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☆ 'They're just meat': Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

"Storm fighters, they're just meat," said one regular soldier from army unit no. He said he didn't know why the commander gave the order, but claimed that it typified how Storm-Z fighters were considered of lesser value than ordinary troops by officers. Three of the five Storm-Z fighters interviewed by Reuters, and the relatives of three other Storm-Z fighters, described nightmarish engagements that saw much of their squads wiped out. At a televised meeting with a small group of regular Russian servicemen, he said he was aware that two of their comrades, former prison inmates, had been killed in action. Three Storm-Z fighters said they were offered wages of about 200,000 roubles ($2,000) per month, though said they had been paid roughly half that amount, on average.

Persons: Polina Nikolskaya, Maria Tsvetkova, who've, Wagner, Reuters wasn't, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Josef Stalin, Artyom, Shchikin, Vladimir Rogov, Rogov, Shchikin's, Z, Igor, they'd, we've, Christian Lowe, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, REUTERS Acquire, Maria Tsvetkova LONDON, Convicts, Storm, Reuters, Kremlin, 237th, Intelligence Team, Institute for, Red Army, 291st Guards, Rifle Regiment, 291st, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Bakhmut, Russia, Russian, Ukrainian, U.S, Soviet, Mordovia, Zaporizhzhia, Geneva, France, Siberia

☆ Russian military repelling drone attack in Pskov, four planes damaged -officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 30 (Reuters) - Russia's military is repelling a drone attack at an airport in the airport in the city of Pskov in western Russia, where four transport aircraft were damaged, officials said early on Wednesday. "The Ministry of Defence is repelling a drone attack on Pskov airport," Pskov Governor Mikhail Vedernikov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Tass news agency, quoting emergency services, said four Il-76 transport aircraft, long the workhorse of the Russian military, were damaged at the military airfield. "As a result of the drone attack, four Il-76 aircraft were damaged. Videos posted by Russian media showed thick black smoke rising over the airport.

Persons: Mikhail Vedernikov, Maria Tsvetkova, Ron Popeski Organizations: Ministry of Defence, Tass, Russian, Thomson Locations: Pskov, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, New York, Lincoln

☆ Russia downs drone near Moscow, suspends flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 26 (Reuters) - Russia reported a new drone attack on Moscow in the early hours of Saturday, which again forced the authorities to temporarily shut down all three major airports serving the capital. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that a drone was brought down by air defence systems over the Istra district of the Moscow region. Three major Moscow airports, Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo, suspended flights for couple of hours on Friday, TASS news agency reported. Although the attacks have not caused extensive damage, their intensity has forced the Russian authorities to temporarily shut down airports serving the capital several times this week. Ukraine did not immediately comment and almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Persons: Sergei Sobyanin, Maria Tsvetkova, Lidia Kelly, Sandra Maler, Robert Birsel Organizations: Moscow, TASS, Kremlin, Ukrainian, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, Istra, Sheremetyevo, Russian, Crimean, Ukraine, New York, Warsaw

☆ Ukraine says it hit Russian military base in annexed Crimea
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aug 26 (Reuters) - Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency said on Friday a Ukrainian drone attack had hit a Russian military base deep inside annexed Crimea, while residents reported casualties, explosions and a road closure. Ukrainian intelligence officials said the attack struck Russia's 126th Coastal Defence Brigade based in Perevalnoye, a town more than 200 km (120 miles) from Ukraine-controlled territory. Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, declaring it Russian territory. The United States says it supports Ukrainian attacks on Russian military targets on the Black Sea peninsula of because it should be demilitarised. "Why was a gate to the military town closed?"

Persons: Ukraine's, Andriy Yusov, Kyrylo Budanov, Abdul Has, Vlad, Julia Julia, Lis, Maria Tsvetkova, William Mallard Organizations: Coastal Defence Brigade, Thomson Locations: Ukrainian, Russian, Crimea, Russia, Russia's, Perevalnoye, Ukraine, Moscow, Ukraine's Crimea, United States, New York

☆ Pro-Kyiv Russians urge Wagner Group to revenge Prigozhin's death
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aug 25 (Reuters) - A group of Russian militants who fight on the Ukrainian side called on the Wagner Group of mercenaries to switch sides and join their ranks to revenge the deaths of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and their commander Dmitry Utkin. Russian air authorities have said Prigozhin, Utkin and eight other people were on a private plane that crashed with no survivors north of Moscow on Wednesday. "To take revenge you need to switch to Ukraine's side," the commander said. RVC commander Kapustin, a far-right Russian national, founded the armed group a year ago. RVC fights on the Ukrainian side and has said it was behind several military attacks on Russian border regions.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, Denis Kapustin, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Kapustin, Maria Tsvetkova, Michael Perry Organizations: Wagner Group, Russian Volunteer Corps, Russian, Pentagon, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Rostov, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, New York

