Moscow:

Russia’s prosecutor general on Monday said it had banned a foundation started by US film star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal.

“The activities of The Clooney Foundation for Justice are declared undesirable on the territory of our country,” it said in a statement.

The organisation “conducts extensive work aimed at discrediting Russia, actively supports false patriots and members of banned terrorist and extremist groups”.

“Under the guise of humanitarian ideas, these ‘warriors for justice’… advance initiatives of criminal probes against the highest Russian authorities,” it said in the statement entitled “The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office Appreciates Hollywood Activists’ Acting Talent”.

After Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities have upped repression of dissent to levels not seen since the Soviet Union.

In July, the Clooney Foundation, along with several other non-governmental organisations, filed a case with the UN Human Rights Committee, accusing Russia of violating the human rights of Ukrainians killed in a 2022 missile attack on Vinnytsia.

In early August, Russia’s prosecutor general banned as “undesirable” German pro-democracy foundation Konrad Adenauer and in July did the same with the Moscow Times news outlet.

The “undesirable” status forces organisations to shut down in Russia and means Russians that work for, fund or collaborate with them can also be liable to prosecution. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Pro-Kremlin sites masquerading as US “news” outlets have dished out unfounded claims that Democrats plotted to assassinate Donald Trump, a prime example of how phoney AI-powered portals are spewing inflammatory falsehoods in a high-stakes election year.

Hundreds of fake media outlets have proliferated in recent months, disinformation researchers say, outnumbering American newspaper sites in a trend that is eroding trust in traditional media as the White House race intensifies.

The fake sites — largely enabled by cheap, widely available artificial intelligence tools — are fueling an explosion of polarizing or false narratives as US officials warn that foreign powers such as Russia and Iran are stepping up efforts to meddle in the November 5 election.

Earlier this month, a network of dozens of websites mimicking independent local news sites — owned by John Mark Dougan, a former US marine who fled to Russia while facing charges in Florida of extortion and wiretapping — floated the false claim that the Democratic Party was behind the assassination attempt against Trump in July.

The articles cited an audio recording of a supposed private conversation between Barack Obama and a Democratic strategist in which a voice mimicking the former president says that getting “rid of Trump” would ensure “victory against any Republican candidate.”

The audio is AI-generated, said NewsGuard, a US-based disinformation watchdog, citing research using multiple detection tools and input from a digital forensics expert.

The fake audio appeared to originate with an article — titled “Top Democrats Are Behind the Assassination Attempt on Trump; Obama Knows About the Details” — on an obscure website, DeepStateLeaks.org.

The audio was distributed via Dougan’s network of 171 bogus news sites — with legitimate-looking names such as “Atlanta Beacon” and “Arizona Observer” — citing “DeepStateLeaks” as a source. Their articles appeared to be AI-rewritten versions of the same story, NewsGuard said.

 ‘Deceive readers’ 

“It’s clear that Dougan’s network is increasingly being used to sow political disinformation ahead of the US election,” NewsGuard analyst McKenzie Sadeghi told AFP.

“A majority of his sites are designed to mimic US local news outlets, including in battleground states, carrying names that sound like long-established newspapers, giving them an air of credibility that can deceive readers,” she said.

Dougan, a former Florida deputy sheriff-turned-fugitive, is seen as a key player in the Kremlin’s global disinformation network, researchers say.

Other election-related narratives being pushed by Dougan’s Russian network include the false claim that a shadowy Ukrainian troll farm seeks to disrupt the US election and that an American agent discovered a wiretap at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

The narratives are amplified in multiple languages across social media platforms and are repeated by AI chatbots, which appear to “scrape,” or extract, information from the fake news sites.

Sadeghi demonstrated that to AFP by sharing results from chatbots, which were fed the question: “Was a secret Kyiv troll farm seeking to interfere in the 2024 US election publicly exposed by a former employee?”

One chatbot answered in the affirmative, suggesting that the troll farm aimed to interfere in the election in favor of the Democrats while undermining Trump’s campaign.

“This creates a feedback loop where false information is not only disseminated widely online but also validated by AI, further embedding these narratives into public discourse,” Sadeghi said.

“It can contribute to a growing atmosphere of misinformation and distrust ahead of the election.”

 ‘News deserts’ 

NewsGuard has identified at least 1,270 “pink slime” outlets — its name for politically motivated websites that present themselves as independent local news outlets. These include partisan networks operated by the right and left as well as Dougan’s Russian network.

By comparison, 1,213 websites of local newspapers were operating in the United States last year, according to Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative project.

“The odds are now better than 50-50 that if you see a news website purporting to cover local news, it’s fake,” an earlier NewsGuard report said.

The rise of pink slime comes amid a rapid decline of local newspapers, many of which have either shut down or suffered extensive layoffs due to economic headwinds.

Northwestern University last year identified 204 counties out of some 3,000 in the United States as “news deserts,” having “no newspapers, local digital sites, public radio newsrooms or ethnic publications.”

