Opinion | Vladimir Kara-Murza: Putin’s next term is illegal. The world should call him out on it.
“SPECIAL REGIME” PRISON COLONY No. 7, OMSK, Russia — The radio in my prison cell is turned on all day, from the wake-up call at 5 a.m. to the lights-out at 9 p.m. And the closer it gets to the weekend of March 15, the more announcements I hear on the air about the so-called presidential election. I don’t mean, of course, campaign ads that you would expect in democratic countries. No, the announcements are all simply telling listeners the different ways they can cast their vote, in-person and online.
Many people wonder why dictatorships even bother to hold “elections” when everyone knows that they are nothing but staged, meaningless rituals. But in the 21st century, the only broadly accepted source of legitimacy for any government comes in the form of a ballot box — and even regimes that don’t have real legitimacy feel the need to create an appearance of it.
Read the full opinion here.
“SPECIAL REGIME” PRISON COLONY No. 7, OMSK, Russia — The radio in my prison cell is turned on all day, from the wake-up call at 5 a.m. to the lights-out at 9 p.m. And the closer it gets to the weekend of March 15, the more announcements I hear on the air about the so-called presidential election. I don’t mean, of course, campaign ads that you would expect in democratic countries. No, the announcements are all simply telling listeners the different ways they can cast their vote, in-person and online.
Many people wonder why dictatorships even bother to hold “elections” when everyone knows that they are nothing but staged, meaningless rituals. But in the 21st century, the only broadly accepted source of legitimacy for any government comes in the form of a ballot box — and even regimes that don’t have real legitimacy feel the need to create an appearance of it.
Read the full opinion here.
As voting begins in Russian presidential election, so do the protests
RIGA, Latvia — On the first day of a presidential election widely seen as the least competitive campaign since the fall of the Soviet Union, some Russian voters expressed their anger in stunning individual protests across the country — setting fire to polling booths or pouring green antiseptic fluid or dye into ballot boxes.
At least five people, including several older women, set polling booths on fire, burned ballot papers or threw incendiary devices at polling stations, according to Russian independent media — a wave of highly unusual protest actions in a nation challenged by President Vladimir Putin’s two-year-old war in Ukraine and harsh political repressions.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — On the first day of a presidential election widely seen as the least competitive campaign since the fall of the Soviet Union, some Russian voters expressed their anger in stunning individual protests across the country — setting fire to polling booths or pouring green antiseptic fluid or dye into ballot boxes.
At least five people, including several older women, set polling booths on fire, burned ballot papers or threw incendiary devices at polling stations, according to Russian independent media — a wave of highly unusual protest actions in a nation challenged by President Vladimir Putin’s two-year-old war in Ukraine and harsh political repressions.
Read the full story here.
In this Ukrainian village, almost no men are left
MAKIV, Ukraine — Few men of fighting age are left in this village in southwest Ukraine, and those who remain fear they will be drafted at any moment.
Their neighbors are already hundreds of miles east in trenches on the front lines. Some have been killed or wounded. Several are missing. Others from this rural area — about 45 miles from the borders of Romania and Moldova — have fled abroad or found ways to avoid the war, either with legitimate exemptions or by hiding.
“It’s just a fact,” said Larysa Bodna, deputy director of the local school, which keeps a database of students whose parents are deployed. “Most of them are gone.”
Read the full story here.
MAKIV, Ukraine — Few men of fighting age are left in this village in southwest Ukraine, and those who remain fear they will be drafted at any moment.
Their neighbors are already hundreds of miles east in trenches on the front lines. Some have been killed or wounded. Several are missing. Others from this rural area — about 45 miles from the borders of Romania and Moldova — have fled abroad or found ways to avoid the war, either with legitimate exemptions or by hiding.
“It’s just a fact,” said Larysa Bodna, deputy director of the local school, which keeps a database of students whose parents are deployed. “Most of them are gone.”
Read the full story here.
Russian voters, answering Navalny’s call, protest Putin’s forever rule
MOSCOW — On the final day of a presidential election with only one possible result, Russians protested Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian hold on power by forming long lines to vote against him at noon Sunday — answering the call of opposition leader Alexei Navalny who had urged the midday action before dying suddenly in prison last month.
The “Noon Against Putin” protest, with voters forming queues outside polling stations in major cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, was a striking — if futile — display of solidarity and dissent designed to counteract the Kremlin’s main message — that Putin is a legitimate president commanding massive support.
Read the full story here.
MOSCOW — On the final day of a presidential election with only one possible result, Russians protested Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian hold on power by forming long lines to vote against him at noon Sunday — answering the call of opposition leader Alexei Navalny who had urged the midday action before dying suddenly in prison last month.
The “Noon Against Putin” protest, with voters forming queues outside polling stations in major cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, was a striking — if futile — display of solidarity and dissent designed to counteract the Kremlin’s main message — that Putin is a legitimate president commanding massive support.
Read the full story here.