☆ Explosion, smoke reported in Moscow business district - RIA
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Aug 23 (Reuters) - An explosion was heard in Moscow's business district early on Wednesday, Russia's RIA news agency reported. The agency also said that smoke was seen in the area. One of the buildings in the central district, 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the Kremlin, was hit by a Ukrainian drone early on Saturday. Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova in New York; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Maria Tsvetkova, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Ukrainian, New York

☆ Russia may annex Georgian breakaway regions -Medvedev
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sputnik/Yekaterina Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreAug 23 (Reuters) - The deputy chair of the Russian security council Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow may annex Georgia's breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia. "The idea of joining Russia is still popular in Abkhazia and South Ossetia," Medvedev, a former Russian president, wrote in an article published early on Wednesday by Argumenty I Fakty newspaper. Moscow recognised their independence in 2008, following Georgia’s attempt to regain control of South Ossetia by force that led to a Russian counter-attack. Georgian officials have repeatedly said they are committed to joining the U.S.-led military alliance that would preserve the territorial integrity of the country. Russia declared the annexations four provinces of Ukraine in September last year, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, but none of the annexations are recognised internationally.

Persons: Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Argumenty, Maria Tsvetkova, Grant McCool Organizations: Russia's, Scientific, Machine, Sputnik, NATO, U.S, Thomson Locations: Reutov, Moscow, Russia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Russian, Ukraine, Georgia, Soviet Union, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, New York

☆ Two Ukrainian drones shot down over Moscow region, flights briefly disrupted - Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Stringer Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Russia shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region with no casualties and brought down a further two drones over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. A Reuters reporter in the town of Krasnogorsk in the Moscow region, seat of the Moscow regional government, saw minor damage to tiling on a high-rise residential building and shattered glass exterior window panes in a few of its apartments. At least two people were injured a day earlier when parts of a Ukrainian drone destroyed by Russian air defences fell on a house in the Moscow region, the regional governor said. The Russian defence ministry said that nobody had been hurt in the latest attack. "Two drones were detected and destroyed by air defence systems over the territory of the Moscow region."

Persons: Stringer, GUR, Andriy Yusov, Andrew Osborn, Maria Tsvetkova, Jacqueline Wong, Michael Perry, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Russian Defence Ministry, Reuters, Police, Kremlin, TASS, Russian, Thomson Locations: Krasnogorsk, Russia, Moscow, Bryansk, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Odintsovo, Chastsy, Russian, Kyiv, Moscow's, Kaluga, New York

☆ Putin meets top generals in charge of Russia's war efforts in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses participants of the international military-technical forum Army-2023 via a video link in Moscow, Russia, in this picture released August 14, 2023. "Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the headquarters of the special military operation group in Rostov-on-Don," the Kremlin said in a statement. Russia, which launched its invasion in Ukraine in February 2022, calls its actions a special military operation. The Kremlin added that Putin, Russia's supreme commander-in-chief, listened to reports from Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Army in charge of Moscow's operations in Ukraine, and other top military commanders and officers. Gerasimov, who has been seen rarely in public in recent months, had been the target of savage criticism from Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and some Russian military bloggers over Russia's failings in the war.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Putin, Russia's, Valery Gerasimov, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Maria Tsvetkova, Mrinmay Dey, Lidia Kelly, William Mallard, Kim Coghill Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS, Kremlin, Staff, Army, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Ukraine, Rostov, Ukraine's, Russian, Urozhaine, Donetsk, Azov, Crimea

☆ Russia labels former Putin adviser 'foreign agent'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 19 (Reuters) - Former Kremlin economic adviser Andrei Illarionov was added to a registry of foreign agents, Russia's Justice Ministry said late on Friday, a designation the government applies to opponents. Illarionov, who resigned from the Kremlin in 2005 and moved to the United States, is critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has called Russian policies of recent years "a catastrophe". The Russian Justice Ministry said that Illarionov "spread false information" about Russian authorities and their decisions. Illarionov did not immediately comment on the designation. Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova in New York; Editing by Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Andrei Illarionov, Illarionov, Maria Tsvetkova, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Russia's, Ministry, Kremlin, Russian, Thomson Locations: Kremlin, United States, Ukraine, New York

☆ Ukrainian drone damages building in Moscow disrupting air traffic, Russia says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Russian air defences destroy Ukrainian droneDrone smashes into building in central MoscowNo casualties reportedFour Russian airports briefly suspend flightsMOSCOW, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone smashed into a building in central Moscow on Friday after Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air traffic at all the civilian airports of the Russian capital, Russian officials said. Reuters images showed workers and emergency workers inspecting a damaged roof of a non-residential building which the drone hit. "At about 4 am Moscow time, the Kyiv regime launched another terrorist attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle on objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region," the Russian defence ministry said. [1/5]Investigators work near a damaged roof following a reported Ukrainian drone shot down in Moscow, Russia, August 18, 2023. Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased since a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.

