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☆ Ukraine, Russia accuse each other of shelling civilians in Zaporizhzhia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Ukrainian servicemen load a shell into a Partyzan small multiple rocket launch system before firing toward Russian troops at a position near a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File photoJuly 16 (Reuters) - Three civilians were wounded in Russian shelling of a village in Zaporizhzhia, the head of Ukraine's presidential administration said on Saturday, while Moscow-backed officials said that Kyiv's forces shelled a school there. Russia also shelled the city of Zaporizhzhia, hitting and damaging at least 16 buildings there, Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of the city council said on the Telegram. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the nearly 17-month long war that Russia has been waging on its neighbour. Ukraine's top military command said that Russia is trying to stop Ukraine's advance there, shelling heavily the area.

Persons: Stringer, Andriy Yermak, Yermak, Anatoliy Kurtiev, Vladimir Rogov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Lidia Kelly, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia region, Zaporizhzhia, Moscow, Stepnohirske, Russia, Russian, Stulneve, Tokmak, Melbourne

☆ Russia keeps air strikes on Kyiv as NATO meets
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

According to preliminary information from Ukrainian military, there were no immediate reports of casualties or major destruction. The enemy launched another air attack on the capital," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app. Reuters witnesses in Kyiv heard blasts resembling the sound of air defence systems intercepting aerial objects. It was not immediately known how many of the Iranian Shahed drones Russia launched and how many were intercepted. A night earlier, Russia launched 28 drones on Kyiv and the southern port of Odesa, with Ukraine's air defence shooting down 26 of the Shahed drones.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Serhiy Popko, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: NATO, Russian Federation into, Air, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Russia, Kyiv, Russian Federation into Ukraine, Ukraine, Moscow, Odesa, Vilinius, Melbourne

☆ Russian diplomats berate US, NATO over Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. is pushing NATO to the "most unfavourable" confrontation with Moscow with the decisions expected from the alliance's summit in Lithuania this week, while Kyiv's allies are "losing" in Ukraine, Russian diplomats said late on Monday. The Kremlin has been angered by the expected solidarity with Ukraine at the NATO summit which starts on Tuesday, saying Kyiv's potential membership in the alliance would be a threat to Russia and Moscow will react clearly and firmly. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said the United States is preparing anti-Russian decisions at the NATO summit. Konstantin Gavrilov, a Vienna-based Russian diplomat and a senior Russian security negotiator, told the Russian RIA state news agency in an interview the West is "losing" in Ukraine. "Both the United States and NATO understand that time is not working for them.

Persons: Anatoly Antonov, Antonov, Konstantin Gavrilov, Gavrilov, Lidia Kelly, Lincoln Organizations: NATO, Diplomats, Russian Federation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Moscow, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Russian, United States, Vilnius, Lithuanian, Vienna, Bakhmut, Melbourne

KYIV, July 11 (Reuters) - Russia launched an overnight air strike on Kyiv in early hours on Tuesday, Ukraine's military said, just hours before the start of the NATO summit in Lithuania that is to tackle security threats from Moscow. "The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month, Serhiy Popko, a head of Kyiv's military administration, said in a post on the Telegram channel. According to preliminary information, Ukraine's air defence systems shot down all the Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia launched before they reached their targets, Popko said. Air raid alerts blasted over Kyiv for an hour and longer in other parts of Ukraine's east, according to Ukraine's Air Force. Reuters' witnesses in Kyiv heard blasts resembling the sound of air defence systems intercepting targets during the air raid.

Persons: Serhiy Popko, Popko, Lidia Kelly, Himani Sarkar, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: NATO, Telegram, Ukraine's Air Force, Reuters, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: Russia, Kyiv, Lithuania, Moscow, Ukraine's, Vilnius, Ukraine, United States, Melbourne

☆ Russia's Medvedev: NATO's military aid to Ukraine brings World War Three closer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sputnik/Yekaterina Shtukina/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoJuly 12 (Reuters) - Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said late on Tuesday that the increase in military assistance to Ukraine by the NATO alliance brings World War Three closer. World War Three is getting closer," Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He also advocated on Tuesday for using the "inhuman weapon" that is cluster munitions after what he said were reports of Ukraine already using it. The U.S. announced it would supply Kyiv with cluster munitions that typically release large numbers of small bomblets over a wide area and are banned by many countries. Russia and Ukraine have previously accused each other of already using cluster munitions in the 500-day war.

