The Moscow Times (EN)

Russian Strikes Wound 20 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv City Russian strikes on the center of Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv injured 20 people on Tuesday, officials said. The city, located in Ukraine's northeast just 30 kilometers from Russia's border, has faced intensifying aerial attacks in recent months. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Russia’s Incoming Defense Minister Pledges Military Overhaul Russia’s incoming Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said Tuesday that he will work toward increasing the military’s effectiveness so that Moscow can achieve “victory” in its war against Ukraine. "The main priority, of course, remains achieving victory and ensuring that the military-political goals of the special military operation... are achieved,” Belousov said in an address to Russia’s upper-house Federation Council. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Moscow State University Expels Ukrainian Student for Anti-War Posts A Ukrainian student who has been arrested multiple times in Russia for anti-war social media posts has been expelled from Moscow State University, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday. Since early April, bachelor’s student Serhiy Hulko has been detained three consecutive times on a series of misdemeanor charges, including for the public display of “extremist” symbols after he wrote “Slava Ukraini!” on the Russian social network Vkontakte. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Georgian Parliament Passes Controversial ‘Foreign Influence’ Law Georgian lawmakers approved a controversial bill on regulating “foreign influence” in its third and final reading on Tuesday, defying the country’s largest protests in years. The draft legislation has plunged the South Caucasus country into a political crisis, with tens of thousands rallying against what they say mirrors Russia’s repressive “foreign agent” law and risks jeopardizing Georgia’s ambitions to join the European Union. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Putin Appoints Ex-Security Chief as Presidential Aide President Vladimir Putin has appointed the long-serving Russian Security Council chairman Nikolai Patrushev as a presidential aide, the Kremlin announced Tuesday. Patrushev, 73, was dismissed on Sunday after serving 16 years as head of Russia’s Security Council, an executive branch body that advises the president on strategic and security issues. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Death Toll in Missile Attack on Russia’s Belgorod Climbs to 16 Rescue workers on Tuesday retrieved a woman’s body from beneath the rubble of an apartment building in the western Russian city of Belgorod that collapsed after being struck by a Ukrainian missile over the weekend, raising the death toll in the attack to 16. “Another victim was found dead at the site of the collapse of a residential building entrance in Belgorod,” Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said on Telegram. “The death toll has risen to 16.”  Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Russian Freight Train Derails Due to Suspected 'Sabotage' Russia's state-owned rail company said Tuesday that a freight train derailed overnight near the southern city of Volgograd due to suspected sabotage. "Due to the intervention of unauthorized persons, wagons from a freight train derailed [in the town of]... Kotluban," the local branch of Russian Railways said. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Gallery | Thousands Evacuated From Ukraine's Kharkiv Region Amid Renewed Russian Offensive Thousands of Ukrainians have fled northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region in the face of a renewed Russian offensive and the opening of a new front in the war. Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram Monday that over 5,700 people had been evacuated so far, as Russian troops captured at least nine settlements and villages after surging across the border on May 10. The Kharkiv region, home to Ukraine’s second-largest city, has faced regular shelling throughout the war and much of the civilian population had already fled prior to the latest offensive. Local authorities and volunteers are working to evacuate remaining residents from villages under heavy shelling, while the Ukrainian military, stretched thin and facing ammunition shortages, has struggled to respond to the offensive. MT has collected photos of the evacuation efforts: View gallery | Subscribe to our channel

Putin to Visit China in First Foreign Trip Since Re-Election President Vladimir Putin will visit China this week at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the Kremlin announced Tuesday, in the Russian leader’s first trip abroad since being sworn into his fifth term. “The two leaders will discuss a wide range of issues concerning their comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, identify key areas for further development of Russian-Chinese practical cooperation, and exchange views in detail on the most pressing international and regional issues,” the Kremlin said in a statement. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

Russian Defense Ministry Official Arrested for Bribery – Reports Russian law enforcement authorities have detained another senior Defense Ministry official on bribery allegations, Russian media reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. “Lieutenant-General [Yury] Kuznetsov has been detained as a suspect in a criminal offense,” a law enforcement source was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency. Read more | Subscribe to our channel