Persons: Sergei Sobyanin, Shamil Zhumatov, Maria Tsvetkova, Lidia Kelly, Mrinmay Dey, Jacqueline Wong, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Reuters, Moscow, REUTERS, Rights, Kremlin, Civilian, New York Times, United, Cuban Missile Crisis, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russian, MOSCOW, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Russia, Sheremetyevo, Zhukovsky, Ukraine, United States, Kremlin

☆ Russia's possession of nuclear arms is response to threats, Lavrov says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 19 (Reuters) - Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that possession of nuclear weapons protects Russia from security threats and Moscow keeps reminding the West of risks to prevent a conflict of nuclear powers. "The possession of nuclear arms is today the only possible response to some of significant external threats to security of our country," Lavrov said in an interview for state-owned magazine The International Affairs, published early on Saturday on the foreign ministry website. Last month, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow would have to use a nuclear weapon if Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian troops was a success. Lavrov said that the United States and NATO allies risk ending up in "a situation of direct armed confrontation of nuclear powers". U.S. President Joe Biden has called a threat of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons "real" while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said this week that the military alliance has not detected any changes to Russia's nuclear forces.

Persons: Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Dmitry Medvedev, Joe Biden, Jens Stoltenberg, Maria Tsvetkova, Diane Craft, Grant McCool Organizations: International Affairs, NATO, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, United States, New York

☆ Ukraine gets two IRIS-T air defense systems from Germany -Zelenskiy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a meeting with Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar (not pictured) at Horodetskyi House, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/Pool/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsKYIV, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine has received two IRIS-T air defense systems from Germany, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his address on Thursday. "Two new IRIS-T launchers have been delivered to Ukraine. This is a powerful and much-needed air defense system," he said and thanked Germany for supplying the weapons. Reporting by Nick Starkov in Kyiv, writing by Maria Tsvetkova in New York, editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Leo Varadkar, Clodagh, Nick Starkov, Maria Tsvetkova, Chris Reese Organizations: Ireland's, REUTERS, Rights, IRIS, Thomson Locations: Horodetskyi, Ukraine, Kyiv, Germany, Ukrainian, New York

☆ Russian war ships thwart Ukraine's attack near Crimea -Russian military
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Aug 17 (Reuters) - Two Russian war ships repelled a Ukrainian attack with an unmanned boat near Crimea on Thursday, the Russian defence ministry said. The patrol ships, the Pytlivy and the Vasili Bykov, fired at the Ukrainian boat and destroyed it, the military said. Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vasili Bykov, Maria Tsvetkova, Chris Reese Organizations: Thomson Locations: Crimea

☆ Ukraine says it has no hope of using F-16 fighter jets this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A F-16 fighter jet takes off during a media day of NATO's "Air Defender 23" military exercise at Spangdahlem U.S. Air Base near the German-Belgian border in Spangdahlem, Germany June 14, 2023. REUTERS/Jana Rodenbusch/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsKYIV, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine will not be able to operate U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets this coming autumn and winter, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television late on Wednesday. "It's already obvious we won't be able to defend Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets during this autumn and winter," Ihnat told a joint telethon broadcast by Ukrainian channels. "We had big hopes for this plane, that it will become part of air defence, able to protect us from Russia's missiles and drones terrorism," Ihnat said. Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar in Kyiv, writing by Maria Tsvetkova in New York, editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jana Rodenbusch, Yuriy Ihnat, Ihnat, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Joe Biden, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Maria Tsvetkova, Sandra Maler Organizations: Air, U.S . Air Base, REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Ukrainian, NATO, Thomson Locations: German, Belgian, Spangdahlem, Germany, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Moscow, Kyiv, New York

☆ Russian air strikes on western Ukraine kill at least three - officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A view shows a building damaged during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine August 15, 2023. The Volyn region borders NATO-member Poland to its west. Ukraine's Air Force said that its forces had destroyed 16 of at least 28 Russia-launched air and sea-based missiles. Until July, the Lviv region which is far from the front lines and which borders Poland to its west, had been spared most Russia's air attacks. Air raid alerts were issued for entire Ukraine for about two hours, staring at around 2 a.m. (2300 GMT).

