Putin Proposes Ending Invasion of Ukraine Along Current Front Lines – FT

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to end the war in Ukraine along the current front lines as part of peace talks with the United States, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the negotiations.

During a meeting in St. Petersburg earlier this month, Putin reportedly told Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff that Moscow could drop its claims to parts of four Ukrainian regions still controlled by Kyiv.

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Witkoff to Visit Russia Again This Week, Putin Aide Says

U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Russia later this week, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Interfax news agency on Tuesday.

"We're awaiting him," Yuri Ushakov said when asked whether Witkoff, who has traveled to Russia multiple times since Trump took office, planned to make any new trips in the near future.

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Feature | Exiled Electronic Duo AIGEL Crashes the Dancefloor With ‘Killer Qız’
By Samantha Berkhead

It’s murder on the dancefloor.

In the propulsive opening track to exiled electronic duo AIGEL’s new album, vocalist Aigel Gaisina inhabits the role of a DJ whose beats kill a “fool old man” on the dancefloor for “drinking my people’s blood.”

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State of Emergency Declared as Huge Explosion Rocks Russia’s Vladimir Region

A powerful explosion rocked central Russia’s Vladimir region, local authorities said Tuesday, as unconfirmed reports suggested the blast erupted at one of the country’s largest missile and ammunition depots.

“An explosion occurred in the Kirzhachsky district. Responsible services are working on site,” Vladimir region Governor Alexander Avdeyev wrote on Telegram, without directly referencing any military facilities or detailing the damage.

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Opinion | The Killing of a 17-Year-Old Shows the Clash of Cultures Taking Place in Chechnya
By Ayman Eckford

For Russians and Chechens who followed the news on social media, this April began with extremely shocking news that revealed an important cultural conflict between Chechens and their Moscow-imposed leadership.

On the evening of April 7, a young man attacked patrol officers with a knife, leaving one dead,  in the small Chechen town of Achkhoy-Martan. The suspect, 17-year-old Eskarhan Khumashev, was executed without any trial or investigation. 

The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.

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Russian Court Jails Exiled Journalist Kirill Martynov 6 Years in Absentia

A Moscow court has sentenced exiled Russian journalist Kirill Martynov to six years in prison in absentia for involvement in an “undesirable” organization, Novaya Gazeta Europe, where he serves as editor-in-chief, reported Tuesday.

Martynov is the co-founder of the Latvia-based Novaya Gazeta Europe and the independent online Free University. Russian authorities labeled both organizations as “undesirable” in 2023.

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Putin Hosts Sultan of Oman to Discuss Trade, Arab Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss expanding trade ties and a potential Arab League summit in Russia.

“There’s still much to be done in trade and economic relations, but we already have an opportunity to develop our relations in the fields of logistics, transportation, mutual investments and agriculture,” Putin said during the meeting.

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Feature | Public Pride, Private Torment: The Russian Women Waiting for Men at War

The image of a devoted woman waiting for her husband at war is deeply embedded and romanticized in Russian culture, from Soviet-era songs like “Katyusha” to war films that depict the suffering and patience of soldiers' wives.

While in past wars women anxiously awaited letters, today they wait for video calls and WhatsApp messages from husbands fighting in Ukraine. Some do so with pride, others with fear — and many with a mix of emotions they can barely articulate.

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Russia Jails Exiled Philanthropist Boris Zimin 9 Years in Absentia

A Moscow court has sentenced exiled philanthropist Boris Zimin to nine years in prison in absentia on fraud charges linked to the sale of shares in the Russian car-sharing company BelkaCar, the court’s press service said Tuesday.

Zimin, 56, was accused of working with accomplices to sell a majority stake in BelkaCar without the approval of a key shareholder. Last year, two alleged accomplices — investors Ralph Novak and Ilmar Azmukhanov — were sentenced to five and four years in prison, respectively.

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Moscow Court Reduces Drug Trafficking Sentence for Jailed U.S. Man

A Moscow court reduced the drug trafficking prison sentence for Russian-born U.S. citizen Robert Woodland by three years, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing his lawyer.

Woodland, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen who worked as an English teacher in Moscow, was arrested in January 2024 and accused of “illegally acquiring, storing, transporting, manufacturing and processing" 47 grams (1.6 ounces) of mephedrone. 

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Arts and Life | Zurab Tsereteli, Sculptor of Grand Monuments and Putin Admirer, Dies at 91
By AFP

Georgian-Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, known for his towering and often controversial public monuments, has died at age 91, Russian state media reported Tuesday.

He passed away at his home in Peredelkino, a village southwest of Moscow, “surrounded by his works,” his assistant Sergei Shagulashvili told the RIA Novosti news agency.

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Russian Hackers Targeted Dutch Public Facility, Intelligence Agency Says

Russian hackers targeted a public facility in the Netherlands last year in the first known cyberattack on the country’s infrastructure, the Dutch military intelligence service said Monday.

The Netherlands remains an “attractive target” for Moscow due to its ongoing support for Ukraine, its Hague-based international institutions, its high-tech industries and key ports like Rotterdam, the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in its annual report.

