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☆ Why Russian separatists called an exorcist when they discovered a Ukrainian POW was an evangelical Christian
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Viktor Cherniiavskyi said he was targeted because he was an evangelical Christian. AdvertisementA Ukrainian soldier said he was tortured by Russian separatists and forced to undergo an exorcism , partly because of his evangelical Christian faith. While serving as a volunteer in the city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Cherniiavskyi said he was captured by Russian-aligned forces. Second, because I'm an evangelical Christian. "In reality, Russian society, and the Kremlin, to be more precise, hates any type of Christian denomination, bar the Orthodox Church," Cherniiavskyi said.

Persons: Viktor Cherniiavskyi, —, Cherniiavskyi, Vladimir Putin's, Putin's, NICHOLAS KAMM, Russia's, Pat Buchanan, Buchanan, Putin, Dmytro Smolienko, Pastor Dmitry Bodyu, Bodyu, Mykhailo Brytsyn, Evangelical Christians Melitopol, Pastor Brytsyn Organizations: Russia, Service, Putin's Russia, Getty, Russian Orthodox Church, Boston, Kremlin, Publishing, Atlantic Council, Reuters, Tavriski Christian Institute, Life, Russian, NBC, Dallas, Fort, Grace, Evangelical Christians, Freedom, Washington DC, Religious, Orthodox Locations: Ukrainian, Russian, Russia, Luhansk, Ukraine, Moscow, South Carolina, Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Melitopol, Fort Worth, Washington, Kyiv

☆ In its latest terror response, Russia is no longer attempting to disguise the brutality of its state security
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Their state appeared designed to create an impression of aggression and brutality, showing the consequences of crossing the Russian authorities. Though the brutality of Russia's security services has long been known, never has it been so brazenly paraded, say analysts. "It was no secret that Russian security agencies torture people, mutilate suspected terrorists and generally practice all known ways of extracting information. AdvertisementThe abuse of terror suspects in Russia has been documented before. But the treatment of the Moscow terror suspects seems to mark a new milestone in the normalization of brutality by officials in Putin's Russia.

Persons: —, Mukhammadsobir Faizov, Dalerdzhon, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin, Vladimir Putin, Mirzoyev, Rajabalizoda, Fariduni, mutilate, Anton Barbashin, Akram Azimov, Abror, lionized, Andrei Soldatov, Russia's Wagner, Kenneth Roth Organizations: Service, Business, CNN, Nazi, RFE, Human Rights Watch, St, New York Times, UN, Moscow ISIS, Kremlin, Human Rights Locations: Moscow, Tajikistan, Russia, St Petersburg, Ukraine, Putin's Russia

☆ I tutored the children of Russia's elite amid the backdrop of war. One teenager said he had his own massage therapist.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The agency counted some of Russia's elite among its clientele — so I was quickly thrust into a world of private jets, guarded estates, and personal chauffeurs. I worked in Moscow until Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when I was relocated to Monaco. I have a massage every day, I have my own massage therapist," he told us. AdvertisementBut the children often brought the topic up themselves, their comments ringing with the ideology they had likely absorbed at home.

Persons: —, Cameron Manley, Barts, Vladimir Putin, Ivan, Alexei, Elena, It's, Philippe Jacquemart, Jorg Greuel, Putin, Sasha Mordovets, getty, wryly, Elizaveta Organizations: Service, Business, Monaco penthouses, Monaco, Mandoga, Getty, Mercedes, Benz, United Arab, Russia's, Sirius Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Monaco, St, Caribbean, Rublevka, Saint, Nice, France, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Russian, Sochi, Kyiv

☆ Despite scenes of defiance, plenty of Russians support Putin as election nears
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Matthew Chance | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“Even though Alexey Navalny is dead, there is always hope,” she said, “I think there are always people who do not support Vladimir Putin,” she added. But as this election approaches, you can’t discount what so many ordinary Russians tell you, face to face. Asked about the war in Ukraine and if he held Putin responsible for Russia’s involvement, he replied: “No, we support him in it. What is unclear now, though, is how much longer that support will last, especially if Russian war casualties mount, crackdowns on dissent gather pace and economic hardships dig in. Even before the public mourning of Navalny, thousands of Russians came out to support the nomination of an anti-war presidential hopeful, Boris Nadezhdin, whose candidature was ultimately rejected by the Russian election authorities.

