‘Foreign agent,’ the brush with which the Kremlin tars its most critical opponents
The label was initially applied in 2012 to identify NGOs that received foreign funding and has become a catch-all tool against Russian dissidents
NATO personnel already in Ukraine for arms control, intelligence operations and military training
The French proposal not to rule out sending soldiers to fight against Russia opened a debate that confirms there are soldiers from the Atlantic Alliance on the ground, but not in combat roles
Putin strengthens power after Russia’s farce election: ‘We have grandiose plans’
The partial count confirms the president’s resounding victory in a vote where he faced no real opposition. The leader also admitted for the first time that, before his death, there were plans to swap Alexei Navalny for a Russian prisoner held in Germany
Putin poised to extend his nearly quarter-century of rule for six more years
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Polling happened in a tightly controlled environment where the Russian president only faced competition from three token rivals
The Taurus, the German weapon that Ukraine wants to use to strike Russian targets away from the front lines
The shortage of air-to-surface cruise missiles in Ukrainian and European arsenals means that Germany is the only ally that can meet Kyiv’s demand in the short term
Putin, the leader courted by the West, perpetuates the dictatorship of an increasingly bellicose Russia
The president, who came to power 24 years ago, is poised to win the presidential election for a fifth time, while his main opponents are in jail, exiled or dead
Drones, tension and votes in plain sight in Russian elections without a rival for Putin
Residents of the Russian border city of Belgorod report an unprecedented intensity of attacks attributed to Ukraine. In Kursk, support for the president is resounding on the first election day
Faced with Putin, the answer is action or defeat
European leaders are taking steps to bolster military support for Ukraine. But more efforts must be carried out urgently. Without them, the result will not be peace, but a debacle
Using coercion, Russia has successfully imposed its citizenship in Ukraine’s occupied territories
A new Russian law stipulates that anyone in the occupied territories who does not have a Russian passport by July 1 is subject to imprisonment as a ‘foreign citizen’
Germany, France and Poland vow to procure more weapons for Ukraine in a show of unity
After the meeting of the so-called ‘Weimar Triangle’ of the three countries, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said that ‘the Russian president should know that we won’t let up in our support for Ukraine’
UN-backed human rights experts decry new evidence of torture of Ukrainian POWs by Russia
Russian forces regularly showed little regard for possible harm to civilians in their military operations, the report said, adding that incidents of rape and sexual violence against women amounted to torture
Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine: ‘We want to get as many people as we can out of the front lines and put in machines’
Alexander Kamyshin says Kyiv has already tested unmanned ground devices on the front lines that ‘kept the Russians at bay for 40 days’
The threat to American hegemony is real: China and Russia see historic opportunity
The two powers, which have imposed autocratic rule on most of Eurasia, are likely to view the present moment as ripe to challenge the U.S. order
Russia goes to the polls in elections tailored to guarantee Putin power until 2030
The president’s three supposed rivals all support the Kremlin and the vote, which will be held from Friday to Sunday without international observers, uses an opaque electronic system
Macron again declines to rule out Western troops in Ukraine, but says they’re not needed now
Macron said that responsibility for prompting such a move would lie with Moscow — ‘It wouldn’t be us’ — and said France would not lead an offensive into Ukraine
The drama in Russia’s election is all about what Putin will do with another six years in power
The heft of that long tenure and the thorough suppression of effective domestic opposition voices gives Putin a very strong — and perhaps unrestrained — hand
Russian Orthodox priests persecuted for opposing war
Archpriest Andrei Kordochkin, suspended from service in Madrid for his pacifist positions, officiated at a ceremony for the deceased opponent Alexei Navalny in Germany, from where he urges Russians to ‘study all forms of non-violent resistance’
The attack on a Russian opponent in Vilnius raises fears of Kremlin infiltration in Baltic countries
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been warning for years about Moscow’s attempts to destabilize these nations and persecute Russian citizens on their territory
Ally of late Navalny accuses ‘Putin’s henchmen’ of attacking him in Lithuania, vows not to give up
An assailant attacked Leonid Volkov on Tuesday as he arrived in a car at his Vilnius home, where he lives in exile. The attacker smashed one of his car’s windows, sprayed tear gas into his eyes and hit him with a hammer
Putin warns again that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty is threatened
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Days ahead of an election in which he’s all but certain to secure another six-year term, President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is ready to use nuclear weapons in case of a threat to ‘the existence of the Russian state’
As Putin orchestrates his reelection, a resilient Russian economy is a key selling point
More than two years after he sent troops into Ukraine, not much has changed economically for most people in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. That’s despite the sweeping sanctions that have cut off much of Russia’s trade with Europe, the U.S. and their allies
Ukraine launches wave of drone attacks on nine Russian regions on eve of presidential election
The strikes targeted infrastructure and reportedly destroyed a Lukoil refinery and a fuel depot while Russian pro-Ukraine paramilitaries fought Kremlin troops in border skirmishes
The French government says it’s being targeted by unusual intense cyberattacks
A group of hackers called Anonymous Sudan, which is considered by cybersecurity experts as pro-Russia, claimed responsibility for the attacks in online post
A farm converted into a barracks on the Avdiivka front: ‘We need weapons and ammunition. Please hurry up!’
In an area of the front where Russian troops have gained the most ground in Ukraine, under daily bombing from the enemy, a couple of farmers shelter, care for and feed 100 soldiers
Donald Trump 2.0: How US foreign policy may change if he returns to the White House
In his first term, the New York magnate turned his country’s relations with the world upside down. If he wins a second, he is likely to again upturn Washington’s position on Russia, China, Europe and Latin America
Europe doubles its arms imports to counter Russia’s threat and reduce reliance on the US
Washington remains the world’s main exporter, while Moscow loses steam and falls to third place behind France
With dissent stifled, some Russians help political prisoners by writing them letters of support
The number of prosecutions grew rapidly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and public criticism of the war was outlawed