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☆ Bomb that killed Russian war blogger wounded 32, RIA reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 3 (Reuters) - The number of people wounded in the bomb blast that killed a prominent Russian military blogger in St Petersburg on Sunday has risen to 32 from 25 reported earlier, Russia's RIA sate news agency reported. Citing the ministry of health, RIA reported on Monday that 10 of the people were in a serious condition. [1/3] Investigators and members of emergency services work at the site of an explosion in a cafe in Saint Petersburg, Russia April 2, 2023. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov 1 2 3Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a St Petersburg cafe in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia to place nuclear weapons near Belarus' borders with NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Russia will move its tactical nuclear weapons close to the western borders of Belarus, the Russian envoy to Minsk said on Sunday, placing them at NATO's threshold in a move likely to further escalate Moscow's standoff with the West. In one of the Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago, President Vladimir Putin said on March 26 that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The weapons "will be moved to the western border of our union state and will increase the possibilities to ensure security," Russian ambassador to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov, told Belarusian state television. The U.S. and Kyiv's other allies have said they were concerned about the possibility that Russia would send tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, with President Joe Biden saying it was "worrisome." President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that Belarus would also allow Russia to put intercontinental nuclear missiles there too if necessary.

☆ Factbox: Who was Vladlen Tatarsky and why was he targeted?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a bomb attack in a St Petersburg cafe on Sunday in which some 30 other people were wounded. Tatarsky – real name Maxim Fomin - was among the best-known members of an influential group of military bloggers who have provided a running commentary on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Tatarsky, 40, was among those who publicly demanded that Russia pursue the war even more aggressively. Tatarsky was the second high-profile war propagandist to be assassinated in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Tatarsky also had ties to Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group fighting for Russia in Ukraine and also the former owner of the cafe.

☆ War has killed 262 Ukrainian athletes, sports minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 2 (Reuters) - Russia's war against Ukraine has claimed the lives of 262 Ukrainian athletes and destroyed 363 sports facilities, the country's sports minister, Vadym Huttsait, said on Saturday. "They all support this war and attend events held in support of this war," Huttsait said, according to a transcript on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's website. The International Olympic Committee has recommended the gradual return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition as neutrals. Reuters could not independently verify the number of Ukrainian athletes killed or how many facilities have been destroyed. In the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022, a number of Ukrainian national-level athletes have taken up arms voluntarily to defend their country.

☆ Russian embassy says US wants to play down involvement in Nord Stream blasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 29 (Reuters) - The Russian embassy in the U.S. said on Wednesday Washington is seeking to play down damaging information about the alleged involvement of its intelligence services in last year's blasts that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Moscow failed on Monday to get the U.N. Security Council to ask for an independent inquiry into explosions in September that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia and Germany and spewed gas into the Baltic Sea. Russian officials reacted angrily and the Kremlin said on Tuesday it would keep demanding an international investigation. The Russian embassy in the U.S. said in a statement posted on its Telegram messaging platform that Washington is doing "everything possible" to prevent "impartial efforts" establish circumstances around the explosions. "We see this as an obvious attempt ... to play down information from reputable journalists that is damaging for the United States about the likely direct involvement of American intelligence services," the embassy said in the statement posted in Russian.

☆ Russia starts exercises with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Russia has begun exercises with its Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and several thousand troops, its defence ministry said on Wednesday, in what is likely to be seen as another attempt by Moscow to show off its nuclear strength. President Vladimir Putin has aimed to make the Yars missile system, which replaced the Topol system, part of Russia's "invincible weapons" and the mainstay of the ground-based component of its nuclear arsenal. During the exercises, the Yars mobile systems will conduct manoeuvres in three Russian regions, the ministry said, without identifying the regions. There are few confirmed tactical and technical characteristics of the Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missile systems, which reportedly have an operational range of 12,000 km (7,500 miles). Since launching an invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Russia has conducted numerous military exercises on its own or with other countries, such as China or South Africa.

