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☆ Ukraine drones attack multiple oil refineries in the campaign against Russia's strategic energy industry
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine attacked another Russian oil refinery on Saturday night. AdvertisementA long week of attacks on oil and gas infrastructureThis past week, Ukraine has made a concerted effort to degrade Russia's oil production capabilities. The governor of Russia's Samara Oblast reported on March 16 that Ukrainian drones had attacked two Rosneft oil refineries. One attack had hit another major oil refinery operated by Lukoil in the southwestern Volgograd region. Similar incidents had occurred across Russia in January, hitting the Slavneft-Yanos oil refinery, an oil refinery in Tuapse, a storage facility in Klintsy, and a Baltic sea Ust-Luga terminal.

Persons: —, Ukrainska, Russia's, Andriy Yermak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelensky, Краснодарському кра РосВдео Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Business, Astra, Ukrainska Pravda, Security Services, Security Service, Stringer, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Reuters, Staff, Lukoil, НПЗ Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Krasnodar, Moscow, Russia, Russia's Samara Oblast, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Leningrad, Lukoil's Norsi, Russia's Belgorod, Norsi, Ukrainian, Volgograd, Tuapse, Klintsy, Baltic

☆ Oil prices underpinned by U.S. inventory data, attacks on Russian refineries
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This picture taken on Jan.12, 2024 shows onshore oil pumps in Tutong district in Brunei. Oil extended gains in Asian trade on Thursday after a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles indicated strengthening demand, while possible supply disruptions following Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries also underpinned prices. After seriously damaging Lukoil's refinery in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday, Ukraine hit refineries in the Rostov and Ryazan regions, Russian officials said. Two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that the refinery had been forced to shut down two primary oil refining units. Gasoline inventories slid for a sixth straight week, falling by 5.7 million barrels to 234.1 million barrels, the EIA said, triple the expectations for a 1.9 million-barrel draw.

Persons: Vladimir Putin Organizations: Oil, U.S, West Texas, Rosneft's, Reuters, Energy Information Administration, EIA Locations: Tutong district, Brunei, Brent, Ukrainian, Nizhny Novgorod, Ukraine, Rostov, Ryazan, Rosneft's, Russian, Russia, U.S, Gulf

☆ Ukraine drone strikes: Russia oil refineries hit as Kyiv steps up drone attacks before Putin’s election
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Ukraine launched overnight drone attacks on three oil refineries deep inside Russia, a Ukrainian defense source told CNN on Wednesday, as Kyiv intensifies its cross-border strikes days before President Vladimir Putin’s anticipated re-election. It marked the second consecutive day of Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy sites, and the locations targeted represent a spate of attacks well within Russia’s territory. The border region of Belgorod has taken the brunt of Ukraine's cross-border attacks during the war. Russia’s Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said 10 civilians were injured and six were hospitalized in the region on Tuesday. During a lengthy interview on state television channel Rossiya 1 on Wednesday, Putin said Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and Kursk are happening amid Kyiv’s “failures” on the battlefield.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Stringer, Pavel Malkov, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Putin, ” Putin, “ Organizations: CNN — Ukraine, CNN, Getty, Social Locations: Russia, Kyiv, Ukraine, Ryazan, Moscow, Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia’s, Ukrainian, Tyotkino, Russia’s Kursk, Belgorod, AFP, Leningrad, Finland, Oryol, Odnorobovka, Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Nekhoteevka, Spodariushino, Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia attacked by wave of Ukrainian drones, shelling; Vatican rows back on 'white flag' comments
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russian authorities said seven regions were targeted by a wave of Ukrainian drones overnight, with attacks carried out against the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Leningrad, Moscow, Oryol and Tula regions. Air defense systems destroyed and intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones (also known as UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles) overnight over the regions, the Russian Ministry of Defense said, according to a statement published by the Tass news agency. In a separate report, Tass cited the defense ministry as saying it had foiled a separate attempt to target the border region of Belgorod with missiles and shelling. "In the morning, the Kstovo industrial zone, a fuel and energy complex facility, was attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian territory with drones on previous occasions, however, particularly targeting energy and fuel infrastructure, such as oil refineries.

