Section: Newsweek (USA)
Putin’s War in Syria: Why Russians Don’t Seem to Care About It
It’s a murky afternoon in northern Moscow when I meet “Rafiq” at the cramped offices of a refugee assistance center. A Syrian national, Rafiq fled his homeland to escape the civil war and moved to Moscow with his Russian-born wife. Today, he’s extremely cautious when he talks about the Kremlin’s support of Syrian President...
Putin Picks New Paratrooper Chief With Crimea Experience
Updated | Russia has appointed the man accused of presiding over operations that led to the annexation of part of Ukraine as the commander of the its infamous airborne forces (VDV), the Ministry of Defense announced on Monday. Colonel General Alexander Serdyukov, who has been outed as the man that oversaw Russia’s Crimean operations in 2014...
Ukraine Claims Arrest of ‘Russian Spy’ Seeking Military Intelligence
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) has detained a suspected spy in western Ukraine who was alleged to have delivered classified information to Russian military intelligence. The man, according to SBU, was meant to act as a recruiter in Ukraine, seeking to turn a Ukrainian army officer to the Russian side with the promise of Russian...
Russia: ‘Aggressive’ U.S. Actions Pose Threat to National Security
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday he had detected increasing U.S. hostility toward Moscow and complained about what he said was a series of aggressive U.S. steps that threatened Russia’s national security. In an interview with Russian state TV likely to worsen already poor relations with Washington, Lavrov made it clear...
U.S.: Only Russia Could Have Authorized Hack of Democrats
The U.S. government for the first time on Friday formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. “We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these...
Chechen Leader Kadyrov Defends Children’s MMA Bout
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov defended the right to host a mixed martial arts competition for children, accusing the head of the sport’s Russian association of “violating ethics” with his criticism. The series of bouts were part of a tournament in Chechnya, attended by Kadyrov earlier this week. Kadyrov posted a clip of his own 10-year-old...
Scientists Claim Crimea Is Literally Moving Closer to Russia
Russian officials have long argued that Crimea’s history and language make it Russian territory. Now Moscow is resorting to science to argue Crimea’s future lies closer to Russia than Ukraine. Experts from Russia’s Academy of Science (RAN) claim that Crimea as a land mass has physically been moving towards Russia since 2014,...
Vladimir Putin Calls On U.S. to Compensate Sanctions Losses or Risk Plutonium Deal
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked the U.S. to suspend sanctions on his country and compensate for the losses, or face the end of their agreement to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium. The Kremlin issued a decree Monday to suspend the 2010 agreement under which Russia and the U.S. committed to destroy tonnes of weapons-grade material,...
Kim Kardashian Held at Gunpoint in Paris Hotel Room By Fake Police
Two armed men dressed as fake police held reality star Kim Kardashian West at gunpoint in a robbery at her Paris hotel room Sunday night, according to her spokesperson. “Kim Kardashian West was held up at gunpoint inside her Paris hotel room this evening, by two armed masked men dressed as police officers. She is badly shaken but physically...
‘It Is Like A Virus’—Brussels Braces For Third Referendum Defeat In Hungary
On walls and billboards across Hungary a war of words has broken out. Deceptively cheery blue and yellow government posters ask shocking questions of passersby: “Did you know that nearly one million immigrants want to come to Europe from Libya alone?” “Did you know that the Paris terror attacks were carried out by immigrants?” Meanwhile, other...
