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But the growing movement of Russian women underscores the complexity and innate inequality of keeping so many men at war for so long while many more of fighting age remain at home. It is too soon to assess the size or impact of the movement of Russian women in a society which the authorities say is united behind the war effort. Women in Ukraine have also demanded their men be allowed back from the front. When Putin ordered a partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists in September 2022, hundreds of thousands of young men rushed to leave Russia. Petitions to bring their men back produced almost no response, and Russia's defence ministry has barely engaged with the women, Andreeva said.

Persons: Maria Andreeva, Yulia Morozova, Vladimir Putin, Andreeva, Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Vitaly Milonov, Milonov, Guy Faulconbridge, Timothy Organizations: State Duma, REUTERS, Kremlin, Reuters, Russia's Security, New, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, MOSCOW, Soviet Union, Chechnya, Andreeva, Western

[1/5] Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the "Russia" forum and exhibition celebrating the country's major achievements in Moscow, Russia, December 4, 2023. Putin was given an explanation of a Soviet nuclear bomb design and shown a mock control panel for launching a nuclear test, before observing images of a blast and mushroom cloud through a viewing window. Since the start of the Ukraine war, Putin has frequently reminded the West of the size and capabilities of Russia's nuclear arsenal, saying anyone who tried to launch a nuclear attack against it would be wiped from the face of the earth. Supporters of Putin dismiss that analysis, pointing to independent polling which shows he enjoys approval ratings of above 80%. They say that Putin has restored order and some of the clout Russia lost during the chaos of the Soviet collapse.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Voskresensky, Putin, Oleg Saitov, Boris Yeltsin, Josef Stalin, Catherine the Great, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Kremlin, State, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, Soviet, Ukraine, Belarus, Soviet Union, Putin's Russia, London

People, including Russian law enforcement officers, walk near St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower, as a pigeon flies over Red Square in central Moscow, Russia, March 20, 2023. It was not clear from Russian media reports which foreigners the draft legislation - if it becomes law - would apply to or what the punishment would be for not adhering to the "agreement" which foreigners would have to sign upon entry to Russia. The chairman of the Duma's CIS Affairs Committee said that the draft law was well advanced and was being worked on by the interior ministry, the government, the presidential administration as well as his committee. "The draft law on the so-called 'loyalty agreement' with migrants entering the Russian Federation is in a high degree of readiness," Leonid Kalashnikov told Interfax.

Persons: Evgenia, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Leonid Kalashnikov, Kalashnikov, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, TASS, Russian Federation, Fatherland, Nazi, Opposition, State Duma, Duma's CIS, Committee, Thomson Locations: St, Basil's, Moscow, Russia, MOSCOW, Ukraine, Soviet, Berlin, Europe, Melbourne

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led to the most serious confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, prompting Putin to pivot towards China. Speaking to the World Russian People's Council, led by the head of Russia's Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill, Putin's picture was shown on a giant screen beside two copies of an ancient Orthodox icon. The Russian Orthodox Church is an ardent institutional supporter of Russia's war in Ukraine, and Putin has espoused its conservatism as part of his vision for Russia's national identity. Putin says that the West is now failing in Ukraine and that its attempt to defeat Russia has also failed. Patriarch Kirill said he would pray for Putin to continue his work for the "benefit" of Russia and its people.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Putin, Kirill, Guy Faulconbridge, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Russian People's Council, Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Kremlin, West, NATO, KGB, Thomson Locations: Sochi, Russia, Kremlin, MOSCOW, Ukraine, Moscow, China, United States, Soviet Union, Russian

"Fear is present but it is conscious," said Duntsova, who this month announced she wanted to run for president in the March 2024 election. They say that Putin has restored order and some of the clout Russia lost during the chaos of the Soviet collapse. When asked what she thought of Putin, Duntsova laughed nervously. "When in Europe and the United States they say that Russia and the Russians are Putin - that is not right. She said hardliners in the West and in Russia would be happy to see Russia closing itself off from the world.

