German Chancellor Olaf Scholz flies to Moscow on February 15 for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the latest effort by a Western leader to convince the Kremlin to choose diplomacy amid simmering tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine.
Russian authorities have cancelled the residence permit of Ukrainian citizen Oleksandra Sveshnikova, who is the wife of the well-known Russian rights activist Ildar Dadin.
The trial of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has started inside a penal colony on new charges of embezzlement which he calls politically motivated that could see as many as 10 more years tacked on to his prison time.
The British ambassador to Ukraine says the international community must make it clear to Russia that the cost of an invasion would be “high” for both sides as the crisis over the Kremlin’s buildup of troops near the border reaches a “critical phase.”