal against pre-trial detention, meaning the Wall Street Journal reporter will remain jailed until at least Aug. 30. The decision came Tuesday in another closed-door hearing for the American accused of spying, though the ruling was broadcast to reporters in a separate...

Report: Russia Planned to Assassinate Defector in Florida

Putin 'wants all these guys dead'

(Newser) - Some 80 years after Ramon Mercader killed Leon Trotsky in Mexico City on orders from Josef Stalin, Vladimir Putin's regime plotted to send "a modern-day Mercader" to kill a Russian defector living in Florida, according to an upcoming book from Calder Walton, a Harvard scholar of national security...

Navalny Faces Decades in Prison at New Trial
Russia Puts Navalny
on Trial Again
Jun 19, 2023 8:49 AM CDT

Russia Puts Navalny on Trial Again

Opposition leader, 47, faces decades more in prison

(Newser) - Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny went on trial Monday on new charges of extremism that could keep him behind bars for decades. The trial opened at a maximum security penal colony in Melekhovo, 150 miles east of Moscow, where Navalny, 47, is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and...

Russia Denies It Blew Up Dam. New Evidence Suggests Otherwise

Drone pics, other info shows Russia had 'means, motive, and opportunity' to destroy Ukrainian dam

(Newser) - Russia had the means, motive, and opportunity to bring down a Ukrainian dam that collapsed earlier this month while under Russian control, per exclusive drone photos and information obtained by the AP . Images taken from above the Kakhovka dam and shared with the AP appear to show an explosives-laden car...

Lukashenko Boasts of What Russia Has Sent His Way

But it's unclear if the tactical nuclear weapons have truly arrived in Belarus

(Newser) - Some three weeks after Belarus signed a deal allowing Russia to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, the Belarusian president suggested some of those weapons are in place. Bloomberg reports delivery wasn't supposed to occur until construction of a nuclear storage facility in Belarus is completed around July...

Elizabeth Gilbert Delays Next Book After Backlash

Novel is set in Siberia in 1900s, and some were upset it might romanticize Russia

(Newser) - Within days of Elizabeth Gilbert announcing her new novel, The Snow Forest, the book's release has been put on pause. The Eat, Pray, Love author said last week that the novel, set in Siberia in the 1900s, would be released in February. But after outcry followed, with many worried...

US Musician Held for Drug Trafficking in Russia

Michael Travis Leake appeared on Anthony Bourdain's show in 2014, has long lived in Moscow

(Newser) - An American musician who has lived in Russia for more than 10 years has been detained, accused of drug trafficking. A Moscow court has ordered Michael Travis Leake to be held for two months before his trial, until Aug. 6, after he was arrested for allegedly selling the drug mephedrone,...

Ukraine Announces First Victories of Its Counteroffensive

3 villages in Donetsk region liberated, Kyiv says

(Newser) - In what the BBC calls the first victories of its counteroffensive against Russia, Ukraine on Sunday announced it had liberated three villages in the Donetsk region. Troops could be seen on video raising the Ukrainian flag over Blahodatne, and in another video, soldiers are shown in Neskuchne celebrating and holding...

Zelensky Confirms Shift in War: 'Pass This On to Putin'

President says Ukraine has begun its counteroffensive against Russia

(Newser) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that counteroffensive and defensive actions were underway against Russian forces, asserting that his top commanders were in a "positive" mindset as their troops engaged in intense fighting along the front line. The Ukrainian leader, at a Kyiv news conference alongside Canadian Prime Minister...

Ukraine Enters a &#39;Most Dangerous&#39; War Phase
Ukraine Enters a
'Most Dangerous' War Phase
the rundown
Jun 9, 2023 8:55 AM CDT

Ukraine Enters a 'Most Dangerous' War Phase

Counteroffensive will be most costly at the start; Western funding hangs in the balance

(Newser) - Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian invaders looks to be underway. As Politico reports, it's a long-anticipated moment that is being closely watched around the world, including at the White House, as some senior US officials see President Biden's global reputation as hinging on its success. Here's what...

Hopeful Message and Arrests Mark Navalny's Birthday

Someday, imprisoned opposition leader says, telling the truth openly in Russia will be routine

(Newser) - Alexei Navalny voiced hope for a better future in Russia as his supporters defied a crackdown on dissent to hold pickets and demonstrations to mark the imprisoned opposition leader's 47th birthday on Sunday, with at least 90 people reported arrested. Navalny is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and...

Biden&#39;s Accuser Defects to Russia
Biden's Accuser
Defects to Russia
May 31, 2023 10:00 AM CDT

Biden's Accuser Defects to Russia

Tara Reade says she finally feels 'safe,' 'heard,' and 'respected'

(Newser) - Tara Reade has defected to Russia. The woman who accuses President Biden of sexually assaulting her when she worked in his Senate office in 1993 revealed the move in a Tuesday news conference in Moscow that "lasted several hours," CNN reports. Reade spoke with Russian state media outlets...

Alleged Russian Spy Whale Turns Up in a New Country

Hvaldimir, first spotted off of Norway 4 years ago, is now in Swedish waters

(Newser) - In 2019, when a white beluga whale showed up off of Norway , experts suspected it was a spy whale that had defected from the Russian military. Scientists also feared the creature wouldn't be able to survive very long on its own after a lifetime in captivity—but now, four...

Drones Attack Russia&#39;s Capital
Drones Strike Moscow at Dawn
May 30, 2023 6:48 AM CDT

Drones Strike Moscow at Dawn

Russia blames Ukraine, which denies 'direct involvement,' but was 'pleased to watch'

(Newser) - Russia says Ukraine sent at least eight drones to Moscow in an early morning "terrorist attack." There were no serious injuries and only minor damage to buildings reported Tuesday, the BBC reports, noting Ukraine has denied involvement. Russia said all drones were intercepted. "Three of them were...

Belarus Prez Promises Nuclear Weapons to 'Everyone'

He urges other countries to join Russia-Belarus union

(Newser) - Belarus has signed a deal to allow Russia to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory but President Alexander Lukashenko apparently doesn't want other former members of the Soviet Union to feel left out. In an interview aired on a state-run Russian channel Sunday, the Belarusian leader promised that "...

Wagner Boss Says He's Handing Bakhmut to Russia

Ukrainian official: Counteroffensive has begun

(Newser) - The head of the Russian private military contractor Wagner claimed Thursday that his forces have started pulling out of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine and handing over control to the Russian military, days after he said Wagner troops had captured the ruined city . Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's millionaire owner with longtime...

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