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☆ Russian theatre director accused of 'justifying terrorism' remanded in custody
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Russian playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, detained on suspicion of justifying terrorism, attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia May 5, 2023. REUTERS/StringerSummary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in UkraineMOSCOW, May 5 (Reuters) - A prominent Russian theatre director was remanded in custody for two months on Friday after being accused of justifying terrorism with an award-winning play about Russian women who married Islamic State fighters, the state news agency TASS reported. Investigators opened a case this week against Yevgenia (Zhenya) Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, alleging that Petriychuk's "Finist, the Brave Falcon", which premiered in 2020 under Berkovich's direction, had broken the law. "Finist, the Brave Falcon" won two "Golden Mask" national theatre awards last year, and Berkovich also received a nomination for best director. The detention of the two women has drawn condemnation from several prominent Russian artists and cultural figures.

☆ Scores of world figures urge Putin to free Navalny in open letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 28 (Reuters) - Scores of famous figures, including writers and actors, have signed an open letter urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to free opposition politician Alexei Navalny and to end what they called his torture in prison. Russian authorities say Navalny and his supporters are extremists with links to the U.S. CIA intelligence agency intent on trying to destabilise Russia. They have outlawed his movement and Navalny himself is facing new charges that could add years to his prison sentence. Navalny's supporters have grown increasingly worried about his health in recent weeks, saying they fear he could die in jail. The Kremlin denied trying to kill him and said there was no evidence he was poisoned with a nerve agent.

☆ Russians angry at downing of Ukrainian drone over their homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People were wounded," said Kireyevsk resident Elena, 35, who like some others declined to give her surname. Russia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday it had electronically disabled a Ukrainian drone, which veered off course and crashed onto Kireyevsk, a town of about 25,000 inhabitants 220 km (140 miles) south of Moscow. The state-run news agency TASS quoted local officials on Sunday as saying three people had been hurt, none seriously. Now we know how it is," said Yuri Ovchinnikov, who was home with his wife at the moment of impact. "I graduated from an aviation academy; my specialisation was aircraft control systems, so I know how it works.

☆ Putin has taken Belarus 'hostage' with Russian plans to station nuclear weapons in the country, says Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has taken Belarus as a "nuclear hostage," a top Ukrainian official said on Sunday. On Saturday, Putin announced plans to store tactical nuclear weapons in the country. On Saturday, Putin announced on Russian state television that he planned to build a storage facility in Belarus to hold tactical nuclear weapons. The Russian president said there is "nothing unusual" about his announcement, noting the US has "long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," according to Reuters. Belarus and Russia have been long-time allies — and the former Soviet republic is generally seen as a Russian puppet state.

☆ Leaked Russian document shows how Putin plans to annex ally Belarus by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia plans to take over its neighbor Belarus, according to a leaked document from Putin's office. The plan is to create a "union state" led by Russia by 2030, the document says. The internal strategy document lays out how Russia plans to get rid of what remains of Belarus' independence over a years-long plan. This would involve gradually creating stronger pro-Russia sentiment, expanding Russia's military presence there, and making it easier for citizens to get Russian passports. The ultimate goal is to create a common "union state" that is under Russian leadership, it said.

[1/2] People stand in line to use an ATM money machine in Saint Petersburg, Russia February 27, 2022. For the majority, who bank in roubles with huge retail lenders, such as Sberbank (SBER.MM), the answer is: not much. "Nothing has changed for me at all," said Vyacheslav Fatikhovich, a taxi driver in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. "The only thing is that customers are paying less by card and more often in cash," he said. "I quickly opened three UnionPay cards at different Russian banks," Andrey, who now works outside Russia, said.