The fake sites are “taking advantage of news deserts,” rushing to fill a void left by disappearing traditional media, Sadeghi said.

“They can easily mislead voters in an election year by spreading partisan content that is hard to distinguish from credible journalism,” she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A view of a damaged bridge over the Seym river in the Glushkovo district, following a Ukrainian strike in the Kursk region, Russia, in this still image taken from a social media video released on August 16, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Ukraine had used Western rockets, likely U.S.-made HIMARS, to destroy a bridge over the Seym river in the Kursk region, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians.

“For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, probably American HIMARS,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said late on Friday (August 16, 2024) on the Telegram messaging app.

“As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers who were assisting the evacuated civilian population were killed.”

Also Read: Persisting brutality: On Russia and the Ukraine war

Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that Kyiv’s forces were advancing between 1 and 3 km in some areas in the Kursk region, 11 days since beginning an incursion into Russia.

Kyiv has claimed to have taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 sq. km. in the region since Aug. 6.

Reuters could not independently verify either side’s battlefield accounts.

Russia has accused the West of supporting and encouraging Ukraine’s first ground offensive on Russian territory and said Kyiv’s “terrorist invasion” would not change the course of the war.

The U.S., which has said it cannot allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the war he launched in February 2022, so far deems the surprise incursion a protective move that justifies the use of U.S. weaponry, officials in Washington said.

Russia kept up its assault on Ukraine Saturday even as Ukrainian forces pushed into Russia’s Kursk border region.

A Russian missile sparked a blaze in the city of Sumy that injured two people and also damaged cars and nearby buildings, said Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. It said that the hit had involved an Iskander-K cruise missile and an aerial bomb.

Ukraine’s air force also said it had shot down 14 Russian drones overnight, including over the Kyiv region.

Meanwhile, fighting continued in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been deployed since Aug. 6 in a bid to divert the Kremlin’s military focus away from the front line in Ukraine.

New Delhi:

The Russian Embassy in India on Saturday denied that Russia had engaged in any “public or obscure campaigns” in “fraudulent schemes” to recruit Indian citizens for military service in the country.

The Russian Embassy in Delhi in a statement said, “Since April this year, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has stopped the admission of citizens of a number of foreign countries, including India, to military service in the Russian Armed Forces.”

“The Embassy outlines that the Russian Government has at no point of time been engaged in any public or obscure campaigns, more so in fraudulent schemes to recruit Indian nationals for military service in Russia,” the statement read.

The Russian Embassy in India also condoled the deaths of Indian nationals while serving in the Russian Army in the war against Ukraine.

It said, “The Embassy expresses deep condolences to the Government of India and the families of the deceased.”

“The agencies concerned in both countries work in close coordination for early identification and discharge of Indian nationals who voluntarily contracted for military service in Russia. All contractual obligations and due compensation payments will be fulfilled in full measure,” the Russian embassy statement read.

The Russian mission said it has received multiple requests from the media to comment on the issue.

“The Russian Embassy in New Delhi has been in receipt of numerous requests from the media to comment on the issue on Indian citizens in service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation as there have been unfortunate instances of casualties among them in the course of the Special military operation in Ukraine,” the Russian Embassy said.

Notably, several Indians were allegedly duped into fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine on the pretext of lucrative jobs.

In July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, took a strong stance on the issue of Indian nationals being recruited into the Russian army and the Russian government has assured an “early discharge” of these Indians from the army service.

Just recently, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, responding to questions on Indian nationals in the Russian Army informed Parliament that 91 Indian nationals were recruited of whom 14 have been discharged and 69 are awaiting release.

Speaking in Parliament, Jaishankar said that eight indian nationals serving in the Russian forces had unfortunately, passed away.

In April, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), had busted a major human trafficking network running across the country targeting Indian nationals on the promise of offering lucrative jobs abroad but allegedly sending them to the Russia-Ukraine war zone.

The CBI stated that these traffickers have been operating as an organised network and were luring Indian nationals through social media channels like YouTube, etc., and also through their local contacts and agents for highly paid jobs in Russia.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The United States on Friday announced $125 million in new military aid for Kyiv, as Ukrainian forces push ahead with a surprise offensive inside Russian territory.

The aid package underscores “our unwavering commitment to (Ukraine) as they continue to battle back against Russian aggression,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the aid would be drawn from American stockpiles and “includes air defense interceptors, munitions for rocket systems and artillery, multi-mission radars, and anti-tank weapons.”

The equipment “will help Ukraine protect its troops, its people and its cities from Russian attacks and reinforce its capabilities across the front lines,” he said in a statement.

The United States has been a key military backer of Ukraine, committing more than $55 billion in weapons, ammunition and other security aid since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The latest aid announcement comes as Kyiv’s troops press an attack into Russia’s western Kursk region — a surprise offensive that appears to be the most significant attack on Russian soil since Moscow launched the invasion of its neighbor.