Persons: Gleb Nikitin, Holly Ellyatt Organizations: Russian Ministry of Defense, Tass, Russian Federation, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ministry of Defense, CNBC Locations: Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Leningrad, Moscow, Oryol, Tula, Kiev, Nizhny Novgorod, Ukraine

☆ Alexey Navalny: Arrests, vigils, and Kremlin silence as Russia marks Putin critic’s death
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The prosecutor’s office in Moscow warned that any demonstrations in the capital over the death of Navalny were forbidden. Stringer/ReutersSince Navalny’s death more than 366 people have been detained, according to OVD-Info, an independent Russian human rights group that monitors Russian repression. “Navalny’s death is terrible: hopes have been smashed,” he said. On some of Russia’s state media channels, however, reports of Navalny’s death have been scant. The claims follow condemnation from Russia’s foreign ministry over the West’s response to Navalny’s death.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Putin, “ Putin, Josef Stalin, SOTA, Stringer, Vladimir Putin’s “, ”, “ Navalny, Alexander, Andrei Bok, Mikhail, Surgut, Alexei Navalny, Peter Nicholls, Maria Zakharova, –, “, CNN’s Eve Brennan, Uliana Pavlova Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Don, Nizhny, Russian, Russian Embassy, CIA, Russia, Foreign, NATO, Putin, Kremlin Locations: Russia, Berlin, Paris, Hague, ”, Moscow, Siberian, Novosibirsk, St Petersburg, Murmansk, Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod, OVD, Ukraine, Germany, Soviet, Surgut, Siberia, St . Petersburg, Belgorod –, Chelyabinsk, Russia’s, London

☆ Putin likely chose Tucker Carlson because of his ignorance of Russia, and it showed
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Putin likely chose Carlson because of his ignorance of Russia and its history. Putin steamrolled Carlson with two hours of dubious history that he used to justify war on Ukraine. AdvertisementTucker Carlson claimed to be venturing into territory no other Western journalist had dared in interviewing Russian president Vladimir Putin. But when the interview was released on Thursday, another likely reason Putin chose the former Fox News host for the two-hour interview became clear. In response to earlier allegations that he's a pawn of Putin , Carlson told Axios in 2022: "I could care less."

Persons: Tucker Carlson, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Putin, Carlson, Putin steamrolled Carlson, —, Vladimir Putin, MAGA, Big Vlad, showboat, Ian Garner, Rurik of, he's, Axios, I've, I'm Organizations: Fox News, Service, UN Human Rights, Ukraine, CIA, NATO Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Rurik of Novgorod, United States

☆ Russians are freezing as Soviet-era infrastructure in the country crumbles —and Moscow keeps spending on war
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Heating systems are breaking down in Russia's harsh winter, leaving many people freezing. Much of Russia's Soviet-era infrastructure needs modernizing. AdvertisementHeating systems are breaking down in Russia's harsh winter, leaving many people freezing as Moscow continues to spend on its war in Ukraine. The brutal conditions are made worse because Russia's infrastructure is poorly maintained, with many of its facilitates dating from the Soviet era, according to media reports. About 40% of the communal heating grid in the country needs to be replaced urgently, she added.

Persons: —, Svetlana Razvorotneva, Vladimir Putin, Denis Volkov, ” Organizations: Service, Financial Times, Reuters, “, Levada Center Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Siberia, Soviet, St . Petersburg, The, Russian, Nizhny Novgorod

☆ Russia is using electronic-warfare devices to stop Ukraine's drones — but it's messing up its internet access
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia is deploying electronic-warfare systems to counter drone attacks. The report, citing Russian telecommunications sources, said that LTE wireless broadband and electronic-warfare units both operate on the same frequencies. AdvertisementIt said that Russia may have turned off internet services while it tested electronic-warfare systems, or redeployed its air defenses. Electronic-warfare units work by scrambling the systems used to navigate drones to their targets. AdvertisementAccording to reports, GPS data in Poland and the Baltic region was recently disabled as a result of possible Russian electronic-warfare exercises.

Persons: it's, —, Russia's Organizations: Service, Kommersant, NATO Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Leningrad, Novgorod, Pskov, US, St Petersburg, Poland, Baltic

☆ Russian planes keep getting blown up in airfields hundreds of miles from the fighting, exposing embarrassing gaps in its defenses
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Multiple military aircraft have been damaged or destroyed in Russia this month. Military analysts told The Wall Street Journal that Ukraine has likely disabled more Russian aircraft while they were sitting in bases than it had in live combat. Russia's defense ministry blamed a Ukrainian drone for that attack too. Ukrainian drone attacks have also touched Moscow in recent weeks, in some cases prompting its airports to close down. Russian officials said on Wednesday that Ukrainian drones were fired at multiple Russian regions: Pskov, Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov, Ryazan and Moscow, Reuters reported.

