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☆ Ukraine war live updates: Putin delivers State of the Nation address to Russian lawmakers, troops and journalists
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's Elections Commission said that the pro-Kremlin United Russia part had won local elections in four regions of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces, in a vote dismissed by Kyiv. Germany, the U.K., Spain, Poland and NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg were among those denying that sending ground troops into Ukraine was an option. The Kremlin had warned earlier Tuesday that such a move would lead to an "inevitable" conflict between NATO and Russia. Since then, state-run Russian media has been dominated by Russian officials relishing the obvious division in NATO, and Macron's apparent misreading of the NATO mood music. She claimed NATO countries' denials that they planned to send their ground troops into Ukraine showed the West had "betrayed Ukraine and will continue to use and betray it," repeating Moscow's baseless claims that Western countries are using Ukraine to destroy Russia.

Persons: Alexander NEMENOV, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Emmanuel Macron, Jens Stoltenberg, Macron, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Maria Zakharova, — Holly Ellyatt Organizations: Commission, Kremlin, Kyiv, Getty Images, NATO, NATO's, Foreign Ministry, Ukraine —, Russian Foreign, Sputnik, Tass Locations: St, Basil's, Moscow, Russia's, Kremlin United Russia, Ukraine, AFP, Germany, Spain, Poland, Russia, NATO, Russian

☆ Russia relishes NATO disarray after hasty denials of plan to deploy ground troops to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The United States, Germany, the U.K., Spain, Poland and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg were among those denying that sending ground troops into Ukraine was an option. She claimed NATO countries' denials that they planned to send their ground troops into Ukraine showed the West had "betrayed Ukraine and will continue to use and betray it," repeating Moscow's baseless claims that Western countries are using Ukraine to destroy Russia. After the conference, Macron said discussions had also covered the possibility of deploying ground troops, although he said there was no agreement on the issue. France was left looking increasingly isolated throughout the day Tuesday, with the White House also distancing itself from Macron's comments. When asked about Macron's comments, Kirby said "well, that's a sovereign decision that every NATO ally would have to make for themselves.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Mikhail Metzel, Emmanuel Macron, Jens Stoltenberg, Dmitry Medvedev, Macron, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon, Maria Zakharova, Macron's, Stephane Sejourne, John Kirby, Kirby, General Stoltenberg, —, Biden, Timothy Ash, Ash Organizations: Defence, Sputnik, Reuters, NATO, Russian, Russia's Foreign Ministry, Ukraine —, Russian Foreign, Tass, Chesnot, Getty, White, . National Security, Kremlin Russia, Kremlin, Russia, BlueBay Asset Management Locations: Nazi Germany, Moscow, Russia, Reuters Russia, Ukraine, United States, Germany, Spain, Poland, NATO, Russian, France, Canada, Paris, France's, Republic, U.S

☆ Putin is now going after people's money and property if they criticize the war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewVladimir Putin is doubling down on critics of Russia's war in Ukraine. The punishment applies only to assets gained via criminal means or "used for activities aimed against Russia's national security," per TASS. Multiple people in Russia have already been jailed for criticizing the war in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported in July 2022. Russia's new law comes as the war in Ukraine approaches its third year, and a month before Putin seeks a fifth presidential term in a presidential election slated for March.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Putin Organizations: Service, TASS, Business, Associated Press Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Russia

☆ Russia's Parliament to Vote on Suspending Moscow's OSCE Participation
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - Russia's parliament will vote on Feb. 21 on suspending the country's participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE), Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Tuesday. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the organisation has been largely paralysed by Moscow's ongoing use of the effective veto each country has. "It's time for us to say goodbye to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly," Volodin said at a meeting of the Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, according to a statement on the Duma's website. The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 ImagesBoth chambers of the Russian parliament, the Duma and the Federation Council, will vote simultaneously on suspending participation and on stopping Moscow's payments to the OSCE, Volodin said. Ukraine and its Baltic allies, which are Russia's neighbours, refused to attend the OSCE annual foreign ministers meeting late last year over the presence of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov there.