☆ Kyiv urges Russians not to adopt Ukraine's 'stolen' children
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Children remove their shoes at a facility for people with special needs, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, June 6, 2022. REUTERS/Edgar SuMarch 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged Russians on Tuesday not to adopt children who she said were "stolen" in Ukraine during the war and deported to Russia. The war that Russia has been waging on its neighbour for 13 months now has seen millions of people displaced, including families and children. According to Ukraine's Ministry of Integration of Occupied Territories, 19,514 Ukrainian children are currently considered illegally deported. Russia has not concealed a programme under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, but presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.

☆ Zelenskiy invites Xi to visit Ukraine - AP
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Xi has not talked to Zelenskiy since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year but China published a 12-point plan for "a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis" last month. But the United States has been dismissive of the proposal, given that China has declined to condemn Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The United States says a ceasefire now would lock in Russian territorial gains and give Putin's army more time to regroup. Ukraine has welcomed China's diplomatic involvement but Zelenskiy has said he will only consider peace settlements after Russian troops leave Ukrainian territory.

☆ Russia fires supersonic anti-ship missile at mock target in Sea of Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 28 (Reuters) - Russia's navy fired supersonic anti-ship missiles at a mock target in the Sea of Japan, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday. "In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile ships of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at a mock enemy sea target," it said in a statement on its Telegram account. "The target, located at a distance of about 100 kilometres (62.14 miles), was successfully hit by a direct hit from two Moskit cruise missiles." The P-270 Moskit missile, which has the NATO reporting name or SS-N-22 Sunburn, is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile of Soviet origin, capable of destroying a ship within a range of up to 120 km (75 miles). Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia to complete infrastructure for Poseidon torpedo carriers in 2024 - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 27 (Reuters) - Russia plans to complete in early 2024 the construction of its coastal infrastructure in the Pacific Ocean for basing nuclear submarines that will carry the Poseidon nuclear capable super torpedoes, TASS news agency reported on Monday. Russia said in January that it had produced the first set of the Poseidon torpedoes, four years after President Vladimir Putin announced the fundamentally new type of strategic nuclear weapon, confirming it would have its own nuclear power supply. The torpedoes are being developed for deployment on the Belgorod and Khabarovsk nuclear submarines, TASS reported. Russia Pacific Fleet's ballistic nuclear missile submarine base is located on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East. Russia's major upgrade of the nuclear base comes amid rising U.S.-China tensions over influence in the Western Pacific.

☆ Ukraine's Avdiivka becoming 'post-apocalyptic', official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Nick Starkov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A view shows a residential building, cars and a church damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline city of Avdiivka, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Alex Babenko/File PhotoKYIV, March 27 (Reuters) - Russia is turning Ukraine's Avdiivka into "a place from post-apocalyptic movies", intensifying shelling and forcing a nearly full shutdown of the frontline city, the top local official said on Sunday. Some 2,000 civilians are left in Avdiivka, a Donetsk region city some 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of the besieged Bakhmut, according to officials. "I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," the city's military administration head Vitaliy Barabash said on the Telegram messaging app. One person was injured in numerous air strikes on Avdiivka on Saturday, according to Ukrainian military.

☆ Orlando Bloom, UNICEF ambassador and actor, visits children's centre in Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Nick Starkov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

@zelenskiy_official/via REUTERSKYIV, March 27 (Reuters) - Orlando Bloom, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations children's organization UNICEF and a star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Lord of the Rings" movies visited a children's centre in Kyiv on Sunday. It was his first trip to Ukraine since 2016, the British actor said. He also met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. "I would have never expected the war to have escalated throughout the country since I was there," Bloom said on Instagram. "He knows what this aggression has brought, how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to restore Ukraine after the war," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address after meeting Bloom.