Persons: Eliot Higgins, Russia's, recrimination, ISW Organizations: Service, Military, Wall Street Journal, Reuters Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Pskov, Ukrainian, Russia's Novgorod, Crimea, US, Russian, Moscow, Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov, Ryazan

☆ A Backfire bomber being blown apart deep inside Russia's territory is the latest in a string of glaring failures to protect its strategic bases
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Last weekend, an apparent drone strike destroyed a prized Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire bomber. The attack occurred far from the front lines of the war and may have been launched from inside Russia. The strike on a vulnerable Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire bomber is part of a growing list of Russian failures to protect its critical bases and vital aerial assets. If that's the case, it may speak to both Ukraine's expanding ability to threaten domestic Russian air bases and Russia's inability to protect them. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn the aftermath of the Tu-22M3 attack, there's a question of how Russia might adapt.

Persons: — Engels, Samuel Bendett, they're, Bendett, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, It's, Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko Organizations: Service, Russian Defense Ministry, Aviation, Center for Naval Analyses, Russia, Russian Aerospace Forces, NATO, Russian Defence Ministry, Kremlin, Nazi, Getty, Internal Affairs, Mobility Artillery, Systems Locations: Russian, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Saratov, Ryazan, Moscow, Novgorod Oblast, Russia's, Nazi Germany, AFP, Murmansk, Finland

☆ UK says a supersonic Russian bomber likely to have been destroyed in drone attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Host Photo Agency/RIA Novosti/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 22 (Reuters) - British military intelligence said on Tuesday that a weekend drone attack on an airfield deep inside Russia which Moscow blamed on Ukraine is highly likely to have destroyed a TU-22M3 supersonic long-range bomber. Kyiv, which on Monday claimed to have attacked another Russian military airfield, says Russia has used the TU-22M3 to bomb targets across Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that a military airfield in the Novgorod region where such planes are stationed had been attacked by a Ukrainian drone and one plane had been damaged. 'SUCCESSFUL ATTACK'In one of its regular updates on Ukraine, British military intelligence said that "a Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE medium bomber of Russia's Long Range Aviation (LRA) was highly likely destroyed at Soltsy-2 Air base in Novgorod Oblast, 650 km (403 miles) away from Ukraine’s border". Russia has often used supersonic TU-22M3 planes to bomb Ukraine, it added, criticising what it called the "notoriously inaccurate" heavy anti-ship missiles which the plane fires.

Persons: Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones, Giles Elgood Organizations: Tupolev, REUTERS, Agency, RIA, Moscow, Russia's Defence, Aviation, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Novgorod, Ukrainian, British, Soltsy, Novgorod Oblast, Ukraine’s

☆ Deep strike drone attack on key Russian bomber highlights Ukraine's 'psychological' reach within Russia's own borders, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A drone attack destroyed a Russian bomber at an airbase in the country over the weekend. A Ukrainian news outlet said agents working with Ukrainian intelligence were responsible. The supersonic bomber was likely destroyed in an attack over the weekend, the UK Ministry of Defense said in a Tuesday intelligence update. #BREAKING A flagship Russian long-range bomber has been destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike. Ukrainian news outlet New Voice of Ukraine reported that agents operating with Ukrainian intelligence were responsible for the attack, claiming two additional aircraft were also destroyed in the strike.

Persons: UH9lym21Bu, Michael Bociurkiw, there's, Simon Miles, Vladimir Putin, Miles, Ben Hodges, Hodges Organizations: Ukraine, Service, UK Ministry of Defense, Tupolev, BBC, Duke University's Sanford School of Public, Soviet Union, Russian, New, US Army, Russia Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Ukraine, Soltsky, Novgorod, Tupolev, Soltsy, St Petersburg, The, Soviet, Kyiv, Mariupol

☆ A prized Russian bomber was blown up 400 miles behind enemy lines, suggesting the attack came from inside Russia: UK intel
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Photos show a Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber destroyed at a base deep inside Russia, the BBC reported. The UK MOD said the attack likely came from within Russia as the drone could not fly all the way from Ukraine. UK intelligence analysts concluded that the type of drone, paired with the location, meant the attack likely originated from hostile units within Russia itself. The aircraft type has been used by frequently Russia to attack Ukrainian cities, the BBC and the UK Ministry of Defense said. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a small number of attacks have taken place inside Russia.

