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The ballistic missiles rolled through Red Square, the fighter jets zipped overhead and rows of foreign dignitaries impassively looked on. Russia’s annual commemoration of the end of World War II presented a traditional ceremony on Thursday cherished by millions of Russians, a reflection of President Vladimir V. Putin’s broader attempts to project normalcy while resigning the population to a prolonged, distant war. At last year’s Victory Day celebration, as Russia struggled on the battlefield, Mr. Putin said the country was engaged in a “real war” for survival, and accused Western elites of seeking the “disintegration and annihilation of Russia.” On Thursday, he merely referred to the war in Ukraine once, using his initial euphemism for the invasion, “special military operation.”And on Russia’s most important secular holiday, he dedicated more time to the sacrifices of Soviet citizens in World War II than to the bashing of modern adversaries. Still, he did not ignore those adversaries entirely, reviving familiar criticisms and grievances about what he says are attempts to undermine Russia and accusing the West of “hypocrisy and lies.”

Persons: impassively, Vladimir V, Putin, ” Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ Russia Will Keep U.S. Soldier in Custody for Months, Local Media Reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | More About Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

An American soldier detained in Russia last week will remain in jail until at least July while the authorities investigate theft charges against him, the Russian news media reported on Tuesday, citing local court officials. The soldier was detained in the port city of Vladivostok in the east of Russia on Thursday, a spokeswoman for the local court told the Russian business newspaper Kommersant. His detention came to light on Monday, when the U.S. State and Defense Departments said that he was being held. An American military official identified him as Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, an Army sergeant in the process of returning home to Texas after being stationed in South Korea.

Persons: Gordon Black Organizations: Kommersant, U.S . State, Defense, American Locations: American, Russia, Vladivostok, Texas, South Korea

A pile of flowers blanketed a small memorial in the center of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius after the death of the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny last month. The impromptu tribute at the memorial, an unassuming pyramid commemorating victims of Soviet repression, has highlighted Vilnius’s growing status as the center of Russian political opposition. In Vilnius, exiled Russian journalists have set up studios to broadcast news to millions of compatriots back home on YouTube. Russian activists have rented offices to catalog the Kremlin’s human rights abuses, and exiled Russian musicians have recorded new albums for the audience back home. The arrival of the Russian dissidents in Vilnius has added to a larger wave of Russian-speaking refugees and migrants from Belarus and Ukraine over the past four years.

Persons: Aleksei A, “ Putin, ”, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Lithuanian, YouTube Locations: Lithuanian, Vilnius, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Belarus

☆ Long Lines of Russian Voters Signal Discontent With Putin’s Rule
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Long lines of voters formed outside polling stations in major Russian cities during the presidential election on Sunday, in what opposition figures portrayed as a striking protest against a rubber-stamp process that is certain to keep Vladimir V. Putin in power. Before he died last month, the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny had called on supporters to go to polling stations at midday on Sunday, the last day of the three-day vote, to express dissatisfaction with Mr. Putin, who is set to win his fifth presidential term in a vote that lacks real competition. Mr. Navalny’s team, which is continuing his work, and other opposition movements reiterated calls for the protest in the weeks leading up to the vote. Simply appearing at the polling station, for an initiative known as Noon Against Putin, they said, was the only safe way to express discontent in a country that has drastically escalated repression since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. The opposition leaders said showing solidarity with like-minded citizens by mere presence was more important than what the voters chose to do with their ballots, because the election lacked real choice.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Aleksei A, Navalny, Mr, Navalny’s Locations: Russian, Ukraine

A new sign went up a few miles from the front line recently on the main billboard of an occupied town in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. Together we’re strong,” read the sign in the white, blue and red colors of the Russian flag, according to Anastasiia, a resident. The message was clear to her: That the president was Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, not Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and that Mr. Putin was the only choice in the Russian presidential vote taking place in the occupied parts of Ukraine over the past three weeks. Mr. Putin long ago transformed Russian elections into a predictable ritual meant to convey legitimacy to his rule. In the occupied territories, this practice has the additional goals of presenting the occupation as a fait accompli and identifying dissenters, said political analysts and Ukrainian officials.