Persons: Dmitry Medvedev, Nikolay Pankov, Vladimir Putin, Medvedev, it's, Sergei Shoigu, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: Deputy, Sputnik, NATO, Ukraine, Kremlin, U.S, Russian, Thomson Locations: Volgograd region, Russia, Ukraine, U.S, Lithuania, Kyiv, Moscow, United States, Melbourne

☆ US, Ukraine's top diplomats hold 'important' call before NATO summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger//File PhotoJuly 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said late on Sunday they held a phone call to discuss this week's NATO summit and Kyiv's counteroffensive campaign to reclaim land taken by Russia. "I had an important discussion with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today ahead of this week's NATO Summit," Blinken said on Twitter. The U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a separate statement that the two diplomats discussed also "progress in Ukraine's counteroffensive." Kuleba said on Twitter that the call was to work out details ahead of the NATO summit, which starts on Tuesday in Vilnius. "I had a productive call with Secretary Blinken ahead of Vilnius," Kuleba said on Twitter.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Sarah Silbiger, Dmytro Kuleba, Blinken, Matthew Miller, Kuleba, Joe Biden, Lidia Kelly, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: State Department, Washington , D.C, REUTERS, Ukraine's, Sunday, NATO, Ukrainian Foreign, Twitter, U.S . Department of State, Thomson Locations: Washington ,, Russia, Vilnius, Ukraine, U.S, Melbourne, Bengaluru

☆ Russia calls on NATO to discuss Ukraine nuclear plant at summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 9 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday that the leaders of the U.S.-led transatlantic NATO defence alliance should discuss Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at their summit this week. Accusing Ukraine of "systematic infliction of damage" to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Zakharova said that "the NATO summit's key attention should be devoted to it." "After all, the vast majority of the alliance members will be in the direct impact zone" (if something were to happen at the plant), Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app. Vilnius is some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the nuclear plant, Europe's largest. Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of planning to attack the plant, which is located on Russian-held territory in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, near the front line of Russia's conflict with Ukraine.

Persons: Maria Zakharova, Zakharova, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Lidia Kelly, Kim Coghill Organizations: Foreign, NATO, Ukraine, International Atomic Energy Agency, Thomson Locations: U.S, Vilnius, Ukraine, Russia, Russian, Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, Melbourne

REUTERS/Issei KatoTOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) - Japan on Saturday marked one year since former prime minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down during an election speech by a man angry at his links to the Unification Church. The death of Japan's longest serving prime minister, which was caught on video, rattled a nation unused to gun violence. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other senior officials and lawmakers joined Abe's widow, Akie, at a private memorial service at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo. Among them was Tsuu Ogawa, 49, a hotel worker, who celebrated her birthday the day that Abe was assassinated. In social media posts before the shooting, he blamed the Unification Church for leaving his mother in financial straits.

Persons: Shinzo Abe, Issei Kato TOKYO, Japan's, Fumio Kishida, Akie, Tsuu Ogawa, Abe, Critics, Atsuhiro Ueda, Kishida, Tetsuya Yamagami, Daishiro Yamagiwa, Tim Kelly, Irene Wang, Kim Coghill Organizations: REUTERS, Unification Church, Liberal Democratic Party, Unification, Korean, Economic, Thomson Locations: Zojoji, Tokyo, Japan

That initiative follows a visit to Japan by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in January when he said the lessons China was learning from Ukraine could influence its decisions. NATO documents have begun to reflect concern about China, East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, but Japan needs to deepen its awareness of those issues, a Japanese official involved in discussions about NATO ties said. Diplomats from two European NATO countries who spoke to Reuters said unease in the alliance about a Tokyo office went beyond France. Another Japanese official involved in preparations for Kishida's NATO visit said the idea of a NATO office in Japan had nothing to do with China, but that is how it became framed, and each NATO country has its own relations with China. Under Yoon, South Korea has set up a liaison office with NATO in Brussels and has embraced a call for unity among like-minded countries.

Persons: Fumio Kishida, ”, Michito Tsuruoka, Kishida, Jens Stoltenberg, Emmanuel Macron's, Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon, Anthony Albanese, We’ll, Albanese, Sakura Murakami, Tim Kelly, John Irish, Josh Smith, Praveen Menon Organizations: NATO, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Keio University, NATO's, Diplomats, Reuters, Japanese, SYDNEY South, Australian, Asia Pacific, Ukraine, Sky News, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Lithuania, Ukraine, Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, U.S, Europe, Russia, NATO, East Asia, China, Taiwan, North Korea, Lithuania's, Vilnius, Tokyo, France, Brussels, Danish, SEOUL, Poland, Paris, Seoul, Sydney

☆ Russia's Kursk, Belgorod regions come under fire from Ukraine -governors
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 5 (Reuters) - Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions came under fire from Ukrainian forces across the border in the early hours of Wednesday, the regions' governors said, reporting that at least one person was wounded. "The attack on the town of Valuyiki lasted for more than an hour," Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine forces also fired 12 times from the Grad rocket launchers, he added. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. Blasts and attacks on Russian regions bordering Ukraine have been occurring on nearly daily in recent months, with Russian officials blaming either Ukrainian forces or pro-Ukrainian saboteurs.

