Tag Archives: Vladimir Putin

The Guardian reports: Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu is being “sidelined” due to problems in the war against Ukraine and is likely being ridiculed by soldiers for his “ineffectual” leadership, said British intelligence. The latest update from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said: “Recent independent Russian media reports have claimed that due to the problems Russia is facing in its …

Bloomberg News reports: President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to boost its troop total by 137,000 to 1.15 million, the highest level in more than a decade, as Russia digs in for its war against Ukrainian forces backed by the US and its allies. Putin’s brief decree, published on the Kremlin’s website, didn’t explain the motivation for the increase or …

Reuters reports: The daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue who advocates Russia absorbing Ukraine was killed in a suspected car bomb attack outside Moscow, Russian state investigators said on Sunday. Darya Dugina, daughter of prominent ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed on Saturday evening after a suspected explosive device blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving, investigators said. Father …

The Sunday Times reports: Russian students heading back to school in the autumn will be taught about the country’s values amid the Kremlin’s wider campaign to implement “patriotic” education in schools. Starting from September 5, schools across the country will dedicate hours to so-called “conversations about important things”, Sergei Novikov, head of the presidential directorate for social projects, told Tass, …

Axios reports: The versatile Jonathan Lemire — Politico’s White House bureau chief and host of MSNBC’s “Way Too Early” — is out Tuesday with “The Big Lie,” his new book that includes this account of President Trump’s disastrous press conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018: “Fiona Hill, the senior Russia expert on the National Security Council, who was …

Reuters reports: Russian lawmakers have proposed extending a ban on the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relationships to minors to include adults as well, a senior legislator said on Monday. Russia’s existing “gay propaganda” law, passed in 2013, has been used to stop gay pride marches and detain gay rights activists. Under the proposed changes, any event or act regarded as …

The Associated Press reports: With Russia’s military action in Ukraine in its fifth month, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned Kyiv that it should quickly accept Moscow’s terms or brace for the worst, adding ominously that Russia has barely started its action. Speaking at a meeting with leaders of the Kremlin-controlled parliament, Putin accused Western allies of fueling the …

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin shot back at Western leaders who mocked his athletic exploits, saying they would look “disgusting” if they tried to emulate his bare-torso appearances. Putin made the comment during a visit to Turkmenistan early Thursday when asked about Western leaders joking about him at the G7 summit. Speaking to reporters, Putin retorted that, …

Politico reports: Vladimir Putin plans to attend the G20 summit in Indonesia in November, an aide to the Russian president said Monday. Despite launching a brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin was invited to the meeting of the world’s major developed and emerging economies by Indonesian President Joko Widodo — a move that will spark soul-searching for Western allied leaders …

Bloomberg News reports: Russia defaulted on its foreign-currency sovereign debt for the first time in a century, the culmination of ever-tougher Western sanctions that shut down payment routes to overseas creditors. For months, the country found paths around the penalties imposed after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. But at the end of the day on Sunday, the grace period on …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday told his counterpart from Belarus that Moscow would supply Minsk with missile systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the Russian foreign ministry said. At a meeting with Putin in St Petersburg, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko expressed concern about the “aggressive”, “confrontational” and “repulsive” policies of its neighbours Lithuania and Poland. He asked …

Politico Playbook reports: On Tuesday, we broke the story about the details of Alex Holder’s film, that he had been subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee, turned over all of his footage and was coming to Washington this week for a closed-door deposition before the committee. On Thursday, shortly after he finished talking to Jan. 6 investigators, we met up …

The Guardian reports: Palaces, yachts and vineyards reportedly provided to Vladimir Putin by friends and oligarchs can now be linked to what appears to be an informal network holding assets worth more than $4.5bn (£3.7bn). A digital paper trail appears to suggest that an array of holiday homes and other assets reportedly used by the Russian president, which according to …

The Guardian reports: Russia has provoked concern in Brussels after threatening to retaliate over Lithuania’s ban on the transit of some goods across its territory to Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. The move by the government in Vilnius was described as “unprecedented” in Moscow, where the Russian foreign office said they reserved the right to respond to protect their …

Newsweek reports: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said re-electing former President Donald Trump could help Russian President Vladimir Putin win the ongoing war in Ukraine. Clinton made the remarks in an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday where she also argued that the U.S. was “on the precipice” of no longer being a democracy. “If Trump …

Newsweek reports: Vladimir Putin’s health is a subject of intense conversation inside the Biden administration after the intelligence community produced its fourth comprehensive assessment at the end of May. The classified U.S. report says Putin seems to have re-emerged after undergoing treatment in April for advanced cancer, three U.S. intelligence leaders who have read the reports tell Newsweek. All three …

Politico Europe reports: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has denied that Vladimir Putin is seriously ill in the wake of numerous reports suggesting that the Russian leader has cancer. “You know, President Putin appears in public every day. You can see him on the screens, read his speeches, listen to his speeches,” Lavrov said,. “I don’t think sane people can …

The Washington Post reports: Russia is permanently banning nearly 1,000 Americans, including President Biden and Vice President Harris, from entering the country in response to the United States’ support of Ukraine and the historic sanctions facing Moscow nearly three months into its invasion. On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry published the list of 963 Americans barred from entering Russia — …

The New York Times reports: Russia is moving toward eliminating age limits for military service — an apparent effort to expand the pool of potential recruits amid heavy casualties in Ukraine. Under an amendment introduced by senior lawmakers, Russians older than 40 would be able to sign first-time military service contracts. The law would bring in more service members with …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto on Saturday that ditching neutrality and joining NATO would be a mistake that could damage relations between their two countries, the Kremlin said. The two countries said their presidents spoke by phone two days after Finland declared its intention to join the Western alliance. Moscow has described that …