Putin claims a new six-year term in vote condemned as not free or fair
MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Monday brushed aside condemnation of the Russian presidential election as neither free nor fair and rejected allegations of pervasive electoral fraud as the country’s Central Election Commission claimed record-high turnout and said that Vladimir Putin easily secured a new six-year term.
With genuine opposition candidates barred from running and the Kremlin exerting tight control over the news media to Putin’s benefit, Western nations, including the United States, denounced the vote as failing to meet basic democratic standards. Many Russians protested by forming long lines at polling stations at noon Sunday.
Read the full story here.
MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Monday brushed aside condemnation of the Russian presidential election as neither free nor fair and rejected allegations of pervasive electoral fraud as the country’s Central Election Commission claimed record-high turnout and said that Vladimir Putin easily secured a new six-year term.
With genuine opposition candidates barred from running and the Kremlin exerting tight control over the news media to Putin’s benefit, Western nations, including the United States, denounced the vote as failing to meet basic democratic standards. Many Russians protested by forming long lines at polling stations at noon Sunday.
Read the full story here.
With Putin’s new coronation, Kremlin cultivates image of leader for life
When Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared for a late-night news conference to claim a fifth term, he looked visibly elated, as if manipulating another election to remain indefinitely in power with 87.28 percent of the vote were a triumphal victory in a real competition.
The tally, virtually unimaginable in any democratic nation, suggests that the Kremlin is now less focused on manufacturing a veneer of electoral legitimacy and more on creating a cult of personality around Putin as Russia’s undisputed national patriarch and leader for life.
Read the full story here.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared for a late-night news conference to claim a fifth term, he looked visibly elated, as if manipulating another election to remain indefinitely in power with 87.28 percent of the vote were a triumphal victory in a real competition.
The tally, virtually unimaginable in any democratic nation, suggests that the Kremlin is now less focused on manufacturing a veneer of electoral legitimacy and more on creating a cult of personality around Putin as Russia’s undisputed national patriarch and leader for life.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine races to build weapons at home
KYIV — Ukraine manufactured practically no weapons before Russia invaded in February 2022, but the local arms industry is now booming.
Factories spit out shells, mortar rounds, military vehicles, missiles and other items crucial to the war effort. Production tripled in 2023 and is expected to increase sixfold this year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a Ukrainian government meeting in January.
Local production is not sufficient to make up for a loss of international support, especially weapons from the United States. But with a $60 billion aid package stalled in Congress, domestic manufacturing is more critical than ever.
For certain crucial items, such as the drones that have transformed how the war is fought, Ukraine is already making 90 percent of what it needs, Mykhailo Fedorov, the digital transformation minister, said.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Ukraine manufactured practically no weapons before Russia invaded in February 2022, but the local arms industry is now booming.
Factories spit out shells, mortar rounds, military vehicles, missiles and other items crucial to the war effort. Production tripled in 2023 and is expected to increase sixfold this year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a Ukrainian government meeting in January.
Local production is not sufficient to make up for a loss of international support, especially weapons from the United States. But with a $60 billion aid package stalled in Congress, domestic manufacturing is more critical than ever.
For certain crucial items, such as the drones that have transformed how the war is fought, Ukraine is already making 90 percent of what it needs, Mykhailo Fedorov, the digital transformation minister, said.
Read the full story here.
Two years after start of Ukraine war, Russian titanium keeps flowing to West
Western firms bought hundreds of millions of dollars of titanium metal from a Russian company with deep ties to the country’s defense industry after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a review of Russian export data.
The purchases illustrate how the West remains dependent on Russia for certain products despite pledges to break economic ties with Moscow. In the case of titanium, that dependence raises security concerns, industry and defense analysts say, as the metal is vital in the manufacturing of both commercial and military airplanes.
“Russia could shut off the flow of these … materials and leave companies critical to national defense and civil aviation scrambling,” said William George, director of research at ImportGenius, the company that supplied the trade data gathered from an official Russian database to The Post.
Read the full story here.
Western firms bought hundreds of millions of dollars of titanium metal from a Russian company with deep ties to the country’s defense industry after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a review of Russian export data.
The purchases illustrate how the West remains dependent on Russia for certain products despite pledges to break economic ties with Moscow. In the case of titanium, that dependence raises security concerns, industry and defense analysts say, as the metal is vital in the manufacturing of both commercial and military airplanes.
“Russia could shut off the flow of these … materials and leave companies critical to national defense and civil aviation scrambling,” said William George, director of research at ImportGenius, the company that supplied the trade data gathered from an official Russian database to The Post.
Read the full story here.
Russia hits energy targets in Ukraine, showing need for more air defenses
KYIV — Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities early Friday that destroyed energy infrastructure, caused power blackouts in different regions and killed several people — highlighting the country’s urgent need for stronger air defenses outside Kyiv.
The strikes, which hit Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric power plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, amounted to “the largest attack on the Ukrainian energy sector in recent times,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the strikes showed that Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv, in the northeast, urgently need Patriot air defense systems to protect infrastructure and civilians as Ukraine waits for more Western aid, including $60 billion blocked in Congress by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities early Friday that destroyed energy infrastructure, caused power blackouts in different regions and killed several people — highlighting the country’s urgent need for stronger air defenses outside Kyiv.
