His most beloved crooner sang a nationalistic ballad with an appeal to Russians: “The Motherland is calling. Don’t let her down.” His favorite band belted out a moody song about wartime sacrifice. And then he took the stage, under a banner celebrating the 10th anniversary of Crimea’s seizure from Ukraine, to remind thousands of Russians […]
Read MoreTag: Putin, Vladimir V
Putin’s Orchestrated Election Leaves Russians With No Other Choices
The Kremlin stage-managed Russia’s presidential vote over the weekend to send a singular message at home and abroad: that President Vladimir V. Putin’s support is overwhelming and unshakable, despite or even because of his war against Ukraine. From the moment the preliminary results first flashed across state television late Sunday, the authorities left no room […]
Read MoreFive Takeaways From Putin’s Win in Russia
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia emerged from the three-day, stage-managed presidential vote that ended Sunday declaring that his overwhelming win represented a public mandate to act as needed in the war in Ukraine as well as on various domestic matters, feeding unease among Russians about what comes next. Mr. Putin said the vote represented […]
Read MorePutin Wins Russian Presidential Election
President Vladimir V. Putin on Sunday extended his rule over Russia until 2030, using a heavily stage-managed presidential election with no real competition to portray overwhelming public support for his domestic dominance and his invasion of Ukraine. Some Russians tried to turn the undemocratic vote into a protest, forming long lines at polling stations at […]
Read MorePutin Breaks Silence on Navalny’s Death, Calling It an ‘Unfortunate Incident’
President Vladimir V. Putin described the death of the imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny as an “unfortunate incident” and claimed he had been ready to release him in exchange for Russian prisoners held in the West. Mr. Putin, in a news conference after Russia’s presidential election, said that “some people” had told him before […]
Read MoreLong Lines of Russian Voters Signal Discontent With Vladimir Putin’s Rule
Long lines of voters formed outside polling stations in major Russian cities during the presidential election on Sunday, in what opposition figures portrayed as a striking protest against a rubber-stamp process that is certain to keep Vladimir V. Putin in power. Before he died last month, the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny had called […]
Read MoreLittle Suspense Over Russian Vote. What Comes Next Is Less Certain.
Maria and her husband, Aleksandr, are certain that President Vladimir V. Putin will secure a fifth term as Russia’s leader in the presidential election this weekend. But the couple, who live in Moscow with their three children, are not so sure about what will follow. Foremost in their minds are fears that Mr. Putin, emboldened […]
Read MoreRussians Know Putin Will Be Re-Elected, but Many Worry What Comes Next
Maria and her husband, Aleksandr, are certain that President Vladimir V. Putin will secure a fifth term as Russia’s leader in the presidential election this weekend. But the couple, who live in Moscow with their three children, are not so sure about what will follow. Foremost in their minds are fears that Mr. Putin, emboldened […]
Read MoreRebellious Russians Stage Daring Attacks From Ukraine on Russian Soil
Gathered in a Ukrainian farmhouse, soldiers checked their kits: rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, spare batteries for radios, red and white flashlights, all that would be needed for a stealthy and daring night assault across the border into Russia. The soldiers are Russians who have turned against the government of their country’s president, Vladimir V. […]
Read MoreTrump’s Alternate Reality Pitch, Examined
Aside from falsely insisting that he did not lose the 2020 election, former President Donald J. Trump has peddled a related set of theories centered on one question: What would the world have looked like had he stayed in office? Mr. Trump, in rallies and interviews, has repeatedly asserted — more than a dozen times […]
Read MoreIn Occupied Ukraine, Casting a Vote (for Putin) as Armed Soldiers Watch
A new sign went up a few miles from the front line recently on the main billboard of an occupied town in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. “Vote for our president. Together we’re strong,” read the sign in the white, blue and red colors of the Russian flag, according to Anastasiia, a resident. The message was clear […]
Read More16 Killed in Russian Missile Strike on Odesa, Ukraine Says
A Russian missile attack on Odesa killed at least 16 people and injured 55 others, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday, the latest in a series of deadly air assaults on the southern Ukrainian port city. Ukraine’s state emergency services said a first missile hit several houses late in the morning, prompting rescuers to rush to […]
Read MoreA Journey Through Putin’s Russia
Fact-checking by Susan Lee and Milana Mazaeva. Translations by Milana Mazaeva. The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike […]
Read MoreAs Putin Pitches His Vision, Voters Avert Their Gaze From the War
Vladimir V. Putin’s vision of Russia — successful, innovative and borderless — is on display at one of Moscow’s biggest tourist attractions, a Stalin-era exhibition center that currently houses a sleek showcase called Russia 2024. The exhibition promotes what the Kremlin portrays as Russia’s achievements in the past two decades, roughly the period Mr. Putin […]
Read MoreRussia’s Persecution of L.G.B.T.Q. Ukrainians Should Be a Crime Against Humanity
Oleksii Polukhin’s 64 days in detention began when Russian soldiers stopped him at a checkpoint. They found that he’d been gathering information about Russian military positions to share with Ukrainian forces; they also discovered he was gay. Mr. Polukhin gave a detailed account of his detention to Projector, an Odesa-based human rights organization. He also […]