Persons: Vyacheslav Gladkov, Gladkov, Starovoyt, Lidia Kelly, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Russia's, Grad, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia's Kursk, Belgorod, Ukrainian, Valuyiki, Russian, Ukraine, Kursk, Tyotkino, Russia, Melbourne

☆ Putin says Russian economy faring better than expected
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 5 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said late on Tuesday that the Russian economy was performing better than expected after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reported to him that gross domestic product growth and inflation have been surprisingly positive. GDP growth may exceed 2% this year and consumer price inflation may not rise above 5% in annual terms, Mishustin told Putin at a meeting at the Kremlin. The International Monetary Fund expects the Russian economy to grow 0.7% this year. "Our results, at least for the time being, let's say, cautiously, are better than previously expected, better than predicted," Putin said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin's website. On Tuesday, Mishustin told Putin that he had confidence that if there was no force majeure circumstances, the economy would perform well this year.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Mishustin, Mishustin, Putin, Kyiv's, Russia's technocrats, Vladimir Vladimirovich, Anton Siluanov, Lidia Kelly, David Gregorio, Michael Perry Organizations: Kremlin, Monetary Fund, Reuters, Moscow, Monetary, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Melbourne

☆ Options Action: Traders placing bullish bets on MP Materials
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOptions Action: Traders placing bullish bets on MP MaterialsKevin Kelly, Kelly Intelligence CEO, joins the Options Action traders and CNBC's Melissa Lee to talk MP Materials.

Persons: Kevin Kelly, Melissa Lee Organizations: Kelly Intelligence

☆ Moscow says civilians hit in Makiivka attack that Kyiv says destroyed Russian unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said late on Tuesday that it destroyed a formation of Russian forces in the Moscow-controlled Makiivka in the Donetsk region, while Russia-installed officials said that one civilian died and 36 were injured in Kyiv's attacks. "As a result of precision firing by Defence Forces units, another formation of Russian terrorists in the temporarily occupied Makiivka ceased to exist," the strategic communication office of Ukraine's Armed Forces said. Russia-installed representatives in part of Ukraine's Donetsk region now controlled by Moscow and where Makiivka is situated said on the Telegram messaging app that one man died and at least 36 people were injured. Denis Pushilin, the Russia-installed head of those parts of Donetsk that Moscow controls said that among the injured were a 33-month-old baby and a 7-year-old boy. On New Year's Day, at least 89 Russian troops were killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russian military quarters in Makiivka.

Persons: Makiivka, Denis Pushilin, Pushilin, Lidia Kelly, Muralikumar Organizations: Defence Forces, Ukraine's Armed Forces, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Donetsk, Russia, Ukraine's Donetsk, Makiivka, Melbourne

Four Ukrainian drones were shot down by Moscow air defences while a fifth was jammed and crashed into the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region, the Russian defence ministry said. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. High-profile drone attacks deep inside Russia, the world's largest country, have increased over recent months with attacks on the Kremlin in May and on Russian oil infrastructure last month. After May's drone attack on the capital, President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was trying to scare and provoke Russia, adding that the capital's air defences would be strengthened. "At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram messaging channel.

Persons: Maria Zakharova, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Sobyanin, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, Robert Birsel Organizations: Kyiv, United Arab, UN Security, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Moscow Russia, Kyiv MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Odintsovo, Kaluga, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kubinka, United States, Britain, France, Kyiv, Melbourne

☆ Ukraine reports incremental gains in heavy fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, July 3 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Monday its forces had gained some ground along eastern and southern fronts in the past week in heavy fighting with Russian troops, reclaiming 37.4 square kilometres (14.4 square miles) of territory. Ukrainian forces were advancing in the Bakhmut direction, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said, adding that Russian forces were attacking in the Lyman, Avdiivka and Mariinka directions in the Donetsk region. "Heavy fighting is going on there now," Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app. In the south, Ukraine has regained 28.4 kilometres of territory, bringing the total area of re-captured territory along that front to 158.4 kilometres, Maliar added. They also reported success in containing Ukrainian troops in the northeast.