☆ Russia says coordinates meeting with Turkey, Syria, Iran officials - RIA
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 21 (Reuters) - Russia is coordinating with Syria, Iran and Turkey on a schedule for a meeting of their deputy foreign ministers, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state RIA news agency on Tuesday. A source from the Turkish foreign ministry told Reuters that a meeting planned for last week was postponed. "We haven't agreed on anything yet, so there's nothing to postpone," Bogdanov was cited as saying. But our colleagues, the Syrians, the Turks, and the Iranians have their work plans and timetables. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Putin, quoting Confucius, heaps praise on Xi
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Both countries pursue an independent and autonomous foreign policy, and consider relations between China and Russia as one of the main priorities in diplomacy." "China and Russia adhere to the concept of eternal friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation." - Xi said he and Putin have met more than 40 times at different venues. - Putin speaks about the 'Power of Siberia' gas pipeline from Russia to China as the "deal of the century". - Putin said oil and coal deliveries had grown and that Russia is helping to build new nuclear power reactors in China.

☆ Ukraine says Russia cruise missiles blown up in transit in Crimea
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine's defence ministry said on Monday that an explosion in Dzhankoi in the north of the Crimean peninsula destroyed Russian cruise missiles intended for use by Russia's Black Sea fleet. "An explosion in Dzhankoi city in the north of temporarily occupied Crimea destroyed Russian Kalibr-KN cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail," the ministry's main intelligence directorate said in social media posts. It said the missiles, designed to be launched from surface ships of Russia's Black Sea fleet, had an operational range of more than 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) on land and 375 kilometers at sea. TASS quoted Ivin as saying on Krym-24 TV that a house, school and grocery store caught fire, and the power grid sustained damage. Reporting by Elaine Monaghan, Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin visits Mariupol as part of surprise tour of occupied Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Putin flew by helicopter to Mariupol for "a working trip", Russian news agencies reported citing the Kremlin. 'BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN'In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, Putin visited a family in their home, Russian media reported. Russian media broadcast videos showing the Russian leader driving a car at night through a built-up area as well as walking into what media said was the philharmonic, restored in just three months. Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, one of the four regions Putin moved in September to annex. Russian media reported on Sunday that Putin also met with the top commander of his military operation in Ukraine, including Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov who is in charge of Moscow's war in Ukraine.

☆ Putin makes surprise trip to Mariupol, first to occupied Donbas in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 19 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Mariupol, Russian state media reported on Sunday, in what would be the Kremlin leader's first trip to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine's Donbas region since the start of the war. Putin flew by helicopter to Mariupol, Russian new agencies reported citing the Kremlin. The Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) said Russia's early bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol was a war crime. In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, a new residential neighbourhood built by Russian military, Putin visited a family in their home, Russian media reported. Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, one of the four regions Putin moved in September to annex.

☆ Xi: China's proposal on Ukraine reflects unity of global views
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 20 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that Beijing's proposal on how to solve the Ukraine crisis reflects global views and seeks to neutralise consequences, but acknowledged that the solutions are not easy. The China proposal, a 12-point paper released last month, represents "as much as possible the unity of the world community's views," Xi wrote in an article in Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a daily published by the Russian government, according to Reuters' translation from Russian. Xi has been seeking to present China as a global peace maker and project it as a responsible great power. A peaceful resolution to the situation in Ukraine, Xi wrote, would also "ensure the stability of global production and supply chains." "There is no universal model of government and there is no world order where the decisive word belongs to a single country," Xi wrote.

☆ New Russian law would strip acquired citizenship for discrediting Ukraine operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 15 (Reuters) - Proposed amendments to Russia's citizenship law would allow for the stripping of acquired citizenship for treason and discrediting the military operation in Ukraine, Russian media reported on Wednesday. Soon after sending its army into Ukraine just over a year ago Russia introduced sweeping wartime laws to silence dissenting voices. Russia calls its action in Ukraine a "special military operation," while Ukraine and its allies say that is a euphemism for a full blown aggression to grab land. The amendments on stripping the citizenship of those who have acquired it relate to "treason, discrediting the special military operation," the RIA news agency quoted Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs. In 2022, based on data from Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 691,000 people received Russian citizenship, with nearly half coming from CIS countries.

