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Update (0933 EST): Russian military bloggers are blaming Russian General Teplinsky for ordering the glide bombing of the Ukrainian bridgehead by Su-34s even after a November 25th shoot down of another Su-34 carrying out that mission. The bloggers claim that Teplinsky is “obsessed” with destroying the Ukrainian bridgehead and has “crossed a line”, sacrificing hundreds of soldiers, Marines, and now up to four Su-34s. According to their sources, the general disregarded warnings of Ukrainian shuffling of advanced air defenses to Kherson and ordered the flights anyways. These bloggers may be referencing Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky who is the embattled commander...

Russian war fanatics are enraged over an 'almost naked' party staged in Moscow by wealthy showbiz celebrities including Vladimir Putin's 'goddaughter'. The 'debauched' gathering was likened to Sodom and Gomorrah by critics claiming the antics of the wealthy stars insulted those on the frontline in the Kremlin's illegal war against Ukraine. Among the most visible guests was a pregnant and braless Ksenia Sobchak, 40, a TV presenter and 'liberal' Russian presidential candidate in 2018, in a nude-coloured Sorelle outfit. She is known as Putin's goddaughter after he attended her baptism and viewed her late father Anatoly Sobchak as his political...

Tackling cost of eggs and putting western company exits on hold among measures aimed at containing surging prices. Vladimir Putin’s re-election campaign has prompted a fresh drive by Russian officials to curb inflation as disquiet grows over soaring prices for consumer goods and as technocrats move to rein in a weakening rouble. -snip- Pressures on consumers were a central feature of Putin’s telethon last Thursday, the first time he had held his usually annual press conference or phone-in since ordering the invasion in 2022 — and, since “eggs” are slang for testicles in Russian, he could not pass up an...

A Russian television serial exploring the tragedy wrought by brutal teenage street gangs fighting for survival, money and love in the last years of the crumbling Soviet Union has become a sensation in Russia. The series – “A hoodlum’s promise – blood on the asphalt” – shows the savagery of the gangs which carved up the Russian city of Kazan in 1989 as the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev gyrated the Soviet Union towards its 1991 demise. In the Kazan badlands, many of the teenagers tried to make sense of their Soviet world turned upside down by flocking to the gangs...

Sharply rising prices for eggs led another weekly rise in consumer inflation in Russia as the central bank hiked interest rates by 100 basis points, data from the federal statistics service showed on Wednesday. The government last week said it would exempt 1.2 billion eggs from import duty in the first half of next year to try to rein in prices that have risen by more than 50% this year, a surge in costs for Russia's poorest that led to a rare apology from President Vladimir Putin. -snip- The Bank of Russia said its interest rate hiking cycle may be...

Some Moscow residents claim egg prices have doubled, as Russia continues to battle persistent inflation and Western sanctions. Surging egg prices, against a backdrop of high inflation and economic sanctions, are worrying the Russian authorities, especially as eggs are a symbolic and central ingredient of the festive season. -snip- In November, the average price of eggs in Russia rose by 40.29% year-on-year, according to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). Muscovite consumers report even steeper rises. "Before, I used to buy eggs for 70 roubles a dozen. Now they cost between 130 and 140 roubles - twice as much,"...

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a rare apology on Thursday when a pensioner complained to him about the price of eggs. During Putin's end-of-year question and answer session with the media and with members of the public calling in from across Russia, pensioner Irina Akopova was shown seated at her kitchen table and addressing the president by video link. She complained that prices for eggs, chicken breasts and wings had all skyrocketed. "Vladimir Vladimirovich, take pity on pensioners! We don't get millions in our pensions. Sort this out - we have no one to turn to," she said. "I'm very...