Putin's Russia
‘Think I get orders from the CIA?’ Top Russian propagandist taunts US
Alexey Navalny lampooned Margarita Simonyan for years with the nickname “beaver-eater” after a 2012 social media post where she outlined her plans to boil up a beaver head for broth.
- by Robyn Dixon
Latest
Putin has two secret sons who love Disney, investigation reveals
Nine-year-old Ivan enjoys spending time pretending to be characters from Disney cartoons, which he is only able to do alone or with his minders. Vladimir prefers Russian cartoons.
- by Daniel Hardaker
‘You have shown determination’: Malaysian PM praises Putin, pledges closer ties
Anwar Ibrahim, in Moscow, said it would be to Malaysia’s benefit if Russia agreed to ‘collaborate in all fields of endeavour’.
- by Philip J. Heijmans and Anisah Shukry
US charges Russians, seizes websites in pushback on 2024 election interference
With two months until election day, the US Justice Department has also warned of “increasingly aggressive Iranian activity” - including a recent attempt to hack into Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
- by Farrah Tomazin
Putin critic Masha Gessen on why Australia must be alive to Kremlin influence
The Russian-born author and columnist also said Putin would not negotiate a peace with Ukraine unless defeated on the battlefield.
- by Linda Morris
Ukrainian troops inside Russia? Meh, it’s the ‘new normal’ Putin’s propaganda says
The Kremlin’s messaging is directed at the local Russian population and suggests that Moscow expects the surprise occupation of its territory to last for months.
- by Liz Cookman
The Ukrainian cricketers who ditched their bats to save their country
“As strange as it sounds, what I want to be doing most of all right now is playing cricket. But I have a sniper’s rifle in my hands right now instead of a bat, and a grenade instead of a ball.”
- by Rob Harris
How two Russian spies went deep under cover with their children
A couple planted as sleeper spies in Slovenia were caught in December 2022. They were sent to Moscow in a prisoner exchange last week.
- by Andrew Higgins
Spies’ children ‘didn’t know they were Russian’ until they arrived in Moscow for prisoner swap
Vladimir Putin wiped tears from the face of the daughter of two sleeper agents and greeted them – in Spanish.
- by Joe Barnes
A reporter, a Russian killer and everyone else freed in the prisoner swap
Twenty-four prisoners were freed in a multi-country exchange on Friday, the largest exchange between Russia and the West in years.
- by Ivan Nechepurenko, Valerie Hopkins and Alina Lobzina
Updated
Russia
‘Day of great joy’: Russia frees Wall Street Journal reporter in major prisoner swap
Evan Gershkovich and two other American prisoners have touched down in the US after the deal saw 24 prisoners from the US, Russia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus freed.
- by Matthew Lee