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Russian Film Critic Charged Over ‘War Fakes’ Flees House Arrest

Russian film critic Yekaterina Barabash fled house arrest and failed to appear at her trial on charges of spreading “deliberately false information” about the Russian army, state media reported Monday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the case.

Barabash, 64, was placed under house arrest in February over social media posts in which she allegedly spread “false information” about the Russian Armed Forces.

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Moscow Sees Wild Temperature Whiplash in April

Central Russia saw dramatic temperature swings throughout April, fluctuating well above and below seasonal norms, the country’s chief meteorologist told state media Tuesday.

“It’s an extremely unique April because the weather fluctuated from one extreme to the other,” said Roman Vilfand, head of research at the Russian meteorological service Rosgidromet.

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Russian Army Retakes Monastery in Last Ukrainian-Held Village in Kursk – TASS

Russian troops regained control of a monastery in the last village of the southwestern Kursk region still held by Ukrainian forces, state media reported Tuesday, citing anonymous security sources.

“Our soldiers liberated the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery in Gornal during fighting,” one of the sources was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency.

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Russian Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison Over $25 Donation to Ukrainian Army

A court in Russia's Sverdlovsk region has sentenced a man to 12 years in a high-security penal colony for donating about $25 to the Ukrainian military, the independent Mediazona news website reported Monday.

Prosecutors alleged that Yevgeny Varaksin, 27, a resident of the closed city of Lesnoy, transferred 100 Polish zlotys “to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine” while visiting Poland in April 2022.

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Left-Wing Activist Sergei Udaltsov Pleads Not Guilty During Trial for ‘Justifying Terrorism’

Russian left-wing activist Sergei Udaltsov went on trial Monday on charges of “justifying terrorism” online, a charge that carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison.

“The trial has begun. The indictment has been announced. Sergei pleaded not guilty,” state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Udaltsov’s lawyer, Dmitry Agranovsky, as saying.

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Putin Signs Law Expanding Criteria for ‘Foreign Agent’ Designations

President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law a bill expanding the criteria for designating individuals and organizations as “foreign agents,” targeting Russians connected with foreign government agencies and international organizations in which Russia is not a member.

The amended legislation also allows authorities to designate as “foreign agents” those who try to involve others in collecting military information that could be used against Russia.

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In First, Russia Identifies Member of Banned ‘International LGBT Movement’

Russian authorities have identified someone as a member of the “international LGBT movement” for the first time since the country’s Supreme Court designated the non-existent organization as “extremist,” the legal rights group Perviy Otdel said Monday.

When Russia’s Supreme Court banned the “international LGBT movement” in November 2023, it claimed the so-called organization had 281 members, though it did not identify any of them by name at the time.

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Arts and Life | New York’s Hottest Playwright? Anton Chekhov.
By Andrei Muchnik

Despite Russian propaganda’s repeated claims that Russian culture is being “canceled” in the West, the most popular playwright in New York right now is — somewhat surprisingly — Anton Chekhov.

The writer’s work is everywhere from major Broadway productions to experimental Off-Off-Broadway performances, although he had never set foot in the city himself.

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Vladimir Putin Praises Late Pope Francis as ‘Defender of Humanism’

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday praised the late Pope Francis as a “defender” of humanism and justice and lauded his efforts to foster dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

“Pope Francis enjoyed great international respect as a devoted servant of Christian teachings, a wise religious and state leader, as well as a steadfast defender of the highest ideals of humanism and justice,” read Putin’s statement, which the Kremlin published shortly after the Vatican announced the Pope’s passing.

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Opinion | Putin Wants to Look Like the Good Guy by Proposing Ceasefires. It's a Trap.
By Joshua R. Kroeker

As Orthodox Easter approached, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a familiar move: calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine. On the surface, this might seem like a gesture of goodwill — a nod to tradition, peace and religious observance. 

However, beneath that veneer lies a calculated attempt to manipulate the international narrative, particularly targeting U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.

The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.

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Trump Tower Moscow, Rare Earths and Geopolitical Perks: How the Kremlin Plans to Bait Trump Into a Grand Bargain

As Moscow prepares for possible negotiations with Washington aimed at ending its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is seeking a far more ambitious outcome than a mere ceasefire: a global reordering of spheres of influence.

In the Kremlin’s view, such an agreement would effectively mean U.S. recognition of Russian dominance in the post-Soviet space — including Ukraine — and, to some extent, an acknowledgment of its influence in Europe.

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Ex-Husband of Russia’s Wealthiest Woman Ordered to Pay Her $2.6M

A Moscow court has ordered businessman Vladislav Bakalchuk, the ex-husband of Russia’s wealthiest woman, to return part of the assets he was awarded during their divorce, state media reported Monday.

Tatiana Kim and Bakalchuk finalized their divorce in February following a surprise merger last summer between Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberries and the outdoor advertising firm Russ Group.

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Moscow Court Finds Father Guilty of Abusing Daughters Who Killed Him in 2018

A Moscow court has posthumously found a man who was killed by his daughters nearly seven years ago guilty of sexually abusing them, Russian media reported Monday.

Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan admitted to killing their father, Mikhail Khachaturyan, in July 2018 after what they described as years of physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

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Russian Economic Officials Brace for Lowest Oil Prices Since Pandemic

Russian authorities are bracing for a continued slump in oil prices, with the Economic Development Ministry significantly reducing its 2025 forecast for the average price of Urals crude to $56 per barrel.

That would mark the lowest level since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a collapse in global demand and pushed Urals to an annual average of $41.70 per barrel. Before that, prices had dipped below $56 only in 2015 and 2016, when Urals averaged $51.20 and $41.90, respectively.

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Russian Orthodox Priest Claims Migrants Are Coming to ‘Replace’ Locals

A Russian Orthodox priest claimed during an Easter sermon on Sunday that labor migrants are arriving in the country to “replace” local residents.

Father Yevgeny, head of the Yekaterinburg diocese, said that “many thousands” of migrants entering Russia “view the Holy Russia of the Risen Christ as a relic and an anachronism” and pose a “huge test of strength for our entire Russian civilization.”

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Emergency Situations Minister Visits Far East to Assess Wildfires

Russia’s Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov visited the Zabaikalsky region in the country’s Far East on Monday to assess growing wildfires in the area

As of Monday, 50 wildfires were burning across the Zabaikalsky region and covered roughly 168,000 hectares (415,137 acres), according to the Interfax news agency, which cited regional authorities. Nearly 70% of the fires are located in the remote and sparsely populated Tungokochensky district.

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Russia Launches Air Attacks on Ukraine as Putin’s Easter Truce Ends

Russia launched a fresh wave of attacks on Ukraine overnight Monday, Ukraine’s Air Force said, after both Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of violating an Easter ceasefire that President Vladimir Putin unilaterally announced on Saturday.

Russian forces launched 96 drones and three missiles targeting several regions, including Kharkiv in the east and Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy in central Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.

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Soyuz Spacecraft Brings Joint Russian-American Crew Home From ISS

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying one American and two Russians returned from the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday. 

The craft touched down Sunday morning on the Kazakh steppe, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said.

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Russian Attacks Ongoing Despite Putin’s Easter Truce, Says Zelensky

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said Russian forces continued their shelling and assaults along the front line despite Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing a surprise brief Easter truce.

The 30-hour truce would be the most significant pause in the fighting in the more than three-year conflict.

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Arts and Life | Walk the 'Green Mountains' of the Caucasus with Author Caroline Eden

Can you tell us about your “color trilogy”?Green Mountains, my new book, is the final book in my ‘color trilogy’, following on from Black Sea: Dispatches and Recipes — Through Darkness and Light and Red Sands: Reportage and Recipes Through Central Asia.

In Green Mountains the book travels to the lands between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea — both of which are central to the first two books — and as well as walking and collecting stories and recipes, I reflect on ten years of researching and writing these books, set most recently against the dark backdrop of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

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Vladimir Putin Announces Easter Truce With Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced an Easter ceasefire with Ukraine starting this evening and lasting till midnight on Sunday.

"Today, from 18:00 to midnight Sunday, the Russian side announces an Easter truce," Putin said in a televised meeting with Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.

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Russian Forces Close to Fully Liberating Kursk Region, Military Says

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces recaptured the second-to-last village in the Kursk region still held by Ukrainian forces, coming just weeks after Moscow staged a surprise counteroffensive in the key border town of Sudzha.

“During offensive operations, units of the Northern Group of Forces liberated the village of Oleshnya,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement published on Telegram.

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Trump Threatens to Withdraw From Ukraine Peace Talks Unless Deal Reached ‘Very Shortly’

President Donald Trump warned Friday that the United States was ready to “take a pass” on negotiations to end the war in Ukraine unless Moscow and Kyiv showed a willingness to make progress toward peace in the coming days.

“If, for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say: ‘You’re foolish. You’re fools. You’re horrible people.’ And we’re going to just take a pass,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”

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Arts and Life | Who Invented Gingerbread - Europe or Russia? Who Cares?!
By Russian Culinary Historians

Everyone loves gingerbread. Unlike okroshka, Lenten buckwheat with mushrooms or steamed turnips, this mainstay of old Russian cuisine does not have nay-sayers.

Gingerbread is a universal favorite — in Russia and all over the world. In fact, experimenting with each other’s gingerbread has been a very successful example of cultural exchange.

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U.S. Proposed Russian Sanctions Relief as Part of Ukraine Peace Deal – Bloomberg

The United States shared a draft Ukraine ceasefire plan with European allies that includes potential sanctions relief for Russia, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing anonymous European officials familiar with the matter.

The proposal was presented during talks in Paris on Thursday, with officials from Britain, Germany, France and Ukraine present.

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Russia and Ukraine Exchange Nearly 1K Bodies of Killed Soldiers

Russia and Ukraine exchanged the bodies of 950 fallen soldiers, officials from both countries announced Friday, marking the second such swap in less than a month.

