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☆ Floods Batter Russia and Kazakhstan, Forcing Tens of Thousands to Evacuate
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | More About Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

More than 100,000 people were forced to evacuate on Wednesday after devastating spring floods engulfed cities and villages across vast sections of Russia and Kazakhstan. The floods affected multiple settlements across Russia in the South Urals region east of Moscow, in Western Siberia and near the Volga River, as well as at least five regions of Kazakhstan, which shares a long border with Russia. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said on Wednesday that the situation was “quite tense” and the forecast was “unfavorable” as “large amounts of water are coming to new regions.”

Persons: Dmitri S Locations: Russia, Kazakhstan, South Urals, Moscow, Western Siberia

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Moscow says ties with China are at post-Cold War peak; Russia scrambles to deal with massive floods
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An aerial picture taken on April 8, 2024 shows the flooded part of the city of Orsk, Russia's Orenburg region, southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. On April 7, Russia declared a federal emergency in the Orenburg region, where the Ural river flooded much of the city of Orsk and is now reaching dangerous levels in the main city of Orenburg. Much of the city of Orsk has been flooded after torrential rain burst a nearby dam. Citing the local branch of Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations, TASS news agency reported that at least 4,000 homes could also be affected. "Preventive measures are already being taken there, rescue teams have been strengthened, and the forces and means of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations have been put on high alert," the ministry said.

Persons: Anatoliy Zhdanov, ANATOLIY ZHDANOV, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Kurenkov, Putin, — Organizations: Getty, Russia's Ministry, TASS, Russian Ministry Locations: Orsk, Russia's Orenburg, Russia, Siberia, Orenburg, Kurgan, Ural, Kazakhstan, Tyumen, Urals, Moscow

☆ Russia flooding: Anger boils over for some in Ural region
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Billy Stockwell | Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Russia declared an emergency in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan after the Ural River, Europe’s third longest river, swelled several meters in hours on Friday, and burst through a dam embankment in the city of Orsk. Some are also unhappy that the dam embankment built in 2010 was unable to defend their city. An aerial view shows the scale of flooding in the city of Orsk, Orenburg Region, Russia. The Ural River rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea. The mayor of Orenburg, Sergei Salmin, said the Ural River was expected to break the previous record of 9.46 meters.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, “ Putin, Denis Pasler, “, ” Pasler, Vladimir Astapkovich, Putin, Alexander Kurenkov, Kurenkov’s, Alexander Moor, Sergei Salmin, ” Salmin, Vadim Shumkov, ” Organizations: Reuters, Tass, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry, AP Emergency, Orsk, ” Tass Locations: Russia, Orenburg, Kazakhstan, Orsk, Moscow, Orenburg Region, Kurgan, Tyumen, Siberia, Tyumen region, Western Siberia, Ural

☆ Russia's Military Drone Production Ramping Up, Says Defence Minister
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in footage published by his ministry on Saturday that the country's production of military drones had ramped up in the past year, though certain technical issues still needed tackling. Russia has made extensive use of drones in the course of the almost two year-long military campaign in Ukraine, but has often had to rely on cheap Iranian-made Shahed drones. "The production capacities that have been created allow us to complete most of the tasks that we are faced with today," Shoigu said during a tour of drone production facilities in the Volga river region of Udmurtia. He was shown telling a meeting of officials that issues related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in drones and electronic warfare still needed to be resolved. The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 ImagesMoscow has in recent months been signalling that its military industrial complex has stepped up production, as Russia seeks to break months of military deadlock in Ukraine.

Persons: Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Felix Light, Helen Popper Organizations: Russian Defence, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Udmurtia, Moscow

☆ Opinion: The real story behind Russia’s new ‘Stalin Centers’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Opinion Jade Mcglynn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Last month, a new ‘Stalin Center’ was opened in Barnaul, Siberia. According to the independent Levada Center, Stalin has taken first place in their ‘who is the greatest figure of all times and all people’ survey since 2012. Students of a military-sponsored school attend the opening of a series of busts of Russian leaders, including Josef Stalin (center), in Moscow, on September 22, 2017. What the West gets wrong about Stalin and PutinMoreover, these comparisons divert attention from important differences between the Stalin and Putin regimes. That is abundantly not the case in Putin’s Russia, where the government instead encourages a ritualistic patriotism and political apathy.