Persons: Russia’s, Vladimir Putin, Alexey Navalny, Alexey, “, Vera Savina, Yulia, ”, Putin, Dmitry, CNN “, ” Sergey, Artyom, CNN Artyom, Boris Nadezhdin Organizations: Moscow CNN, CNN, Russia, Getty, Levada Center Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Navalny, AFP, Soviet, Komi Republic, Russia’s, Russian

☆ Xi's growing paranoia and secrecy are signs of just how badly China's economy is doing
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Under Xi Jinping's rule, China's economy has slowed after decades of growth. After decades of growth, China's economy is slowing, with a property market crisis causing consumer debt, deflation, a slowdown in spending, and an unemployment crisis. Xi walks a tightropeAs well as moves to close down scrutiny, the Party is unveiling ambitious measures to boost China's economy. But analysts say China continues to face deep economic problems. China's growth target, which is in line with last year's official growth figures, appears modest in comparison to the 10% annual growth it has experienced on average for the past few decades.

Persons: Xi, Premier Li Qiang, —, Xi Jinping, Xi doesn't, Jonathan Ward, Ward, Ali Wyne, Li, Vladimir Putin's Organizations: Premier, Analysts, Service, Communist Party, The New York Times, Hudson Institute, Chinese Communist Party, Crisis, BBC Locations: China, Beijing, Vladimir Putin's Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Moscow, Tehran

☆ Sweden is exactly what the West needs to counter Putin's underhand tactics
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sweden this week became the newest member of the NATO alliance. On Tuesday, Hungary's parliament voted to approve Sweden's NATO membership in a move that may be exactly what the West needs to counter Putin and his underhand tactics. Sweden has accused Russia of spreading misinformation about Koran burnings to damage its bid for NATO membership. NATO has some major challengesDespite the boost from Sweden's membership, NATO still faces some of the gravest challenges in its history. "The same is true for Finland and Sweden's NATO membership."

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, He's, Putin, Oscar Jonsson, JONATHAN NACKSTRAND, Nima Khorrami, St, Russia's, It's, Shawn Coover, Emmanuel Macron, Jonsson, Khorammi, Donald Trump Organizations: NATO, Service, Russia, Swedish Defence University, Business, Forces, Swedish Amphibious Corps, US Marine Corps, Stockholm Archipelago, Getty, Arctic Institute, Staff, US Locations: Sweden, Ukraine, Russian, Hungary's, Russia, Baltic, Europe, Stockholm, NATO, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, USSR, Crimea, South Carolina, Western, Finland

☆ I was in Moscow the day Putin invaded Ukraine, and some Russians were in tears
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Russian police officers detain a woman during an unsanctioned protest rally against the military invasion on Ukraine, March,6, 2022, in Central Moscow, Russia. These quickly ceased when they saw Russian colleagues in tears, whose life savings had halved overnight. Russian friends began referring to Tbilisi as the "new Constantinople," referencing the city where anti-Bolshevik Russians fleeing the Communist revolution had taken refuge a century before. Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets French President Emmanuel Macron (R) on February 07, 2022 in Moscow, Russia. I stood at the glass window silently as the Russian border guard inspected my passport and now useless work permit.