Persons: ”, Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Locations: Ukraine’s Luhansk, Russia, Ukraine

☆ E.U. Removes Russian Tech Tycoon From Sanctions List
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The European Union has lifted sanctions against a Russian technology tycoon, in a rare break from a policy of punishing the country’s elites for the invasion of Ukraine. Arkady Volozh, who co-founded Russia’s largest tech company, Yandex, was taken off the list of sanctioned individuals after condemning the invasion of Ukraine and taking public steps to sever ties to Russia. Mr. Volozh is one the most prominent Russian figures to be cleared of sanctions by a major Western power since the start of the war. “There’s finally some logic in the West’s actions,” Abbas Gallyamov, a former Kremlin speechwriter turned political consultant, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “If you come out against” the war, he added, “then sanctions are lifted.”

Persons: Arkady Volozh, Volozh, “ There’s, ” Abbas Gallyamov, “, ” Organizations: European, European Council, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Navalny’s Heirs Seek a Political Future in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Aleksei A. Navalny built Russia’s largest opposition force in his image, embodying a freer, fairer Russia for millions. His exiled team now faces the daunting task of steering his political movement without him. Ms. Navalnaya, 47, is aided by a close-knit team of her husband’s lieutenants, who took over running Mr. Navalny’s political network after his imprisonment in 2021. And so far, Mr. Navalny’s team has made little attempt to unite Russia’s fractured opposition groups and win new allies by adjusting its insular, tightly controlled ways. A spokeswoman for Mr. Navalny’s team, Kira Yarmysh, did not respond to questions or interview requests; nor did several of Mr. Navalny’s aides.

Persons: Aleksei A, Navalny’s, Yulia Navalnaya, Vladimir V, Putin, Navalnaya, Russia’s, Kira Yarmysh Locations: Russia

☆ 5 Convicts Familiar With Navalny’s Prison Confirm Hellish Conditions
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Ekaterina Bodyagina | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The men described in phone interviews unbearable cold, repulsive food, unsanitary conditions and beatings in Penal Colony No. 3 of the remote Yamalo-Nenets region, where Mr. Navalny arrived in December to serve out the remainder of his 19-year old prison sentence. The former inmates said the conditions were especially brutal in the solitary cells where Mr. Navalny is believed to have been confined on the day he was pronounced dead. But what made the prison, known as IK-3 or the Troika, dreaded even by Russia’s hardened inmates was the exceptional psychological pressure and loneliness, they said. “It was complete and utter annihilation,” said a former inmate named Konstantin, who spent time in the prison’s solitary confinement cells.

Persons: Aleksei A, Navalny, ”, Konstantin Locations: Russian

☆ In Ukraine, Russia Is Inching Forward Death by Death
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Thomas Gibbons-Neff | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

As the Russian military launched its offensive on the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka last fall, Ukrainian troops noticed a change in their tactics as column after column of Russian forces were ravaged by artillery fire. Russian forces divided their infantry formations into smaller units to avoid being shelled, while the amount of Russian airstrikes increased to hammer the city’s defenses. It was one of several adjustments the Russians made to help reverse their fortunes after a disastrous first year. But these changes were obscured by one glaring fact: The Russian military was still far more willing to absorb big losses in troops and equipment, even to make small gains. Russian forces have a different threshold of pain, one senior Western official said this month, as well as an unorthodox view of what is considered an acceptable level of military losses.

Organizations: Western Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Avdiivka

☆ A Russian Military Blogger Dies After Criticizing Army Losses
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A pro-war Russian military blogger died on Wednesday, his lawyer said, after the blogger wrote the country’s military pressured him to remove a post exposing the scale of its losses in a recent battle in Ukraine. The blogger, Andrei Morozov, claimed in his post that Russia had lost 16,000 men and 300 armored vehicles in its assault on the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which the Russians captured last week. He deleted the post on Tuesday after what he said was a campaign of intimidation against him. The following morning, Mr. Morozov published a series of posts on Telegram outlining the complaints he had received from Russian military command and Kremlin propagandists about his exposé. His lawyer, Maksim Pashkov, confirmed the death in a written response to questions.

