Yekaterinburg

Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana speaks with her lawyer standing in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.

The Russian-American Ksenia Karelina confessed her guilt in a Russian court for treason, according to a report by the state news agency RIA, citing a statement from her lawyer, Mikhail Musaïlov.

The prisoner exchange between Russia and the West, which took place on Thursday in Istanbul, resembled moments from the Cold War, complete with the dramatic setting of an isolated airport area.

From Russia, 16 people were released: four to the U.S. and 12 to Germany, one of whom was Belarusian.

Russia said Wednesday it was waiting for the United States to respond to its propositions regarding a prisoner swap, days before U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich was set to face trial in Russia.

Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested in March 2023 on espionage charges rejected by his family, employer and the White House as false.

Russia's security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent has been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War. The newspaper denied the allegations and demanded his release.

Three teams from Bulgaria violate the "football embargo" that European football has imposed on Russian clubs and will hold friendly matches with teams from Russia, it is clear from the Russian football calendar.

Bulgaria will stop accepting documents for tourist visas for citizens of Russia, RIA Novosti reported, citing the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). The measure applies to both tourists and property owners in Bulgaria.

A Russian gallery has said one of its security guards was implicated in vandalizing a 20th century avant-garde artwork, after he drew eyes onto figures of an abstract painting with a pen.

In December, a painting by Anna Leporskaya, a student of legendary artist Kazimir Malevich, was found defaced while on display at the Yeltsin Centre in Yekaterinburg.

A former police officer opened gunfire from the balcony of his apartment in Yekaterinburg, wounding a National Guard officer and a child, a source in the local law enforcement agencies told TASS on Sunday.

Russia has decided to resume flights to and from Greece starting from February 8 as the spread of the coronavirus infection has slowed, the government said on Thursday.

It said the planes will fly twice a week from Moscow to Athens. It also said there will be three flights per week to Singapore from the Russian capital.