Russia received the remains of 41 soldiers, State Duma lawmaker Shamsail Saraliyev told the RBC news website. Ukraine, meanwhile, repatriated the bodies of 909 servicemen, according to the government’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

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Far East’s Zabaikalsky Region Restricts Travel Amid Widespread Wildfires

Authorities in Far East Russia’s Zabaikalsky region on Thursday introduced movement restrictions in an effort to contain fast-spreading wildfires.

Residents must now obtain advance authorization from local officials to travel outside their communities, except when using regional or federal highways. Checkpoints will be installed at the entrances to all populated areas, according to a government order.

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St. Petersburg Prosecutors Request 6-Year Prison Sentence for Anti-War Teenager

Prosecutors in St. Petersburg are seeking a six-year prison sentence for 19-year-old anti-war activist Daria Kozyreva on charges of repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian military, the independent news outlet Mediazona reported Friday.

Kozyreva was arrested in February 2024 after she attached a poem by Ukrainian writer Taras Shevchenko to his monument in St. Petersburg.

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From ‘Terrorists’ to Forum Guests: Why Did Russia Lift Its Ban on the Taliban?

Russia officially removed the Taliban from its list of designated terrorist organizations, a legal formality that follows years of pragmatic engagement with the Afghan militant group.

While the Taliban has been banned in Russia since 2003, Thursday’s Supreme Court decision does not amount to a formal recognition of its government, experts say. Still, it reflects Moscow’s ongoing shift toward new regional alliances after its invasion of Ukraine strained ties with its traditional partners.

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Pause in Air Strikes on Ukraine’s Energy Grid Has Expired, Kremlin Says

A 30-day moratorium on Russian strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has expired, the Kremlin said Friday, ending a short-lived pause that was announced after a call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.

“A month has indeed passed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “As of this time, there have been no other instructions from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Putin.”

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Black Sea Oil Spill Renders Russian Resorts Unfit for Summer Vacation, Top Health Official Warns

More than 150 beaches along Russia’s southern Black Sea coast remain unsuitable for summer vacations due to ongoing contamination from a recent oil spill, the head of Russia’s consumer safety watchdog said Friday.

Oil slicks continue to be detected off the coast of Anapa, a popular resort town in the Krasnodar region, nearly four months after two aging Russian tankers were damaged in a powerful storm. The vessels released thousands of tons of heavy fuel oil into the sea, sparking an environmental crisis that has since cast serious doubt over the upcoming tourist season.

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Kursk Governor Has Office Blessed After Predecessor’s Arrest on Fraud Charges

Acting Kursk region Governor Alexander Khinshtein invited a Russian Orthodox priest to bless his office with holy water following the arrest of his predecessor on fraud charges earlier this week.

“I have a clear understanding of how much sinfulness has accumulated within these walls in light of recent events,” Khinshtein wrote in a message posted on Telegram Thursday.

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U.S. Will Abandon Ukraine Peace Talks ‘Within Days’ if No Progress Made, Rubio Says

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Washington would need to determine within days whether a ceasefire in Ukraine was realistically achievable, following meetings with European officials in Paris.

“We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term, because if it's not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” Rubio told reporters at Le Bourget airport before departing the French capital.

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Russia Systematically Seizing Thousands of Homes in Occupied Mariupol, Investigation Says

Russian authorities are carrying out a sweeping campaign to seize homes in occupied Mariupol that belong to Ukrainians who fled from Russia’s invasion or were killed in the fighting, according to a BBC Verify investigation published three years after Moscow’s forces captured the city after a brutal siege.

At least 5,700 homes have been earmarked for seizure, the outlet reported, citing documents published by Mariupol’s Russian-installed administration since July 2024.

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Raiffeisen Pauses Russian Bank Sale Amid U.S.-Russia Talks – FT

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) paused the sale of its Russian subsidiary in February amid signs of a potential thaw in U.S.-Russia relations, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

“[The pause] is in order to assess the situation and if the position of the U.S. might change,” one source told FT, suggesting the bank is waiting to see whether improving diplomatic ties could ease pressure from Western regulators.

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Russian Air Attacks in Northeastern Ukraine Kill 2, Injure Dozens

Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded 27 others overnight in the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Sumy, authorities said early Friday.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said one person was killed in his city during the attacks, which "according to preliminary information... were carried out using ballistic missiles with cluster munitions." 

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Trump Softens on Zelensky, Says Mineral Deal Coming 'Soon'

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he doesn't hold Volodymyr Zelensky "responsible" for Russia's invasion of his country but continued to criticize the pro-Western Ukrainian leader.

Trump has repeatedly made the false claim that Ukraine started the war and this week accused Zelensky of responsibility for "millions" of deaths.

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Russia Warns Germany Against Supplying Taurus Missiles to Ukraine

Russia said on Thursday it would treat Ukrainian strikes on transport infrastructure using German Taurus long-range missiles as "direct participation" in the conflict by Berlin.

The warning came after Germany's chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, said he was open to supplying them to Kyiv.

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Zelensky Says He Believes China Supplying Arms to Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that he had "information" that China was supplying weapons to Russia, amid an escalating row between Kyiv and Beijing over China's support for Moscow.