Persons: —, Cameron Manley, Russia's, didn't, Vladimir Putin, Putin idi nakhui, Putin, Mir, Pushkin, Konstantin Zavrazhin, Alexey Malgavko, Stringer, Zelenskyy, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Karen Minasyan, pragmatically, gossiped, Emmanuel Macron Organizations: Service, Business, REUTERS, National Guard, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Armed Forces of, Facebook, Bolshevik, Communist, Kremlin Press, AP, Saint Locations: Edinburgh, Scotland, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia's, Europe, Russia, Central Moscow, Russian, Omsk, Kyiv, Armed Forces of Ukraine, seeping, Belarus, Yerevan, Armenia, AFP, Istanbul, Dubai, Tbilisi, Constantinople, St Petersburg, Helsinki, West, Switzerland, Saint Petersburg, Finland

The sudden death of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most formidable antagonist has left an open wound in Russia's political opposition. Navalny also was the first opposition leader in Russia to receive a lengthy prison sentence in recent years. In the three years since Navalny lost his freedom, multiple prominent dissidents were imprisoned, while others fled Russia under pressure. MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKYMikhail Khodorkovsky, 60, is a former tycoon turned Russian opposition figure in exile. Kara-Murza was an associate of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, another fierce Putin critic who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, Leonid Volkov, Maria Pevchikh, Ivan Zhdanov, Kira Yarmysh —, “ Alexei, ” Volkov, MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Khodorkovsky, Putin, Andrei Pivovarov, Garry Kasparov, Dmitry Gudkov, VLADIMIR KARA, MURZA, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Boris Nemtsov, Kara, Nemtsov, Sergei Magnitsky, Yevgenia, ILYA YASHIN Ilya Yashin, Navalny's, Yashin's, Yashin, ” Yashin Organizations: YouTube, Putin, TEAM, Corruption Foundation, Olympics, Kremlin, Putin's Russia —, U.S, Associated Press Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Black, Sochi, London, Putin's Russia, Washington, Moscow

☆ Navalny's Widow Joins EU Foreign Ministers as Ukraine War Nears Two-Year Mark
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Gabriela BaczynskaBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The widow of Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's nemesis who died in an Arctic prison last week, joins EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, days before the two-year mark of Russia's war on Ukraine. The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 ImagesNavalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, rose to prominence campaigning against corruption in Putin's Russia. The ministers are due to discuss military support for Ukraine and what would be the European Union's 13th package of sanctions against Moscow since it unleashed a full-scale invasion of its neighbour on Feb.24, 2022. Inside the EU, Germany has blocked replenishing a military fund used to supply Ukraine saying Berlin was contributing too much compared to other members. One senior EU diplomat said they believed it "will be able to make it in time" and agree the new punitive measures for Feb.24.

Persons: Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS, Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's, Yulia Navalnaya, Putin, Josep Borrell, Navalnaya's, Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Gabriela Baczynska, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Ukraine, Moscow, NATO, Kremlin, EU, Washington Locations: Russian, Brussels, Ukraine, Munich, Israel, Gaza, Russia, Putin's Russia, Siberia, United States, Europe, U.S, EU, Germany, Berlin, Hungary, Budapest, Kyiv, London, Sahel, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania

☆ Navalny's Death Leaves Despair and Apathy in Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"Navalny's death is terrible: hopes have been smashed," Nikitin said. The West, including U.S. President Joe Biden, blamed President Vladimir Putin for the death. "Navalny's death is very beneficial to Putin's opponents," said Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser. WEST 'NOT OUR FRIEND'At "Patriki", or Patriarch's Ponds, the centre of Moscow nightlife, many young Russians revelled away Friday night just hours after news of Navalny's death. "It is sad of course when anybody dies," Olga Kazakova, a Russian, told Reuters in central Moscow on Saturday.

