Putin used Wednesday’s interview to downplay speculation about Biden’s cognitive health, recalling when the two met in Switzerland in June 2021, less than a year before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “When I met with Biden in Switzerland — it was, indeed, a few years ago, three years — even then there were talks about … Read more
And it seems he’s not alone in Russia, as just 26 percent of people said they were celebrating Valentine’s Day last year, according to state pollster VTsIOM. That figure was down from half the population in the 2000s. Putin once disclosed that he received Valentine’s Day congratulations from his then-wife, Liudmila, in 2008, but she didn’t send … Read more
But Carlson’s monologue, in which he lambasted Western media and claimed it wasn’t making an effort to hear Putin’s side of the story, has sparked backlash from American and Russian journalists. “Many journalists have interviewed Putin, who also makes frequent, widely covered speeches,” wrote Anne Applebaum, an American journalist and historian, on X (formerly Twitter). … Read more
Although there has been no official confirmation, pro-Kremlin pundits and military bloggers have relished the news as a sign the former Fox News host is going to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Without exaggerating, it is safe to say that we are in for an epochal event,” the Bezgranichny Analitik Telegram channel wrote. It added that, … Read more
Upon his release, one of the detained journalists said he and others had been held in a police van for some three hours after which they were brought to a police station, questioned and issued with an official “warning” for having participated in an “unsanctioned protest,” before eventually being released. Notably, no women were detained. … Read more
“Leaked emails between Ždanoka and her two known Russian case officers include explicit, detailed reports from Ždanoka to her handlers describing her work as a European legislator, particularly as those official duties relate to fostering pro-Kremlin sentiment in her native Baltic region,” according to the report. The Latvian security service VDD also said it will … Read more
Nadezhdin, a 60-year-old veteran politician with a background in physics, promises to end Putin’s “fatal mistake” in Ukraine, halt mobilization and free political prisoners, including Alexei Navalny. He also pledges to reverse anti-LGBTQ+ and military censorship laws. Nadezhdin has been criticized by some for being ambiguous on the status of Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, … Read more
The couple was initially detained on Wednesday, according to human rights group OVD-info. After searching their apartment and finding sketches of anti-war messages, the Russian authorities took the couple to the Federal Security Service for interrogation, OVD said. Dyudyaeva, who describes herself as the “darkest artist of the Northwest” of Russia, has previously had her … Read more
The Kremlin has laughed off an attempt by the CIA to recruit spies from Russia via social media. “Somebody should tell the CIA that VKontakte is much more popular here than the banned X [formerly Twitter] and that VKontakte has a much larger audience,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday, according to state-run news agency … Read more
Thousands of protesters rallied in south-central Russia on Wednesday after a court sentenced Fayil Alsynov, an indigenous rights activist for the local Bashkir ethnic group, to four years in a penal colony on charges of inciting ethnic hatred. The demonstration took place outside the courthouse in Baymak, a town of 17,000 inhabitants nearly 2,000 kilometers … Read more