Persons: Evgenia, Duntsova, Soviet Union stoked, Vladimir Putin, Putin, chuckled, Indira Gandhi, Africa's Nelson Mandela, Alexandra Skochilenko, Andrei Pivovarov, Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Alexei Navalny, She, Guy Faulconbridge, Ed Osmond Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Kremlin, CIA, Justice Ministry, Prosecutors, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Europe, Russian, RUSSIA, Putin's Russia, United States, Siberian, Krasnoyarsk, Rzhev, Tver

[1/5] Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a plenary session of the Artificial Intelligence Journey 2023 international AI and machine learning conference in Moscow, Russia November 24, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies Putin to approve new AI strategy soonChina and U.S. lead on AI currentlyRussian AI has been set back by Ukraine war, sanctionsPutin calls Russia to up its game on AIMOSCOW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned that the West should not be allowed to develop a monopoly in the sphere of artificial intelligence (AI), and said that a much more ambitious Russian strategy for the development of AI would be approved shortly. "In all spheres of our life, humanity is beginning a new chapter of its existence," Putin said of AI, adding that Russia needed to up its game on AI both in ambitions and execution. Russia, he said, would have to change laws, boost international cooperation, and ensure much more investment for the development of AI. He told Putin in June that Sberbank was making around $3 billion annually from $1 billion in AI investments.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Putin, Gref, Sberbank, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: Artificial, Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, MOSCOW, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, China, U.S, Russian, Ukraine, United States, India, Israel, South Korea, Japan

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin and Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk attend the G20 virtual summit via a video link in Moscow, Russia, November 22, 2023. "Yes, of course, military actions are always a tragedy," Putin told the virtual G20 meeting called by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "And of course, we should think about how to stop this tragedy," Putin said. Putin used the word "war" to describe the conflict instead of the current Kremlin term of "special military operation". "I understand that this war, and the death of people, cannot but shock," Putin said, before setting out the Russian case that Ukraine had persecuted people in eastern Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Alexei Overchuk, Mikhail Klimentyev, Putin, Ukraine Putin, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Sergei Lavrov, Vladimir Soldatkin, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Ukraine, Kremlin, Indian, United Nations, Human, West, Belfer, Harvard's Kennedy School, U.S, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Gaza, Ukraine MOSCOW, Ukraine, United States, Ukraine's, Crimea, Russian, Palestine, Ukrainian, West, Israel, Washington, New Delhi, Nusa Dua, Indonesia, Osaka, Japan

[1/4] Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission General Zhang Youxia at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia November 8, 2023. Sputnik/Sergei Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSummary Putin praises China cooperationMeets close ally of Xi in MoscowSays cooperation is to ensure strategic securityZhang says China respects PutinMOSCOW, Nov 8 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday lauded what he described as important "high-tech" Russian military cooperation with China at a meeting in Moscow with a top Chinese general who is a close ally of President Xi Jinping. Putin, who heads the world's biggest nuclear power, said military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing was increasing and focused on high-tech areas that would ensure strategic security. "Of course, our cooperation, our contacts in the military and military-technical sphere are also becoming increasingly important, as for military-technical cooperation, here, of course, our work in high-tech spheres comes first," Putin said. Zhang said that his delegation had come in order to implement important agreements and further strengthen bilateral military cooperation.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Zhang Youxia, Sergei Bobylev, Xi, Zhang, Putin, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Defence, China's, Military, Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Wednesday, Military Commission, Russian Defence, U.S, U.S . Congress, Russian Federation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, China, Putin MOSCOW, Beijing, Ukraine, Europe, United States, People's Republic of China, Washington, Asia, U.S, Australia, Britain

MOSCOW, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that strategic dialogue with the United States over nuclear weapons was "definitely necessary" but that such talks could not happen while Washington was "lecturing" Moscow. Russia and the United States, by far the biggest nuclear powers, have both expressed regret about the steady disintegration of arms control treaties which sought to slow the Cold War arms race and reduce the risk of nuclear war. When asked about the prospect of strategic dialogue on nuclear weapons with the United States and the West, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:"Dialogue is unequivocally necessary. When asked about the remarks, the Kremlin's Peskov said: "Patrushev is the secretary of the Security Council. "As for the Russian Federation, we have a (nuclear) doctrine where everything is clearly spelled out.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Nikolai Patrushev, Peskov, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Tuesday, NATO, West, Kremlin, Cuban Missile, Soviet Union, U.S, Russian Security, Security, Russian Federation, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, United States, Washington, Moscow, Russia, Ukraine

