Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office on Monday designated the George Washington University an “undesirable” organization, accusing the U.S.-based institution of promoting anti-Russian sentiment and spreading false claims about the war in Ukraine. The designation effectively bans the university from having any presence in Russia. Under Russian law, individuals found to be affiliated with an “undesirable” organization face up to four years in prison, while those deemed to organize its activities risk up to six years. Prosecutors alleged that George Washington University had provided funding to media outlets and individuals labeled “foreign agents,” though they did not offer specific examples or evidence to support the claims. The university hosts a prominent Russia studies program and employs a number of well-known foreign and Russian scholars. In a statement, prosecutors claimed the university had “launched a media platform that compiles materials produced by foreign agents and undesirable organizations on Russia’s socio-political situation… and calls on...

A theater destroyed in one of the most notorious attacks of Russia’s siege of Mariupol in early 2022 has reopened following reconstruction, Russian authorities said Sunday, as the Kremlin continues efforts to showcase reconstruction in occupied Ukrainian territory. State television broadcast footage of a reopening ceremony featuring performers from Mariupol and St. Petersburg, showing the theater’s rebuilt marble staircase and columns, as well as a 2.5-ton crystal chandelier hanging in the auditorium. “The Mariupol Drama Theatre has reopened its doors to spectators,” said Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed leader of the eastern Donetsk region, in a statement. He said the theater’s “historic image” had been restored alongside the installation of modern equipment. Authorities had initially said the reopening would take place last Wednesday, which passed without any announcements. It was not immediately clear why the event was moved to Sunday. Russian forces captured Mariupol, a major port city on the Sea of...

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that a deal was closer than ever to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but reported no apparent breakthrough on the flashpoint issue of territory after new talks with the warring countries’ leaders. Trump, who had promised a peace deal on day one of his nearly year-old presidency, said it would become clear within weeks whether it was possible to end the war that has killed tens of thousands of people since February 2022. In a pre-New Year’s diplomatic sprint, Trump brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Florida, where the two met with top aides over lunch, a day after Russia unleashed major new attacks on residential areas of the capital Kyiv. Much like when Zelensky last met Trump in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke shortly beforehand by telephone with the U.S. leader, who immediately insisted that Moscow was “serious” about peace despite...

Donald Trump said Sunday he had “productive” talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin hours before the U.S. president meets Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, in a year-end sprint to seal a deal to end the war. Trump’s renewed upbeat tone comes despite wide skepticism in Europe about Putin’s intentions after Russia carried out another massive bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv just as Zelensky was heading to Trump’s Florida estate. “I just had a very good and productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia,” Trump announced on his Truth Social platform. The Kremlin gave a more pointed readout, saying that Trump agreed that a mere ceasefire “would only prolong the conflict” as it demanded Ukraine compromise on territory. Trump is meeting Zelensky in the dining room of his Mar-a-Lago estate, where he frequently brings both foreign guests and domestic supporters. Trump has made ending the Ukraine war a centerpiece of his...

Russian business leaders have appealed to President Vladimir Putin to rein in a wave of state asset seizures that has affected factories, ports and major corporations worth more than 4 trillion rubles ($43 billion), the Kommersant business daily reported. The executives handed Putin a letter outlining their concerns during their annual end-of-year meeting with the president, Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) business lobby, told Kommersant. Shokhin said they had previously raised the issue with Putin at their meeting in 2023. While Putin at the time acknowledged the problem and said it needed to be addressed, no concrete steps followed, he said. “Now we have handed him a letter. We’re hoping for a decision,” Shokhin was quoted as saying. “We want a clear formula that would not leave room for interpretation by the courts.” According to Shokhin, business leaders are particularly concerned that alleged...

The founder and leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), a far-right paramilitary unit fighting alongside Kyiv’s army, has been killed in action on the front lines in Ukraine, the group announced Saturday.  Denis Kapustin, 41, was killed overnight on Saturday while carrying out a combat mission in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the RVC said.  He was also known by the name Denis Nikitin and the nom-de-guerre White Rex.  “We will definitely have our revenge, Denis. Your legacy lives on,” RVC wrote on its Telegram channel, vowing to release additional details of Kapustin’s death following an investigation.  news Leader of Russian Volunteer Corps Placed on Interior Ministry Wanted List Read more Kapustin, a Moscow-born neo-Nazi, moved to Kyiv in 2017 and founded the RVC at the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.  According to its manifesto, the RVC seeks to overthrow Putin and create an ethnic Russian...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un highlighted on Saturday how his nation and Russia had shared “blood, life and death” in the Ukraine war, as he sent President Vladimir Putin New Year’s greetings. Pyongyang has dispatched thousands of troops to fight for Moscow, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, as Russia presses ahead with its nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine. In the message, published by the state-run KCNA news agency, Kim said 2025 was a “really meaningful year” for the bilateral alliance that was consolidated by “sharing blood, life and death in the same trench.” North Korea only confirmed in April that it had deployed troops to support Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine and that its soldiers had been killed in combat. Earlier this month, Pyongyang acknowledged that it had sent troops to clear mines in Russia’s Kursk region in August 2025. At least nine troops from an...

The city of St. Petersburg on Friday opened two metro stations that form the initial segment of a new metro line. The Yugo-Zapadnaya and Putilovskaya stations are the first along the Krasnoselsk-Kalininskaya Line, shown in brown on the city’s metro map. The two stations currently serve as the line’s start and end points in southwestern St. Petersburg. “Yugo-Zapadnaya is a long-awaited station. It serves an area where almost 500,000 people live,” St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said at the opening ceremony. “Connecting this district to the city center is extremely important. Putilovskaya is also a key station for us.” Putilovskaya offers a transfer to the Kirovsky Zavod station on the red line. Construction is underway to extend the new line beyond Putilovskaya, bringing it further northeast to link up with Obovody Kanal, a station along the purple line.  The St. Petersburg metropolitan map featuring the new Krasnoselsk-Kalininskaya Line. Yandex Work...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida this weekend to discuss ongoing efforts to end the war with Russia. The meeting comes amid a renewed diplomatic push to end the war following the emergence in November of a 28-point peace framework drafted by the U.S. that critics said favored Russia. The two leaders are expected to meet Sunday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club, to hammer out the details of the latest peace proposal, which U.S. and Ukrainian officials have revised down to 20 points. “This meeting is specifically intended to refine things as much as we possibly can,” Zelensky told reporters, adding that the proposed 20-point peace plan was “90% ready.” On Thursday, Zelensky said he had held “very good” talks with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, adding that diplomats were “working 24/7” to craft a peace proposal...

A judge in the southwestern Kursk region on Friday sentenced former regional lawmaker Maxim Vasilyev to 5.5 years in prison on embezzlement charges stemming from border defense construction failures that led to Ukraine’s surprise cross-border incursion. Vasilyev is among at least 11 officials and business executives implicated in related cases after Ukrainian forces captured large swaths of Kursk region territory in August 2024, which triggered an investigation into border defenses. Vasilyev was accused of embezzling millions of rubles earmarked for defense projects and paying millions more to the Kursk region’s former deputy governor, whom prosecutors accuse of running an “organized group” alongside former Governor Alexei Smirnov.  A judge from the Leninsky District Court found Vasilyev guilty of large-scale embezzlement, according to a statement from the press service of the Kursk region’s court system. news Animated Putin Appears in Children’s Cartoon ‘Prostokvashino’ Read more In addition to the prison sentence, Vasilyev was fined...