Russia

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Reindeer Herders on Record Wolf Attacks: Blame Russia

Finnish herders say war effort is turning hunters into soldiers, allowing wolf population to surge

(Newser) - Reindeer are turning up dead in northern Finland, and one longtime herder thinks the trail leads all the way to the battlefields of Ukraine. In Kuusamo, near the Russian border, fourth-generation herder and tourism operator Juha Kujala says he now finds carcasses almost every day, mostly females that are vital...

Cops Approaching 'Suspicious Individual' Killed in Russia Blast

Civilian, 2 police officers killed in Moscow, just days after general was killed by car bomb

(Newser) - Three people, including two police officers, were killed in an explosion in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian investigators said, just days after a car bomb killed a high-ranking general not far away. The two traffic officers were approaching a "suspicious individual" when an explosive device detonated, Investigate Committee spokesperson Svetlana...

Finland Hikes Military Reserve Age to 65 Amid Russia Fears

Move responds to Russian threat, aims for 1 million reservists by 2031

(Newser) - Finland just gave "citizen-soldier" a much longer shelf life. A new law signed on Monday keeps most military reservists on the books until age 65, a sharp jump from the current limits of 50 for enlisted men and 60 for officers and noncommissioned officers, per the Kyiv Post . The...

Billionaire With 100 Kids Pays Women to Use His Sperm

Telegram founder Pavel Durov says he's fighting against 'biological' self-destruction

(Newser) - Women have been lining up at a Moscow fertility clinic for a very specific freebie: sperm from Telegram billionaire Pavel Durov, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 41-year-old tech founder says he has fathered more than 100 children in at least a dozen countries via sperm donations, on top of...

Russian General Killed in Moscow Car Bomb

Ukraine suspected in blast that killed head of army operational training

(Newser) - A senior Russian general was killed in a car bombing in Moscow early Monday in what investigators suggest may have been a targeted assassination linked to the war in Ukraine. Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, who oversaw army operational training for Russia's General Staff, died after an explosive device detonated...

Assads Living a Quiet Life of Luxury in Russia

Deposed Syrian ruler is even renewing his study of ophthalmology

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad's post-presidency looks less like a bunker and more like a gated compound outside Moscow. The ousted Syrian leader is even revisiting the medical career he once shelved for politics, reports the Guardian . A year after rebels seized Damascus and forced Assad's midnight evacuation, the newspaper finds...

Starmer to Oligarch: Pay Ukraine Victims or Face Court

UK PM warns oligarch he needs to direct proceeds from sale of Chelsea club to Ukrainians, as vowed

(Newser) - Roman Abramovich is being given what amounts to a final warning from Britain's prime minister. Keir Starmer told Parliament that the UK has now authorized the transfer of $3.3 billion from the 2022 sale of Chelsea Football Club and demanded that the Russian oligarch follow through on his...

Ukraine: 'Sub Sea Baby' Pulls Off a Big First on Russian Sub

Kyiv says underwater drone strike crippled vessel in Black Sea; Russia denies any damage was done

(Newser) - Ukraine says a new kind of drone has just taken its war at sea below the surface. On Monday, Ukraine's domestic intelligence service claimed the nation's underwater drones critically damaged a Russian Kilo-class submarine docked near Novorossiysk, calling it the first publicly acknowledged strike by its unmanned submersible...

MI6 Chief Warns About Russia: 'New Frontline Is Everywhere'

Defense boss calls on citizens to be ready to join the armed forces

(Newser) - Britain's new foreign intelligence chief used her first public address Monday to warn that Russia is mounting a broad campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe. Blaise Metreweli, who became the first woman to lead MI6 in October, said Russia represents an "acute threat" to Western countries and...

US Offers Ukraine NATO-Like Guarantee

'We still have different positions' on turning over territory, Zelensky says

(Newser) - US negotiators said Monday they offered a NATO-style promise to shield Ukraine—without saying exactly how far it would go if Russia attacks again. American officials in Berlin for the talks said they presented Ukraine with a package of security guarantees meant to underpin a future peace deal with Russia,...

