Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. He stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.

“The current situation in Syria compels us to ask for your help in find Austin and safely reuniting our family,” wrote Debra Tice, whose son went missing in Syria in 2012.

Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said the 11 Indian nationals and one Georgian were all employees at a restaurant in Gudauri, a popular ski resort near the Russian border.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that bomb threats made against polling places on Tuesday were of Russian origin and not credible.

U.S. intelligence officials say a video that purports to show election fraud in Georgia is fake and the work of “Russian influence actors.”

$20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 is the number a Moscow court wants the YouTube parent company to pay for blocking Russian media outlets. It is a sum “filled with symbolism,” the Kremlin told NBC News on Thursday.

A Russian court ordered Google to pay 20 decillion for removing Russian TV channels from YouTube after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Former Marine Paul Whelan said he was devastated when he learned Brittney Griner would be released from Russian detention and he would not be, NBC News reports.

The FBI said that the websites were part of a spear phishing campaign.

U.S. officials on Friday accused RT of carrying out covert information warfare operations around the world as an arm of Russia’s spy agencies.

The administration announced a series of actions Wednesday in response to alleged efforts by Russian actors to influence U.S. public opinion.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has announced 92 additions to its list of Americans banned from entering the country.

Ksenia Karelina was visiting family in Russia when investigators searched her phone and found she had donated to a Ukrainian charity.

Amina Abakarova faces a possible lifetime ban and potential criminal proceedings, Russian authorities said, after the incident during a tournament last week.

Three former Russian prisoners are back on American soil after a prisoner swap. NBC10’s Brian Sheehan was there as they were reunited with their families. 

Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva arrived in San Antonio, Texas, early Friday morning after being freed from Russian prisons in a mass prisoner swap.

“Yeah, it’s overwhelming,” Evan Gershkovich said as he spoke to reporters amid cheers.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan spoke about what it felt like to be back on American soil after their release in a historic Russian prisoner swap that included several other countries. NBC10’s Brenna Weick reports.

The U.S. and Russia completed on Thursday their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people.

Thursday’s swap of 24 prisoners surpassed a deal involving 14 people that was struck in 2010.