Russia

Russia may have finalized how it plans to launch its new war mobilization effort—by preventing men who can serve from leaving the country. The independent Russian outlet Meduza reported that the Kremlin planned to ban men of fighting age from leaving the country in the event they needed to be drafted to deploy to Ukraine. The striking order came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a new “mobilization” effort designed to turn the tide against its losing war in the neighboring country. The sweeping ban would likely go into effect on Wednesday, according to Meduza. It would follow the supposed referendums in the Russian-seized areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine pledging fealty to Russia, all of which are illegal by international law. “We know what Vladimir Putin is doing,” said British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, according to the Mirror . “He is planning to fabricate the outcome of those referenda, he is planning to … [Read more...] about Russia Plans to Close Border to Men of Fighting Age to Boost the Draft: Report

Fifteen people were killed and 24 wounded during a school shooting in Russia on Monday despite that country’s “restrictive” gun control policies. The attack occurred in “School No. 88 in Izhevsk,” which is approximately 600 miles east of Moscow, and “educates children between grades one and 11,” the Associated Press reported . The gunman was identified as a 34-year-old who was a past graduate of School No. 88. Among the 15 killed, 11 were children. Among the 24 wounded, 22 were children. A woman hugs a boy surrounded by other people near the scene of a shooting in school No88 in Izhevsk on September 26, 2022. (MARIA BAKLANOVA/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images) The governor of Udmurtia, Alexander Brechalov, said in a video statement that the gunman shot himself after carrying out the heinous attack, Breitbart News noted . The University of Sydney’s GunPolicy.org lists Russia’s gun control as “restrictive.”  There is no right to gun ownership in Russia and … [Read more...] about 15 Dead in Russia School Shooting Despite ‘Restrictive’ Gun Control

Russia’s “partial mobilization” cast another shadow on the already dire situation its Armed Forces are facing in Ukraine. The situation is so grotesque that even Russian President Vladimir Putin’s biggest cheerleaders find themselves trashing the way the mobilization is being conducted. Top pro-Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov and head of RT Margarita Simonyan spent much of the broadcast of the state TV show Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov complaining about the issues with the mobilization. Solovyov said, “There are panicked calls on my phone, on Margarita’s phone, which shows that a number of people involved have forgotten how to do their jobs.” Simonyan added that after listening to Putin’s announcement and the follow-up message from Russia’s Defense Ministry, she was under the impression that only people with prior military experience were subject to mobilization—but that’s not what happened. RT ’s head said that she knows many people with prior combat … [Read more...] about Putin’s Top Cheerleaders Panic Over Russian Army ‘Mutiny’

Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei disclosed on Monday that he attended a series of confidential meetings with European and American leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last week. “Those were meetings with Europeans and Americans. They asked us to keep our conversations confidential,” Makei said, according to Belarusian state news agency Belta. The foreign minister of Belarus , a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s even as Russia wages war in Ukraine , declined to elaborate on the substance of the meetings. Makei only alluded vaguely to the idea that the meetings would be damaging to the United States should their contents leak out into the public eye. “Belarus has probably reached such a potential that the information about the meeting… might destroy even such a superpower as the United States,” Makei said. The mysterious meetings come on the heels of a series of defeats for Russia on the battlefield in … [Read more...] about Putin Ally Teases Secret Meetings ‘That Could Destroy’ America

Edward Snowden , the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked secret documents about the government's secret intelligence collection programs, has been granted permanent residency rights in Russia, the TASS news agency reported Thursday. Snowden’s Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told the state-run agency that his client was “given a permanent residence permit” but was not yet considering applying for a Russian passport. In a separate interview with Reuters, Kucherena said that Snowden’s Russian residency permit was expiring “and we asked to extend it.” He added that they submitted the documents in April and got the permanent residency rights on Thursday. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics Snowden is yet to acknowledge the report on social media. American officials were not immediately available for comment. President Donald Trump said in August that he was considering a pardon for Snowden, who is facing espionage … [Read more...] about Russia reportedly grants NSA whistleblower Snowden permanent residency