Persons: Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, carnations, Vladimir Nikitin, Nikitin, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Putin, Navalny's, Africa's Nelson Mandela, Kira Yarmysh, Yulia, Sergei Markov, revelled, Olga Kazakova, Boris Nemtsov, Guy Faulconbridge, Frances Kerry Organizations: KGB, Reuters, CIA, DEATH, Munich Security Conference, Putin, Kremlin, Ukraine, WEST Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russia's, St Petersburg, Navalny, Avdiivka, West, Ukraine, Kremlin, Basil's

In the past, leading opposition figures in Putin’s Russia who stood up to him and who questioned his authority have tended to be dealt with harshly. Life in Putin's Russia View All 14 ImagesThe liberal Boris Nemtsov was killed, for instance, in 2015 outside the Kremlin (supposedly by agents linked to Putin’s FSB). He needs the election to be seen as “clean” as a means of cementing his legacy as Russian state leader. As leader, Putin has regularly been recorded as enjoying popular support. While Putin does appear now to enjoy a high degree of popularity in Russia (albeit largely media-engineered), this may not last.

Persons: Rod Thornton, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Tsar Peter the Great, Nikolai Kharitonov, Putin –, Yekaterina Duntsova, Boris Nemtsov, Alexei Navalny, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, –, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: Communist, Kremlin, St, International Studies , Defense, Security, King's College Locations: Russia, Soviet, Ukraine, Putin’s Russia, Siberia, Navalny, London, Russian, Moscow, St Petersburg

☆ From an Arctic Prison, Navalny Says Putin's Russia Will One Day Crumble
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Guy FaulconbridgeMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's most famous opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, said on Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin's state would one day crumble along with the post-Soviet elite which he cast as venal, power-hungry and duplicitous. Putin's state is not viable. Navalny, who has been sentenced to stay in jail until he is 74, has repeatedly warned that Putin's Russia is a state run by "thieves and criminals" and that one day there will be seismic change via revolt. Navalny is in jail, his movement is outlawed and most of his key supporters have fled abroad. Russia denies Navalny's claims that Russia's secret police poisoned him with Novichok.

Persons: Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW, Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's, lampooning, Navalny, Putin, Navalny's, Novichok, Guy Faulconbridge, William Maclean Organizations: CPSU, Communist Party of, U.S, CIA Locations: Soviet Union, Russia, Navalny, Germany, Siberia

☆ Putin Greets Kids, Views 'Nuclear Button' as Re-Election Bid Nears
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Dec. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

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. Putin was shown a replica of Stalin's office during his exhibition tour. 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: Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan MOSCOW, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Oleg Saitov, Boris Yeltsin, Josef Stalin, Catherine the Great, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: Kremlin, State Locations: Soviet, Ukraine, Belarus, Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, Putin's Russia, London

[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

MOSCOW, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Russia's industrial output growth slowed in October as the unemployment rate dropped to a record low 2.9%, federal statistics showed on Wednesday, with deepening labour shortages showing signs of cooling Moscow's military production capacity. Analysts say wages are growing faster than productivity and the central bank has warned of the impact it has on inflation. Industrial output rose 5.3% year-on-year in October, down from a 5.6% rise in September and driven once again by military production. Rosstat said industrial output had grown since March at a monthly rate of more than 5% compared with the corresponding months of 2022. But when discounting seasonal factors, industrial production dropped 0.4% in October, Rosstat said.

Persons: Maxim Oreshkin, Vladimir Putin, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Rosstat, Alexander Marrow, Darya, Alex Richardson, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Kremlin, Reuters, VW, Central Bank Governor, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Volkswagen's, Moscow, Ukraine, Putin's Russia

"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

☆ China's plan to seize on global chaos and supplant the US may be working
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

China's Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden are meeting in San Francisco at the APEC summit. AdvertisementPresident Joe Biden seems keen to ease tensions with his main global rival, China's leader Xi Jinping, against a backdrop of global chaos and conflict. Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose with heads of delegations participating in the Third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on October 18, 2023. Sun, the Stimson Center expert, said Xi will be seeking to use the meeting to burnish his image as a global statesman and head off China's economic woes. But whatever agreements Xi brokers with the US president it's unlikely to change his core mission: Chinese global dominance.