Persons: Hanna Maliar, Avdiivka, Maliar, Lidia Kelly, Robert Birsel Organizations: Lyman, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Donetsk, Russia, Vuhledar, Melbourne

☆ Russia's envoy: No grounds to maintain grain deal status quo
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 3 (Reuters) - Russia's envoy to the United Nations in Geneva said there were no grounds to maintain the "status quo" of the Black Sea grain deal that is set to expire on July 18, the Russian news outlet Izvestia reported on Monday. In a wide ranging interview, envoy Gennady Gatilov told the outlet that the implementation of Russia's conditions for the extensions of the agreement was "stalling." "However, what we are seeing now does not give us grounds to agree to maintaining the status quo." Last week, the United Nations said it was concerned no new ships had been registered under the Black Sea deal since June 26 - despite applications being made by 29 vessels. The New Start Treaty, signed in 2010 is due to expire in 2026.

Persons: Gennady Gatilov, Gatilov, Izvestia, Vladimir Putin, Lidia Kelly, Lincoln Organizations: United Nations, Russian Agricultural Bank, United, Washington, Thomson Locations: Geneva, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, United Nations, Turkey, United States, Moscow, Washington, Izvestia Russia, Kyiv, Melbourne

☆ Moscow says 700,000 children from Ukraine conflict zones now in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Pavel Klimov/File PhotoJuly 3 (Reuters) - Russia has brought some 700,000 children from the conflict zones in Ukraine into Russian territory, Grigory Karasin, head of the international committee in the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, said late on Sunday. "In recent years, 700,000 children have found refuge with us, fleeing the bombing and shelling from the conflict areas in Ukraine," Karasin wrote on his Telegram messaging channel. Moscow says its progranme of bring children from Ukraine into Russian territory is to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone. However, Ukraine says many children have been illegally deported and the United States says thousands of children have been forcibly removed from their homes. In July 2022, the United States estimated that Russia "forcibly deported" 260,000 children, while Ukraine's Ministry of Integration of Occupied Territories, says 19,492 Ukrainian children are currently considered illegally deported.

Persons: Pavel Klimov, Grigory Karasin, Karasin, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: Federation Council, Ukraine, United, Ukraine's Ministry, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Mariupol, Moscow, United States, Melbourne

☆ Ultra-nationalists aim to restrict travel for Russian officials' families
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 2 (Reuters) - The ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) is working on a bill that would temporarily ban the travel of close relatives of high-ranking officials to "unfriendly countries," the RIA state news agency reported on Sunday. Russia considers all countries that have hit it with sanctions over its military campaign in Ukraine to be "unfriendly." Citing a member of the Russian Duma, Sergei Karginov, RIA reported that restrictions may also affect, among others, law enforcement officers, judges, top managers of state corporations, and the board of directors of the Central Bank. Russia launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022, calling it a "special military operation" to demilitarise and denazify its neighbour. Despite its name, Russia's Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) has since its founding in 1991 espoused a hardline, ultranationalist ideology, demanding Russia reconquer the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Persons: Sergei Karginov, Karginov, Lidia Kelly, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Russian Duma, Central Bank, Russia's Liberal Democratic Party, Soviet Union, Duma, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, Kyiv, Melbourne

MOSCOW, June 28 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he persuaded Russian President Vladimir Putin not to "wipe out" mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, in response to what the Kremlin cast as a mutiny that pushed Russia towards civil war. While describing his Saturday conversation with Putin, Lukashenko used the Russian criminal slang phrase for killing someone, equivalent to the English phrase to "wipe out". "I also understood: a brutal decision had been made (and it was the undertone of Putin's address) to wipe out" the mutineers, Lukashenko told a meeting of his army officials and journalists on Tuesday, according to Belarusian state media. Later Lukashenko told his military that "people fail to understand that we are approaching this in a pragmatic way ... Prigozhin halted what he called was "march of justice" on Moscow from the southern city of Rostov-on-Don within 200 kilometres of the capital after Lukashenko's intervention.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Prigozhin, Lukashenko, Sasha, Wagner, They've, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Nick Starkov, Andrew Osborn, Peter Graff Organizations: Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russian, Russia, Belarus, Kremlin, Belarusian, Moscow, Rostov, Melbourne

☆ Options Action: Nike stock slips as traders take bullish tone
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOptions Action: Nike stock slips as traders take bullish toneKevin Kelly, Kelly Intelligence CEO, joins CNBC's Melissa Lee and the 'Fast Money' traders to talk Nike's recent stock dip.