Persons: Jade McGlynn, “, Read, ’, Jade McGlynn Jade McGlynn, Stalin, Vladimir Putin’s, Josef Stalin, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Memorial, Gorbachev, Yury, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Nemenov, demonize ’ Stalin, —, weren’t, Mikhail Bulgakov Organizations: Center for Strategic, International Studies, CNN, Communists, Kremlin Russian Communist Party, Levada Center, YouTube, Communist, Reuters, Kremlin, Putin Locations: Putin’s Russia, Barnaul, Siberia, Russian, Penza, Bor, Communist, Russia, Vladimir Putin’s United Russia, Moscow, Perm, Baltic, Laski, Ukraine, today’s Russia, Kyiv, Putin Russia

☆ Russia's armored trains are a valuable tool with some big vulnerabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Hope Seck | Sandboxx News | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Russia has used armored trains for military purposes for more than a century. Russia's use of armored trains for transport, mine-clearing, and resupply, however, has drawn particular scrutiny and criticism. Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesHowever, as details have emerged about these new armored transport trains used in Ukraine, observers have expressed bemusement. A video by the YouTube channel EngineerReact summarizes the primary problems with train warfare in the 21st century, calling Russia's armored trains "a terrible idea." "That was probably the best use of [military trains] in an offensive operation, in combat, in the recent wars," he said.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, luxuriously, trainspotter, Maksim Konstantinov, Richard Killblane, Scott Sturkol Killblane, Killblane, Taji, Jerome Bishop The, it's, there's Organizations: Service, Red Army, Russo, Museum of Russian Railways, Getty, YouTube, Ukraine's Territorial Defence Force, Army Special Forces, Army Transportation School, Army, US Army, Jerome Bishop The US Army, 757th Expeditionary Railway Center Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, Japanese, Germany, Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Russian, St . Petersburg, McCoy, Wisconsin, Iraq, Mosul, Taji, Sadr

☆ Russia faces domestic fuel crunch, braces for more shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Traders said that the fuel market has been hit by a combination of different factors including maintenance at oil refineries, infrastructure bottlenecks on railways and the weaker rouble which incentivises fuel exports. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that there were no fuel shortages. FUEL CRUNCHTraders said the shortages on the retail market followed by a sharp rise of wholesales prices. The state caps the retail prices, ordering the sellers to raise prices of gasoline and diesel only in line with official inflation. For the past two months commodity exchange diesel prices jumped on average by more than a quarter to 67,000 roubles ($700) per ton.

Persons: Alexander Natruskin, Alexander Novak, Andrei Neduzhko, Vladimir Soldatkin, Guy Faulconbridge, David Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Traders, Kremlin, CRUNCH Traders, Industry, Wholesale, Russian Railways, Thomson Locations: Moscow, MOSCOW, Russia, Russia's, Krasnodar region, Adygea, Astrakhan, Samara, Russian, Rostov, Krasnodar, Stavropol

IMPORTED ASSEMBLY KITSAfter a chaotic decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia encouraged Western carmakers to build factories. "Undoubtedly, the expansion of Chinese carmakers on the Russian market will continue," said Andrey Olkhovsky, the head of dealership chain Avtodom. It is a radical change of fortunes for Chinese carmakers in Russia. Production of Chinese vehicles only began in Russia in 2019 with the arrival of Chinese automotive company Great Wall Motor (601633.SS). LESS LOCAL INPUTUnder the partnership with Chinese firms, less of the production at former Western factories is currently conducted in Russia, the sources said.

Persons: Jetour, Maxim Shemetov, Moscow's, Sergei Sobyanin, French carmaker, JAC, Sehol, Moskvich, capitalising, Vladimir Bespalov, Vladimir Putin, Andrey Olkhovsky, Olkhovsky, Wall, Sollers, Avtovaz, Denis Manturov, Gleb Stolyarov, Alexander Marrow, Zhang Yan, Daniel Flynn Organizations: REUTERS, French, French carmaker Renault, Moscow Automobile Factory, JAC Motors, Reuters, Renault, Nissan, Russia's Industry, Trade Ministry, Wall, Chery, Geely, HK, Argo, Ford Transit, Nissan's St, Lada, China's FAW Group's, FAW, Western, Trade, Thomson Locations: Lyubertsy, Moscow Region, Russia, Soviet, Moscow, Anhui, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Western, Tula, Autostat, Tatarstan, Nissan's, Nissan's St Petersburg, St Petersburg, Leningrad, Japan, Europe, China, Shanghai

Wagner fighters took control of the southern port and logistical hub for Russia's war in Ukraine on Saturday morning. Facial recognition software linked him to an account on VKontakte, Russia’s Facebook equivalent, created in the name of Dmitry Chekov. Russian media reported last September that Prigozhin had visited prisones in Rostov region, recruiting more than 1,000 convicts for Wagner. The man was identified by facial recognition software as 33-year-old Sergei Shirshov, a native of the Volga River city of Saratov. A third Wagner fighter pictured in Rostov was identified by facial recognition software as Roman Yamalutdinov, a native of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia.