Persons: Vladimir Putin Organizations: BBC, MOD, Service, UK Ministry of Defense, New Locations: Russian Tupolev, Russia, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russia's, Ukrainian, Novgorod, Tupolev, St Petersburg, Mariupol, Soltsky

☆ Ukrainian strikes reportedly hit bases in Russia housing supersonic warplanes
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Ivana Kottasová Tim Lister Svitlana Vlasova Mariya Knight Gianluca Mezzofiore Eve Brennan Olga Voitovych Sarah El Sirgany | Ivana Kottasová | Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Ukrainian forces appear to have stepped up their efforts to weaken Russian air superiority in the war by attacking bases that house supersonic warplanes deep inside Russian territory. Over the weekend, Russia’s defense ministry said another Ukrainian drone hit the Soltsy military airfield in the Novgorod region, also hundreds of kilometers north of Ukraine. The Shaykovka military air base operates Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bombers that have been used by Russia to strike targets in Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion last year. Degrading moraleThe attack on Monday was the second strike against a Russian air base housing powerful hardware in just three days. Ukrainian media reported that attacks on Russian bases over the past few days have destroyed several aircraft including two bombers, citing unnamed Ukrainian defense intelligence officials.

Persons: Shaykovka, Andriy Yusov, Yusov, Tupolev, YURI KADOBNOV, Baza –, –, ” Mash, Vladislav Shapsha, ” Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Tupolev, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Main Directorate of Intelligence, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Getty, Russian Telegram, Russia’s Defense, Planet Labs, for, Russian Ministry of Defense Locations: Ukrainian, Novgorod, Ukraine, Netherlands, Denmark, Russia, Russia’s Kaluga, AFP, Russian, Kirov, Soltsy, Washington

☆ Moscow says warplane damaged in Ukrainian drone attack on airfield
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Aug 19 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone targeted a military airfield in Russia's Novgorod region, causing a fire and damaging one warplane, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday. In a separate statement cited by Russian news agencies, the Defence Ministry said a Ukrainian plane-type drone had been shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased in recent months. One smashed into a building in central Moscow on Friday after Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air traffic at all civilian airports of the Russian capital. Overnight, Russia's air defence forces also shot down a Ukraine-launched missile over the Crimean peninsula, the Defence Ministry said earlier.

Persons: Gareth Jones, Frances Kerry, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Russia's Defence, Defence Ministry, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Ukrainian, Russia's Novgorod, Novgorod, Moscow, Russia's, Ukraine, Belgorod, Russia, Crimea

CNN —Russia temporarily shuttered all four major Moscow airports early on Friday morning following an alleged drone strike on the capital city, its civil aviation authority said. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Friday that Russian air defenses shot down a drone over the capital city overnight. The incident on Friday was the third time in the past month that this district of Moscow has been struck by drone debris. “The Kiev regime launched another terrorist attack using a drone against facilities in Moscow and Moscow region on August 18 at 4:00 Moscow time,” the ministry said in a statement, using the Russian spelling of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Last month, Kyiv said Ukrainian forces carried out a drone strike in Moscow and warned more strikes were to come.

Persons: Sergey Sobyanin, “, Shamil Zhumatov, Mykhailo Fedorov, Volodymyr Zelensky, Rosaviatsiya Organizations: CNN, Russia, Moscow, Russian Defense Ministry, Reuters, Kyiv, Transformation Ministry, “ Army, Drones, Russian Association of Tour Locations: Moscow, Sheremetyevo, Zhukovsky, Expocentre, Ukraine, Kiev, Kyiv, Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, Russia, Reuters Ukraine, Crimea, Ukrainian, Nizhny Novgorod, St, Petersburg, Minsk, Belarus

☆ The Russian military is offering up to 10x an average salary to fill its ranks depleted by Ukraine invasion casualties
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An investigation has found that Russia has been using a popular job website to entice war recruits. Some of the roles offer salaries 10x the average Russian monthly salary of 63,060 rubles ($810). Military employers searching on the site included the 43rd Regiment of the Russian Guard and the contractual recruitment office for military service in Tver Oblast and the Kemerovo and Novgorod regions. Last month, the Russian military launched a video campaign to lure more soldiers into fighting in Ukraine. The Russian military has consistently hinted at the possibility of a second mass mobilization, with one expected at the beginning of the year and another in April.

☆ Russian nationalist writer describes surviving attack Moscow blamed on U.S., Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A view shows a damaged white Audi Q7 car lying overturned on a track next to a wood, after Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin was allegedly wounded in a bomb attack in a village in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, May 6, 2023. REUTERS/Anastasia MakarychevaMay 7 (Reuters) - The prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, on Sunday described breaking both legs in a car bomb that killed his driver and which Moscow blamed on the United States and Ukraine. Russia's Foreign Ministry blamed Ukraine and the Western states backing it, particularly the United States, for the attack on the writer, an ardent proponent of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he believed Russian authorities had staged the attack. He said the regional Nizhny Novgorod governor, Gleb Nikitin, had sent a helicopter to fly him to the city in 16 minutes, sparing him a three-hour drive.