"The decision has been made - he will run," said one of the sources who has knowledge of planning. Three other sources said the decision had been made: Putin will run. A foreign diplomatic source, who also requested anonymity, said Putin made the decision recently and that the announcement would come soon. Peskov said in September that if Putin decided to run, then no one would be able to compete with him. "Russia is facing the combined might of the West so major change would not be expedient," one of the sources said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Kuzma Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Mikhail Metzel, Putin, Boris Yeltsin, Josef Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev's, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Mikhail Gorbachev grappled, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Alexei Navalny, Oleg Orlov, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Unity, Sputnik, Kremlin, Reuters, Kommersant, West ., KGB, Soviet, Cuban Missile, West, NATO, China, European Union, Thomson Locations: Red, Moscow, Russia, MOSCOW, West . RUSSIA, Soviet Union, Ukraine, United States, European, Soviet Russia, Afghanistan

SummaryCompanies New nuclear submarine nearly ready for serviceRussia building more submarinesKremlin: relations with Washington 'below zero'MOSCOW, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Russia's new strategic nuclear submarine, the Imperator Alexander III, has successfully tested a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. The Imperator Alexander III is the seventh of the Russian Project 955 Borei (Arctic Wind) class nuclear submarines and the fourth of the modernised Borei-A variant, according to Russian sources. They are known in NATO as the Dolgoruky class of submarines, after the first boat - the Yuri Dolgoruky - became the first new generation of nuclear submarine launched by Russia since the Cold War. [1/2]Russia's new nuclear-powered submarine Imperator Alexander III test launches the Bulava ballistic missile, designed to carry nuclear warheads, from the White Sea, in this screengrab taken from a video released on November 5, 2023. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview aired on Sunday that relations with the United States were below zero.

Persons: Imperator Alexander III, Alexander III, Yuri Dolgoruky, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Dmitry Donskoy, Potemkin, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, William Mallard, David Goodman Organizations: Federation of American Scientists, Navy, Russian, Russian Defence Ministry, REUTERS Acquire, Soviet Union, Northern, Thomson Locations: Russia, Washington, MOSCOW, Russian, NATO, Soviet, Ukraine, United States, Pacific, Melbourne, Moscow

MOSCOW, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Russia on Friday dismissed new U.S. sanctions over the war in Ukraine, saying that the United States would never defeat Moscow, while the boss of Russia's fastest growing natural gas company quipped the sanctions were a badge of success. The United States on Thursday targeted Russia's future energy capabilities, sanctions evasion and a suicide drone that has been a menace to Ukrainian troops and equipment, among others, in sanctions on hundreds of people and entities. The Arctic-2 LNG project - targeted by the new sanctions - had been expecting to start exporting soon and it is uncertain how much Russian LNG will now be blocked. The largest Russian LNG producer Novatek NVTK.MM said in September it would start shipments from Arctic-2 LNG early next year. Leonid Mikhelson, the head of Russian natural gas producer Novatek(NVTK.MM), told a conference in the Uzbek city of Samarkand that the U.S. sanctions were a badge "of our professionalism".

Persons: Maria Zakharova, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Novatek NVTK.MM, Leonid Mikhelson, Novatek, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Monetary Fund, Russian LNG, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Moscow, Russian, U.S, Europe, Uzbek, Samarkand

Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Tatar-Bashkir Service, poses in this undated handout photo. Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir Service who holds both U.S. and Russian passports, travelled to Russia on May 20 for a family emergency. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which has headquarters in Prague and Washington, says its mission is to "promote democratic values by providing accurate, uncensored news and open debate in countries where a free press is threatened and disinformation is pervasive". During the Cold War, RFE/RL transmitted news to audiences behind the Iron Curtain. "Journalism is not a crime and Kurmasheva’s detention is yet more proof that Russia is determined to stifle independent reporting."

