Russia began three days of voting Friday in a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule by six more years after he stifled dissent. The election takes place against the backdrop of a ruthless crackdown that has crippled independent media and prominent rights groups and given Putin full control … Read more
Vladimir Putin at a rally at Manezhnaya Square near the Kremlin on March 18, 2018. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images There are no surprises over who will win Russia’s presidential election this coming weekend with incumbent, Vladimir Putin, set to win a fifth term in office, keeping him in power until at least 2030. The heavily stage-managed … Read more
For many Russians, March 1 was a day of mourning. The memorial service for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who perished weeks earlier in a remote Arctic penal colony, was being held in a small church on the outskirts of Moscow. Despite the heavy police presence and in defiance of the Russian government’s warnings against … Read more
Ukrainians living in regions illegally annexed by Russia are being coerced to vote in the presidential election of their wartime occupier, Vladimir Putin — an exercise denounced by Ukraine as an illegitimate effort by Moscow to tighten control over its neighbor. Polls don’t open in Russia until Friday, but they are open in four annexed … Read more
In a three-day election that leaves no room for doubt, Russian President Vladimir Putin is poised to win a fifth term on Sunday, allowing him to stay in power until 2030 — and, should he run again, to 2036. But many analysts believe the 71-year-old autocrat will rule this nation of 146 million people for … Read more
Russia went to war in Ukraine two years ago with twice as many artillery pieces as Ukraine had. But it isn’t the advantage in howitzers that really matters – it’s the advantage in shells. After all, a single gun firing 50 shells a day is about as useful as two guns each firing 25. For … Read more
Russia’s Vladimir Putin has revealed an apparently previously unreported conversation with Donald Trump in which he claims the then-American president let his jealousy of Joe Biden get the best of him in 2020. In an interview with state-controlled media released Wednesday, Putin appeared to suppress a smirk as he recalled the “curious” conversation when asked … Read more
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if there is a threat to its statehood, sovereignty or independence, voicing hope that the U.S. would refrain from actions that could trigger a nuclear conflict. Putin’s statement was another blunt warning to the West ahead of a presidential vote this week in … Read more
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if there is a threat to its statehood, sovereignty or independence, voicing hope that the U.S. would refrain from actions that could trigger a nuclear conflict. Putin’s statement was another blunt warning to the West ahead of a presidential vote this week in … Read more
(Reuters) – Russia remains in a state of combat readiness and is fully ready for a nuclear war, but not “everything is rushing to it” at present, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks published on Wednesday. In an interview with state media, Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is nearly certain to … Read more