Zelensky said last Wednesday that Kyiv knew of at least 155 Chinese nationals deployed to assist Moscow's invasion, a day after claiming the Ukrainian army had captured two Chinese soldiers in the eastern Donetsk region.

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Russia Attempts Major Assault in Southern Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian Army Says

Russia’s armed forces attempted to stage a major assault in the southern Zaporizhzhia region overnight, the Ukrainian military said Thursday, adding that its troops managed to repel the attack.

According to the defense forces of southern Ukraine, at least 320 Russian soldiers attacked five villages southeast of the city of Zaporizhzhia starting at around 6:00 p.m. local time. The Russian troops were said to have used 40 armored vehicles, a dozen buggies and three tanks.

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Resumption of Direct Flights Depends on Ukraine Ceasefire, U.S. Tells Russia

The United States has told Russian envoys that it will only consider resuming direct air travel between the two countries if progress is made toward a ceasefire in Ukraine, a senior Russian official said Thursday.

“The Americans still believe there needs to be progress on the Ukrainian track before any talk of restoring air travel,” Yury Ushakov, a foreign policy aide to President Vladimir Putin, told state TV journalist Pavel Zarubin.

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Moscow Court Awards Russia’s Wealthiest Woman Ex-Husband’s Stake in Online Retailer

A Moscow court awarded Tatiana Kim, Russia’s wealthiest woman, her ex-husband Vladislav Bakalchuk’s remaining stake in the country’s largest online retailer Wildberries, the company’s press service told state media Thursday.

Kim and Bakalchuk finalized their divorce in February following a surprise merger with outdoor advertising firm Russ Group last summer. The merger sparked a bitter corporate and personal dispute involving Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and culminated in a deadly shootout at the company’s headquarters in September. 

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Feature | Hundreds of Ethnic Germans Are Dying for Russia in Ukraine. This Man Is Tracking Them.

Volunteers counting Russia’s losses in the war in Ukraine have long pointed to the disproportionate numbers of ethnic minorities among the fallen soldiers. 

In addition to communities Indigenous to Russia — such as Buryats and Tyvans — some of the country’s non-Indigenous minorities also sustained outsized losses. Among them are at least 1,017 ethnic Germans. 

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YouTube Again Blocks German-Language RT channel

YouTube on Thursday again blocked a German-language channel of Russian state broadcaster RT for breaching user terms, having drawn Moscow's ire in the past with similar shutdowns.

Broadcaster RT — previously known as Russia Today — said on its website that YouTube had taken down its newly launched "Auf Sendung" (On Air) channel "without explanation".

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Qatari Emir Visits Moscow for Talks With Putin

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday for talks focused on bilateral trade, the war in Gaza and Syria’s relations with Moscow following the ouster of its longtime ruler.

“Qatar is one of our priority partners, especially in the Middle East,” Putin said during the meeting at the Kremlin. The Gulf country has played a key mediating role in efforts to reunite Ukrainian children taken to Russia with their families.

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Russia to Supply Army Using Seized U.S.-Owned Food Company – Reports

Russia plans to use an American-owned company whose assets it seized to supply food to its army, Reuters reported Thursday, citing a document it obtained.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the seizure of Glavprodukt, the country’s largest canned food producer, and its placement under temporary state control in October 2024. While Moscow has nationalized several foreign-owned businesses since the invasion of Ukraine, Glavprodukt is the first to be taken from an American shareholder.

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Russian Supreme Court Removes Taliban From List of Terrorist Organizations

Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday formally removed the Taliban from the country’s list of banned terrorist organizations, a symbolic move underscoring Moscow’s warming ties with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers.

“The previously established ban on the Taliban’s activities... has been suspended,” Supreme Court Judge Oleg Nefedov was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency TASS. “The decision enters into legal force immediately.”

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Opinion | Putin's Demands Mean Trump Can Never Truly End the War. Here's Why
By Taras Kuzio

After talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said he was optimistic about soon striking a peace deal that would give Russia five  Ukrainian territories and block Kyiv’s NATO aspirations. Both he and President Donald Trump are wrong. 

Trump’s attempts to end Russia’s three-year full-scale, bloody war against Ukraine will fail because they ignore Vladimir Putin’s demand to “eliminate the root causes” of the war. A few days ago Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described those causes as “the Nazi government, represented by Zelensky and his associates” who were on a mission to “exterminate everything Russian.”

The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.

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Russian Politician Admits He’s Been Working Remotely From Ukraine Since 2021

A politician in Far East Russia’s Zabaikalsky region said he has been working remotely from Ukraine for the past four years, raising eyebrows over an apparent loophole that allowed him to keep his post during wartime.

Mikhail Nosik, 65, who serves as a local councilman in the Kalarsky district of the Zabaikalsky region, revealed in a recent ethics commission hearing that he has been living in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro since 2021, local media reported Thursday.

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Former Russian Army General Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Bribery

A Moscow military court on Thursday sentenced former deputy chief of Russia’s General Staff Vadim Shamarin to seven years in a maximum-security prison on corruption charges.

Lieutenant-General Shamarin, who also headed the General Staff’s communications directorate, was arrested in May 2024 on charges of accepting 36 million rubles ($437,600) in bribes from a phone manufacturing plant in exchange for state contracts and “general patronage.”

