• At G20, US Secretary of State calls Russia out for blocking Ukrainian grain exports

    At a closed-door session at a meeting Friday at the G20 summit in Bali, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia for blocking Ukrainian grain exports amid rising global food prices.

    The G20 meeting is the first time top US and Russian diplomats have been in the same room since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

    “To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out,” Blinken said. …

  • Russia recruiting soldiers for its ‘Ukrainian operation’ through job search websites

    The Russian army is looking for tens of thousands of people to join it on a contract. Recruitment is conducted through job search websites. Most people are recruited into units that suffered losses in the war in Ukraine, reported the news website Important Stories.

    The publication analyzed job search websites and found that at least 7 units that fought in Ukraine posted vacancies for a total of 2166 new recruits. One of them is the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade from the Khabarovsk Krai ( …

  • Russian Defense Ministry claims Russian troops are taking a pause in Ukraine

    Russian troops are taking a pause in the fighting in Ukraine, said the Russia Ministry of Defense. 

    The Russian Ministry of Defense announced  that a "pause" is taken, as part of "the measures to replenish combat capabilities" of the Russian troops. Earlier, Russian president Vladimir Putin admitted that after the fighting in the Luhansk region, the Russian soldiers were seriously exhausted.

    Now, Russian soldiers have allegedly " been given the opportunity to rest, receive letters and parcels …

  • In resignation speech, Boris Johnson says UK support for Ukraine will continue

    While announcing his resignation amid a wave of scandals, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain’s support for Ukraine was one of his proudest achievements while in office.

    “I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this government, from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century … and, in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s aggression in Ukraine,” he said.

    Speaking directly “to …

  • China's President declines Putin's invitation to visit Russia

    Chinese leader Xi Jinping declined the invitation of Russian president Vladimir Putin to visit Russia, reported the Japanese newspaper Yeimuri Shimbun.

    Putin invited Xi Jinping to visit Russia during a private conversation that took place on June 15.

    The head of the Chinese Communist Party refused, explaining that in the near future "it will be difficult to do this" allegedly because of coronavirus restrictions.

    At the same time, Japanese journalists believe that in fact the reason was that …

  • Russia considers taking back part of Barents Sea previously ceded to Norway

    The Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, instructed the Duma Committee on International Affairs to consider the possibility of denouncing the agreement between the Russian Federation and Norway on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Earlier, this idea was voiced by the deputy of the Russian Communist Party Mikhail Matveev, after Norway refused to allow transit of goods going to Russian villages located on the Spitsbergen archipelago. …

  • Media: Russian partisans ‘going wild’, derailing trains, burning military enlistment centers

    Since the beginning of the so-called "special operation" in Ukraine, there have been at least 23 attacks on military recruitment and enlistment offices in Russia. 20 of them were arson. The number of railway accidents increased by almost one and a half times, compared to the same period last year, reports the news website The Insider, specifying that all the data was taken from Russian media reports.

    From March to June 2022, 63 freight trains derailed in Russia. At the same time, the geography …

  • Russia withdraws weapons and troops from Finnish border for possible deployment to Ukraine

    While Finland and Sweden have started the the process of joining NATO, Russia has begun withdrawing heavy military equipment and personnel from the unit stationed near the Finnish border in the Murmansk region, reports the Russian news outlet Agenstvo.

    According to satellite images, which were reviewed by journalists of the Finnish news agency YLE, over the past month, more than 100 units of equipment, including dozens of armored personnel carriers, have been withdrawn from the Finnish border. …

  • Ukrainian officials highlight Mariupol's acute shortage of water and medicine

    Mariupol city officials have drawn attention to the dangerous shortage of medicine and drinking water in the occupied port city.

    According to the Mariupol City Council, residents are dying from a "shortage of drugs for cancer patients, people with diabetes, tuberculosis and problems with the thyroid gland."

    The city’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, said patients "are at risk and cannot wait for the occupiers to deliver medicines. Their lives are in danger."

    "After all, for more than 2 months, the …

  • Kremlin: Putin will not congratulate Biden on U.S. Independence Day

    Russian President Vladimir Putin will not congratulate American President Joe Biden on the U.S. Independence Day, said Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov during a press briefing.

    "No, there will be no congratulatory letter this year. This is because this year has been the culmination of an unfriendly policy towards our country on the part of the United States. Therefore, in these conditions, it can hardly be considered expedient to send such a congratulatory message," Putin's press secretary …