Persons: Administration Maksym, Yuriy Pohulyaiko, Andriy Sadovyi, Sadovyi, Maxim Kozitsky, Serhiy Lisak, Lidia Kelly, Maria Tsvetkova, Kim Coghill, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Lviv Regional, Administration, REUTERS, NATO, Air Force, Lviv region's, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Lviv, Handout, Russia, Volyn, Lutsk, Poland, Dnipropetrovsk, Warsaw, New York

☆ Fire at Russian gas station kills 25, injures 66
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 15 (Reuters) - A fire at a gas station in the southern Russian region of Dagestan killed 25 people including three children, Interfax news agency reported early on Tuesday citing regional emergency medics. The fire started at an auto repair shop on the roadside of a highway in Dagestani capital Makhachkala on Monday night and caused blasts spreading to a nearby gas station, officials said. Rescuers work to put out a fire at the accident scene following an explosion at a gas station in the city of Makhachkala, Russia, August 14, 2023. The number of people injured rose to 66, 10 of whom are in a critical condition, RIA news agency said quoting the Russian deputy health minister Vladimir Fisenko. Thirteen of the wounded are children, Interfax reported citing the Dagestani health ministry.

Persons: Vladimir Fisenko, Maria Tsvetkova, Maxim Rodionov, Chris Reese, Muralikumar Organizations: Reuters, Russian Emergencies Ministry, TASS, Thomson Locations: Russian, Dagestan, Dagestani, Makhachkala, Russia, Republic of Dagestan, Handout

☆ Fire at Russian gas station kills 27, injures 66
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 15 (Reuters) - A fire at a gas station in the southern Russian region of Dagestan killed at least 27 people including three children, Interfax news agency reported early on Tuesday citing regional emergency medics. The fire started at an auto repair shop on the roadside of a highway in Dagestani capital Makhachkala on Monday night and caused blasts as it spread to a nearby gas station, officials said. Rescuers work to put out a fire at the accident scene following an explosion at a gas station in the city of Makhachkala, Russia, August 14, 2023. At least 66 people were injured, of whom 10 were in a critical condition, Russian deputy health minister Vladimir Fisenko said giving an update on casualties, RIA news agency reported. Thirteen of the wounded were children, Interfax reported citing the Dagestani health ministry.

Persons: Vladimir Fisenko, Maria Tsvetkova, Maxim Rodionov, Chris Reese, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Reuters, Russian Emergencies Ministry, TASS, Thomson Locations: Russian, Dagestan, Dagestani, Makhachkala, Russia, Republic of Dagestan, Handout

☆ Russian missile hits hotel used by UN in Zaporizhzhia -officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] A view shows a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine August 10, 2023. REUTERS/Viacheslav RatynskyiLVIV, Ukraine, Aug 10 (Reuters) - A Russian missile struck a hotel in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Thursday evening, leaving one dead and 16 injured, Ukrainian officials said. National police said an Iskander missile hit the city at 7:20 p.m. (1620 GMT). A fire broke out in a civilian building after the occupiers hit it with a missile," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Two young women and a man were killed and nine other people were wounded in a Russian missile attack on Wednesday.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Yuriy Malashko, Denise Brown, Maria Starkova, Maria Tsvetkova, Leslie Adler, Cynthia Osterman, Chris Reese Organizations: REUTERS, National, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, Viacheslav, LVIV, Ukrainian, Dnipro, Lviv, New York

☆ Exclusive: Wagner fighters neared Russian nuclear base during revolt
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

Reuters GraphicsOnce the Wagner fighters reach more rural regions, the surveillance trail goes cold – about 100 km from the nuclear base, Voronezh-45. But in an exclusive interview, Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the Wagner fighters went far further. The only barrier between the Wagner fighters and nuclear weapons, Budanov said, were the doors to the nuclear storage facility. It is one of Russia's 12 "national-level storage facilities" for nuclear weapons, according to a report by U.N. scientists. Another female resident also said Wagner had widespread support in the town, and that many Wagner fighters are from Boguchar.

