A Moscow court has declined to consider an appeal by U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich against his pre-trial detention, sending the case back to a lower court due to procedural violations. Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested on March 29 on espionage charges and has failed in two previous appeals. His lawyer will now appeal the decision to the Moscow City Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
Posts tagged as “Moscow”
Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin met Wednesday at a Russian spaceport, sparking Western concerns that Kim may provide military support for Putin's war in Ukraine. Video posted by Russian state media showed the two leaders smiling and shaking hands, and South Korea's military reported that North Korea had fired at least one ballistic missile toward its eastern seas. The meeting has raised questions about the potential for military cooperation between the two countries and what was discussed during the meeting.
Kim Jong Un has arrived in Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by top military officials. The meeting has sparked concerns of a potential arms deal and is expected to focus on North Korea's nuclear weapons program and stalled negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington. Kim's visit is the first foreign trip since he met with U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 and is expected to take place in the Russian city of Vladivostok.
Elon Musk secretly ordered his engineers to turn off the Starlink satellite network over Russian-occupied Crimea to prevent a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s naval fleet. Musk declined Kyiv's request to activate internet access in the Black Sea near Moscow-annexed Crimea, citing the potential for nuclear conflict. The news has been met with criticism from Ukraine and praise from some, with the full details of the incident to be revealed in Walter Isaacson’s upcoming biography.
Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to extend their voluntary oil production cuts through the end of 2021, a move that could help stabilize the global oil market and boost energy prices. The combined cuts of 1.3 million barrels of crude out of the global market are intended to “support the stability and balance of oil markets”, pushing benchmark Brent crude above $90 a barrel in trading Tuesday afternoon. The agreement comes despite President Joe Biden's warning of unspecified “consequences” for partnering with Russia on cuts.
On Sunday, Russian forces launched a 3 ½ hour drone barrage on the Reni seaport in the Odesa region of Ukraine, resulting in two people being hospitalized. This attack occurred the day before Russian President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine. Ukraine has been using cluster munitions on the front lines in the conflict with Russia, which has been condemned by the international community, urging both sides to come to a peaceful resolution.
On Wednesday, a plane crash north of Moscow killed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and all 10 people on board, raising suspicions as Prigozhin had led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military earlier this year. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a top general linked to Prigozhin, was dismissed from his position as commander of the air force and has not been seen in public since the mutiny. The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation and it is unclear if Prigozhin’s death will be confirmed or if the crash was related to the mutiny.
On Wednesday evening, a private Embraer Legacy aircraft crashed in Russia's Tver region, killing all 10 people on board. The plane was registered to Wagner, a mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, and had taken off from Moscow earlier in the evening. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Services has launched an investigation into the crash, and Russian state media has reported that Prigozhin was among the passengers on board.