When Russia announced a brief ceasefire for its World War II memorial events, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called it out as deeply inconsistent logic. He pointed out that Moscow wanted just one hour of temporary peace on May 9 while still planning more attacks right after. "They ask to ho
Russia plans to buy foreign cash for the first time since the Ukraine war began, but not as much as experts thought it would. The government will spend 110. 3 billion roubles—mostly in Chinese yuan—between May 8 and June 4 to top up its rainy-day fund. The idea is to keep the rouble from shooting up
The Venice Biennale, a famous art festival, has let Russia set up its exhibit again after skipping two years. This move has caused a big debate. Some say art should stay separate from politics. Others argue that allowing Russia back sends the wrong message. The festival’s leader says art should bri
Early last month, Ukrainian skies turned into a battleground not just at night but from morning through afternoon. Over 400 drones flooded the airspace in just seven and a half hours. Most never reached their targets. Nighttime strikes have long been Russia’s preferred playbook since the conflict be
Russian arms makers are now getting more than nine out of ten pieces of restricted equipment from China. This shift follows tighter European controls that block many supply routes, pushing Moscow to look eastward for support. The share of Chinese‑supplied tech has risen from roughly eight out of
Residents across Mali woke to gunfire and explosions as rebel groups entered the capital, Bamako. The assault was carried out by two organisations: the Azawad Liberation Front and a group linked to al‑Qaeda. The rebels killed the defence minister and took control of the northern city Kidal, which wa
High-ranking officials from Iran, Russia, and Belarus recently held separate discussions about conflict resolution in the Middle East. A Russian defence minister met Iran’s deputy defence chief in Kyrgyzstan, stressing that diplomacy—not military action—should settle disputes in the region. The same
Vyacheslav Volodin, the head of Russia’s lower house, flew to Pyongyang on Saturday for a ceremony that honors North Korea’s contribution to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The event, organized by the country’s supreme assembly, is a nod to the roughly 14, 000 soldiers North Korea has sent to join Russian
Russia’s economy is showing clear signs of trouble as the war in Ukraine drags on. Policymakers in Moscow recently met to discuss shrinking capital markets and rising costs, with warnings that labor shortages could get worse. Inflation is climbing, production is slowing, and experts say the country’
On April 16, a Ukrainian drone targeted Russia’s Tuapse oil terminal on the Black Sea coast. The attack sparked a four-day blaze that finally died down on April 20, though firefighters still worked to fully snuff out smoldering remains. The terminal, a key export point for Russian oil products, had