Persons: Wagner, Prigozhin Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin, Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Dmitry Chekov, Chekov's, Sergei Shirshov, Shirshov, Yamalutdinov, Olga Romanova, Felix Light, Filipp Lebedev, Guy Faulconbridge, Mike Collett, White, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Wagner Group, Don, Reuters, Belarusian, Facebook, TASS, Local, Penal, Thomson Locations: TBILISI, Russian, Rostov, Ukraine, Moscow, Bakhmut, Belarus, Volga, Saratov, Saratov region's, Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Tbilisi

☆ The Africans fighting on Russia’s front line in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +18 min

In journeying to Russia, Tarimo was following the route of many young Africans, including future heads of state, since the 1960s. Tarimo also ended up treading the path of a handful of other Africans who took up arms for Wagner in Ukraine. The presidents of South Africa and Zambia are now among a group of African leaders seeking to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. In November last year, his family learned he too had died in Ukraine fighting for Wagner. He said that, like Tarimo, Nyirenda cast his desire to join Wagner as repayment for Soviet and Russian support of African anti-colonial movements.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Nemes, Wagner, ”, Tarimo, “ Nemes, Rehema Kigobe, – Tarimo, Aboya, Claire Amuhaya, Nemes Tarimo, Rehema, “, Vladimir Putin, Chadema, Alexander Shilkin, ” Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Kristian Malundama, Malundama, Tarimo’s, Prigozhin, Lemekani, Christian, didn’t, Will, Nyirenda, Ronald Kalifungwa, Zikonde, –, …, “ I’m, Christopher Kangwa, Tionge, ” Nyirenda, ” Kangwa, Fabrice Organizations: Moscow’s Pushkin Institute, Russian Technological University, Reuters, Friendship University, Soviet Union, National Congress, European Union, United Nations General Assembly, Wagner Group, Central African Republic, Officials, Dar es Salaam, Democratic, Tanzanian, Zambian, Instagram, Research Nuclear University, Baptist, YouTube, ” Reuters, Ivorian Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Dar es, Tanzania’s, Odradivka, Moscow, IT, Russia, Ukraine, Zambian, Ivory Coast, Soviet, Kenyan, Africa, United States, South Africa, Zambia, Mali, Libya, Central, Tanzania, kwa, Sochi, Tanzanian, Tarimo’s, Yaroslavl region’s, Rybinsk, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yaroslavl, Ukraine’s, Lusaka’s Northmead, China, Lemekani, Tver region’s, Tver’s, Russia’s, Mordovia, Yopougon, Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s, Cocody

☆ Canada just seized one of Russia's dwindling supply of massive heavy-lift cargo planes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The aircraft was an Antonov An-124, one of the biggest transport aircraft in the world. It was one of the few heavy-lift transport aircraft that Russia's military still has in operation. This month, Canada confiscated an Antonov An-124, one of the biggest transport aircraft in the world. Soon afterward, Canada closed its airspace to Russian aircraft in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine on February 24. A Volga Dnepr Airlines Antonov An-124 grounded at Canada's Pearson International Airport in May 2022.

Persons: Antonov, —, Canada's, Steve Russell, Putin's, Ruslan Kaniuka, Jan Woitas, Antonov —, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Pearson Airport, Volga Dnepr, Volga Dnepr Airlines Antonov, Canada's Pearson International Airport, Toronto Star, Getty, Wall Street, Dnepr Airlines LLC, Dnepr Group, Canada, Crown, Government, Kyiv, Antonov, Publishing, Soviet, Royal United Services Institute, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russian Air Force, NASA, SpaceX, NATO, Soviets, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Canada, Russian, Toronto, Ukraine, Volga Dnepr Airlines, Volga, Hostomel, Soviet, British, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukrainian, Crimea, Forbes

☆ Russian forces repeatedly shell ammonia pipeline in Ukraine's Kharkiv region -governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Russian forces repeatedly fired at an ammonia pipeline in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, a local governor said on Tuesday, a conduit potentially crucial for the extension of a deal allowing the safe export of grains and fertilizers from Black Sea ports. The extension next month of the Black Sea Grain initiative, a pact struck in July 2022 to help tackle a global food crises, could hinge on the reopening of the pipeline. The ammonia pipeline, the world's longest, stretches about 2,470 kilometres (1,534 miles) from Russia's Togliatti on the Volga River to three Black Sea ports. There was no recorded leakage from the late Tuesday shelling that hit the pipeline near the village of Masiutivka and an overnight shelling near the village of Zapadne, said Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of Ukraine's Kharkiv region. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Oleh Sinehubov, Sinehubov, Lidia Kelly, Jamie Freed Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine's Kharkiv, Russia's Togliatti, Ukraine, Masiutivka, Zapadne, Melbourne