Persons: Alsu Kurmasheva, Russia detains, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu, Kurmasheva, Jeffrey Gedmin, Gulnoza Said, Guy Faulconbridge, Lincoln, Gareth Jones Organizations: Radio Free, Liberty's, RFE, Graphics, REUTERS Acquire, Russia, Russia detains RFE, Free, Radio Liberty, Wall Street, The State Department, Bashkir Service, Soviet Union, West . Radio Free, U.S, Congress, U.S . Agency for Global Media, U.S . Central Intelligence Agency, Protect Journalists, Central Asia, Thomson Locations: Radio Free Europe, Bashkir, Russian, MOSCOW, Russia, Free Europe, Ukraine, U.S, Prague, RUSSIA, Soviet, West . Radio Free Europe, Washington, Europe, Central

"In the interests of ensuring the security of our country, we are withdrawing the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said ahead of a debate and parliamentary vote on revoking ratification. While Russia is revoking ratification, it would remain a signatory and would continue to cooperate with the test ban treaty organisation and the global monitoring system, which alerts the world to any nuclear test. Post-Soviet Russia has never carried out a nuclear test. "I hear calls to start testing nuclear weapons, to return to testing," Putin said on Oct. 5. Since the CTBT, 10 nuclear tests have taken place.

Persons: Putin, Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Guy Faulconbridge, Robert Birsel Organizations: Comprehensive, Russian Federation, U.S, Soviet Union, United Nations, Cuban Missile, U.S . Congress, Thomson Locations: Russia, United States, MOSCOW, Washington, Soviet Russia, Soviet Union, China, Ukraine, Moscow, Beijing, India, Pakistan, North Korea

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an interview with China Media Group anchor Wang Guan at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in this image released October 16, 2023. Putin spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by telephone, the Kremlin said. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Putin that the situation was escalatory, that Israeli army actions were "indiscriminate" and that the risk was that Israel would begin a ground operation against Gaza. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the conflict between Israel and Hamas with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing ahead of a visit by President Vladimir Putin to China. "The United Nations Security Council must take action, and the major powers should play an active role," Wang told Lavrov, according to a Chinese transcript of the meeting.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wang Guan, Sergei Bobylev, Putin, Syria Putin, Ebrahim Raisi, Bashar al, Assad, Abdel Fattah al, Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu, Sergei Ryabkov, Ryabkov, Russia's, Xi, Yuri Ushakov, Sergei Lavrov, Wang Yi, Wang, Lavrov, Guy Faulconbridge, Ed Osmond Organizations: China Media Group, Kremlin, Sputnik, MOSCOW, Gaza, UN Security Council, United Nations Security Council, West Bank, Russian, Chinese Foreign, United Nations Security, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Israel Russia, China, Israel, United States, Israeli, Russian, Washington, Ukraine, CHINA, RUSSIA, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Beijing

REUTERS/Wu Hong/Pool/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW/BEIJING, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China this week to meet Xi Jinping, the Kremlin chief's first trip outside the former Soviet Union this year. What are the five things to watch for at the meeting? Li was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018 for an arms deal he secured with Russia in an earlier role. Xi also awarded Putin a friendship medal in 2018, saying that "Putin is my best close friend". Putin said in March that he had invited Xi to his private apartment in the Kremlin.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Wu Hong, Li Shangfu, Li, General Liu Zhenli, Putin, Xi, Alexei Miller, Igor Sechin, Maxim Reshetnikov, Guy Faulconbridge, Alison Williams Organizations: Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center, REUTERS, Kremlin, Russia, People's Liberation Army, PLA, U.S . Department of Defence, China, United, Gazprom, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China, MOSCOW, BEIJING, Soviet Union, U.S, Russia, Xiapu, Ukraine, United States, India, Moscow, Kremlin, Siberia, Mongolia, Asia, Germany

