Russia on Friday held its first royal wedding since the 1917 Bolshevik revolution toppled the Romanov monarchy, with aristocrats travelling from across Europe for the lavish ceremony. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, 40, and his Italian fiance Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, 39, were preparing to say their vows at Saint Isaac’s cathedral in the former imperial […]
By Andrew Osborn and Polina Devitt MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia sharply escalated a campaign against jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday, opening a new criminal case against President Putin’s fiercest domestic critic that could allow the authorities to hand him another decade in jail. In a case condemned by the West, Navalny, 45, is already […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a videoconference meeting with the leaders of the Russian political parties following the parliamentary elections. -/Kremlin/dpa Russian President Vladimir Putin praised last week’s parliamentary elections as “free and fair” on Saturday, while hundreds of people gathered in Moscow to protest against the results of the polls that were overshadowed by […]
The European Court of Human Rights found on Tuesday that Russia was responsible for the assassination of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died an agonizing death in 2006 after being poisoned in London with a rare radioactive substance. Litvinenko, a defector who had become a vocal critic of the Kremlin, died three weeks after drinking […]
By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) – Britain would have to turn to Russia and China to exercise a “moderating influence” over the Taliban, despite a mistrust between the UK and those governments, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. “We’re going to have to bring in countries with a potentially moderating influence like Russia and China, however uncomfortable […]
One year after the poison attack on Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in Siberia, Russia has accused the West, and Germany in particular, of a smear campaign. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow again demanded proof that Navalny was poisoned with the chemical agent Novichok. On the first “anniversary of the Navalny case” this […]
The US State Department said Friday that Moscow is forcing it to lay off nearly 200 Russian employees in its Russia diplomatic missions, saying the move will constrict diplomatic efforts and embassy operations. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said 182 Russian employees and dozens of contractors in Moscow, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg would be let go […]
The United States and Russia will hold high-level talks next week in the second bid in as many months to encourage stability in the tense relationship, officials said Friday. The so-called Strategic Stability Dialogue, set up during a June 16 summit between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva, will […]
No longer Washington’s security priority: members of an anti-Taliban militia fighting with Taliban insurgents in Helmand province Washington (AFP) – Joe Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan has stunned with its speed, but Washington already decided four years ago that it was fed up with “forever wars” and turned its attention to traditional great power competition with […]
Top US officials met at the White House on stopping ransomware Wednesday, as pressure mounted on President Joe Biden to take action against Russia over cyberattacks. Days after hundreds of companies in the US and around 1,500 worldwide saw their computer systems hijacked by allegedly Russia-based ransomware group REvil, there were calls for tough counterattacks […]
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian military helicopters based in Tajikistan fired air-to-surface missiles during a training exercise on Tuesday as Moscow said its forces in the Central Asian nation were fully equipped to help secure the border with Afghanistan. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon on Monday ordered the mobilisation of 20,000 military reservists to bolster the border […]
None of the 28 people on board a Russian An-26 plane have survived its crash on Tuesday in the country’s far east, Interfax and RIA news agencies quoted sources in the rescue service as saying The plane, en route from regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the village of Palana, lost contact with air traffic control during […]
By Tom Balmforth MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian warplanes practiced bombing enemy ships in the Black Sea during training exercises, Russia said on Saturday, amid friction with the West over NATO drills in the region and following a recent incident with a British warship. Moscow last week challenged the right of HMS Defender to pass through […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Classified documents from Britain’s defence ministry containing details about a British warship and Russia’s potential reaction to its passage through the Black Sea have been found at a bus stop in southern England, the BBC reported on Sunday. The BBC said the documents, almost 50 pages in all, were found “in a […]
Russia on Wednesday said it fired warning shots at a British navy destroyer in the Black Sea after it violated the country’s territorial waters, but the UK denied the incident had occurred. Incidents involving Western aircraft and ships are not uncommon at Russia’s borders, especially during heightened tensions with Washington, Brussels and London, but rarely […]
