MOSCOW: Russian authorities have detained a blogger who criticized President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine and fined an anti-war politician, as Moscow sends a warning signal to critics of the Kremlin ahead of September’s parliamentary election. Although Putin maintains a near-total grip on power, he and the dominant United Russia party are under pressure in the lead-up to the vote as Russia grapples with an economic slowdown and fuel shortages triggered by Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries.

The news of Ilya Remeslo’s arrest Friday came just as a court hearing was being held for another critic, Boriz Nadezhdin, in a sign of an intensified response to mounting internal…

Putin critic Boris Nadezhdin was barred from Russia’s parliamentary race after a court convicted him of displaying 'extremist symbols,' a move he says is aimed at silencing his…