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 21, 2023. China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two. Biden has referred to Xi as a "dictator" and has said Putin is a "killer" and a leader who cannot remain in power. Since the Ukraine war, Putin has mostly stayed within the former Soviet Union, though he visited Iran last year for talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The United States has warned China against supplying Putin with weapons as Russia, a $2 trillion economy, battles Ukrainian forces backed by the United States and the European Union.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Mikhail Tereshchenko, Putin, Xi Putin, Xi, Joe Biden, Graham Allison, Bill Clinton, Biden, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mao Zedong, Alexander Gabuev, Gabuev, Li Shangfu, Alexei Miller, Igor Sechin, Guy Faulconbridge, Alison Williams Organizations: Kremlin, Sputnik, Forum, Soviet Union, U.S, Harvard University, Reuters, Soviet, United, European Union, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Gazprom, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, China, USSR, MOSCOW, BEIJING, United States, Beijing, Hague, Ukraine, Europe, U.S, Soviet Union, Iran, Communist China, Ukrainian, Siberia, Mongolia

Putin, who is to visit China this week, said the United States had stoked tensions with Beijing by building the "AUKUS" security alliance of U.S., Australia and Britain and that Russia and China were not building a military alliance. "Moreover, to fight with both Russia and China, it is nonsense - I don't think it is serious. Putin cautioned that if the United States fought against Russia then it would be very different to the war in Ukraine that the Kremlin calls a special military operation. "And if they want to fight with Russia then it will be a completely different war - it will not be carrying out a special military operation," Putin said. Of those, Russia has about 1,674 deployed strategic nuclear warheads while the United States has 1,670.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Mark Schiefelbein, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Joe Biden, Biden, William Mallard, Hugh Lawson Organizations: U.S . Congress, Kremlin, U.S, Federation of American Scientists, Thomson Locations: United States, Diaoyutai, Beijing, China, Russia, Washington, China MOSCOW, Ukraine, Moscow, U.S, Australia, Britain

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks before a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin following the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 29, 2023. The army said it would soon go on the offensive after the biggest mobilisation in Israeli history. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital - all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. The Quartet, set up in 2002, consists of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia. He said Russia was in contact with the Palestinians to find out if any Russians had been injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Bobylyov, Lavrov, Sergei Lavrov, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Israel, Aboul Gheit, Hosni Mubarak’s, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Agency, REUTERS, Kremlin, League, Quartet, Arab League, West Bank, United Nations, European Union, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, MOSCOW, Israel, Palestinian Territories, United States, Gaza, East, Iran, Palestinian, East Jerusalem

Putin on Thursday said Russia's nuclear doctrine did not need updating but that he was not yet ready to say whether or not Russia needed to resume nuclear tests. The Kremlin chief said that Russia should look at revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as the United States had signed it but not ratified. Just hours after Putin's words, Russia's top lawmaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the legislature's bosses would swiftly consider the need to revoke Russia's ratification for the treaty. "At the next meeting of the State Duma Council, we will definitely discuss the issue of revoking the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," Volodin said. Putin's words, followed by Volodin's, indicate that Russia is almost certain to revoke ratification of the treaty, which bans nuclear explosions by everyone, everywhere.

Persons: Vyacheslav Volodin, Maxim Shemetov, Putin, Vladimir Putin, peaker Volodin, Volodin, Volodin's, Guy Faulconbridge, Sonali Paul, Stephen Coates Organizations: Nazi, REUTERS, Soviet Union, Comprehensive, Cuban Missile Crisis, Kremlin, State Duma Council, Soviet, United Nations, United, United States Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Thomson Locations: Russia's, Nazi Germany, Red, Moscow, Russia, MOSCOW, United States, Washington, Brussels, State, Ban, Soviet Union, India, Pakistan, North Korea

Wagner communications channels were silent, but some supporters and patriotic bloggers expressed disbelief. 'LAUGHABLE' EXPLANATIONWestern diplomats say Putin ordered the killing of Prigozhin after the humiliation of the mutiny. "Two heroes of great Russia died in this plane crash, just in case someone forgot, and not druggies," said the Southern Front Telegram channel. And that is why Prigozhin himself did not just die, but became a 'downed pilot'," Pastukhov wrote on Telegram. (But) he needs society to understand the hint unambiguously: this is how everyone (who betrays us) will be dealt with."