☆ Moscow sees drone incident as provocation -Russia's ambassador to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - Moscow views the incident involving a Russian Su-27 fighter jet and a U.S. military drone over the Black Sea as provocation, Russia's RIA state news agency cited Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the United States, as saying on Tuesday. "We view this incident as a provocation," Antonov said after being summoned by the U.S. State Department. The U.S military MQ-9 surveillance drone crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday after a Russian Su-27 jet struck its propeller, the Pentagon said, the first such incident since Russia's invasion of Ukraine over a year ago. Antonov said his meeting at the State Department was "constructive" and the issue of possible "consequences" for Moscow over the incident was not raised, RIA reported. "As for us, we do not want any confrontation between the United States and Russia.

☆ Russia says Black Sea grain deal will be extended automatically if no objections
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - A deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports will be extended automatically after it expires on March 18 if there are no objections from the involved parties, Russia's TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday. Citing an unnamed source familiar with the details of the negotiations around the agreement, TASS reported that so far none of the involved sides had indicated a withdrawal. "If the parties have no objections, the deal will continue after March 18," TASS quoted the source as saying. The prices of corn and wheat have been under pressure on hopes of a deal renewal . Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's air defence downs four missiles in Belgorod region - governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - At least one person was wounded in the southern Russian region of Belgorod on Monday after Russian forces shot down four missiles over the region and its administrative centre Belgorod, the governor of the region bordering Ukraine said. "At this time one person is known to have been injured," Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on the Telegram messaging app. He did not say who he thought had fired the missiles but in the past he has accused Ukrainian forces on the other side of the nearby border of similar attacks. Belgorod borders Ukraine's Kharkiv region and has repeatedly come under fire since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

☆ Georgia's PM calls on Ukraine's Zelenskiy not to interfere in Georgia affairs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - Georgian's prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, called on Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday to not interfere in the political situation in Georgia, after a wave of protests hit the country last week. During the protests against a "foreign agents" law that critics said signalled an authoritarian shift in Georgia, Zelenskiy thanked protesters for waving Ukrainian flag, saying it showed respect and wished the country a "democratic success". The Georgian parliament on Friday dropped the bill, which opponents said was inspired by a 2012 Russian law that has been used extensively to crack down on dissent for the past decade and which had threatened to harm Georgia's bid for closer ties with Europe. Referring to the war in Ukraine, Garibashvili said, "I want to wish everyone a timely end to this war, and peace." Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editng by Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine, Russia say hundreds of enemy troops killed in battle for Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Nick Starkov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] A Ukrainian serviceman looks on from a tank near the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 7, 2023. Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, said that 221 pro-Moscow troops were killed and more than 300 wounded in Bakhmut. Russia's defence ministry said that up to 210 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the broader Donetsk part of the frontline. While Moscow did not specify Bakhmut casualties, the eastern Donetsk town, now nearly deserted, has been the site of one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the year-long war. Writing by David Ljunggren and Lidia Kelly; editing by Grant McCool and Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Investigations are ongoing as to what caused the Nord Stream pipelines, supplying Russian energy to Europe, to rupture and spew bubbles of natural gas into the Baltic Sea last September. "We have to make a clear distinction whether it was a Ukrainian group, whether it may have happened at Ukrainian orders, or a pro-Ukrainian group (acting) without knowledge of the government. Pistorius said earlier the likelihood was "equally high" that it could have been a "false flag operation staged to blame Ukraine". UKRAINE PLAYS DOWN CONCERNSThe New York Times said there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy or other Ukrainian government officials had played any role in the attacks. U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved," according to the New York Times report.

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