Persons: Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov, Lidia Kelly, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Sonali Paul Organizations: Reuters, Organization for Security, OSCE, Soviet, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Duma, Federation Council, United, Russia's Locations: Parliamentary, Ukraine, U.S, Russia, Washington, United Russia, Baltic

☆ Russian Parliament to Ask French Counterpart if It Knew of 'French Mercenaries' in Ukraine - Official
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, plans to formally ask France's National Assembly if it is aware that French mercenaries have been fighting on Ukraine's side, Vyacheslav Volodin, the Duma's chairman, said on Friday. France rejected the allegations, saying it was helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity but had no mercenaries in Ukraine "unlike certain others". "In France, the mercenary trade is forbidden by law," Volodin wrote on the Telegram messaging app. The Duma would consider its address to the French parliament at the next meeting of the lower chamber of parliament which is scheduled for Jan. 23, he said. Russia announced on Thursday it had summoned the French ambassador to the Foreign Ministry over the mercenary allegations.

Persons: Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Vladimir Putin, Andrew Osborn Organizations: State Duma, Russian Defence Ministry, Duma, Foreign Ministry, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Kharkiv, France, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Russia is wrestling with a labor crisis — and is making it even worse by sending highly-skilled workers to war
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But contradictory policies are worsening the situation, a think tank said. Russia is deterring potential workers by trying to send them to fight in Ukraine. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementRussia is wrestling with a labor crisis — but making it even worse by sending highly-skilled workers to war, a think tank said. AdvertisementRussia has experienced steep casualty rates in Ukraine, with reports saying that it's lost around 300,000 soldiers.

Persons: —, Vyacheslav Volodin, Vladimir Putin, they'd, it's Organizations: Service, RFE, European Council Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Washington, DC, Central

Russia's parliament approved a federal budget Wednesday that increases spending by around 25% in 2024-2026 and devotes a record amount to defense. The budget was passed unanimously by the Federation Council — the upper chamber of the Russian parliament — and will be sent to President Vladimir Putin to sign it into law. Under the budget, the country’s largest, defense expenditure is expected to overtake social spending next year for the first time in modern Russian history. It comes as the Kremlin is eager to shore up support for President Vladimir Putin before a March presidential election. Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy to a war footing but could pose a problem in the long term, analysts say.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, ”, Richard Connolly Organizations: Federation Council, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Ukraine, London

☆ Moscow will confiscate EU assets if Brussels 'steals' frozen Russian funds, Putin ally says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Russia will confiscate assets belonging to European Union states it deems unfriendly if the bloc "steals" frozen Russian funds in a drive to fund Ukraine, a top ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Friday that the EU executive was working on a proposal to pool some of the profits derived from frozen Russian state assets to help Ukraine and its post-war reconstruction. Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the State Duma, the Russian lower house of parliament, said Moscow would retaliate in a way that would be more costly to the bloc if the EU moved against Russian assets, many of which are held in Belgium. In that case, far more assets belonging to unfriendly countries will be confiscated than our frozen funds in Europe," he said. Von der Leyen said on Friday that the value of frozen Russian sovereign assets was 211 billion euros ($223.15 billion) and recalled that the bloc had decided that Russia must pay for Ukraine's reconstruction.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Ursula von der Leyen, Vyacheslav Volodin, Putin, Von der Leyen, Volodin, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Union, European Commission, EU, State Duma, Russian Federation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Belgium, Kyiv, Europe

☆ Russia says it shot down 36 Ukrainian drones as fighting grinds on in Ukraine’s east
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A satellite image shows smoke billowing from Russian Black Sea navy headquarters after a missile strike, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Sept. 22, 2023. Russian air defense shot down over 30 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula overnight Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday. "The air defense systems in place destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula," the ministry wrote on Telegram. Local authorities in the southern Krasnodar region bordering the Black Sea said that a fire broke out at an oil refinery in the early hours of Sunday, but did not specify the cause. In Ukraine, the country's air force said Sunday it had shot down five Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia overnight.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Ursula von der Leyen Organizations: Russia's Defense, Telegram . Local, Russia, Russian, UK Ministry, European Union, State Duma, European, Russian Federation Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Sevastopol, Crimea, Crimean, Krasnodar, Moscow, Siversk, Donetsk province, British, Russia, Avdiivka, Donetsk, Kyiv, Belgium, Europe