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Anton Vaganov, Putin, Vladimir Putin's intimation, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, CHVK, Vladimir Pastukhov, Pastukhov, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Embraer, Federal Security Service, Wagner, KGB, Southern Front Telegram, Zone, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, Said, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow

Aslan Bzhania, the self-styled president of Russian-backed Abkhazia, said an agreement had been signed for a permanent naval base in the Ochamchira region. Three of the Black Sea littoral states are NATO members - Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania. The news of the Russian base at Ochamchira, where the Soviet Union had a naval base, could indicate Russia is seeking alternatives to Sevastopol while also expanding its military presence down the Black Sea coast towards Turkey. The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia had withdrawn the bulk of its Black Sea Fleet from its main base in annexed Crimea due to Ukrainian attacks. At his meeting with Bzhania on Wednesday, Putin did not say anything about a naval base.

Persons: Izvestiya Putin, Vladimir Putin, Aslan Bzhania, Bzhania, Izvestiya, Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Abkhazia Abkhaz, Ukrainian, Russian Navy, NATO, Soviet, Street Journal, Thomson Locations: Abkhazia, Russia, Sevastopol MOSCOW, Georgian, Sevastopol, Moscow, Ukraine, Ochamchira, South Ossetia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, Syria, Soviet Union, Crimea

Russia has been bolstering its armed forces and ramping up weapons production in the expectation of a long war in Ukraine, where front lines have barely shifted for a year. "There are no plans for an additional mobilisation," Shoigu was shown telling top generals on state television. "The armed forces have the necessary number of military personnel to conduct the special military operation." Putin ordered a "partial mobilisation" of 300,000 reservists in September last year, prompting hundreds of thousands of young men to flee Russia to avoid being sent to fight. While Ukraine was able to win back territory last year from Russia in attacks which humiliated the Russian armed forces, this year has been different.

Persons: Anton Vaganov, Shoigu, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Putin, Mark Milley, Milley, Dmitry Peskov, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Defence, West, Belfer, Harvard Kennedy School, CNN, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Leningrad Region, MOSCOW, Russian, That's, United States

President Vladimir Putin, who rules the world's biggest nuclear power, has repeatedly cautioned the West that any attack on Russia could provoke a nuclear response. The Soviet Union's last nuclear test took place in 1990. The United States' last nuclear test took place in 1992 and France and China conducted their last nuclear tests in 1996, according to the United Nations. Simonyan said the Ukraine crisis was moving towards a nuclear ultimatum and that the West would not stop until Russia sent a nuclear message. He also cautioned that if the United States returned to nuclear testing, then Russia would resume too.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Margarita Simonyan, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Simonyan, Putin, Russia's, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Nick Macfie, Gareth Jones Organizations: Donetsk, Kremlin, New York Times, Soviet, United, United Nations, RT, Soviet Union, Washington, Thomson Locations: Russian, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Siberia Kremlin, MOSCOW, Russia, Moscow, Siberia, United States, France, China, Ukraine, Alamogordo , New Mexico, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Soviet, Ban, Soviet Union

[1/5] A woman mourns next to a makeshift memorial for Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, as people mark 40 days since his death to respect an Orthodox tradition, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 1, 2023. It is still unclear what caused the plane to crash two months to the day since Prigozhin's failed mutiny. The Kremlin said on Aug. 30 that investigators were considering the possibility that the plane was downed on purpose. At memorials in Moscow and other Russian cities dozens of Wagner fighters and ordinary Russians paid their respects, though there was no mass outpouring of grief. Putin was on Friday shown meeting one of the most senior former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group and discussing how best to use "volunteer units" in the Ukraine war.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Anton Vaganov, Prigozhin, Prigozhin's, Violetta, Pavel, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Mikhail, Marta, Dmitry Utkin, Hope, Anton Yelizarov, Guy Faulconbridge, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, State, Embraer, KGB, Reuters, United States, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow, Ukraine, Rostov, Mali

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