Tag Archives: Russia

The Wall Street Journal reports: NATO says that up to 40,000 Russian troops have been killed, wounded, taken prisoner or are missing in Ukraine, said a senior military official from the alliance. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization calculates the figure based on information provided by Ukrainian authorities and information obtained from Russia–both officially and unintentionally, the official said. NATO estimates …

The Associated Press reports: Former Trump adviser Paul Manafort was removed from a plane at Miami International Airport before it took off for Dubai because he carried a revoked passport, officials said Wednesday. Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta confirmed that Manafort was removed from the Emirates Airline flight without incident Sunday night but directed further questions to U.S. Customs and …

Reuters reports: A veteran envoy of President Vladimir Putin has resigned over the Ukraine war and left Russia with no intention to return, two sources said on Wednesday, the first senior official to break with the Kremlin since Putin launched his invasion a month ago. The Kremlin confirmed that Anatoly Chubais had resigned of his own accord. Chubais was one …

Politico Europe reports: The head of the world’s biggest food aid agency has a stark warning for European leaders: Pay more now to stave off global hunger or suffer a migration crisis later. Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent a shockwave through international food markets, worsening the already dire problem of global hunger by disrupting supply and inflating prices. That …

The BBC reports: A California man suspected of taking part in the US Capitol riots last year has been granted asylum in Belarus. Evan Neumann fled the US after being charged in connection with the riots. The 48-year-old first settled in Ukraine, before reaching Belarus where he asked for asylum – claiming he faced “political persecution” in the US. A …

CNN reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief spokesman has conceded that Russia has yet to achieve any of its military goals in Ukraine and refused to deny that Moscow could resort to the use of nuclear weapons. In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, Dmitry Peskov repeatedly refused to rule out that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to attend the next G20 summit in Indonesia later this year and received valuable backing from Beijing on Wednesday in a pushback to suggestions by some members that Russia could be barred from the group. The United States and its Western allies are assessing whether Russia should remain within the Group of Twenty …

The Guardian reports: The French carmaker Renault has resumed manufacturing in its plants in Moscow, bucking the trend of many other large global companies that have cut ties with Russia over its war on Ukraine. Renault had suspended production at the plant last month, citing logistical problems after the invasion of Ukraine on Vladimir Putin’s orders. However, Renault’s decision to …

NBC News reports: The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected U.S. warnings that it may be preparing to conduct cyberattacks in response to Western sanctions, and said it did not engage in “banditry.” U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday told businesses to do more to protect themselves against possible cyberattacks by Russia, warning there was “evolving intelligence” that Moscow was exploring options …

The Daily Beast reports: Beneath the gold onion domes of the Danilov Monastery a few miles south of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin’s chief shaman explains why Russia is hell-bent on destroying Ukraine. “If we see [Ukraine] as a threat, we have the right to use force to ensure the threat is eradicated,” Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill recently preached to his …

The Helsinki Times reports: Finnish Customs has placed a total of 21 yachts under a transfer ban on grounds of suspicion that they are owned by oligarchs or other individuals falling within the sanctions regime of the EU, Sami Rakshit, the head of the enforcement department at Finnish Customs, confirmed to YLE on Monday. Rakshit told YLE that customs officials …

Mediaite reports: Twitter accounts associated with the Kremlin are using sidelined Fox Nation host Lara Logan to portray Ukrainian soldiers as Nazis and occultists. On far-right platform Real America’s Voice last week, Logan said she did not “buy” reporting which shows Russia has inflicted widespread devastation on Ukraine since its invasion of the country. On Sunday morning, Russian Twitter accounts …

The BBC reports: The Moscow stock exchange has partially reopened after a nearly month-long suspension over the war in Ukraine. Only bonds issued by the Russian government can be traded as part of a phased re-opening of the market. The exchange closed hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine on 24 February. Andrei Braginsky, a …

CNBC reports: More than two dozen U.S. lawmakers received roughly $110,000 in campaign contributions from Koch Industries in the weeks leading up to Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine — money some ethics lawyers say should be returned given the company’s decision to maintain operations in Russia. U.S. lawmakers are being scrutinized for accepting campaigns contributions from the conglomerate, which is …

Reuters reports: A luxurious super-yacht linked to the owner of Russia’s largest steel pipe maker, who is currently under British and European Union sanctions, docked in Gibraltar on Monday and was then detained by the authorities. Western sanctions on Russian oligarchs over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have triggered an exodus of luxury yachts from Europe in recent weeks, with several …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden on Monday urged private sector partners to strengthen their cyber defenses immediately, pointing to “evolving intelligence” that suggests Russia could conduct malicious cyber activity against American companies and critical infrastructure. While the Biden administration has been warning the nation of the prospect of cyber attacks by Russia for months, most recently as a response to …

Reuters reports: A Moscow court on Monday found Meta Platforms Inc guilty of “extremist activity”, but said its decision would not affect the WhatsApp messenger service, focusing its ire on the company’s already banned Facebook and Instagram social networks. Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court upheld a lawsuit filed by Russian state prosecutors on banning the activities of Meta on Russian territory, …

The New York Times reports: A Russian missile strike reduced a sprawling shopping mall in Kyiv to a smoldering ruin, one of the most powerful strikes to rock the center of the Ukrainian capital since the war began last month. City officials said at least eight people were killed, though the toll was likely to rise from the explosion around …

“Ukraine is not even remotely about what they’re telling us. Ukraine is about the fact that the Ukrainians have used their soil to place dual launch missile pads, missiles that would be aimed at the Soviet Union. “There are, in fact, biolabs there funded by our tax dollars cooking up who knows what pestilence to dump on the Russian people. …

The Washington Post reports: In a dingy Russian classroom with worn-out rugs, elementary school students lined up to form the shape of the letter Z: the symbol used on much of Russia’s military equipment in Ukraine and an emblem of support at home, showing up on everywhere from bus stops to car stickers to corporate logos. Now it has become …