The lower house, the State Duma, on Wednesday passed the second and third readings of a bill that revokes Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. What is happening in the world today is the exclusive fault of the United States," parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Russia's testing ground in the remote northern archipelago of Novaya Zemlya in August. CNN published satellite images last month showing Russia, the United States and China have all built new facilities at their nuclear test sites in recent years. The Soviet Union last tested in 1990 and the United States in 1992.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Sergei Shoigu, Melissa Parke, Mark Trevelyan, Nick Macfie Organizations: States Arms, West, State Duma, Comprehensive, Washington, Defence, CNN, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, International, Nuclear, Soviet Union, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, United States, Russian, Ukraine, China, India, Pakistan, Korea, Washington, Novaya Zemlya, Stockholm, USA, Soviet Russia

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Putin visits 'dear friend' Xi in Beijing as Ukraine reports overnight strikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russia is revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty because of the irresponsible attitude of the United States to global security, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament said on Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 5 that he was not ready to say whether or not Russia should resume nuclear testing after calls from some Russian security experts and lawmakers to test a nuclear bomb as a warning to the West. "In the interests of ensuring the security of our country, we are withdrawing the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said ahead of a debate and parliamentary vote on revoking ratification. Volodin said that while Russia ratified the 1996 treaty in 2000, Washington failed to ratify because of its "irresponsible attitude to global security issues". "The Russian Federation will do everything to protect its citizens and to maintain global strategic parity," Volodin said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, — Organizations: Comprehensive, Russian Federation Locations: Russia, United States, Washington

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

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

☆ Russian parliament bosses to discuss revoking ratification of nuclear test ban treaty
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russian lawmakers attend a session of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in Moscow, Russia January 16, 2020. The Kremlin chief said Russia could look at revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as the United States had signed, but not ratified, it. On Friday, Russia's envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said Moscow would revoke its ratification of the pact, a move that Washington denounced as endangering "the global norm" against nuclear test blasts. Last month CNN said satellite images showed growing activity at nuclear test sites in Russia, China and the United States. In 2020, the Washington Post said the then-Trump administration had discussed whether to hold a nuclear test.

Persons: Evgenia, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Russia's, Vyacheslav Volodin, Washington, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, Gerry Doyle, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: State Duma, REUTERS, Putin, Kremlin, Comprehensive, Duma, Treaty Organization, Cuban Missile, United, The Soviet Union, CNN, Washington Post, Trump, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, States, MOSCOW, Russian, United States, China, Soviet, Ukraine, Washington, Egypt, Iran, Israel, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Melbourne

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

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

☆ Belarus President Lukashenko says by arming Ukraine, US is "pushing" Russia "towards using" nuclear weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Mariya Knight | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday that by arming Ukraine, the United States is pushing Russia toward using nuclear weapons. “I am getting the impression – I say again that it is my opinion – that Americans are pushing Russians toward using the most terrifying weapon. Lukashenko added that if such a missile struck Russian territory, Moscow would have to respond. Otherwise, why do we need these (nuclear) weapons for?,” Lukashenko said. He claimed US President Joe Biden could use a Ukrainian victory on the battlefield to boost his approval rating.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, “, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky, ” Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Russia “, Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Ukraine “, Zelensky, Joe Biden, Biden Organizations: CNN, Belarusian, Russian, State Duma, Comprehensive Locations: Ukraine, United States, Russia, Brest, Moscow, State

☆ Russia to put destroyed NATO equipment on show near Western embassies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 12 (Reuters) - Russia plans to display NATO equipment it has destroyed in Ukraine outside the embassies of Western countries that supplied it, parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Wednesday. "The proposal to install burned equipment next to the embassies of those countries that send it to Ukraine is especially interesting," said Volodin, who issued orders for such a display to be organised. Russian officials have repeatedly criticised Western countries for supplying weapons to Ukraine, arguing they risk prolonging the conflict and causing further escalation. Ukraine has asked for the weapons to defend itself and recapture Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been meeting with leaders from the 31-member NATO alliance this week in a bid to secure long-term security commitments.

