The Washington Post

Closed-door espionage trial of U.S. journalist kicks off in Russia The closed-door trial of American journalist Evan Gershkovich began in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on Wednesday, 15 months after he was arrested and charged with espionage while on a reporting trip. The case marks the first time since the Cold War that an American journalist has been put on trial for espionage in Russia. Gershkovich appeared calm in court Wednesday, smiling and nodding at colleagues who had traveled to Yekaterinburg — almost 900 miles to the east of Moscow — to report on the opening moments of the trial. Gershkovich’s head had been shaved, as is typical for prisoners in the Russian penitentiary system. Russian prosecutors announced earlier this month that they had finalized an indictment and had “established and documented” that Gershkovich had “collected secret information” about the Uralvagonzavod military factory in the Sverdlovsk region in Russia while “on assignment from the CIA.” Read the full story here.

International Court issues warrants for top Russian military officials The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two top Russian military figures who led the war on Ukraine for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, it announced Tuesday. Former defense minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov were named in the warrants for their attacks on civilian infrastructure in particular. The action comes after the court — to which Russia is not a signatory — last year issued indictments against President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, over the removal of Ukrainian children to Russia. Read the full story here.

After attack in Dagestan, Russian officials minimize Islamic State claim Russian lawmakers on Monday quickly blamed external forces, including Ukraine and NATO, for terrorist attacks on Sunday that killed at least 20 people in Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region of Russia in the North Caucasus that has long been a hotbed of violence by Islamist militants. The gunfire attacks on Sunday — at a police post, a synagogue and Orthodox churches in the regional capital of Makhachkala and a second city, Derbent — killed at least 17 police officers and an Orthodox priest, authorities said. Pro-Kremlin media appeared to play down a claim from Al Azaim Media, a Russian-language channel associated with the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, which posted a statement late Sunday that the attack was carried out in response to calls for attacks on behalf of the Islamic State organization, or ISIS. Read the full story here.

More than 15 killed in Dagestan, Russia, as gunmen hit multiple sites Assailants opened fire at an Orthodox church, a synagogue and a traffic police post across two cities in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday evening, killing more than 15 police officers and several civilians, local officials said. The dead included an Orthodox priest, Nikolai Kotelnikov. More than two dozen others were injured in what appeared to be a coordinated attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Kotelnikov, 66, was killed at the Church of Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Derbent. Gunmen also attacked the city’s only synagogue, though it was apparently empty at the time. Read the full story here.

U.S. will boost Ukraine’s air defense by pausing exports to allies The United States will suspend the planned export of hundreds of air defense munitions to its allies and partners and redirect them to Ukraine, the White House said Thursday, as Russia continues its brutal assaults on Ukrainian infrastructure. The Biden administration “has made the difficult but necessary decision to reprioritize near term planned deliveries of foreign military sales to other countries, particularly Patriot and NASAMS missiles, to go to Ukraine instead,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. The Patriot and NASAMS systems are the two most sophisticated air defense platforms the West has provided to Ukraine, and have been central to its defense against Russian missiles and drones that have attacked civilian infrastructure. Read the full story here.

Ukraine claims to be winning its war on corruption. The West says: Do more. Ukrainian officials insist they are battling corruption as fiercely as their troops are fighting Russia’s invaders in the east. But Western governments, including the United States, say it is still not enough — a source of increasingly raw tension between Kyiv and some of its strongest supporters that poses constant peril to additional economic and military assistance. Nearly every month adds a new case to a string of high-profile arrests and dismissals. In late May, the former deputy head of the presidential administration, Andrii Smyrnov, was charged with “illicit enrichment” by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which said he had acquired real estate, vehicles and other assets worth more than 10 times his reported salary and savings. Read the full story here.

North Korea’s Kim declares ‘full support’ for Russian war in Ukraine SEOUL — In a show of defiance against Western sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic pact on Wednesday pledging to come to each other’s assistance in case of a military attack — the starkest display yet of Russia’s alignment with anti-Western nations determined to topple the United States as a global leader. Putin, visiting the North Korean capital, Pyongyang for the first time since 2000, said Russia and North Korea “pursue an independent foreign policy and do not accept the language of blackmail and diktat.” “The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement,” Putin said. Read the full story here.

As Kyiv celebrates first Pride since invasion, LGBTQ troops demand equality KYIV — Pride in Ukraine is no longer just about defending and celebrating the right to love whom you choose. Like everything else here, it’s also about resisting Russia. A Pride march in Kyiv on Sunday — the first since Russia’s 2022 invasion — and a host of other events this month across the country are intended as a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainians want to live in a country with Western freedoms — not Russian-style repressions. The events are also protesting Ukraine’s own policies, which advocates say perpetuate the marginalization of LGBTQ people, including soldiers who risk their lives for Ukraine’s future. Read the full story here.

Short on troops, Ukraine is freeing criminals to fight To fill a critical shortage of infantry on the front line, Ukraine has embraced one of Russia’s most cynical tactics: releasing convicted — even violent — felons who agree to fight in high-risk assault brigades. More than 2,750 men have been released from Ukrainian prisons since the parliament adopted a law in May authorizing certain convicts to enlist, including those jailed for dealing drugs, stealing phones and committing armed assaults and murders, among other serious crimes. Now — seeking revenge against Russia, or in pursuit of personal redemption and freedom — they are trading their prison jumpsuits for Ukrainian army uniforms and deploying to the front lines. Read the full story here.

Putin demands Ukraine surrender four regions to stop war Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine surrender four southeastern regions that Russian troops partly occupy and renounce plans to join NATO as conditions for Russia to “immediately” stop hostilities and start of negotiations to end the war. Putin’s demands would amount to capitulation by Ukraine and the loss of more than one-fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory — including Crimea, which Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014. The Russian leader’s remarks appeared designed to get ahead of an international “peace” conference organized by Ukraine in Switzerland this weekend. President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to reiterate his call for Russia’s complete withdrawal of military forces and the end of Moscow’s illegal occupation of Ukraine. The Russian leader’s broader demands included cementing Ukraine’s “neutral, nonaligned, nonnuclear status” and lifting all Western sanctions against Russia. Read the full story here.