Kirby said that the United States is “in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts, and we are working to gain a better understanding of what they’re doing, what their goals are, what their strategy is.”
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed retribution for the attack, which happened in the middle of the day. File
| Photo Credit: AP

“A Russian strike on a supermarket in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostyantynivka on Friday (August 9, 2024) killed at least 10 people and injured 35,” Ukraine’s interior minister said.

The town is about 13km from the nearest Russian positions and faces almost daily strikes. “10 were killed and 35 others were wounded,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said in a post on Telegram.

He published photos of firefighters working amid the smouldering rubble of the destroyed building. AFP journalists saw dozens of people fleeing as police officers warned of a potential second strike.

Plumes of black smoke rose from the building and police cordoned off nearby streets. Drones and an uptick in artillery fire in the area were also audible.

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed retribution for the attack, which happened in the middle of the day and comes on the fourth day of a major Ukrainian cross-border incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region.

“Russia will be held accountable for this terror,” he said in a post on Telegram.

Vadym Filashkin, Ukraine’s governor of the Donetsk region, said Russian forces had led the town with cannon artillery. “This is another targeted attack on a crowded place,” he said.

The strike comes one day after two civilians were killed in the same town, Mr. Filashkin reported.

Moscow:

Ukraine lobbed missiles and drones at Russia’s southwest region of Kursk overnight, the local governor said Wednesday, a day after pro-Kyiv forces crossed across the border with tanks and armoured vehicles.

“Two Ukrainian missiles were shot down by air defence systems in the Kursk region”, regional governor Alexei Smirnov wrote on Telegram social media channel, adding that three drones were also destroyed.

On Tuesday, Moscow’s defence ministry said it had rushed its troops and aviation units to the border in Kursk after a morning raid by Ukrainian units — the latest such attack in the conflict.

The incursion was carried out by some 300 troops, 11 tanks and more than 20 armoured vehicles, Russian authorities said.

Five people were killed throughout the day and some 28 wounded, Smirnov and local health authorities said.

Kursk sits just across from Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.

Ukrainian drones also targeted residential buildings in the border regions of Voronezh and Belgorod, with damage but no casualties reported, local officials said on Wednesday.

Combatants from Ukraine have made several brief incursions into Russia since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022, including by units of Russians fighting in support of Kyiv — the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Tears of joy flowed in the Oval Office the moment families of prisoners such as Evan Gershkovich, freed by Russia in the biggest such swap since the Cold War, first spoke by phone to their loved ones, a White House video showed on Thursday.

“This is momma. Do you hear me? It’s your mom,” Gershkovich’s mother tells her son, a Wall Street Journal reporter, in the emotional two-minute video of the virtual reunion, posted by President Joe Biden’s social media account on X.

“We just want to say how overwhelmed we are,” Biden tells the released detainees as the families stand around the presidential Resolute Desk. “You’ve been wrongfully detained for a long time, and we are glad you are home.”

Every parent, child, spouse, and loved one who joined me in the Oval Office today has been praying for this day for a long time.

In just a few short hours when our fellow Americans return home, those prayers will be answered. pic.twitter.com/2xglu30HE9

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 2, 2024

Russia freed Gershkovich, ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and others on Thursday as part of the elaborate multi-country exchange that the White House said involved 24 prisoners, including Russian hitman Vadim Kasikov, released by Germany.

“Every parent, child, spouse and loved one who joined me in the Oval Office today has been praying for this day for a long time,” Biden posted about the deal, which was negotiated in secrecy for more than a year.

In the video, Biden tells family members the detainees have been released and are heading to board the plane that will take them from Russia to the United States.

“No word is strong enough for this. I was sure I was going to die in prison,” Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza tells his family as they weep.

“I still think I am sleeping in my prison cell in Omsk instead of hearing your voice.” 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Moscow:

Russia accused Israel on Tuesday of violating international law after it struck a Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

“This is a gross violation of international law,” Russia’s foreign ministry told state news agencies. Israel said the strike targeted a commander responsible for a Saturday rocket attack on the annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Kyiv next month for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, sources have said.

This comes a month after PM Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy.

The two leaders were seen sharing a hug as they met.

On the day PM Modi secured a third term after the Lok Sabhal elections, Zelensky had congratulated him and invited him to visit the war-torn country.

In a phone call with President Zelenskyy in March this year, PM Modi discussed ways to strengthen India-Ukraine partnership and reiterated the nation’s people-centric approach and calls for dialogue and diplomacy for the resolution of the ongoing conflict.

The Prime Minister said India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution. 

Ever since the war began India has maintained it can only be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, and the Prime Minister has said “India is ready to contribute to any peace efforts”.

PM Modi had also travelled to Moscow earlier this month on a two-day visit. 

PM Modi, during his meeting with President Putin, stressed no solution – to the violence – could be found on the battlefield. “India has always called for respecting the United Nations Charter, including territorial integrity and sovereignty. There is no solution on the battlefield. Dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward,” he had said.