The strikes, which hit Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric power plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, amounted to “the largest attack on the Ukrainian energy sector in recent times,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the strikes showed that Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv, in the northeast, urgently need Patriot air defense systems to protect infrastructure and civilians as Ukraine waits for more Western aid, including $60 billion blocked in Congress by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Read the full story here.
Explosion and gunfire hit popular Moscow concert venue
Several gunmen opened fire Friday night at Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow, Russian state news agencies reported. Dozens of people were reported injured or killed.
“People in camouflage, at least three, burst into the ground floor of the Crocus City Hall and opened fire from automatic weapons. There are definitely wounded,” state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing its correspondent on site.
“After that they threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire,” RIA Novosti added. “The people in the hall lay down on the floor to escape the shooting, and stayed there for 15-20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out.”
Read the full story here.
Several gunmen opened fire Friday night at Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow, Russian state news agencies reported. Dozens of people were reported injured or killed.
“People in camouflage, at least three, burst into the ground floor of the Crocus City Hall and opened fire from automatic weapons. There are definitely wounded,” state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing its correspondent on site.
“After that they threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire,” RIA Novosti added. “The people in the hall lay down on the floor to escape the shooting, and stayed there for 15-20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out.”
Read the full story here.
Terrorist attack in Russia exposes vulnerabilities of Putin’s regime
When Vladimir Putin finally spoke about the worst terrorist attack to hit Russia in 20 years, he swept over the glaring failure of his security state to prevent the assault, which left at least 133 dead, despite a clear warning from the United States on March 7 that a strike on a concert hall could be imminent.
He also made no reference to the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack at the Crocus City concert hall on Friday and which Putin denounced repeatedly as an enemy throughout Russia’s long military intervention in Syria. In 2017, Putin declared victory over the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
Read the full story here.
When Vladimir Putin finally spoke about the worst terrorist attack to hit Russia in 20 years, he swept over the glaring failure of his security state to prevent the assault, which left at least 133 dead, despite a clear warning from the United States on March 7 that a strike on a concert hall could be imminent.
He also made no reference to the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack at the Crocus City concert hall on Friday and which Putin denounced repeatedly as an enemy throughout Russia’s long military intervention in Syria. In 2017, Putin declared victory over the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
Read the full story here.
Terror suspects appear in court in Russia showing signs of torture and abuse
Russian authorities arrested three more suspects in the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue that killed at least 137 people, and court documents said investigators believe they aided the four men who carried out the attack on Friday by providing transportation.
The four suspects arrested over the weekend appeared in court late Sunday showing signs of torture and severe abuse — confirming videos and photographs that had surfaced after their arrest suggesting brutal treatment at the hands of Russian authorities.
A barrage of videos had emerged of Russian security agents torturing the suspects — including forcing one to chew on a piece of his own ear that had been cut off, while another was stripped half-naked and subjected to electric shocks with wires attached to his genitals.
Read the full story here.
Russian authorities arrested three more suspects in the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue that killed at least 137 people, and court documents said investigators believe they aided the four men who carried out the attack on Friday by providing transportation.
The four suspects arrested over the weekend appeared in court late Sunday showing signs of torture and severe abuse — confirming videos and photographs that had surfaced after their arrest suggesting brutal treatment at the hands of Russian authorities.
A barrage of videos had emerged of Russian security agents torturing the suspects — including forcing one to chew on a piece of his own ear that had been cut off, while another was stripped half-naked and subjected to electric shocks with wires attached to his genitals.
Read the full story here.
Moscow rampage reveals ambition, deadly reach of ISIS successor groups
A few months before being killed in a U.S. Special Forces raid, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released a final video message that symbolically passed the torch to far-flung followers in distant lands. His self-declared caliphate had been defeated, he acknowledged, and it was now up to the terrorist group’s regional chapters to carry out “revenge operations” around the world.
Friday’s bloodbath at a suburban Moscow concert hall is but the latest reminder of how effectively Baghdadi’s brutal vision is being carried out. While his self-proclaimed Middle East “caliphate” is in ruins, a constellation of Islamic State regional affiliates is gaining strength in many parts of the globe, fueled by a mix of traditional grievances as well as new ones, including the war in Gaza, counterterrorism officials and experts say.
Read the full story here.
A few months before being killed in a U.S. Special Forces raid, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released a final video message that symbolically passed the torch to far-flung followers in distant lands. His self-declared caliphate had been defeated, he acknowledged, and it was now up to the terrorist group’s regional chapters to carry out “revenge operations” around the world.
Friday’s bloodbath at a suburban Moscow concert hall is but the latest reminder of how effectively Baghdadi’s brutal vision is being carried out. While his self-proclaimed Middle East “caliphate” is in ruins, a constellation of Islamic State regional affiliates is gaining strength in many parts of the globe, fueled by a mix of traditional grievances as well as new ones, including the war in Gaza, counterterrorism officials and experts say.
Read the full story here.