The Moscow Times (EN)

Moscow Claims More Advances in Ukraine's Kharkiv Region Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had captured four more villages in Ukraine's Kharkiv region as thousands of residents were evacuated amid Moscow's surprise ground offensive. The ministry said its forces had "advanced deeply into the enemy defenses" and taken villages including Gatishche, Krasnoye, Morokhovets, and Oleinikovo. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

At Least 17 Injured in Missile Attack Against Russia's Belgorod At least 17 people were injured after a Ukrainian missile struck a residential building in the western Russian city of Belgorod, Russian authorities said Sunday. Russia's Defense Ministry said a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile hit a "residential district" in the city after it was intercepted by air defense systems.  Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Arts and Life | Tom Parfitt’s ‘High Caucasus’ is Shortlisted for Pushkin House Book Prize By Howard Amos Veteran journalist Tom Parfitt came up with the idea of a solo walk through Russia’s North Caucasus after reporting on the bloody Beslan school siege by Islamic militants in 2004. The undertaking was, as he puts it, his way of trying to “dilute” the memories of that horror. The result is a poignant, beautiful and sometimes unbearably sad first-person journey through an epic landscape. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Saturday night’s protest in Tbilisi, Georgia, where tens of thousands rallied against the controversial "foreign influence" bill backed by the government and likened to Russian laws silencing dissent. Photos: MT Reporter

Thousands Rally in Tbilisi Against ‘Foreign Influence’ Bill Thousands of protesters marched through central Tbilisi on Saturday at a rally against a controversial "foreign influence" bill backed by the Georgian government and likened to Russian laws silencing dissent. Massive rallies have gripped the Black Sea Caucasus country for almost a month after the ruling Georgian Dream party revived the bill dropped last year because of a huge backlash. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Hundreds Evacuated From Ukraine Border After Russian Offensive Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas near the Russian border in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, the regional governor said Saturday, a day after Moscow launched a surprise ground offensive. Russian forces made small advances in the area it was pushed back from nearly two years ago, the latest in a series of gains as Ukrainian forces find themselves outgunned and outmanned. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Arts and Life | In Between Russia and Finland Fish Are King By Pavel and Olga Syutkin Karelian cuisine is a kind of culinary time machine. It includes dishes and traditions not only of Karelians, but also of ancient Novgorodians from the 14th century, Veps, Izhors and other nationalities that only have a few thousand people. To eat Karelian food is to take a journey into the past. This marvelous forest and lake region is famous for its rich and generous nature, and the local population is renowned for its warmth and hospitality. Any feast in Karelia includes fish cooked in different ways, pickled mushrooms, soused cowberries... There has always been an abundance of pickled freshwater fish (there are about 60,000 lakes in this region, a huge number of rivers and creeks that are home to 60 species of fish). But there is absolutely no smoked fish that is so common in Baltic cuisines. The menu of Karelian cuisine necessarily includes kalarokka — fish soup. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Georgian Police Arrest Russian Man at Anti-Government Protest – Reports Law enforcement authorities in the South Caucasus nation of Georgia have arrested a Russian man who attended recent protests against a controversial “foreign influence” bill, local media reported Friday. Members of the Russian diaspora have joined tens of thousands of Georgians in Tbilisi since April to rally against what has been described as a copycat of Russia’s “foreign agent” law. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Passenger Bus Plunges Into St. Petersburg River, Killing 4 At least four people have died and six others were injured when a passenger bus plunged into a river in central St. Petersburg, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported Friday, citing emergency services. St. Petersburg police said around 20 passengers were on board the bus when it fell off a bridge into the Moika River at around 1:00 p.m. local time. Surveillance video shared by law enforcement showed the bus making a U-turn and crashing through a bridge railing before nosediving into the water. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Russia Launches Offensive Into Kharkiv Region, Ukraine Says Russia has launched a cross-border ground offensive into Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukraine's Defense Ministry and a high-ranking Ukrainian military source said Friday. Kyiv's forces pushed back Russian forces from most of the Kharkiv region in 2022, the same year the Kremlin launched its so-called "special military operation." But Moscow appears to be back on the offensive there as Ukrainian troops struggle with ammunition shortages. Read more | Subscribe to our channel