Category: Putin

Putin Says Valieva’s Skating ‘Perfection’ Could Not Be Achieved With Doping

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva’s performances could not have been achieved with the help of any banned substances. Valieva, who turned 16 on Tuesday, failed a doping test at the Russian national championships last December but the result was only revealed on Feb. 8, a day after…


Moldova Explosions Raise Fears Separatist Region Could be Drawn into Ukraine War

Attacks in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria have raised concerns that Russia will drag the area into the Ukraine war. The area borders western Ukraine and is controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Russia has permanently stationed some 1,500 troops in the unrecognized sliver of land since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Transnistria’s Interior Ministry said…


Will Moscow’s War Bet Pay Off?

Commentary Is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just about NATO encroachment? It’s almost certain that encroachment was a factor, or at least an excuse, but was that the big triggering event? Or were there other factors driving Russia’s invasion? If you’re like many observers, it may seem that there’s much more to the war than meets…


UCI Cyber Security Expert, Ex-CIA Analyst Weighs in on Putin, Ukraine War

As a former senior Soviet analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency as well as ex-advisor to President George W. Bush, then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and other senior government officials, Bryan Cunningham—who is now the Executive Director of the Cybersecurity Policy and Research Institute at the University of California–Irvine—spent years studying Russian President Vladimir Putin….


Russian Forces Advancing From Staging Areas in Donbass Toward Kramatorsk: UK

Russian forces are advancing from staging areas in the Donbass region toward Kramatorsk, which continues to be bombarded by persistent rocket attacks, a British military update said on Thursday. High levels of Russian air activity continue as Moscow seeks to provide close air support to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offensive in eastern Ukraine, and to…


Two Mass Graves With Civilian Bodies Found in Bucha: Kyiv Police

Ukrainian officials on Thursday claimed to have found two mass graves containing civilian bodies in a village in the Bucha region, where Russian forces allegedly killed hundreds. The Kyiv Region Police said on Facebook that two mass graves containing the bodies of nine civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, were discovered in the area, located close…


Pentagon Responds to Russia’s ‘Satan 2’ Missile Test

The Pentagon on Wednesday said Russia notified the United States ahead of its test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Russia’s first test launch of its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new addition to its nuclear arsenal, was not deemed as a “threat” to the United States and its allies, the Pentagon said. Russian President…


Russia Says It Will Not Disclose Banks Linked to SWIFT Alternative: Report

Russia’s central bank announced Tuesday that it would no longer disclose the names of banks that use its alternative to the SWIFT payment system. The move comes after several Russian banks were banned from SWIFT—the cross-border payment system operator—as part of measures that came in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which…


Liberals Name Putin’s Two Adult Daughters in New Round of Sanctions

The federal government has hit 14 more Russians with sanctions for their close ties with President Vladimir Putin, including his two adult daughters. Maria Vorontsova, 36, and her 35-year-old sister Katerina Tikhonova are named on the list released today. The federal government says the two, as well as a dozen other Russians, are facing sanctions…


Trump Urges Russia and Ukraine to Work Out ‘Some Kind of Agreement’

Former President Donald Trump on Monday called on Russia and Ukraine to reach an agreement to end the war, which began on Feb. 24. Trump said on the 55th day of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine that “it doesn’t make sense that Russia and Ukraine aren’t sitting down and working out some kind…