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan found the defendant AirBridgeCargo Airlines LLC and its parent Volga-Dnepr Logistics BV liable, after the invasion and resulting sanctions left the plaintiff BOC Aviation unable to reclaim the aircraft. BOC Aviation said AirBridgeCargo went into default after being unable to maintain required reinsurance coverage. This followed restrictions imposed by the European Union against Russian carriers on aircraft used in Russia, and Russian sanctions on foreign assets, including internationally leased aircraft. BOC Aviation said it was able to recover one leased plane and two of its four engines, while the two other planes and two other engines remained in Russia. The case is BOC Aviation Ltd v AirBridgeCargo Airlines LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan found the defendant AirBridgeCargo Airlines LLC and its parent Volga-Dnepr Logistics BV liable, after the invasion and resulting sanctions left the plaintiff BOC Aviation unable to reclaim the aircraft. A lawyer for Singapore-based BOC Aviation had no immediate comment, having yet to hear from his client. BOC Aviation said AirBridgeCargo went into default after being unable to maintain required reinsurance coverage. BOC Aviation said it was able to recover one leased plane and two of its four engines, while the two other planes and two other engines remained in Russia. The case is BOC Aviation Ltd v AirBridgeCargo Airlines LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Wagner’s convicts tell of horrors of Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

They are identified as pardoned former convicts, returned from the front in Ukraine after joining Wagner from prison. Four of the men said they were personally recruited by Yevgeny Prigozhin as he toured Russia’s prison system to bolster his private army. I wish all real men would join Wagner.”The war in Ukraine is straining Russia’s military capacity. One of the convict recruits told Reuters he travelled to a Wagner training camp in the Russian-controlled part of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region. According to the United States, by mid-February Wagner had suffered more than 30,000 casualties in Ukraine, including 9,000 dead, almost all of them convicts.

☆ Russia and Ukraine's deadliest battle is starting to look like Stalingrad 'without the importance,' expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia and Ukraine both say Bakhmut, a city in Ukraine, is the site of their deadliest fighting. An expert on Russia's military likened it to Stalingrad, but without the same level of significance. But at least Stalingrad was an industrial city, a major inland port on the Volga River that was a vital transportation artery for Soviet war production and home to a half-million people. Western experts are struggling to understand why both sides are pouring enormous resources — and prestige — into the Battle of Bakhmut. "It's like becoming like a Stalingrad except for without the importance of Stalingrad."

☆ Police operation underway in Paris district of La Defense
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A police operation is underway in the French capital's La Defense business district, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter on Saturday as Paris police said "an incident" had triggered a panicked rush of people in the area. A spokesperson for the Paris police department dismissed reports that gunshots had been fired. The Paris police department earlier issued a tweet advising the public to avoid the area. It did not give further details. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Laetitia Volga Editing by Richard Lough and Helen PopperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

After the retirement of Boeing Capital Corp (BCC) President Tim Myers this spring, Boeing said it would "realign" the financing arm within the commercial airplane unit while maintaining "strong coordination" with Boeing's treasury arm. Boeing Capital, a subsidiary of Boeing, provides asset-based financing and leasing to airlines. The closing of Boeing Capital continues a trend for Boeing to consolidate its operational structure and ends a significant chapter in the fast-expanding air finance industry. A Boeing spokesperson said the shift will provide airlines "with more consistent support" for arranging aircraft financing. Rob Martin, finance chief for the commercial airline business, and Boeing Treasurer David Whitehouse will be responsible for the transition, West said in the memo.

☆ Putin evokes Stalingrad to predict victory over 'new Nazism' in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tatiana Gomozova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Russian officials have been drawing parallels with the struggle against the Nazis ever since Russian forces entered Ukraine almost a year ago. REUTERS/Kirill Braga 1 2 3 4 5VICTORY PARADEAs Putin finished speaking, the audience gave him a standing ovation. Thousands of people lined Volgograd's streets to watch a victory parade as planes flew overhead and modern and World War Two-era tanks and armoured vehicles rolled past. Some of the modern vehicles had the letter 'V' painted on them, a symbol used by Russia's forces in Ukraine. Irina Zolotoreva, a 61-year-old who said her relatives had fought at Stalingrad, saw a parallel with Ukraine.