Persons: Andrei Morozov, Morozov, Maksim Pashkov Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Avdiivka

☆ What You Can Still Complain About in Russia: A Cat Thrown From a Train
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The tragedy gripped Russia for days. Federal lawmakers convened a special committee and an investigation was launched, as hundreds of volunteers searched for the victim in subzero temperatures, and state news media ran live updates on the fallout. Eventually, the victim — Twix the cat — was found dead. A national outcry over the demise of a pet who was mistakenly thrown from a long-distance train by an attendant has highlighted both the limits of and the demand for an emotional outlet in wartime Russia. A combination of propaganda, a crackdown on dissent and public fatigue with the inconclusive war has turned internet curiosities into a focus of national attention for days, even weeks.

Persons: Denis Volkov Organizations: Levada Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian

Convicted of selling drugs and ostracized by his family, he endured abuse from guards and frequent spells in solitary confinement at a high-security Russian prison. He told a friend he felt alone and racked with guilt. Then, in the summer of 2022, Mr. Mokin and other inmates in Penal Colony No. He offered freedom and money, even as he warned that the price for many would be death. Mr. Mokin and 196 other inmates enlisted the same day.

Persons: Aleksandr Mokin, Mokin, Yevgeny V, fatigues, Wagner, “, ” Mr Organizations: Penal, The New York Times Locations: Chelyabinsk, Ukraine

Four former Russian inmates who fought with Wagner in eastern Ukraine said they had received calls and messages offering new military contracts in recent weeks, confirming recent reports by Russian military bloggers. Three former fighters said they were specifically urged to join Rosgvardia, Russia’s militarized national guard. Originally envisioned as a rear-guard force, Rosgvardia has gained prominence since the invasion of Ukraine under the leadership of Victor Zolotov, a former bodyguard of President Vladimir V. Putin. “Wagner is officially becoming a unit of Rosgvardia,” read a recruitment text received by a former Wagner fighter last week and seen by The New York Times. “The entire structure, methods of work and commanders remain the same.”

Persons: Wagner, Rosgvardia, Victor Zolotov, Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, “ Wagner, ” Organizations: Kremlin, Rosgvardia, The New York Times Locations: Ukraine

Manuel Barrios joined the battle against Russian forces in Ukraine because a bank threatened to repossess his home in Colombia. They were among hundreds of Colombian veterans who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine for the chance to make at least three times what they can earn at home. “He said he was fighting a war in a country that wasn’t his because of the dire need,” said Mr. Barrios’s wife, Maria Cubillos. The stories of Colombian volunteers highlight the shifting nature of the Ukraine war, which has transformed from a fast-moving struggle for national survival into a war of attrition. Heavy losses and stalemated battles are forcing both sides to look for new pools of fighters to replenish their ranks.

Persons: Manuel Barrios, Luis Alejandro Herrera, Jhoan Cerón, “, ”, Barrios’s, Maria Cubillos Organizations: Russian Locations: Ukraine, Colombia, United States, Mexico

They took swipes at the United States and depicted themselves as building a “fairer, multipolar world.” And they marveled at their countries’ “deepening” trust. And he gave a prominent role to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, underscoring how central their relationship is to Mr. Xi’s vision. Mr. Putin was treated as the guest of honor and often pictured by Mr. Xi’s side. While Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi huddled, President Biden landed in Israel on a visit aimed at preventing the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading. Though Mr. Xi did not publicly remark on the war, Mr. Putin, at a news briefing, blamed the United States for increasing tensions in the Middle East by sending warships to the region.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Xi, Biden, ” Locations: China, Russia, United States, Beijing, Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Russo