Read MoreRussia Strengthens Its Internet Controls in Critical Year for Putin
Russia is ratcheting up its internet censorship ahead of elections this weekend that are all but assured to give President Vladimir V. Putin another six years in power, further shrinking one of the last remaining spaces for political activism, independent information and free speech. The Russian authorities have intensified a crackdown against digital tools used […]
Read MoreOrban Endangers Hungary’s Status as an Ally, U.S. Diplomat Says
Prime Minister Viktor Orban is jeopardizing Hungary’s position as a trusted NATO ally, the U.S. ambassador to Budapest warned on Thursday, with “its close and expanding relationship with Russia,” and with “dangerously unhinged anti-American messaging” in state-controlled media. The ambassador, David Pressman, has for months criticized Mr. Orban for effectively siding with President Vladimir V. […]
Read MoreWhat to Know About Putin and Russia’s Presidential Vote
Why does this vote matter? The presidential vote in Russia, which began Friday and lasts through Sunday, features the trappings of a horse race but is more of a predetermined, Soviet-style referendum. President Vladimir V. Putin, 71, will undoubtedly win a fifth term, with none of the three other candidates who are permitted on the […]
Read MoreE.U. Removes Russian Tech Tycoon From Sanctions List
The European Union has lifted sanctions against a Russian technology tycoon, in a rare break from a policy of punishing the country’s elites for the invasion of Ukraine. Arkady Volozh, who co-founded Russia’s largest tech company, Yandex, was taken off the list of sanctioned individuals after condemning the invasion of Ukraine and taking public steps […]
Read MorePutin Plays Down Threat of Nuclear War in Pre-Election State TV Interview
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia tried to play down fears of nuclear war in an interview released on Wednesday and denied having considered using weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine, aiming to bolster his domestic image as a guarantor of stability before the Russian presidential election this weekend. In a lengthy interview released by […]
Read MoreIn Russia, There Is Something Putin Can’t Control
According to “The Master and Margarita,” Mikhail Bulgakov’s celebrated novel about the devil’s visit to Stalinist Moscow, “manuscripts don’t burn.” This famous phrase became a shorthand for art’s supposed ability to triumph over repression. Today, Bulgakov’s formula is being put to the test once again in Russia, where a new film adaptation of the book […]
Read MoreRussia Pivots South for Trade Following Western European Sanctions
For centuries, trade with Europe was the main pillar of Russia’s economy. The war in Ukraine ended that, with Western sanctions and other restrictions increasingly cutting Russia off from European markets. In response, Moscow has expanded ties with the countries more willing to do business with it — China to the east, and, via a […]
Read MoreTop Navalny Aide Attacked With Hammer Outside Home in Lithuania
The chief of staff to Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died last month in an Arctic penal colony, was attacked with a hammer and tear gas outside his home in Lithuania’s capital late Tuesday, according to Mr. Navalny’s press secretary, who said the police and an ambulance had been called to the […]
Read MoreUkraine Faces Losses Without More U.S. Aid, Officials Say
Senior intelligence officials warned on Monday that without additional American aid, Ukraine faced the prospect of continued battlefield losses as Russia relies on a network of critical arms suppliers and drastically increases its supply of technology from China. In public testimony during the annual survey of worldwide threats facing the United States, the officials predicted […]
Read MoreThe Prophetic Academic Emmanuel Todd Now Foresees the West’s Defeat
“If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not,” President Biden said during his State of the Union address on Thursday night. Europe is “at risk,” he added, as he welcomed Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, the newest member of NATO. But Mr. Biden also […]
Read MoreNavalny’s Heirs Seek a Political Future in Russia
Aleksei A. Navalny built Russia’s largest opposition force in his image, embodying a freer, fairer Russia for millions. His exiled team now faces the daunting task of steering his political movement without him. The movement has found a leader in Mr. Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who has presented herself as the new face of the […]
Read MoreOpposition Blasts Macron for Risking Escalation in Ukraine
Attacked at home and abroad for his statement last month that sending troops to Ukraine “should not be ruled out,” President Emmanuel Macron faced a torrent of outrage from the left and right on Thursday when he met with leaders of major political parties to hammer home his new position. Mr. Macron’s remark startled his […]
Read MoreRussians Flock to Navalny’s Grave as They Grapple With His Legacy
Marina, a Moscow lawyer, decided to stay home when the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny was buried last Friday. She had expected a big crowd and widespread arrests at the Borisovsky Cemetery, given Russia’s current climate of repression, and thought it would be better to pay her respects another day. She wasn’t alone in […]
Read MorePutin’s Nukes in Space Are Back to Scare Us Again
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan was considering what became known as “Star Wars,” a plan to shield America from Soviet missiles by deploying up to thousands of weapons in space. At the same time, as a young science writer, I was reporting on how the rays from a single nuclear detonation in orbit could wipe […]
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