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Jailed Reporter Ponomarenko Launches Second Hunger Strike Over Prison Conditions

Jailed Russian journalist and activist Maria Ponomarenko has gone on a hunger strike to protest her treatment in solitary confinement, her support group said Thursday.

Ponomarenko, who is serving concurrent prison sentences for spreading “fake news” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and allegedly assaulting prison guards, is not expected to be released until 2028, according to her lawyer.

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China Spikes Kremlin’s Proposed Power of Siberia 2 Alternative

Moscow’s proposal to transport Russian gas via Kazakhstan as an alternative to the shelved Power of Siberia 2 pipeline has failed to gain traction in Beijing.

The plan, announced by Moscow in the fall of 2024, envisioned the delivery of up to 45 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian natural gas annually to China via Kazakhstan. But Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said the project would not go forward, citing excessive costs.

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Putin Meets With Russians Freed by Hamas, Praises Moscow’s Ties With Palestine

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday met with Russian-Israeli national Alexander Troufanov, who was freed earlier this year after being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, crediting Moscow’s longstanding ties with Palestinian groups for helping secure his release.

Troufanov, 29, was among the hostages freed in February after 498 days in captivity as part of an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire deal. He appeared at the Kremlin meeting alongside his mother, Yelena Troufanova, and fiance Sapir Cohen, who were also kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, and released the following month.

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Japan Accuses Russia of Restricting Sea Navigation Around Kuril Islands

Japan’s government sent Russia a formal letter of protest over the closure of sea navigation around the Kuril Islands, Russian state media reported Thursday.

Tokyo accused Russia of introducing restrictions on the navigation of foreign military and civilian ships around the southern Kuril Islands from April 16 to May 1, according to the state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

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Russian Drone Attack on Ukraine’s Dnipro Kills 3

A Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed three people late Wednesday, regional authorities said.

Dnipropetrovsk region Governor Sergiy Lysak described the air assault as "large-scale" and said a young girl and an elderly woman were among the dead.

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Serbia Says Russian Intel Report Found No ‘Sound Cannon’ Used on Protesters

Serbia on Wednesday said protesters' claims that they were targeted by a "sound cannon" were refuted by an investigation carried out by Russian intelligence officers.

The officers with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) concluded no sonic devices were used to violently disperse a March 15 mass demonstration that took place in Belgrade, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.

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Putin Praises Musk, Compares Him To Soviet Space Hero

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk on Wednesday, telling university students he was a pioneer comparable to legendary Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev.

The comments came as Russia and the United States forged closer ties under President Donald Trump's administration, of which billionaire SpaceX founder Musk is a key figure.

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Russia's Treason Convictions Hit Post-Soviet Record in 2024 – IStories

Russian courts convicted a record number of citizens for treason in 2024, as the Kremlin intensified its crackdown on perceived internal threats amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and heightened tensions with the West.

According to the independent investigative outlet IStories, 145 Russian citizens were convicted of treason last year. That figure is nearly four times higher than the number of convictions in 2023 and the highest recorded in modern Russian history, the outlet said.

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Police Arrest Former Kursk Region Governor Alexei Smirnov

Russian law enforcement authorities arrested former Kursk region governor Alexei Smirnov, multiple media outlets reported Wednesday, citing police sources.

The Vedomosti business newspaper said law enforcement agents carried out “investigative actions” involving Smirnov, though its sources did not say whether he had been formally charged with any crimes.

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Health Ministry Loosens Hospital Regulations Amid Staffing Crisis

Russia’s Health Ministry has authorized hospitals and clinics to delegate some of the responsibilities of doctors to paramedics and midwives in response to a nationwide healthcare staffing crisis, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday.

According to the ministry, Russia faced a shortfall of 23,200 doctors and 63,000 other medical professionals in 2023.

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Moscow Refuses to Say Whether Energy Strike Moratorium Will Be Extended

The Kremlin on Wednesday declined to say whether a 30-day pause on strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure would be extended, just hours before the moratorium was set to expire.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 18 that he had ordered a temporary halt to such attacks, though Ukrainian officials have accused Moscow of violating the pause multiple times since.

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In Occupied Ukraine, Russia's Security Forces Target Schools for Recruitment

“Down! And now this gesture will make the dog sit,” says a National Guard officer, his face half-covered by a balaclava, as he points at a German Shepherd. He stands in a school assembly hall in the Russian-occupied Kherson region. The dog obeys, and the children laugh.

The session is part of a professional training program run by the Russian National Guard, or Rosgvardia, held in schools in the occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine.

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Finland to Keep Border With Russia Closed ‘Until Further Notice’

Finland will keep its land border with Russia closed indefinitely due to continued concerns over a potential surge in asylum seekers allegedly encouraged by Moscow, the Finnish government announced Wednesday.

The Nordic country shut its 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) eastern border in December 2023 amid an uptick in asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa. Finnish authorities accuse the Kremlin of encouraging the asylum seekers to cross their shared frontier in a destabilization ploy — a “hybrid attack” Helsinki sees as Moscow’s retribution for having abandoned decades of military nonalignment by joining NATO.