Persons: Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: NATO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ Russia launches first drone strike on Kyiv in 12 days
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

After a relative lull, Russia launched a drone attack early Sunday on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, officials said. All of the Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones were detected and shot down, according to Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv city administration. Further south, a 13-year-old boy was wounded in overnight shelling of Ukraine's partially occupied southern Kherson province, said Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, spokesman for the Ukrainian administration of the province. Shelling of the Kherson province continued Sunday morning, wounding four people in the regional capital, also called Kherson. The regional prosecutor's office said that a residential area of the city was targeted by Russian troops operating in the Russia-occupied part of the Kherson province. "

Persons: Serhii Popko, Ruslan Kravchenko, Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, Tolokonnikov, Lyman, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Vyacheslav Volodin, Vladimir Putin, Volodin, Sergei Surovikin, Putin, wouldn't, Prigozhin Organizations: Kyiv, Gov, didn't, Staff, State Duma, USSR Locations: Russia, Kyiv, Ukraine's, Kherson, Russian, Mylove, Beryslav, Kherson province, country's Donetsk, Belgorod, Ukraine, Kursk, Belarus

Some Russian military bloggers with substantial followings expect a serious reshuffle of the military in the light of the Wagner uprising, and perhaps within the security services for not seeing the preparations for it. Putin has sought to reassert his authority after Prigozhin's mutiny. There is no way to verify Rybar’s allegations, but their airing may demonstrate a level of apprehension in the Russian military in the light of the mutiny. At one point, according to Russian military bloggers, Surovikin interceded to try to procure ammunition for Wagner. There is still considerable respect in Russian military circles for what Wagner has contributed to the Ukraine conflict.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Wagner, Sergey Shoigu, Rybar, ” Rybar, Putin, Valery Gerasimov, Mikhail Teplinsky, Boris Rozhin, Sergey Surovikin, “, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, ”, Dmitry Peskov, Surovikin, Mark Galeotti, Galeotti, Tatiana Stayonova, Rob Lee, “ Wagner, ” Surovikin, Prigozhin, Vyacheslav Volodin, ” Volodin, Anastasia Kashevarova, Mikhail Tereshchenko, Stayonava, Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, George W Bush, Concord Company ”, we’ll, eking, Viktor Zolotov, ” Zolotov, ” Anastasia Kashevarova, Russia “, there’s Organizations: CNN, FSO, Federal Guard Service, Federal Protective Service, AP, General Staff, The New York Times, Mayak Intelligence, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Russian Aerospace Forces, Sputnik, Getty, Western Military, Concord Company, Kremlin, MoD, Defense Ministry, Russian National Guard, Ministry of Defense, Telegram Locations: Rostov, Moscow, Don, Russia, Ukraine, AFP, Bakhmut, Shoigu, Putin, St, Petersburg, Russian, Minsk, Belarus, Prigozhin

☆ Chechen commander 'alive and well', Russia's Duma speaker says after report he was wounded
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, June 14 (Reuters) - The speaker of Russia's parliament said a senior Chechen commander was alive and well on Wednesday, following reports he had been killed or wounded in Ukraine. The commander, Adam Delimkhanov, is a member of parliament as well as heading the Chechen division of the Russian national guard. He is widely seen as the Caucasian region's second most senior official after its leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Not only that, but he wishes you all good health," Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Duma, told lawmakers. Russia's TASS news agency quoted another Chechen commander as saying Delimkhanov was in Chechnya, not Ukraine, and media reports he had come under fire in Ukraine were all "fakes".

Persons: Adam Delimkhanov, Ramzan Kadyrov, He's, Vyacheslav Volodin, Delimkhanov, Gareth Jones, Peter Graff Organizations: Chechen, Russian, Caucasian, Duma, TASS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Chechen, Ukraine, Chechnya, Moscow, Mariupol

☆ How a coup to force Putin from power could go down if he loses in Ukraine, according to former intel officers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia's defeat to Ukraine would be a tipping point, former intelligence officers told Insider. During his two decades in power, the Russian president has surrounded himself with an inner circle of hardline loyalists known as "the Siloviki." But in the chaotic fallout of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Putin's grasp on power appears much less secure, former intelligence officers told Insider. The faltering invasion has prompted criticism of the Russian president that would have previously been unthinkable. Ingram cautioned that Russian defeat could provoke even broader global instability.

