Soviet Woman Spy Who Helped Foil Attack on Allied Leaders Dies
Goar Vartanyan, one half of a legendary Soviet spy couple who helped prevent a Nazi assassination of allied leaders in Tehran in 1943, has died at age 93.
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Famous Soviet Dissident Vladimir Bukovsky Dies at 76
Vladimir Bukovsky, a prominent dissident and writer who helped expose the Soviet Union’s abuse of psychiatry to silence its critics, has died in Britain at 76.
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30 Years After Fall of the Wall, Eastern Europe a Bit Quizzical
Thirty years after the Berlin Wall came crashing down, a wide-ranging survey finds many people in the former Soviet Union bloc happy about the transition to capitalism and multiparty democracy but also saying life in many areas isn’t better and has gotten worse.
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Washington State Lawmaker Espouses Hatred of Muslims in Video
Washington state Rep. Matt Shea said in a video posted Thursday that the media’s exposure of his extremist ideas such as Christian dominion — which calls for Christians to control society by taking over political and cultural institutions — is a “Soviet tactic” to persecute him.
Read moreLong Lost WWII-Era Soviet Songs Brought to Life in Israel
In a musty basement hall of an unassuming building nestled among modern high-rises in the heart of Tel Aviv, a few hundred spectators are kindly requested to turn off their cellphones. What makes the typical scene surreal is that they are asked to do so in Yiddish — the playful, lyrical language of Diaspora European Jews.
Read moreBerlin Airlift Remembered, Key Moment in Cold War
Berliners on Sunday celebrated the 70th anniversary of the day the Soviets lifted their blockade strangling West Berlin in the post-World War II years with a big party at the former Tempelhof airport in the German capital.
Read moreDaughter of Dead Uzbek Strongman Indicted in Record Bribery Case
Completing a trilogy of foreign bribery cases Thursday, U.S. prosecutors indicted the daughter of the former president of Uzbekistan and announced a record-breaking $850 million settlement with a Russian telecom.
Read morePompeo Warns Eastern Europe on Chinese and Russian Meddling
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday invoked the 30th anniversary of the demise of communism to implore countries in Central and Eastern Europe to resist Chinese and Russian influence.
Read moreReports: 2 Killed, 40 Detained in Gay Purge in Chechnya
LGBT activists said Monday that at least two people have died and about 40 people have been detained in what has been described as a new crackdown on gay people in the Russian republic of Chechnya.
Read moreAzerbaijan Censured for Blackmailing Reporter With Sex Tape
Siding with a journalist who was secretly filmed in her own home having sex, the European Court of Human Rights fined Azerbaijan on Thursday for privacy violations.
Read moreBelarus’ Leader Slams Russian Talk of Taking Over His Nation
The leader of Belarus on Friday accused some politicians in Russia of floating the prospect of incorporating his nation, and vowed that he wouldn’t let it happen.
Read moreMoldovan Court Suspends President in Political Standoff
Moldova’s Constitutional Court has temporarily stripped the country’s pro-Moscow president of his duties for refusing to endorse new ministers in a political standoff.
Read moreBaltic Countries Want Walmart to Remove Soviet-Themed Shirts
Three Baltic countries have lashed out at retail giant Walmart for using the letters USSR and Soviet Union emblems on T-shirts and other products for sale online, and are demanding that the goods be removed.
Read moreCzechs Boo Prime Minister 50 Years After Soviet-Led Invasion
A ceremony to honor the victims of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia on Tuesday turned into a protest against Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
Read moreMoldova Mulls New Gas Contract With Romania, Not Russia
Moldova’s government says it will wait for a new Romanian gas pipeline to be built rather than extend a deal with Russian energy company Gazprom.
Read moreUS Concerned Over Dismissal of Montenegro State TV Chief
The United States has criticized the dismissal of the head of Montenegro’s state TV, a move seen as the result of political pressure in the small Balkan country seeking European Union membership.
Read moreBelarus Restores Ties With Sweden After Teddy Bear Rift
Belarus has named a new ambassador to Sweden, turning the page on a six-year rift that followed a Swedish advertising agency’s air drop of teddy bears bearing messages about human rights.
Read moreUkrainian Nationalists Vandalize Soviet-Era Monument in Kiev
Ukraine’s hard-line nationalists have vandalized a monument to a Soviet military officer and engaged in scuffles with army veterans and other opponents.
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Independent News Agency Chief in Azerbaijan Arrested
A court in Azerbaijan on Friday jailed the head of an independent news agency pending an investigation on tax evasion charges, a move that the opposition denounced as an attack on freedom of speech in the ex-Soviet nation.
Read moreImmunity Defense in Belarusian Abduction Case Restored
Though it refused to disturb monetary sanctions against a Belarusian oil company accused of helping kidnap two U.S. citizens, the Second Circuit found it unjustified Thursday to strike the company’s foreign sovereign immunity.
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