Persons: Kevin Kelly, Melissa Lee Organizations: Nike, Kelly Intelligence

☆ Russia conducts tactical fighter jet drills over Baltic Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 27 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said early on Tuesday that it was conducting tactical fighter jet exercises over the Baltic Sea with the main goal of testing readiness to perform combat and special tasks operations. "The crews of the Su-27 (fighter jets) of the Baltic Fleet fired from airborne weapons at cruise missiles and mock enemy aircraft," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. "The main goal of the exercise is to test the readiness of the flight crew to perform combat and special tasks as intended." The ministry said that in addition to improving skills, the fighter jets crews are on "round-the-clock combat duty" guarding the air space of Russia's Kaliningrad exclave. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Lidia Kelly, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: Baltic Fleet, Thomson Locations: Baltic, Russia's Kaliningrad, Melbourne

☆ Senior Russian lawmaker calls for professional army of seven million
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, who early in the 16-month war took part in peace negotiations with Ukraine, said that Russia needs a contract army of at least seven million military and civilian personnel, on top of the current conscript army. He said Wagner fighters can continue fighting with Russian army, go home or go to Belarus. At the end of 2022, Putin backed beefing up the army to 1.5 million combat personnel - including 695,000 contract soldiers - from 1.15 million. Creating a contract army of seven million would require a huge budget allowance. The Russian economy, crippled by the war and subsequent Western sanctions contracted 2.2% percent last year and is expected to rebound only marginally this year.

Persons: Leonid Slutsky, Sergei Lavrov, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Evgenia, weekend's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: Russia's, Russian, Qatari Deputy, Foreign, REUTERS, Liberal Democratic Party, Thomson Locations: Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, Thani, Moscow, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, aborting, Belarus, Melbourne

☆ Putin confirms Russian pilots killed during aborted mutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 27 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday paid tribute to pilots who were killed during the failed weekend mutiny, confirming earlier reports by military bloggers that several planes were shot down by Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner militia. "The courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes-pilots saved Russia from tragic devastating consequences," Putin said in his first public address about the mutiny since the weekend events. There has been no official information about how many pilots died or how many aircraft were shot down. Some Russian Telegram channels monitoring Russia's military activity, including the blog Rybar with more than a million subscribers, reported on Saturday that 13 Russian pilots were killed during the day-long mutiny. It was also not clear in what circumstances the aircraft were shot down and pilots killed.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner, Wagner, Putin, Rybar, Leonid Slutsky, Lidia Kelly, Lincoln Organizations: Telegram, Reuters, Defence Ministry, Thomson Locations: Rostov, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Belarus, Russian, Melbourne

☆ Ukraine: Chaos in Russia works to our advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 25 (Reuters) - Chaos in Russia works to Kyiv's advantage, Ukraine officials said on Saturday, but it remains to be seen whether President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his army can capitalise on the disorder caused this weekend as mercenaries marched towards Moscow. "Today the world saw that the masters of Russia do not control anything. Just complete chaos," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, urging Ukraine's allies to use the moment and send more weapons to Kyiv. "Any chaos behind the enemy lines works in our interests," State-run Ukrinform news agency quoted Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as saying on Saturday. Putin called Prigozhin's actions a "blow to Russia", but there were no immediate signs his rule was threatened.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Zelenskiy, Ukraine's, Vladimir Putin, Dmytro Kuleba, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Kuleba, Antony Blinken, Oleksiy Danilov, Lidia Kelly, Tom Hogue Organizations: U.S, U.S . State Department, Kyiv, National Security, Defence Council, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus, Kyiv, Washington, Krasnohorivka, Donetsk, Melbourne

☆ Russia urges Moscow residents to avoid key highway until 0700 GMT
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 25 (Reuters) - Russia's Federal Road Agency urged residents of the Moscow region on Sunday to refrain from travelling along the M-4 "Don" major expressway until 10 a.m. (0700 GMT). The agency had said earlier in the day on the Telegram messaging app, in a post now deleted, that traffic restrictions on the highway in the Moscow and Tula regions remained. Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who had advanced most of the way to Moscow on Saturday then halted their approach, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin's grip on power, in a move their leader said would avoid bloodshed. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Don, Vladimir Putin's, Lidia Kelly, William Mallard Organizations: Federal Road Agency, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Tula, Russian, Melbourne

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