☆ Elderly brothers eke out life among ruins of Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jillian Kumagai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Tetiana Kovalyova, 76, lights a candle next to her husband Volodymyr and her granddaughter Svetlana, 21, inside the last room of their house that still has a roof in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, Ukraine, January 30, 2023. Tens of thousands of...moreTetiana Kovalyova, 76, lights a candle next to her husband Volodymyr and her granddaughter Svetlana, 21, inside the last room of their house that still has a roof in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, Ukraine, January 30, 2023. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians face similar challenges as Europe's biggest conflict since World War II approaches its second year. Many fled towns and villages close to the frontlines when war raged around them, although some, the elderly among them, refused to leave. REUTERS/Nacho DoceClose

☆ Belarus detains former presidential candidate
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 12 (Reuters) - An opposition politician who stood against long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko in the controversial 2020 presidential election has been detained, his team said. There was no comment from authorities in Belarus on the detention. His announcement of victory over leading opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya triggered weeks of mass protests in which hundreds of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets urging Lukashenko to step aside. Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, violently quashed the protests and has since stepped up a campaign of repression to silence domestic political opposition. Rights groups estimate there are about 1,500 political prisoners in Belarus as a result of the crackdown.

Mo Abbas / NBC NewsKuvtun is among the Ukrainian Christians who turned Christmas into a fresh front in the war with Russia. We choose this civilization,” said Archbishop Yevstratiy Zorya, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate. Hours later, Putin ordered his military to observe a 36-hour cease-fire in Ukraine for Russian Orthodox Christmas and called on Kyiv to do the same. And even as it has sought to distance itself from Russia, the UOC has also stuck with Christmas on Jan. 7. Zorya, the OCU spokesman, said the Russian Orthodox Church, to which the UOC still bears at least a nominal connection, remains hopelessly imperial in its outlook.

☆ The rapid fall of Kherson, a key Ukrainian city, leaves unanswered questions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Local residents walk past a graffiti reading "Lets bring all our people back home" in central Kherson on December 8, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When about 100 Russian troops rolled into Kherson's Lilac Park on the morning of March 1, Oleh Shornik was one of about 20 lightly armed Ukrainian volunteers who didn't stand a chance against them. Ukraine's military was nowhere to be seen, and Russian troops in armored vehicles had easily entered the Shumensky neighborhood, opening fire and sending shrapnel flying everywhere, witnesses said. But was the doomed stand in Lilac Park a futile, early act of resistance to what became a bloody Russian occupation of Kherson? "I know very little," said Nadiia Khandusenko, recounting what few facts she knows about the death of her husband, Serhii, who also was killed in Lilac Park.

☆ New Hampshire and New Jersey men accused of smuggling military equipment to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A New Hampshire and New Jersey man have been arrested and charged for their alleged roles in smuggling military equipment to Russia, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday. Attorneys for Brayman and Yermolenko did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News. Brayman, a lawful permanent resident living in New Hampshire, allegedly shipped the contraband from his Merrimack residence, about 50 miles northwest of Boston, to Germany and Estonia before they were allegedly forwarded to Russia, according to the indictment. And under the alleged direction of Livshits, one of the Russian nationals, Brayman and Yermolenko allegedly “altered or destroyed shipping documents and other business records, as well as facilitated payments in furtherance of illicit transactions." Approximately a month later, the two allegedly discussed sending items to Russia through Germany “by hook or by crook.”And in August, Livshits allegedly asked Brayman to forge a signature on an invoice, according to the indictment.

☆ DOJ charges 7 with smuggling equipment to Russian military
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Holmes Lybrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —The US Justice Department has charged five Russian nationals, one American and an Israeli who is a US permanent resident with allegedly conspiring to violate US sanctions by smuggling US-made equipment to the Russian military, according to a recently unsealed court documents. According to the 16-count indictment, the defendants were associated with two Moscow companies that worked with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to purchase and smuggle sanctioned items – including semiconductors and other electronic equipment – from the US to the Russian military. Konoshchenok, who the Justice Department believes is an officer for the FSB, was allegedly one of their smugglers. The two US nationals, Brayman and Yermolenko, are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Tuesday. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly reflect the nationalities of those charged by the DOJ.

☆ A Russian couple who opposed Putin and the Ukraine war sought asylum in the US. They were detained for six months.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian couple sought asylum in the US but were detained for six months, The New York Times reported. The couple, who were both vocal critics of Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, fled Russia in April. A growing number of Russians fleeing the war are being held for months in US immigration centers. But during the transfer a guard handcuffed him and knocked him to the ground, causing a head injury, Shevchuk told The Times. It is unclear how many Russian asylum seekers are being detained in the US, but Svetlana Kaff, an immigration lawyer, told the Times that she has recently been flooded with requests for help.