Persons: Russia's Vladimir Putin, —, Vladimir Putin's, he's, George Beebe, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Abbas Gallyamov, Dmitry Medvedev, Nikolai Patrushev, Vyacheslav Volodin, Vladimir Putin, Russia's, Mikhail Svetlov, Philip Ingram, Beebe, RIA Novosti Ingram, Ingram, Putin's, Ramzan Kadyrov, Kadyrov, Ben Noble Organizations: Service, CIA, Wagner Group, Kremlin, CNN, Russian Security Council's, Security, RIA, NATO, University College London Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Russian, Moscow, Kremlin, Crimea, Soledar

☆ Russian parliament chief proposes Polish truck ban, says Warsaw owes Moscow billions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, May 21 (Reuters) - Russia's top lawmaker on Sunday called for a ban on Polish trucks transiting Russian territory and for Poland to compensate Moscow financially for what he said was the Soviet rebuilding of the east European country after World War Two. He said Poland should also hand back territory it received after the war. Volodin said a parliamentary committee would begin considering a ban on Polish trucks entering Russian territory as soon as Monday. Strained Russian-Polish relations have deteriorated further since the war in Ukraine - something Moscow calls "a special military operation" with Warsaw positioning itself as one of Kyiv's key allies. In March 2022, Poland said it was expelling 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Moscow's intelligence services.

☆ Analysis: Kremlin drone incident gives Putin cover to deepen Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] The Russian flag flies on the dome of the Kremlin Senate building, while the roof shows what appears to be marks from the recent drone incident, in central Moscow, Russia, May 4, 2023. Inside Russia, it helped reinforce the Kremlin-backed narrative that its war in Ukraine is an existential one for the Russian state and people. "It's an attempt to gather all the sacred things in one statement," Alexander Baunov, a former Russian diplomat and Kremlin watcher, said of the Kremlin's response. Former president Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most prominent pro-Kremlin TV commentators, both argued for precisely such action in the aftermath of the drone incident. An investigation into the drone incident is certain to uncover shortcomings in Russia's own air defences.

Whatever the provenance of the two drones that approached the Kremlin early Wednesday morning, one thing was clear: The Russian government wanted the world to know about them. The Kremlin made a deliberate choice to quickly make public what it claimed was a drone attack aimed at assassinating President Vladimir V. Putin. It published an unusual, five-paragraph statement on its website that named the Ukrainian government as the perpetrator and asserted the right to retaliate against Kyiv. The Kremlin’s messaging diverged significantly from its response to previous episodes involving attacks on Russia or Russian-occupied territory. Now the question is whether Russia will use the incident to justify more and even deadlier strikes against Ukraine.

☆ Putin allies call for Zelenskyy's plane to be shot down in revenge for what Russia claims was a Ukrainian drone strike on the Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Pro-Putin hardliners called for Russia to assassinate Ukraine's president. It followed Russia's claim Ukraine launched a drone attack on the Kremlin. Putin allies in the Duma, the Russian lower legislature, also called for strikes against the Ukrainian government. Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of launching the drone strikes as part of a bid to assassinate Putin. Some analysts believe that the attack may have been a "false flag," or staged by Russia to justify a retaliatory response.

☆ Factbox: Kremlin drone incident: What do we know?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] A still image taken from video shows a flying object approaching the dome of the Kremlin Senate building during the alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia, in this image taken from video obtained by Reuters May 3, 2023. Ostorozhno Novosti/Handout via REUTERSMay 3 (Reuters) - Here's a look at what we know about the alleged overnight drone attack on the Kremlin, and the questions it raises. Russia called the incident a terrorist attack and an attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, for which it said it reserved the right to retaliate. "We don't attack Putin, or Moscow, we fight on our territory," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a press conference in Helsinki. The incident comes at a moment of high tension and a potential turning point in the war, as Ukraine prepares to mount a long-anticipated counter-offensive.

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