By Humeyra Pamuk, Steve Holland and Andrew Osborn GENEVA/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Expectations for a major breakthrough at a summit on Wednesday between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are low with ties between Washington and Moscow at their most strained in years. But both leaders say they hope the Geneva meeting, […]
When Vladimir Putin meets Joe Biden for their first summit on Wednesday the Russian leader will not be looking for progress on arms control, the lifting of sanctions or even an apology for the US president saying he is a “killer”. Putin already got what he wanted: the summit itself. After a week of meeting […]
By Steve Holland CARBIS BAY, England (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will hold a solo news conference after meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next week, denying the former KGB spy an elevated international platform to castigate the West and sow discord. Putin’s bravura performance at a 2018 news conference with Donald Trump led to […]
By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Pentagon announced on Friday a new package of $150 million in military assistance for Ukraine that will include counter-artillery radar, electronic warfare equipment and counter-drone technology, bolstering Kyiv amid elevated tensions with Moscow. Although the funds were already committed by Congress, the Defense Department’s announcement details how the U.S. […]
The United States will stand with its European allies against Russia, President Joe Biden has promised ahead of the first face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin of his administration. Biden will head to Europe Wednesday, and is set to attend both the G-7 and NATO summits as well as holding a high-stakes meeting with the Russian […]
A former US Marine imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges has urged President Joe Biden to arrange a prisoner exchange with Russian leader Vladimir Putin when the two meet in Geneva on June 16. Paul Whelan, a security official in a US auto parts company when he was arrested in a Moscow hotel in December […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko will meet Friday after the UN civil aviation agency announced it will investigate the diversion of a passenger plane and the arrest of a journalist on board in a growing diplomatic row. The meeting in Sochi between the Kremlin and the Belarusian leader, who enjoys strong […]
US President Joe Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will hold their first summit next month in Geneva, both sides said Tuesday, setting the stage for a new chapter in their fraught relationship. The meeting in the Swiss city will be on June 16, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. “The leaders will discuss […]
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Thursday he successfully eased out of his hunger strike and has discovered the recipe for being “happy” in prison. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s best known domestic critic, is serving two-and-a-half years in a penal colony outside Moscow on old fraud charges he says are politically motivated. Russia’s top opposition […]
The US and Russian foreign ministers are meeting in Iceland on Wednesday evening to gauge the enormous gulf between the rival powers and confirm a potential summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. Statements preceding the face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the Arctic Council meeting in Iceland do not bode well for the […]
“The enemy shall not pass,” exclaims commander Ivan Glushchenko, standing in the glistening white snow that surrounds an ultra-modern Russian military base in the heart of the Arctic, the site of Moscow’s stand-off with NATO. The growing accessibility of natural resources and navigation routes in this rapidly thawing region has attracted global competition, and Moscow’s […]
The United States said Tuesday it was reviewing the previous administration’s withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty as Russia moved formally to leave the post-Cold War accord meant to build trust. The United States officially left the pact in November after former president Donald Trump’s administration said Russia was violating the agreement that allows the […]
A school shooting erupted Tuesday morning in the Russian city of Kazan, killing seven students and leaving 16 other people hospitalized with wounds, according to the governor of Russia’s Muslim majority Tatarstan region. A 19-year-old boy was arrested as authorities launched a criminal investigation. Rustam Minnikhanov, governor of the Tatarstan republic which has Kazan as […]
[Verse 1] As the Wehrmacht overrun, Russia 1941 They don't belong, we stand our ground, a million strong We are ready for their strike, face the army of the Reich A million strong, this is our land, they don't belong [Pre-Chorus 1] Hear Marshal Zhukov's, and Stalin's orders Defend the motherland, Moscow shall not fall! […]
By Matthias Williams and Natalia Zinets KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv on Thursday in a show of support after Russia massed troops near Ukraine’s eastern border in a standoff that sent alarm bells ringing in Western capitals. Blinken is due to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, mixing solidarity with calls for […]