☆ Mobile operator Veon to sell Russian business for $2.2 bln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Veon also operates Beeline in Kazakhstan and Kyivstar in Ukraine. Veon said the management buyout of Vimpelcom implied an expected enterprise value of approximately 370 billion roubles. Though Veon is selling at a discount, the transaction represents a relatively rare example of money changing hands between parties as companies race to exit Russia. The shares have traded near record lows since tumbling after Russia began what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. "The management buyout of our Russian operations will benefit all involved," Veon CEO Kaan Terzioglu said in a statement to Reuters.

☆ In newly liberated Kherson, Ukrainians celebrate but worry about what's next
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KHERSON, Ukraine, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Under rainy skies, Ukrainian-controlled Kherson's central square was a frenetic melee on Thursday afternoon of humanitarian aid queues and displays of patriotic celebration tinged with uncertainty about the future. Hundreds of people stood in a queue for humanitarian assistance, but said they had no idea what they might receive. [1/4] People receive food aid after Russia's retreat from Kherson, Ukraine November 17, 2022. Moscow declared Kherson to be Russian after a September referendum denounced by Ukraine and its allies as a sham. She said humanitarian aid only included basic medicines and insulin, but not what she needed.

☆ A failed war helped bring down the Soviet Union. Now Putin's failing war in Ukraine might set Russia up for a bleak future.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Joy Neumeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan and Russia's current war in Ukraine have obvious similarities in their disastrous planning and execution. In the 1990s, Afghanistan veterans' sense of aggrievement fused with that of veterans returning from Boris Yeltsin's war in Chechnya. Putin's war, Russia's futurePutin meets soldiers at a military training center outside the town of Ryazan in October. While glasnost-era revelations about the Soviet war shocked the country into supporting withdrawal, these days there is little left to expose. Public self-criticism surrounding the Soviet war in Afghanistan, however brief and contested, shows that reassessment of imperial ambitions is possible.

☆ A Star of Urban Exploration Faces Spying Trial in Albania
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( James Hookway | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Svetlana Timofeeva built a career photographing abandoned sites around the former Soviet Union. She has published two books under her professional name, Lana Sator , stuffed with haunting images of derelict missile silos, forgotten submarines and rusting lines of armored tanks. Her Instagram account has 250,000 followers. Then she was arrested for spying.

☆ Russian mothers are turning deadbeat fathers over to Putin's military draft: 'My ex-husband died as a person a long time ago'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A group of Russian women has attempted to send idle fathers to fight Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin's failing war in Ukraine gave rise to a "partial military mobilization" in which 300,000 new conscripts were called upon to fight. The women claim Putin's military order may produce better results than the courts, which have enabled these fathers to abandon their children with little to no financial support. But for me, my ex-husband died as a person a long time ago. If he happens to get killed, it will even be good: the child will receive compensation," Kruglova added.

☆ Russians schemed to send U.S. military technology to Russian defense sector, Justice Department says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Tom_Winter_Nbc_News.Jpg | Tom Winter | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Two Russian nationals were arrested in a scheme to obtain sensitive U.S. military electronics and technology to provide it to the Russian defense sector, prosecutors said Wednesday, noting that some of the items were found on the battlefield in Ukraine. The men sent the items to sanctioned Russian companies that serve the defense sector, according to federal prosecutors. "This network schemed to procure sophisticated technology in direct support of a floundering Russian Federation military industrial complex," Assistant FBI Director Michael Driscoll said in a statement. When Orekhov and Kuzurgasheva sought to buy the sensitive U.S. military and "dual-use technology," they falsely claimed it was going to the Russian space agency Roscosmos. In an exchange with Soto, Orekhov used colorful language to allay his concerns about dealing with Russian companies.

Some of the electronics obtained through the scheme have been found in Russian weapons platforms seized in Ukraine, prosecutors said. They used a German company to ship the military technologies, as well as Venezuelan oil, to Russian purchasers, prosecutors said. The U.S.-origin technologies can be used in fighter aircraft, ballistic and hypersonic missile systems, smart munitions, and other military applications, Treasury said. After the initial round of U.S. sanctions on PDVSA, Russia's Rosneft emerged as a key intermediary for Venezuelan crude. After Washington sanctioned Rosneft subsidiaries over their dealings with PDVSA, dozens of firms with no track record of oil trading have been intermediating in sales of Venezuelan oil to Chinese buyers.