☆ Putin expected to channel Stalingrad victory at key moment in Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tatiana Gomozova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Kirill BragaVOLGOGRAD, Russia, Feb 2 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin is expected to use an event to mark the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in Stalingrad 80 years ago to rally Russians around his military campaign in Ukraine later on Thursday. Since Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year in what he called a "special military operation", Russian officials have drawn parallels with World War Two and the struggle against the Nazis. Ukraine - which itself suffered devastation at the hands of Hitler's forces - rejects those parallels and accuses Russia of waging a war of imperial conquest. Thousands of people lined Volgograd's streets on Thursday to watch a victory parade as planes flew overhead and modern and World War Two-era tanks and armoured vehicles trundled through the city centre. Some of the modern vehicles had the letter 'V' painted on them, a symbol used by Russia's forces fighting in Ukraine.

☆ Three dead as blast shuts part of Russia-Ukraine gas export pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - A blast ripped through a gas pipeline in central Russia, killing three people and disrupting some of the limited amount of Russian gas that is still reaching Europe, local officials said on Tuesday. He said it was unclear when gas supplies via the pipeline could resume, and authorities were trying to work that out. The pipeline, built in the 1980s, enters Ukraine via the Sudzha metering point, currently the main route for Russian gas to reach Europe. Europe's gas prices have surged this year after Russia cut exports through its main gas pipeline route into Germany, leaving only pipelines via Ukraine to ship Russian gas to European consumers. The head office of the state-owned gas producer Gazprom and its local branch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Turkey is stopping oil not under Russian sanctions, raising global energy market supply concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cargo ships and vessels transit the Bosphorus Strait, a body of water connecting the Black Sea to the Marmara and Mediterranean Seas through Istanbul, Turkey. Above, the Russia-flagged vessel Volga River Taganrog oil tanker passes south through the Bosphorus Straits in October 2022. "It appears that all but one of the roughly twenty loaded crude tankers waiting to cross the straits are carrying Kazakh-origin oil," a price cap official told CNBC. If delays mount, refiners will seek alternative supplies from other countries or they will reduce operating capacity because they don't have enough oil, which impacts the supply of gasoline and diesel, said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "If this continues for another week we will begin to see an impact on the oil market," Lipow said.

However the talks aim to remove remaining obstacles in the initiative extended last week and ease global food shortages by unblocking Ukrainian and Russian exports, they added. Putin said on Wednesday that Russian officials would work to unblock Russian fertilisers stuck in European ports and to resume ammonia exports. The export of Russian ammonia would be via an existing pipeline to the Black Sea. Neither Russia nor Ukraine have released official figures on how many prisoners of war they have taken since Russia invaded in February. On Oct. 29, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy said that since March, Russia had freed a total of 1,031 prisoners.

☆ At least 13 killed in Russian nightclub fire
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian Emergencies Ministry in Kostroma region/Handout via REUTERSNov 5 (Reuters) - At least 13 people died after a fire broke out in a busy nightclub in the Russian city of Kostroma, officials said on Saturday. Kostroma is a city of around 270,000 people, 300 km (190 miles) north-east of Moscow on the banks of the river Volga. The fire took place in the early hours of the morning at Polygon, a multi-purpose recreation venue used as a cafe, nightclub and bar. Most of those killed in the fire had been found in the smoking room, utility room and near the toilets, TASS reported, citing emergency services. "As a result of the fire, 13 people died; the number of dead and injured is being clarified," the Investigating Committee said in a statement.

☆ Russian soft drinks maker to cut back investments, hiring over new sugar tax
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in UkraineMOSCOW, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Chernogolovka, a Russian soft drinks producer hoping to seize market share as Western competitors leave, said a proposed new sugary drinks tax had forced it to scale back investments next year and freeze hiring for 1,000 new jobs. A parliamentary committee last week gave preliminary approval to budget proposals that would see excise duty levied on drinks with a certain sugar content at 7 roubles ($0.1135) per litre from Jan. 1, 2023. The company said it was "extremely pessimistic" in its assessment of the soft drinks market for 2023-25, fearing production could fall by 20% from current levels. "The decision will affect the company's major investment project in the Moscow region, a plant construction project in the Volga region and a production expansion project in Krasnodar region," it said. Chernogolovka told Reuters in August it was aiming for a 50% share of Russia's nearly $9 billion soft drinks market, as Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) was reducing operations.

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