A top aide to Lithuania’s president said Friday that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych admitted Kiev backed off this week from signing landmark trade deals with the EU under pressure from Russia.
News Highlights
ECHR looks into Russian protester’s 65-day hunger strike
The European Court of Human Rights has asked Russia to report on a suspect in the Bolotnaya Square rioting case who has been on hunger strike for 65 days.
Human Rights Advocates Ask Russia to Annul ‘Foreign Agent’ Law
Human rights activists urged Russia on Thursday to repeal the controversial “foreign agent” law that has been disrupting the work of non-governmental organizations in the country since it came into force exactly a year ago.
Russian Neo-Nazis Jailed for Bombing Plot
A Moscow court convicted four white supremacists of planning to detonate a bomb at an antifascist concert in what could have been the loudest blast of a covert street war.
Stavropol Prosecutors Seek to Ban Nabokov in Schools
Prosecutors in the Stavropol region have demanded that local schools dispose of books by revered early-20th-century poet Sergei Yesenin and author of the novel “Lolita,” Vladimir Nabokov, alleging that their works frighten children and breed crime.
Chechen Official Fired After Daughter Found Fighting in Syria
The top migration official in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya has been fired after it was disclosed that his daughter was fighting alongside rebel forces in Syria’s civil war.
Russian Politician Stabbed in Moscow, Suspect Arrested
Russian opposition politician Oleg Shein was hospitalized after being stabbed at a Moscow hostel early Thursday, but his life is not in danger, police have said.
Police detain over 1,000 in latest Moscow market sweep
More than a thousand people were held for criminal record and migration permit checks after Russian police raided one of Moscow’s biggest market halls on Wednesday, police said.
Militant Suspected of Ordering Volgograd Bombing Killed
Russian law enforcement forces said Wednesday that they have killed an Islamist militant they suspect of ordering a recent bombing attack on a passenger bus in the southern city of Volgograd.
Officials conclude that Pussy Riot’s Tolokonnikova did not work overtime
Convicted Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has not worked overtime in the Mordovian colony, according to a statement released by Russia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection via the Presidential Council for Human Rights.