Russia

US journalist Evan Gershkovich stands inside a defendants' cage at Moscow City Court on June 22, 2023. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)

August 1, 2024, 1:40 pm

Evan Gershkovich is freed in prisoner exchange

Gershkovich, 32, was freed as part of a massive, 26-person prisoner exchange that included several prominent people jailed by Russia.

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in the glass defendants' cage in the Yekaterinburg courthouse where his trial began Wed. June 26. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images)

August 1, 2024, 9:32 am

Jewish journalist Evan Gershkovich reportedly being freed as part of mass prisoner swap with Russia

The exchange would be the largest prisoner swap between Russia and the United States since the end of the Cold War.

By Jackie Hajdenberg

Kommuna Lux is bringing its lively music and spirit to Pittsburgh. (Photo courtesy of Diana D’Angelo)

July 18, 2024, 7:04 am

With culture, joy and quest to educate, Ukrainian band coming to Pittsburgh

Get ready for Kommuna Lux and its 'bohemian Black Sea coastal vibe'

By Adam Reinherz

March 29, 2024, 2:12 pm

On the first anniversary of Evan Gershkovich’s arrest, Biden says his detention will ‘cost’ Russia

Gershkovich has been held on espionage charges since March 29, 2023, when he was arrested by Russian agents while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg.

By Ron Kampeas

Pinchas Goldschmidt in Munich, May 30, 2022. (Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)

July 7, 2023, 4:10 pm

Russia labels Moscow’s former chief rabbi a ‘foreign agent’

The designation cannot be contested in court and bars those assigned it from participating in many aspects of public life in Russia.

By Gabe Friedman

Dighton police cars block Maple Street in North Dighton, Mass., half a mile from the house where Airman Jack Teixeira was arrested for sharing classified documents, April 13, 2023. (Kylie Cooper for The Washington Post/Getty Images)

April 14, 2023, 10:44 am

Man arrested in massive intelligence leak case allegedly railed against Jews online

The National Guard airman was arrested on charges of leaking a large trove of U.S. intelligence documents.

By Ron Kampeas

Pinchas Goldschmidt, former chief rabbi of Moscow, attends the 32nd General Assembly of the Conference of European Rabbis in Munich, Germany, May 30, 2022. (Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)

January 4, 2023, 4:37 pm

Moscow’s former chief rabbi: ‘The best option for Russian Jews is to leave’

Jews, like Russians of all ethnicities, have been fleeing Russia en masse since the war began in late February

By David I. Klein

Russian chief rabbi Berel Lazar addresses a gathering of Russian rabbis in Moscow on September 5, 2022. (Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia)

October 28, 2022, 10:28 am

Top Russian security official apologizes after deputy calls Chabad a cult

Spokesman for Russian Jewish community says he appreciates the retraction, notes historical rarity of a Russian general apologizing for antisemitism

By Judah Ari Gross

October 27, 2022, 1:20 pm

Ex-Moscow chief rabbi calls on Russia Jews to flee after top official attacks Chabad

Community finds itself in the crosshairs after Russian national security official calls Hasidic sect, the largest Jewish movement in the former Soviet Union, a supremacist cult

By Judah Ari Gross

Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian Politburo member and second in line at the Kremlin, announces the death of Soviet Defence Minister Marshal Dmitri Ustinov, before departing from Edinburgh Airport for Russia, in Edinburgh, Dec. 21 1984. Gorbachev was on a week-long trip to Britain. (Bryn Colton/Getty Images)

August 31, 2022, 10:15 am

Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet leader whose reforms included letting Jews leave for Israel, dies at 91

He oversaw an end to restrictions on religious worship and opened the gates for those who had been imprisoned for their Zionist activity, including Natan Sharansky.

By Ron Kampeas

Marsha Shisman and Natalya Shisman. Photo by Edie Shealy

August 22, 2022, 1:56 pm

Pittsburghers support to Ukrainians unwavering six months after Russian invasion

War's continuance brings calls for recognition, reform and kindness.

By Adam Reinherz

A U.S. State Department dossier on Russian disinformation will feature this photo of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Jan. 23, 2020. (Office of the Ukraine President)

July 11, 2022, 10:02 am

Biden administration accuses Russia of antisemitism and exploiting Jewish suffering

The Kremlin falsely claims the worst Nazis were actually Jews, and seeks to downplay the role of antisemitism in Nazi ideology, the State Department says

By Ron Kampeas

Rabbi Avraham Shemtov joins hundreds in attending The lighting of the National Chanukah Menorah on the Ellipse on the first night of Chanukah in Washington, D.C, December 1, 2010(Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

May 24, 2022, 4:19 pm

Russia bans entry to many U.S. Jews

List includes Chabad rabbis seeking return of Schneerson library

By Ron Kampeas

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during their meeting in Sochi, Russia, Oct. 22, 2021. (Yevgeny Biyatov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

May 5, 2022, 3:16 pm

Bennett says Putin apologized for his deputy’s remarks on Nazis

Russian foreign minister said it was possible for Nazi ideologies to flourish in Ukraine because “in my opinion even Hitler had Jewish origins.”

By Andrew Lapin

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a press conference on legislation to address gas prices, in the Capitol, April 28, 2022 (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

May 3, 2022, 10:08 am

Schumer calls Russian foreign minister’s comments about Jews and Hitler ‘sickening’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he believed Adolf Hitler also had Jewish origins

By Ron Kampeas