The topic of direct, high-level contact between Russia and Ukraine was raised during Monday’s phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Interfax.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he has a “red line” in negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, and that if it’s crossed, he will stop pushing Moscow and Kyiv towards peace, Sky News reports.

Vologda Governor Georgy Filimonov has dismissed Yulia Shevtsova, head of the region’s Nyuksensky district, after her daughter posted a video in which she threatened to have a young man sent to fight in the war in Ukraine.

Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko said Tuesday that the country’s history should be studied “through the lens of interference and foreign influence,” according to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti.

On May 18, the day Romanians headed to the polls for the second round of voting in the country’s presidential elections, Telegram founder Pavel Durov posted a series of messages on X accusing French intelligence of pressuring him to “silence conservative…

From April 26 to July 6, the Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien gallery in Berlin is hosting “No,” an exhibition curated and organized by Meduza. The project brings together artists and journalists in a series of installations and conversations to explore the…

Russian federal investigators have launched a criminal case against Galina Timchenko, co-founder and CEO of Meduza, on charges of organizing the activities of a designated “undesirable organization.” According to investigators, in September 2024 and March…

Over the past three years, every new headline about an arson attack on Russian railway infrastructure, a police station, or a conscription office has raised the same set of questions. Was the perpetrator a lone anti-war activist trying to hinder Moscow’s…

Last week, the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security signed an agreement to allocate $250 million in foreign assistance funding toward a plan for the removal and return of people from active conflict zones, The Washington Post reports, citing draft…

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, said that 20,000 people who received Russian citizenship have been sent to the front lines in Ukraine.

On May 15, a life-sized wall sculpture of Joseph Stalin was unveiled in the Moscow Metro. Subway officials described it as “a gift to passengers” to mark the transit system’s 90th anniversary. The following day, unidentified activists papered the installation…

A Russian missile strike on a military training ground in Ukraine’s Sumy region killed six people and wounded more than 10, the Ukrainian National Guard said in a statement posted to Facebook on the morning of May 21. The strike reportedly occurred during…

Vladimir Putin visited Russia’s Kursk region earlier this week, the Kremlin’s press service announced on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Russia has pledged to send Washington its terms for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Andriy Portnov, a top aide to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, was shot dead outside the gates of a school in the Spanish town of Pozuelo de Alarcón on Wednesday, Sky News and Reuters report.

A local official in Russia’s Kursk region told Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that annexing Ukraine’s Sumy region is necessary for national security. “Sumy should be ours,” said Pavel Zolotaryov, head of the Glushkovsky District, at a meeting between municipal…

Chinese tourism to Russia is booming — believe it or not. In 2024, four times as many Chinese nationals visited Russia through tour operators as in the previous year. Official data show that 106,700 Chinese travelers arrived in the first quarter of 2025 —…

Russia’s justice minister has proposed introducing “the defense of moral values” as a new basis for exemption from criminal liability. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, Konstantin Chuychenko said, “Currently, individuals can be exempted…

After kicking off peace negotiations in February with a phone call to Vladimir Putin, earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump had to call his Russian counterpart again. Months of talks, public spats, backchannel pressure, and high-stakes diplomacy…

After several years of rapid, war-driven growth, the Russian economy has begun to cool. Oil prices remain well below their peak levels, and the U.S. Department of Energy has already lowered its 2025 forecast for Brent crude’s spot price. Meanwhile, the European…