☆ Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich Appears in Russian Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | More About Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal whom Russia accuses of espionage, appeared on Tuesday at a hearing in a Moscow court to appeal a ruling that had extended his pretrial detention. The ruling, in August, extended his detention by three months. He has been detained in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison on espionage charges that he, the U.S. government and The Journal have vehemently denied. Lefortovo jail is infamous for the near-isolation and often harsh conditions imposed on its inmates. If convicted, Mr. Gershkovich would face up to 20 years in a Russian penal colony.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Gershkovich Organizations: Wall Street Journal, United Locations: American, Russia, Moscow, U.S, United States, Russian

☆ Drastic Economic Moves Highlight Russia’s Wartime Bind
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | More About Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For years, Russia’s central bank has skillfully shielded the country’s economy when crisis has loomed, drastically raising interest rates, restricting money movements or taking over ailing banks. The swift, sharp moves conveyed a clear message that, despite increasingly bitter economic conflicts with the West, economic stability would be maintained at any cost. The bank raised the benchmark interest rate by 3.5 percentage points to 12 percent. High interest rates raise the cost of borrowing, inhibiting spending. But political considerations can push in the opposite direction, for low interest rates that stimulate spending and keep the economy moving.

Persons: Elvira Nabiullina, Vladimir V Organizations: West Locations: assertively, Ukraine

In a month spent at the front line, Aleksandr, an ex-convict serving in the Russian Army, hadn’t seen a single Ukrainian soldier and had barely fired a shot. He said he had watched dogs gnaw at the uncollected corpses of his dead comrades, drunk rain water and scavenged garbage dumps for food. Aleksandr claims that out of the 120 men in his unit, only about 40 remain alive. “We are being sent to a slaughter,” Aleksandr said in a series of audio messages from the Kherson region, referring to his commanders. “We are not human to them, because we are criminals.”

Persons: Aleksandr, hadn’t, ” Aleksandr, ” Organizations: Russian Army, The New York Times Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Kherson

☆ Russia’s Moves to Shore Up Ruble Reflect War’s Toll on Economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The Russian currency fell nearly 25 percent since the beginning of the year. “The ruble exchange rate is only an indicator,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and a former Russian central bank official. The ruble plummeted to as low as 135 per dollar and the central bank took a series of dramatic measures, including capital controls, to stave off a full-blown meltdown. The most immediate concern for Russian financial policymakers is the possibility of significant inflation. The country’s central bank reacted to that risk late last month with a higher-than-expected rise in interest rates, to 8.5 percent.

Persons: ”, Alexandra Prokopenko, Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V Organizations: Bank of Russia, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Soviet Union

☆ A Spending Boom Fuels Russia’s Wartime Economy, Raising Bubble Fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | More About Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Anna Gromova, a Russian entrepreneur, made a snap decision to open a real estate agency, hoping to create a safety net from the economic fallout of the conflict. Within weeks, she landed a deal for a stately 18th-century apartment, with parquet floors and high ceilings in the prestigious center of Russia’s former imperial capital of St. Petersburg. Since the war, the owner had stopped coming to Russia, allowing her client to buy it for roughly 40 percent below its current value. Amid the constant shocks, people are looking for “a window of opportunity” to secure their income, she added. Her business has been underpinned by a state-led spending boom that has propped up the national economy despite the swiftest and most far-reaching campaign of sanctions imposed by Western nations in modern history.

Persons: Anna Gromova, ”, Gromova Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, St . Petersburg, Western

Moscow took sharp action on Friday to curb inflation, fearing the effects of ever higher spending on the war in Ukraine and of a weakening Russian ruble. Russia’s central bank took the unexpected step of raising its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point, to 8.5 percent from 7.5 percent. It was the first large hike in more than a year, and the bank warned that further increases were likely. “It is a surprise and on its face reflects more concern at the central bank about inflation and how the economy is doing that we had appreciated,” said Robert Kahn, the head of the Geoeconomics Team at the Eurasia Group, a New York-based risk analysis firm. “It suggests that the war is proving increasingly disruptive to economic activity and pushing up inflationary pressures.”