PARIS (AP) — Russia's war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are dragging down global economic growth more than expected and driving up inflation that will stay high into next year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday in a darkening outlook. The Paris-based organization projects worldwide growth to be a modest 3% this year before slowing further to just 2.2% next year, representing around $2.8 trillion in lost global output in 2023. The war in Ukraine has driven up food and energy prices worldwide, with Russia a key global energy and fertilizer supplier and both countries major exporters of grain for millions of people worldwide already facing hunger. Meanwhile, China's COVID-19 lockdowns have shuttered large parts of its economy. “The war, the burden of high energy and food prices, as well as zero COVID-19 policies from China, mean that growth will be lower, and inflation will be higher and more persistent,” OECD … [Read more...] about OECD: War in Ukraine to drag on global economy into 2023

While many Russians have opted to flee the country to dodge Vladimir Putin’s desperate draft for the war in Ukraine, one man took his protest a little bit further and shot a recruitment commander. Local authorities announced Monday’s attack, which unfolded in the city of Ust-Ilimsk in the Irkutsk region of Siberia. A video of the incident inside an enlistment office appears to show the gunman dressed in military fatigues firing on the official at point-blank range, causing other potential draftees to flee the room. The shooter identified himself in a video published on social media as 25-year-old Ruslan Zinin, Reuters reports. Writing on encrypted messaging app Telegram, Irkutsk regional governor Igor Kobzev said the draft officer was left fighting for his life and remained in a critical condition after the shooting. Kobzev added that the shooter had been detained and “will absolutely be punished.” “I am ashamed that this is happening at a time when, on the contrary, we … [Read more...] about Desperate Russian Shoots Recruitment Officer Instead of Signing up to Fight in Ukraine

Snowden appearing by video at a conference in Texas in June. Photo: Suzanne Cordeiro/Shutterstock Nine years after getting unexpectedly stranded in Moscow , American whistleblower Edward Snowden was granted full Russian citizenship by president Vladimir Putin on Monday. A contractor for the National Security Agency, Edward Snowden leaked classified documents in 2013 showing that the U.S. government was running a mass surveillance operation on American citizens. Charged with violating the Espionage Act, Snowden flew from Hong Kong to the Moscow airport, where he lived for over a month before he was allowed to leave the premises. Last year, the 39-year-old was granted permanent residency and said that he intended to apply for citizenship without renouncing his U.S. citizenship. His wife, Lindsay Mills, is also applying for a Russian passport, according to their lawyer. At the time his permanent residency was announced, he claimed it was not a political act, but one of … [Read more...] about Edward Snowden Is Now a Russian Citizen

close Video Biden position towards China 'lost' and 'confused': Sen. Tom Cotton Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton R-Ark., discussed on 'Sunday Morning Futures' the Biden administration's foreign policy concerning China, Russia, and Iran. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The U.S., U.K. and other Western countries are pushing for the United Nations to debate China's ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, according to a Monday filing. The call for a debate comes more than a month after the U.N. published a report stating that China is committing "serious human rights violations" in Xinjiang. If agreed to, the U.N. Human Rights Council would debate the issue at its upcoming session in February, Reuters reported. China's abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang has been widely documented in recent years. The Muslim minority group has been subjected to forced labor, sterilizations and abortions as part of China's … [Read more...] about US pushes UN rights council to debate China’s ‘serious human rights violations’

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for July 17 Fox News Flash top headlines for July 17 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The viral FaceApp photo filter allows you to digitally age yourself by a few decades, but experts are warning that the app poses several security risks for the millions who use it. The "old age filter," which celebrities including Kim Kardashian, the Jonas Brothers and Carrie Underwood have used to post their aged faces online using the #faceappchallenge tag, could give the Russian developers of the app access to your personal information and identity. According to the app's Terms and Conditions, it has the right to modify, reproduce and publish any of the images you process through its AI, the New York Post reports . OAKLAND BANS THE USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION “You grant FaceApp a perpetual, irrevocable… royalty-free… license to … [Read more...] about FaceApp security concerns: Experts say Russians might own your old photos