Persons: China's Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, —, Xi Jinping, SERGEI, Jonathan Ward, Vladimir Putin, Biden, Xi, Putin, GRIGORY SYSOYEV, Ward, Yun Sun, Jeremy Chan, SAUL LOEB, Xi's, it's Organizations: APEC, Service, Economic Cooperation, Getty Images, Atlas Group, Russia's, Forum, Stimson Center, Eurasia Group, Getty Locations: San Francisco, China, Ukraine, Asia, East, Russia, Iran, Getty Images China, Beijing, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Europe, Ethiopia, Argentina, Nusa Dua, Bali, Taiwan

☆ Russia puts Pussy Riot member on international wanted list - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian punk music group Pussy Riot, critical of the country's regime, perform during their anti-war concert tour, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at Shedhalle concert hall in Berlin, Germany May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A Moscow court on Tuesday put Lyusya Shtein, a member of Pussy Riot who fled abroad, on an international wanted list for spreading knowingly "fake" information about the Russian armed forces, state news agency TASS reported. Pussy Riot, a feminist opposition group, rose to prominence by donning balaclavas and storming into Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Feb. 2012, shouting out a song against Putin. While in Russia, Shtein was repeatedly arrested by Russian police for participating in protest rallies. During one of these arrests in December 2021, Shtein, along with another Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina, went on hunger strike.

Persons: Annegret, Lyusya, Pussy, Vladimir Putin, Shtein, Putin, Maria Alyokhina, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Pussy Riot, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Berlin, Germany, Moscow, Russia, Moscow's, Shtein

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

☆ A Russian missile strike blew apart a grocery store and cafe, Ukraine says, and the attack looks to be one of the deadliest this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Russian missile hit a small village in northeast Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 51 people. The strike appears to mark one of the deadliest Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians this year. AdvertisementAdvertisementDozens of people are dead after a Russian missile struck a grocery store and cafe in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, officials said on Thursday. Rescues work at a site of a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Hroza, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine October 5, 2023. AdvertisementAdvertisementRescues work at a site of a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Hroza, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine October 5, 2023.

Persons: —, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rustem, Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleg Syniehubov, REUTERS Mykhailo Podolyak, Vladimir Putin, Andriy, Moscow's Organizations: Service, Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, REUTERS, REUTERS Hroza, United, UN, Human Rights Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Kharkiv, Hroza, Kharkiv region, Ukrainian, Russia, Kupiansk, Dnipro, United Nations

☆ A populist leader, sympathetic to Putin's Russia, could be about to win elections in Slovakia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Robert Fico, chairman of the Slovak Social Democracy (SMER), during an interview at the party headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. The central European country of 5.4 million people has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. watch nowIn more concrete terms, he has pledged to end all Slovak arms deliveries to Ukraine and resist plans for additional sanctions on Russia. Fico showed pragmatism in his previous terms and largely avoided conflicts with partners in the EU and NATO, Valyaeva added. Trading of critical comments by officials on both sides escalated the dispute, with Poland saying it will no longer supply Ukraine with weapons.

Persons: Robert Fico, Robert Fico —, —, AKO, Smer, Ján Kuciak, Martina Kušnírová, Fico, Slovakia's, SMER, Tatiana Valyaeva, Valyaeva Organizations: Slovak Social Democracy, Bloomberg, Getty, Ukraine, Progressive, NATO, Slovakia —, EU, CNBC, World Trade Organization Locations: Bratislava, Slovakia, Ukraine, Progressive Slovakia, Russia, U.S, Slovak, Soviet, London, Košice, Ukrainian, Poland, Hungary

Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin delivers a speech during a ceremony unveiling the monument to founder of the Soviet secret police Felix Dzerzhinsky at the service's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, September 11, 2023. Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Sept 11 (Reuters) - A bronze statue of "Iron Felix" Dzerzhinsky, the ruthless founder of the Soviet secret police and architect of the Red Terror which followed the 1917 revolution, was unveiled on Monday at the headquarters of Russia's foreign spy service. Sergei Naryshkin, the chief of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), successor to the KGB's famed First Chief Directorate, marked the unveiling of the statue outside its Yasenevo headquarters in southern Moscow. Dzerzhinsky towered above Naryshkin, Putin's 68-year-old spy master, who stood with a group of other men - many of them unknown. The statue at the SVR looks remarkably similar to the one that once stood on Lubyanka Square.