Persons: Moscow, ”, Robert Kahn Organizations: Eurasia Group Locations: Ukraine, Russia’s, New York

A top Russian general in Ukraine has lashed out at his bosses after being fired from his command, accusing them of undermining the war effort with dishonesty and politicking, in the latest sign of turmoil within the Kremlin’s military leadership. In a four-minute recording released late Wednesday night, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov addressed his troops, accusing his superiors of inflicting a blow on his forces by removing him from his post in retaliation for voicing the truth about battlefield problems to senior leadership behind closed doors. His firing, and the unusual public airing of his grievances, reflected the disarray that has roiled Russia’s military command since a failed mutiny three weeks ago. While the 58th Combined Arms Army he commanded has been holding off a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, “we were hit in the rear by our senior commander, who treacherously and vilely decapitated our army at the most difficult and tense moment,” General Popov said — an apparent reference to Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, chief of the armed forces. Since the mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group and its boss, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, several senior officers have been detained or pushed out of their posts, according to a person close to the Russian military, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Persons: Ivan Popov, vilely, General Popov, —, Valery V, Gerasimov, Wagner, Yevgeny V Organizations: Arms Army Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia

☆ Lukashenko Says Prigozhin Is in Russia, Not Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | Juston Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

MINSK, Belarus — The mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin is in Russia, the leader of Belarus said on Thursday, adding to the questions swirling around Mr. Prigozhin’s fate nearly two weeks after he called off his stunning armed rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership. None of Mr. Lukashenko’s claims could be verified, and Mr. Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the rebellion nearly two weeks ago. Mr. Prigozhin was “not on the territory of Belarus,” Mr. Lukashenko said, and nor were Wagner troops, who he said remained in their “permanent camps,” believed to be in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. Mr. Lukashenko also signaled that at least some of Wagner’s fighting force — which was instrumental in Russia’s capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut this spring — could stay intact. But on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko appeared less definitive about the possible presence of Wagner troops in Belarus.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Wagner, Lukashenko’s, ” Mr, ”, Vladimir V, “, Dmitri S, Mr, Putin, ’, Putin’s, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Ivan Nechepurenko Organizations: Independence, Kremlin, Russia, The New York Times, West, Mr Locations: MINSK, Belarus, Russia, Russian, St, Petersburg, Luhansk, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Belarusian, Minsk, Moscow

☆ ‘Dig, Dig, Dig’: A Russian Soldier’s Story
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Thomas Gibbons-Neff | Natalia Yermak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The Russian soldier was captured only days after arriving on the front line in eastern Ukraine. It takes into account the International Committee of the Red Cross’s guidance regarding publishing information about prisoners of war. After two months in prison, a man in a “green suit” from the Russian Ministry of Defense arrived, looking for recruits. They were just forced to dig, dig, dig, dig, and that was it. We were looking for a place to dig somewhere.”Merk said that when the Ukrainian attack began, there were nine soldiers digging alongside him.

Persons: Merk, “, Wagner, ’, ” Merk, ‘, ‘ You’re, Oleg Matsnev, Riley Mellen, Dmitriy Khavin, Anatoly Kurmanaev Organizations: New York Times, Kremlin, Times, United Nations, Storm, Committee, Russian Ministry of Defense, Defense Service Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Ukrainian, Kramatorsk, ’

“They all have incentives to play things down and make it all look normal,” said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. While Mr. Putin was able to defuse the crisis by agreeing to allow mercenary leader, Yegveny V. Prigozhin, to leave for Belarus, the brief insurrection raised questions about his authority and future. Speaking at his first international forum since the mutiny, Mr. Putin thanked the member states for their backing after the uprising, which he claimed had no popular support in Russia. “United by the deep responsibility for the fate of the motherland, Russian political circles and all of society showed a united front against the attempted armed mutiny,” Mr. Putin said. He also sought to cast the summit as a sign of international support for his invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: ”, Ian Chong, Putin, Wagner, Yegveny, Mr Organizations: National University of Singapore, “, U.S Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine

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