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Russia Says It’s Ready to Help Mediate U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks

Moscow said Wednesday that it is prepared to do “everything” within its power to help diplomatically resolve the standoff between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Russia, which holds the world’s largest confirmed stockpile of nuclear weapons, has strengthened its military ties with Iran since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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Dozens of Russian Elites Received Serbian Passports After Ukraine Invasion – IStories

Serbian authorities have issued passports to dozens of Russians with Kremlin ties since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the investigative news outlet IStories reported Wednesday, citing government data.

A total of 204 Russians were naturalized as Serbian citizens between early 2022 and April 2025, including many with links to Russia’s defense industry and intelligence services, the outlet said.

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Russian Ruble Surges, Becoming World’s Best-Performing Currency

The Russian ruble strengthened to 82.3 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, making it the best-performing currency in the world year-to-date and outperforming even the traditional safe haven of gold.

The ruble has strengthened 38% versus the dollar on the over-the-counter market since the beginning of this year, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

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Tyvan Opera Singer Arrested on Espionage Charges in Moscow – Mediazona

A decorated opera singer from Siberia’s republic of Tyva was arrested in Moscow earlier this year on espionage charges, the exiled news outlet Mediazona reported Wednesday.

Tsetsendelger Tegshee, 31, was born in Mongolia near the Russian border. He studied art in the Tyvan capital of Kyzyl and has performed with the Tyva State Philharmonic since 2018.

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Ukrainian Drones Attack Military Base in Russia’s Ivanovo Region – Reports

Ukrainian drones attacked the city of Shuya in central Russia’s Ivanovo region on Wednesday, local authorities said, with unconfirmed media reports suggesting the air assault targeted a military base.

City officials urged residents to take shelter and canceled some classes at local schools, but said no evacuation was ordered. Two people suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene, they added.

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‘I Am Being Tried For My Professional Activity’: The Last Words of Journalists Jailed for Alleged Navalny Ties

Four Russian journalists were sentenced to 5.5 years in prison each on Tuesday after authorities claimed that they worked with late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s banned organizations.

Video journalists Konstantin Gabov and Sergei Karelin had worked for a variety of outlets including major international agencies — Gabov with Reuters and Karelin with the Associated Press.

The Moscow Times publishes Gabov and Karelin’s courtroom speeches:

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FSB Arrests Man Accused of Planning Assassination of Russian-Backed Lawmaker in Luhansk

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday that it thwarted a Ukrainian plot to assassinate a Russian-installed official in occupied Ukraine.

A resident of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region who holds a Russian passport was allegedly recruited by Ukrainian military intelligence officials to carry out sabotage operations, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing an FSB video.

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Russian Attacks on Kherson Kill At Least 1, Ukrainian Officials Say

Russian attacks in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson killed at least one person and wounded three others on Wednesday, officials said.

Kherson region Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian attacks had continued as rescue workers arrived at the scene where a man was killed and three others wounded.

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Russia Sentences Journalists to 5.5 Years in Navalny 'Extremism' Case

Four Russian journalists were sentenced to 5.5 years each on “extremism” charges Tuesday over their alleged work with the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s organizations, the independent news outlet SOTAvision reported.

Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Konstantin Gabov and Sergei Karelin were detained last year on accusations of gathering material and preparing and editing videos for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and the NavalnyLIVE YouTube channel.

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North Korea Supplying Up to 100% of Russian Artillery Shells Used in Ukraine – Reuters

Russian artillery units are relying almost entirely on ammunition supplied by North Korea to sustain their bombardments along the Ukrainian front, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Russian military documents and open-source research.

Between September 2023 and March 2025, four Russian-flagged vessels made 64 trips transporting nearly 16,000 containers from North Korea to Russian ports, according to satellite data analyzed by the U.K.-based Open Source Center (OSC). The organization estimates the shipments included between 4 million and 6 million artillery shells.

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St. Petersburg Woman Jailed Over Army Criticism After Neighbor’s Denunciation

A Russian court on Tuesday jailed a woman for more than five years for criticizing the military on social media, allegedly after her neighbor denounced her.

Anna Aleksandrova, a 47-year-old hairdresser, was arrested in November 2023 over pseudonymous posts she made on VKontakte, Russia's largest social network.

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Wildberries Accused of Hiring North Koreans at Moscow Region Warehouse

Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberries said it launched a pilot project to employ foreign laborers after videos surfaced online claiming to show North Korean workers at its Moscow region warehouse.

Earlier this week, two short videos of alleged North Korean workers wearing purple Wildberries suits appeared in the group chat for employees at the retailer’s warehouse in the town of Elektrostal, according to the Ostorozhno Novosti Telegram news channel.

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Opinion | An Open Letter to Vladimir Kara-Murza: Don't Spread Racist Myths About Indigenous Peoples
By Indigenous of Russia Foundation

On April 11, 2025, at a hearing of the French Senate, Russian oppositionist and vice president of the Free Russia Foundation, Vladimir Kara-Murza, answered a question from Senator Claude Maluret about the situation in the national republics in Russia. Kara-Murza’s response included extremely racist ideas that it is easier for non-Russian soldiers to kill Ukrainians because of the difference in culture and language. 