Persons: Sergei Naryshkin, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Felix, Dzerzhinsky, Josef Stalin, Vladimir Putin's, Naryshkin, Nikita Petrov, Vladimir Lenin's, Lenin's, Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Foreign Intelligence Service, Russian Federation, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Reuters, Russian, Commission, Cheka, State Political Directorate, State Political, NKVD, Internal Affairs, KGB, Federal Security Service, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Vladimir Putin's Russia, Poland, Soviet Union, Dzerzhinsky, Soviet

☆ UK to declare Russia's Wagner a terrorist organisation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A flag with the logo of Wagner private mercenary group is attached to a car during an automobile rally at a patriotic festival marking Russia's National Flag Day in the Moscow region, Russia, August 23, 2023. Britain's interior minister Suella Braverman described the Wagner Group as "violent and destructive", adding it "acted as a military tool of Vladimir Putin's Russia overseas". "They are terrorists, plain and simple - and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law," she said. The Wagner mercenary group has operated in Syria, Libya and a number of countries across northern and western Africa. Lawmakers on parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee in July urged more targeted sanctions on what it said were a "web of entities" beneath the Wagner Group.

Persons: Wagner, Yulia Morozova, Suella Braverman, Vladimir Putin's, David Lammy, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Lavanya, Sarah Young, Peter Graff, William Schomberg Organizations: REUTERS, Wagner Group, Labour, Twitter, Britain, Prigozhin, Central African, Lawmakers, parliament's Foreign Affairs, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russian, British, Vladimir Putin's Russia, Ukraine, East, Africa, Syria, Libya, Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan, Bengaluru, London

☆ Wagner 'skull' flag flies over empty Prigozhin plane crash site in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A view shows a flag of the Wagner private mercenary group at the site of the plane crash that killed Wagner PMC top figures, including Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, in the Tver Region, Russia September 1, 2023. The plane on which Yevgeny Prigozhin was travelling to St Petersburg from Moscow crashed killing all 10 people on board on Aug. 23, including two other top Wagner figures, Prigozhin's four bodyguards and a crew of three. At the crash site near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia's Tver region, there was no sign of the remains of the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, footage obtained by Reuters showed on Friday. All that remained was a makeshift stone memorial of four boulders to the mercenary chief surrounded by red carnations and a Wagner flag flying on a pole made from a tree branch. The flag sports a white skull surrounded by the words "PMC Wagner Group" in both English and Russian.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Guy Faulconbridge, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Wagner PMC, REUTERS, St, Embraer, Reuters, Wagner, Thomson Locations: Tver Region, Russia, St Petersburg, Moscow, Kuzhenkino, Russia's Tver, Rostov, Vladimir Putin's Russia

☆ Kremlin says Prigozhin plane may have been downed on purpose
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A view shows a framed photo of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin at his grave at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in Saint Petersburg, Russia, August 30, 2023. "It is obvious that different versions are being considered, including the version - you know what we are talking about – let's say, a deliberate atrocity," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the investigation. The Kremlin has rejected as an "absolute lie" the suggestion by some Western politicians and commentators - for which they have not provided evidence - that Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed in revenge. Followers of Prigozhin laid flowers, messages and poetry at his grave on Wednesday, hailing him as a fearless warrior. In life, Prigozhin liked to brag that he was one of the world's most feared mercenaries with the best fighting force.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Stringer, –, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Joe Biden, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: REUTERS, International Civil Aviation Organization, Embraer, St, Reuters, EMBR3, United State, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow, Rostov, Vladimir Putin's Russia, SA, Russian, Ukraine

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