☆ Zakhar Prilepin: Russia says bombing of military blogger is 'a terrorist act'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Mariya Knight | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russia has blamed the “Kyiv regime” and several Western nations for the bombing of military blogger Zakhar Prilepin’s car on Saturday. The claim was made by a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, but she provided no proof for the allegation. The incident follows the death of another Russian military blogger last month. The Russian Investigative Committee called the latest incident “a terrorist act” and said it plans to investigate the blast as such. Russian pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported that Prilepin had surgery earlier on Saturday and is at the hospital in stable condition.

☆ Russian Nationalist Is Wounded in Car Explosion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Ann M. Simmons | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Zakhar Prilepin at a press conference in Moscow in 2021. Photo: Sergei Bobylev/Zuma PressA prominent Russian nationalist writer and politician was wounded in an explosion of his car on Saturday, the latest in a string of unexplained incidents in Russia. Zakhar Prilepin’s car was being driven in the western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod when it blew up, killing the driver, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

☆ Car Bombing Injures Prominent Russian Nationalist, State Media Reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A car bombing has wounded a prominent Russian nationalist writer and killed his driver, state media reported on Saturday. The state-run Tass news agency said that the writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was wounded but conscious. Preliminary information showed that an explosive device had been planted under Mr. Prilepin’s car in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, Tass reported, but did not say who was believed to be behind the attack. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, called it a “terrorist bombing,” saying in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that Mr. Prilepin’s driver had been killed. The governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin, said that Mr. Prilepin suffered minor fractures.

CNN —A Russian military blogger has been injured and his driver killed after their car was blown up, Russian state media reported, the latest attack on a pro-war figure. Zakhar Prilepin was hospitalized with a leg injury in the blast in the Nizhny Novgorod region, about 250 miles east of Moscow, TASS said. There is a war going on.”Last month another military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg. Nationalist writers are a key part of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine, strongly supporting the war in Ukraine but given unusual freedom to criticize its conduct. Unlike Russian state media, many of the most influential military bloggers have not shied away from criticizing Moscow for its battlefield defeats including the withdrawal from Kherson in November or, most recently, the stalling of the drawn-out fight for Bakhmut.

☆ Russian carmaker files third lawsuit against Volkswagen
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Volkswagen AG FollowGaz PAO FollowMay 6 (Reuters) - Russian carmaker GAZ (GAZA.MM) has filed a lawsuit worth 15.6 billion roubles ($200.5 million) against Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), court records show, adding to two others filed earlier this year. The lawsuit, details of which have not been published, was filed with the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Arbitration Court on Friday. Earlier this year, GAZ filed two lawsuits against the German carmaker seeking a total of around $545 million in losses and damages, saying VW's moves to exit the Russian market had put its interests at risk. It initially persuaded a court to freeze Volkswagen's assets in Russia pending court proceedings - a decision the court reversed in April. Volkswagen is preparing to sell its Russian assets, including its flagship plant in the city of Kaluga that has annual production capacity of 225,000 vehicles, but no decision has been made and Russian government approval is pending.

The novelist is an outspoken champion of Russia's war in Ukraine and has boasted of taking part in military combat there. He was the third prominent pro-war figure to be targeted by a bomb since Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. [1/2] A view shows a destroyed vehicle, which transported Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin allegedly wounded in a car bombing in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, May 6, 2023. On Wednesday, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to kill President Vladimir Putin with a night-time drone attack on the Kremlin. TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as declining to comment on Saturday's car bomb in the absence of information from investigators.

☆ Russian nationalist writer wounded in car bombing, one dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 6 (Reuters) - A prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was wounded in a car bombing on Saturday that Russia immediately blamed on Ukraine and the West. It separately quoted a source in the emergency services as saying the writer was wounded but conscious after the explosion. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram: "The fact has come true: Washington and NATO fed another international terrorist cell - the Kyiv regime." Zakhar is OK."Two leading pro-war Russian propagandists have been killed in bombings since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. Darya Dugina, the daughter of a nationalist ideologue, died in a car bombing near Moscow in August, while military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a bomb attack in a St Petersburg cafe last month.

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