☆ Holiday in Montenegro becomes escape from call-up for Russians
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Alexander and his wife Svetlana walk on Jaz beach near Budva, Montenegro, September 26, 2022. REUTERS/Stevo VasiljevicBUDVA, Montenegro, Sept 27 (Reuters) - When Alexander and his wife Svetlana arrived for a two-week vacation in Montenegro, they planned to return home to Russia. But President Vladimir Putin's announcement last week ordering a mobilisation of reservists for the war in Ukraine has thrown their lives into disarray. I am afraid we will have no friends left in Russia," Alexander said. Maxim, 48, a physician, was also vacationing in Montenegro when he heard about mobilisation at home.

☆ Ukrainian collaborators who sided with Russian occupation were given top jobs and fancy titles. Now they're being hunted down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Around half the city has fled since Russia occupied the city in February, according to its elected mayor, Ivan Fedorov. On August 5, both Ukrainian and Russian sources reported that Vladimir Saldo has been put into a medically induced coma, citing a suspected poisoning. Saldo had the head of the government in the occupied city of Kherson. The business was owned by Balitsky and formerly had many Russian and Belarusian contracts, according to the BBC's Russian service. More than 1,300 people are under investigation for aiding the Russians in Ukraine, according to Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine's Head of National Police.

Lying on your side may be healthier than on your back, according to a number of sleep experts. Changing your sleeping position to be on your side can have multiple benefits for many different reasons. Sleep specialist and pulmonologist at the Sleep Academy in Berlin, Alexander Blau, also recommends that those suffering from respiratory diseases position themselves better at night by lying on their sides. Hans Förstl, who runs a clinic for psychiatry and psychotherapy in Munich, explained that the brain is flushed out during sleep. Andresen also says that most people with heart problems automatically assume the correct lying position in any case.

☆ VIDEO/ Victor Chironda, despre demiterea sa: „Voi merge până în pânzele albe, inclusiv în instanța de judecată, pentru a demonstra că mi-am îndeplinit atribuțiile corect și așa cum prevede legea”
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-09 | by ( Milena Onisim | ) www.zdg.md time to read: +5 min

În context, Victor Chironda susține că va merge inclusiv în instanța de judecată pentru a demonstra faptul că și-a îndeplinit „atribuțiile de serviciu corect și așa cum prevede legea”. „Eu cred că toată lumea a înțeles că demiterea mea a fost o simplă răfuială politică. „Nu contest dreptul primarului și a consiliului de a mă demite din funcția de viceprimar. Totodată, în cadrul conferinței de presă, ex-viceprimarul capitalei, Victor Chironda, și-a prezentat raportul de activitate, menționând că oricine va putea să acceseze raportul. Demisia viceprimarului vine și după mai multe tensiuni dintre Chironda și Ceban.

Persons: Victor Chironda, Ion Ceban, municipali, Chironda, Ion, Svetlana Dogotaru, Ilie Ceban Organizations: Consiliului Municipal, Municipal Chișinău, Funciare, Facebook, Anticorupție, CNA Locations: Capitalei, Chișinău

☆ Conflict sângeros la Briceni. Un bărbat a fost bătut până la moarte, după ce a încercat să-şi apere fiul
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-09 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Un bărbat de 42 de ani a murit pe patul de spital, după ce a încercat să-şi apere fiul într-o bătaie. Mai exact, câțiva locuitori ai satelor Slobozia și Șirăuți, cu vârstele cuprinse între 18 și 22 de ani, se aflau într-un local din satul Șirăuți. În acest timp, unul dintre tineri a mers acasă și l-a chemat în ajutor pe tatăl său. În schimb a fost lovit cu pumnii și picioarele în regiunea capului de către doi dintre agresori. Din nefericire, în urma traumelor primite, bărbatul de 42 de ani a murit pe patul de spital.

Persons: Totul Locations: Briceni, Slobozia

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