Mary Ilyushina

Washington, D.C.

Education: Lomonosov Moscow State University

Mary Ilyushina, a reporter on the Foreign Desk of The Washington Post, covers Russia and the region. She began her career in independent Russian media before joining CNN’s Moscow bureau as a field producer in 2017. She has been with The Post since 2021. She speaks Russian, English, Ukrainian and Arabic.
Latest from Mary Ilyushina

Russia bombed its own city, Defense Ministry says

In the latest mishap in Vladimir Putin's war, a Russian plane dropped a bomb on Belgorod, a city near the border with Ukraine.

April 21, 2023

Russia rejects U.S. journalist Gershkovich’s appeal of spying arrest

Russia detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges, claiming without evidence that he was caught "red-handed."

April 18, 2023

Putin visits two occupied regions in Ukraine, pushing illegal annexation

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a secretive trip to areas in Ukraine that he declared would be Russia's "forever" but where his troops were forced to retreat last fall.

April 18, 2023

A web of trenches shows Russia fears losing Crimea

Satellite imagery provided to The Post by Maxar shows that Russia has recently built dozens of trenches across Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014.

April 3, 2023

Putin and Xi want a new world order

Today, what Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit could mean for the balance of global power.

March 22, 2023

Xi’s cocoon in Moscow: A Chinese-owned hotel over Red Square opulence

Sino-Russian relations have grown substantially closer since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s imposition of punishing sanctions.

March 21, 2023

Drone strikes, sabotage, shelling: Russia’s war on Ukraine comes to Russia

The war now encroaches on the daily lives of Russian citizens with near-constant reports of fires, drone attacks and shelling.

March 20, 2023

Putin visits occupied Mariupol, staking claim to invaded Ukrainian lands

A day after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant accusing the Russian president of war crimes, German officials said Sunday they would arrest him if he visited their country.

March 19, 2023

Ukraine briefing: Austin and Milley speak with Russian counterparts as tensions rise over drone crash

The Pentagon said two Russian jets forced the drone into the Black Sea after one of them struck its propeller. The Kremlin insisted that there was no collision.

March 15, 2023

Russia oil revenues plummeted in February as war penalties hit

An embargo by European Union countries and a price cap imposed by the Group of Seven are hitting a major source of income for Moscow as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

March 15, 2023