Russia pages bundle Kremlin politics, sanctions and war reporting, energy markets, cyber and security stories, and ex-Soviet neighbourhood dynamics when Moscow is the focal point.
16 Newsorga stories on Russia, published from 2026-05-05 through 2026-05-21. Most of this coverage sits in World, Health, and Culture. Newest first below.
16 stories in this view · page 1 of 1
World
Vladimir Putin suggested former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as a go-between for Russia and the European Union on Ukraine. Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels treated the idea as dead on arrival, pointing to Schroeder’s years of paid proximity to Gazprom-era diplomacy.
6 min read
Health
Multiple media outlets reported in early May 2026 that China is preparing to approve Russia's experimental cancer vaccine EnteroMix, but the claim sits on top of a stack of public confusion — there are three distinct Russian cancer-vaccine programmes (EnteroMix, a separate personalized mRNA vaccine being developed by the National Medical Research Radiological Center and Gamaleya Center, and the Federal Medical and Biological Agency's FMBA colorectal-cancer vaccine that head Veronika Skvortsova said on TASS in September 2025 was 'ready for clinical use'); EnteroMix specifically is an oncolytic virotherapy using four live replication-competent enteroviruses (Coxsackievirus A21, Echovirus 7, Enterovirus B75 and a Sabin-derived PV-Russo poliovirus modification) administered intravenously — not an mRNA vaccine despite widespread mislabelling — and it remains in Phase I human clinical trials that began with 48 volunteers in June 2025 and are scheduled to run until October 2026, with no peer-reviewed publications, no listing in ClinicalTrials.gov or other international registries, no public release of full viral genome sequences as required under WHO Global Polio Eradication Initiative protocols, and no official public confirmation of approval or even formal evaluation from China's National Medical Products Administration.
9 min read
World
On day two of the three-day Victory Day truce that U.S. President Donald Trump brokered between Moscow and Kyiv to run from Saturday, May 9, 2026 through Monday, May 11, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly acknowledged that Russia has stopped large-scale air and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and that Kyiv has held back its own long-range strikes 'in mirrorlike' restraint, while at the same time accusing the Russian side of 'not even trying' to honour the ceasefire along the front line — where Ukraine's General Staff recorded 147 battlefield clashes in 24 hours and regional governors reported three civilians killed in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson; in parallel, Russia's Defence Ministry told state media in its Sunday briefing that it had logged 'more than 1,000' Ukrainian ceasefire violations across Crimea, Belgorod, Kursk, Kaluga, Rostov and Krasnodar, shot down 57 Ukrainian drones and 'responded in kind,' as Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov flagged an imminent Moscow visit by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
8 min read
World
Iran has informed India that Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi's attendance at the May 14-15, 2026 BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi is 'on his agenda at this stage,' the Times of India reported, although subsequent reporting from The Print on May 7 and the Economic Times on May 11 indicates Araghchi is now considered unlikely to travel — with Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi expected to lead the Iranian delegation instead — as Tehran weighs the fragility of the US-Iran ceasefire from the late-February-to-early-April war, studies a 14-point US peace proposal routed via Pakistan that would freeze its uranium enrichment for at least 12 years, and prepares for the first face-to-face encounter between Iranian, Emirati and Saudi Arabian senior diplomats since the conflict began; the meeting, chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar under India's 2026 BRICS presidency, will see Hormuz safe-passage talks for 40-50 trapped India-bound tankers held on the sidelines and is a key staging post for the 18th BRICS Summit Delhi is expected to host in September 2026.
11 min read
Culture
The 61st International Art Exhibition opened on May 9 with no Golden Lion jury, an empty South African pavilion, a closed Russian one, Pussy Riot and FEMEN storming the Giardini, and the European Commission cutting €2 million in support over the inclusion of artists from a country whose leader faces an ICC warrant.
11 min read
World
Prime Minister Evika Siliņa demanded Sprūds's resignation on Sunday, citing slow deployment of anti-drone systems and broader leadership problems at the defence ministry, three days after two stray Ukrainian drones came across the Russian border and damaged four empty oil tanks in Latgale.
9 min read
World
At a Kremlin press conference following Moscow’s Victory Day observances, Vladimir Putin said he would rather speak with Germany’s ex-chancellor than other European figures—adding conditions about tone toward Russia while Gerhard Schröder’s office stayed silent and Berlin withheld any formal mandate.
10 min read
World
Slovakia’s prime minister defended his Kremlin visit—the only EU leader reportedly welcomed there on 9 May 2026—and used an inflight video to reject a ‘new Iron Curtain’ while attacking EU energy-decoupling plans as ideological and costly.
9 min read
World
Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters in Moscow on Saturday May 9, 2026 — Victory Day — that the war he launched against Ukraine more than four years ago was 'coming to an end,' even as he reaffirmed in his Red Square address that 'victory has always been and will be ours'; the parade itself was dramatically pared back, with no tanks, no nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and no heavy weapons of any kind on display, the Kremlin confirmed a Donald-Trump-brokered three-day ceasefire would not be extended despite the US president's preference for a 'big extension,' and Volodymyr Zelensky issued an unusual decree 'permitting' Russia to hold the parade after agreeing Ukrainian forces would not target Red Square during the truce.
8 min read
World
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani—parliament speaker for twelve years, nuclear-deal shepherd, and wartime security chief—died in reported Israeli air action around Tehran on 17 March 2026 amid the expanded US–Israel–Iran war; Russian President Vladimir Putin soon after messaged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei with condolences praising Larijani’s role in Moscow–Tehran ties.
14 min read
World
After a stripped-down Victory Day parade, Vladimir Putin told Kremlin reporters the “matter” in Ukraine is nearing closure—hinting at diplomatic openings while attaching stiff conditions to any lasting settlement or Zelensky meeting.
12 min read
World
Russia's 2026 Victory Day parade in Moscow is proceeding without tanks and heavy weapon displays, a rare break from recent tradition that highlights security and wartime pressure signals.
10 min read