Persons: Wagner, Ukraine's, Kyrylo Budanov, Budanov, Alexander Lukashenko, Adam Hodge, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Matt Korda, Vladimir Putin's, Hans Kristensen, David Jonas, Amy Woolf, Jonas, Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Staff Valery Gerasimov, Shoigu, Oleksiy Danilov, Don, Anna Sandrakova, Maxim Yantsov, Mikhail Vedernikov, Talovaya, Alexei Yablokov, Kristensen, Alexsandr Lukashenko, Dmitry Peskov, Lukashenko, he's, Mari Saito, Tom Balmforth, John Shiffman, Phil Stewart, Polina, Maria Tsvetkova, Anton Zverev, Christian Lowe, David Gauthier, Stephen Grey, Reade Levinson, Eleanor Whalley, Milan Pavicic, Daria Shamonova, Janet McBride Organizations: Reuters, Kremlin, Belarusian, U.S, White, National Security, Nuclear, Federation of American, Federation of American Scientists, U.S . National Nuclear Security Administration, Library, Congress, Wagner, State, Staff, Russian, Defence Ministry, Defence Council, Main, Russian Defence, U.S . Congress, Telegram, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russian, Voronezh, United States, Ukraine, Russia, Rostov, Talovaya, Soviet, Washington, dabble, Syria, Libya, Mali, ., Pavlovsk, Elizavetovka, Vorontsovka, Buturlinovka, Talovaya district, Pskov, Soviet Union, Belarus, Minsk, he's, St Petersburg, Kyiv, London, New York, Paris, Villars, Istanbul, Gdansk

The logo of Russia’s state gas company Gazprom was emblazoned on the shirts of players at the soccer club Toennies chaired. In Germany, Toennies’ story is far from unique. At the centre of Gazprom’s influence campaign was Schalke 04, the soccer club Toennies chaired at the time and which Gazprom began sponsoring in 2006. Russian gas imports have dropped dramatically and Germany is supplying tanks and other weapons systems to Ukraine. In 2001 Toennies assumed another of his older brother’s roles – chairman of soccer club Schalke 04.

Persons: Clemens Toennies, Vladimir Putin, Toennies, Willy Brandt, ”, Putin, Sberbank, Angela Merkel, “, ” Merkel, Bernd, Clemens, Putin’s, Alexei Gromov, Gromov, Gerhard Schroeder, Schroeder Organizations: Gazprom, Toennies, Schalke, Gazprom’s, Reuters, Miele, Volkswagen, Deutsche Telekom, ” Schalke, Chelsea, Kremlin, Former Locations: WIEDENBRUECK, Germany, Russia, Russian, Moscow, Ukraine, Berlin, Russians, Crimea, Gazprom, Rheda, German, Europe, Nord Stream, Dresden

One recipient of Parnas’ donations -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis -- has said he was barely an acquaintance. Two sources close to DeSantis during his 2018 campaign confirmed the texter’s number belonged to DeSantis at that time. “We became very friendly.”In 2018, Parnas was a well-known figure in Trump’s orbit, often seen with Giuliani. On June 21, 2018, Parnas’ company, Global Energy Producers, donated $50,000 to DeSantis’ campaign for governor. Three weeks later, DeSantis added, “Make sure he gives a lot.”Pereira later co-hosted a fundraiser for DeSantis with Parnas and his company donated $115,000 to DeSantis’ 2018 campaign, campaign finance records show.

That man was the military commandant of Balakliia, a key figure in Russia’s six-month occupation of the eastern Ukrainian town. Town residents knew the commandant only by his call sign of “Granit,” the Russian word for granite, as Reuters reported in an October investigation into Moscow’s withdrawal from the town. One of the documents listed Valery Sergeyevich Buslov as among the Russian officers present in Balakliia, stating his role was military commandant. He has served as the Kaliningrad garrison’s military commandant, responsible for maintaining discipline among troops and sailors stationed there, according to a 2019 military newspaper article. By May, the military commandant had arrived in Balakliia, according to Oleksandr, one of the two female residents and another local woman.

REUTERS/StringerSummary Prosecutors say officers took computers, documentsKolbasnikova: German authorities "committing lawlessness"Urges supporters to rally in CologneBERLIN/NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Monday they searched the home of two pro-Kremlin activists, looking for evidence to corroborate a Reuters report that the couple donated cash to buy radios for Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Under German law, the criminal penalty for anyone found to have violated sanctions is up to five years in prison. Ulf Willuhn, a representative of the Cologne public prosecutors, said officers executed a search warrant on Monday morning at the couple's address, and took computers and folders containing written documents. Kolbasnikova and Schlund did not immediately respond to requests for comment that Reuters sent to them on messaging apps. A spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, said this month that Kolbasnikova was the victim of persecution by the German authorities.

It has also denied that its military commanders are aware of sexual violence by soldiers. When Reuters asked for the identities of both soldiers, prosecutors provided only the name of the younger man. Russia has also accused Ukrainian forces of war crimes, including the execution of 10 prisoners of war. A U.N. human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has said that most of the dozens of sexual violence accusations pointed at the Russian military. So far, Ukrainian prosecutors have convicted 26 Russians of war crimes - some prisoners of war, some in absentia - of which one was for rape.

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