2+ hour, 46+ min ago (172+ words) Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday that it arrested a 17-year-old in the western Kaliningrad region for allegedly trying to attack a Russian Orthodox church. The FSB claimed the teenager, who was not identified by name, had been recruited via Telegram by an unnamed "terrorist organization" that it said was "coordinated" by Ukrainian intelligence services. The law enforcement agency said the 17-year-old boy's "illegal activities were thwarted" as he attempted to carry out his plan near the church. It did not name the church or specify its location. FSB agents said they seized "terrorist devices" and a phone the teenager allegedly used to communicate with a handler. State media published an FSB video showing masked officers pinning the teenager to the ground. In the video, he says he "wanted to set the church on fire." Russia's Investigative Committee, which…...

22+ hour, 8+ min ago (173+ words) A court in Lithuania on Monday sentenced a young Ukrainian man to three years and four months in prison for setting fire to an IKEA store in Vilnius last year. Danylo Bardadym was said to have placed a bomb inside the IKEA store in May 2024, which exploded during the night, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished. No one was killed or injured in the attack. A judge in Vilnius said Bardadym, a Ukrainian citizen, committed "an act of terrorism" in Vilnius and also "an attempted terrorist attack" in the northern city of Siauliai, which is home to a NATO airbase. Prosecutors said Bardadym had acted "in the interest of a foreign military intelligence service" and that Russia had been "aware" of his plans. Bardadym, who was 17 at the time, was allegedly promised a car and 10,000 euros ($11,500) for his actions,…...

1+ day, 4+ hour ago (218+ words) Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday that its agents killed two men who were allegedly trying to carry out a sabotage attack on a railway line in Siberia's Altai region over the weekend. According to the FSB, the pair had sought to place a so-called derailing device along train tracks on Saturday evening. When security agents approached their vehicle to make an arrest, the two men began shooting and were subsequently shot and killed by return fire. An FSB video released by state media'showed'what was said to be the shootout as it happened at night. A separate video showed investigators at the purported scene of the incident, where two bodies could be seen lying near an SUV riddled with bullet holes. The state-run TASS news agency reported that the two men were armed with automatic assault rifles that had…...

1+ day, 21+ hour ago (179+ words) Authorities in St. Petersburg released street musicians Diana Loginova and Alexander Orlov after a month in custody, local outlet Fontanka reported Sunday, citing two sources. St. Petersburg police arrested Loginova and Orlov three times, beginning on Oct. 15. The cycle of arrests began after their band Stoptime went viral for performing songs by anti-war musicians during street concerts in St. Petersburg. According to one of Fontanka's sources, the police took the two musicians from the detention center where they were being held to another area so that journalists waiting for the musicians to leave the detention center would not ask them questions. Loginova's lawyer, Maria Zyryanova confirmed that they were safe and asked not to be disturbed. With their release, no one from Stoptime remains in custody. Late last month, a court'fined Loginova 30,000 rubles ($375) for discrediting the Russian military for performing…...

3+ day, 21+ hour ago (161+ words) Russia's Central Bank is preparing to have some of its employees undergo firearms training, public procurement records appear to show, coming after previous failed attempts to allow senior officials to carry pistols and submachine guns. The bank did not specify which employees would participate or when the training would begin. The tender was reportedly completed on Friday. Russia's Central Bank has sought to beef up its security since last year, when it requested permission for deputy governors and senior officials to carry firearms, including Makarov pistols and submachine guns. A bank spokesperson said at the time that the proposed measures were to ensure the safety of'bank staff and assets in occupied Ukraine. The government ultimately limited the right to carry weapons to existing security personnel. In February, a Moscow court fined the bank after National Guard inspectors found two pistols…...

3+ day, 22+ hour ago (238+ words) A Yekaterinburg court placed a local music teacher in pre-trial detention after he was accused of trying to suffocate children to death, the court's press office'said Friday. Artyom Vaganov, who teaches balalaika at a local school, is accused of inviting children aged 10 to 15 to his apartment and offering them money to let him place plastic bags over their heads in what he allegedly called a test of their breathing. Police launched an investigation after a video emerged that appeared to show Vaganov holding a bag over a child's face, the local news outlet E1 reported. Some of those sessions allegedly lasted as long as 30 minutes. A school representative told journalists Vaganov had "resigned voluntarily" and that the school was cooperating fully with investigators. The Leninsky District Court ordered him to be held in pre-trial detention until Jan. 19. That ruling will take…...

4+ day, 5+ hour ago (346+ words) A Moscow military court on Thursday sentenced a Russian man to 25 years in prison for planting a car bomb that severely wounded a military intelligence officer and his wife last year Yevgeny Serebryakov was accused of placing an explosive device under the car of a GRU colonel,identifiedby independent media as Andrei Torgashov, in July 2024. Torgashov's feet were reportedlyblown offin the blast while his wife was injured. Serebryakov fled the country after the attack but was later arrested in Turkey andextraditedto Russia within days. In court last month, he was reported to have admittedto planting the bomb under Torgashov's car, saying he was motivated by the desire to "end the war." Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said Thursday that Moscow's 2nd Western District Military Court found Serebryakov guilty of terrorism and the illegal manufacture and possession of explosives. The…...

5+ day, 22+ hour ago (251+ words) A military court in Yekaterinburg has sentenced a jailed man to an additional four and a half years in prison for allegedly praising the killings of prominent pro-war figures, the exiled news outlet Mediazona reported Wednesday. Alexander Neustroev, 59, is already serving a three-year prison sentence in a medium-security penal colony on charges of disorderly conduct after he insulted an 11-year-old boy for wearing a hat that featured the pro-war "Z" symbol. State prosecutors claimed that Neustroev expressed approval of the killings of Daria Dugina, the daughter of Russian nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, and war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky during a conversation he had with several other inmates at his penal colony in April. In court, Neustroev called the incident "the biggest mistake of my life" and declared his full support for the Russian government. Nevertheless, the Central District Military Court in…...

6+ day, 5+ hour ago (211+ words) State prosecutors on Tuesday designated GSC Game World, the Ukrainian studio behind the popular S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game franchise, an "undesirable" organization over its alleged financing of the Ukrainian military. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office accused upper management at the Kyiv-based company of transferring around $17 million to a Ukrainian military aid fund in 2022, saying the money was used to purchase drones, vehicles and other equipment for wartime needs. Prosecutors also said the company helped portray Russia as an "aggressor state." In a statement, the office claimed that a GSC game released in 2024 promoted "Ukrainian narratives" and contained "aggressive Russophobic content." Those accusations appear in reference to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the fourth installment in GSC's popular survival-shooter franchise that was released last November. Under Russian law, anyone who works with or participates in an organization labeled "undesirable" can face up to four years in…...

6+ day, 5+ hour ago (211+ words) State prosecutors on Tuesday designated GSC Game World, the Ukrainian studio behind the popular S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game franchise, an "undesirable" organization over its alleged financing of the Ukrainian military. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office accused upper management at the Kyiv-based company of transferring around $17 million to a Ukrainian military aid fund in 2022, saying the money was used to purchase drones, vehicles and other equipment for wartime needs. Prosecutors also said the company helped portray Russia as an "aggressor state." In a statement, the office claimed that a GSC game released in 2024 promoted "Ukrainian narratives" and contained "aggressive Russophobic content." Those accusations appear in reference to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the fourth installment in GSC's popular survival-shooter franchise that was released last November. Under Russian law, anyone who works with or participates in an organization labeled "undesirable" can face up to four years in…...