In this way, he was siding with far-right nationalist movements. We are outraged by this representation of anti-war Russia in the international arena.

The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.

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Between Trump's Tariffs and an Oil Price Slump, How Bad Do Things Look for Russia’s Economy?

A wave of global tariff hikes set in motion by the Trump administration has fueled fears of a worldwide recession and sent energy markets tumbling. 

How bad do things look for Russia?

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Military Court Hands Lengthy Prison Sentences to Young Russians for Ukraine-Linked Helicopter Arson

A military court in Moscow sentenced five young Russians to lengthy prison terms on terrorism charges for allegedly setting fire to a helicopter on behalf of Ukraine, authorities said Tuesday.

The group was accused of being paid by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry intelligence agency (HUR) to destroy a Ka-32 search and rescue helicopter at Moscow’s Ostafyevo International Business Airport in April 2024.

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Moscow Court Orders Psychiatric Treatment for U.S. Man Accused of Attacking Police Officer

A Moscow court on Monday ordered that U.S. citizen Joseph Tater be committed to a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment after he was accused of attacking a police officer last year.

The judge ruled Tater unfit to stand trial and approved a prosecution request for him to undergo compulsory medical treatment at a specialized inpatient psychiatric facility.

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Zelensky Dismisses Sumy Region Governor After Deadly Russian Strike

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the governor of the northeastern Sumy region following a deadly Russian missile strike in the regional capital, officials said Tuesday.

Taras Melnychuk, the Ukrainian Cabinet’s representative to parliament, confirmed the dismissals of Sumy Governor Volodymyr Artiukh and Luhansk Governor Artem Lysohor in a Telegram post. No official reason was provided.

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Russia Spending $22M Per Day on Military Recruitment – Analysis

Russia’s mass military recruitment efforts are becoming increasingly costly as the war in Ukraine drags on for a fourth year, with the state shelling out some 2 billion rubles ($22 million) per day on sign-on bonuses for new recruits alone.

The figures, based on official data from the Finance Ministry and regional budgets, were compiled by Janis Kluge, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin.

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Russia’s Inflation Stays Above 10% in March

Russia's consumer prices rose by 0.65% month-on-month and 10.3% year-on-year in March, according to the latest data from state statistics agency Rosstat.

Stubborn inflation and the ensuing high interest rates continue to be a major concern for Russian policymakers. 

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Despite Deteriorating Rights in Russia, UN Rapporteur Still Believes in Dialogue

Since Mariana Katzarova was appointed the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Russia in 2023, Russian authorities have consistently refused to engage with her or allow her to visit the country. 

In an interview with The Moscow Times, Katzarova said her work has documented a deliberate strategy of repression and subjugation in Russia — based on testimonies from victims and witnesses — in which the legal system is being used to punish anti-war sentiment and suppress civil society.

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Russia Issues First Prison Sentence for ‘Voluntary Surrender’ to Ukrainian Forces

A military court in Russia’s Far East has handed down the country’s first prison sentence for voluntary surrender to the Ukrainian army, the Kommersant business newspaper reported Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the case.

Junior Sergeant Roman Ivanishin was stripped of his rank and found guilty of desertion and two attempts to surrender.

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State Duma Lawmaker Accuses Pro-Kremlin Censorship Activist Mizulina of Misusing Public Funds

The deputy speaker of Russia’s lower-house of parliament has accused pro-Kremlin censorship advocate Yekaterina Mizulina of mismanaging public funds and harassing musicians.

The dispute erupted after State Demua Deputy Speaker Vladislav Davankov, who leads the liberal New People party, asked police to investigate extortion claims against Mizulina made by the ex-wife of underground rapper Pasha Technique, who died earlier this month.

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Elderly Woman Killed in ‘Mass’ Ukrainian Drone Attack on Kursk

An elderly woman was killed in what local officials described as a “mass” Ukrainian drone attack on the southwestern Russian city of Kursk, authorities said early Tuesday.

“Kursk was subjected to a mass enemy attack tonight,” the regional government said in a statement published on Telegram.

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Witkoff Says Putin Open to ‘Permanent Peace’ Deal With Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to a “permanent peace” deal with Ukraine, but did not indicate whether any of the Kremlin leader’s previous demands for a ceasefire in Ukraine had changed.

Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg last week, their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House in January. Following that discussion, where Putin aides Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev were also present, the Trump envoy said he sees a peace deal “emerging.”

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Belarus Now ‘Untouchable’ Under Russia’s Nuclear Umbrella, Lukashenko Says

A recently signed mutual defense pact with Russia will ensure Belarus’ “absolute security,” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said, invoking the country’s alliance with nuclear-armed Russia as a deterrent against foreign aggression.

The pact signed by Moscow and Minsk in December formalizes the two countries' intention to enhance their joint defense posture within the framework of the Union State. The treaty outlines mutual commitments to repel external threats and coordinate military activities, consolidating a security framework that aligns Belarus more closely with Russia.

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