Russia Declares Punk Band an 'Extremist Organization'

Pussy Riot is basically banned from operating in Russia

(Newser) - Punk group Pussy Riot was declared an "extremist organization" by a Russian court on Monday. The ruling, which was made by Moscow's Tverskoy District Court, effectively outlaws the group from operating in Russia and puts anyone linked with the group at risk of criminal prosecution, reports the AP...

Ukraine's Birth Rate Hits Crisis Levels as War Drags On

Millions have fled, life expectancy has dropped, and deaths outpace births amid Russian invasion

(Newser) - Ukraine is facing a dramatic population crisis, with birth rates plummeting and millions fleeing the country amid the ongoing war. The hospital in small town Hoshcha has near-empty maternity ward that underscores the severity of the crisis, with just 139 births recorded so far this year—a sharp decline from...

Zelensky Just Showed Up Putin With a Selfie

Ukrainian president's pic from Kupiansk counters Russia's claims that it controls the city

(Newser) - Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukrainian forces in Kupiansk were encircled. Volodymyr Zelensky responded by traveling to the Ukrainian city and posting a selfie, reports Mediaite . The Kremlin has for weeks asserted that Russian troops retook the northeastern city near the Russian border, inviting foreign journalists to see what...

This Alleged Ukrainian Attack Is Different

Kyiv's sea drones reportedly hit sanctioned tankers outside of Russian waters

(Newser) - Ukraine's war is increasingly being waged far from its own shores—this time against the tankers that keep Russian oil flowing. CBS News reports that Ukrainian security service sources say Kyiv used "Sea Baby" naval drones to hit at least two sanctioned crude carriers, Kairos and Virat, in...

In a Major Shift, Zelensky Says Ukraine Can Hold Elections

Says vote under martial law can take place, maybe within 3 months if US/EU security is provided

(Newser) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he's willing to hold elections even as his country remains under attack from Russia—but only if the US and Europe step up with concrete security guarantees. His comments on Tuesday represent a sharp shift from his long-standing position that elections are impossible under...

Zelensky Rejects Giving Up Territory

European leaders, meeting in London, back Ukraine on Russian land claims

(Newser) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made clear on Monday that Ukraine will not give up any territory to Russia, firmly rejecting a central demand from Moscow that has been echoed in President Trump's latest peace proposal. Zelensky made the statement after meeting with leaders of Britain, France, and Germany in...

Trump Jr. Says His Dad Might Give Up on Ukraine

He slams Ukraine corruption, says US wants peace with Russia

(Newser) - Donald Trump Jr. raised eyebrows at the Doha Forum in Qatar over the weekend by suggesting President Trump might "walk away" from Ukraine unless the nation agrees to a peace deal with Russia. Speaking to an audience of international officials and policy experts, the president's eldest son sharply...

Amid US-Ukraine Talks, a Major Drone Strike

Ukraine says Russia carried out attack with more than 650 drones, 50+ missiles

(Newser) - Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight, after US and Ukrainian officials said they'll meet on Saturday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year-old war. Russia used 653 drones and 51 missiles in the wide-reaching attack, which triggered air raid...

Putin: Russia Must Be Given Full Control of Donbas

Russian leader appears to be drawing a red line

(Newser) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a stark warning that Ukrainian forces must leave Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will take it by force, making clear that in Russia's view there is no room for compromise over the disputed territory, the BBC reports. "Either we liberate...

Same Sticking Point Emerges in 5-Hour Meeting on Ukraine

Territorial disputes stall progress in Kremlin talks

(Newser) - Tuesday's high-level talks between Russia and the US on ending the Ukraine war stretched for five hours but ended without a peace deal, though Russian officials categorized the discussions as "useful" and "constructive." The Kremlin meeting involved Vladimir Putin and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared...

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