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☆ Putin says Russian forces improving positions along front line in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces have bolstered their positions across the entire front line in Ukraine after what he said was the failure of Ukraine's counteroffensive this year. Russia currently controls about 17.5% of Ukrainian territory and a four-month-old Ukrainian counteroffensive this year by Ukrainian forces has made almost no net territorial gains, according to Western analyses of the territory held by Russia. While Ukraine took back territory taken by Russia last year, the Ukrainian army has struggled to penetrate Russian lines which have been bolstered with minefields and thousands of extra Russian troops. "What is happening now along the entire length of the [line of] contact is called 'an active defense'," Putin said. The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine's Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, with Russian-backed forces fighting Ukraine's armed forces.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Pavel Zarubin Organizations: Commonwealth of Independent States, Russian, Belfer, Harvard Locations: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Russia, Kremlin, Ukrainian, Avdiivka, United States, Ukraine's, Crimea, Russian

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 21, 2023. China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two. Biden has referred to Xi as a "dictator" and has said Putin is a "killer" and a leader who cannot remain in power. Since the Ukraine war, Putin has mostly stayed within the former Soviet Union, though he visited Iran last year for talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The United States has warned China against supplying Putin with weapons as Russia, a $2 trillion economy, battles Ukrainian forces backed by the United States and the European Union.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Mikhail Tereshchenko, Putin, Xi Putin, Xi, Joe Biden, Graham Allison, Bill Clinton, Biden, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mao Zedong, Alexander Gabuev, Gabuev, Li Shangfu, Alexei Miller, Igor Sechin, Guy Faulconbridge, Alison Williams Organizations: Kremlin, Sputnik, Forum, Soviet Union, U.S, Harvard University, Reuters, Soviet, United, European Union, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Gazprom, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, China, USSR, MOSCOW, BEIJING, United States, Beijing, Hague, Ukraine, Europe, U.S, Soviet Union, Iran, Communist China, Ukrainian, Siberia, Mongolia

☆ Putin says civilian losses from Israeli ground operation in Gaza would be 'unacceptable'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) leaders' summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, October 13, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsBISHKEK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said an Israeli ground operation in Gaza would result in a level of civilian casualties that would be "absolutely unacceptable". Putin said that using heavy weaponry in residential areas was "fraught with serious consequences for all sides". "And most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable. Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Pavel Bednyakov, Putin, Alexander Marrow, Mark Trevelyan, Christina Fincher Organizations: Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Hamas, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Rights BISHKEK, Israeli, Gaza, Gaza City

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Ukraine ‘holding positions’ as fighting rages in key eastern city; Putin to meet with world leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery on Russian positions on the frontline in the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on July 27, 2023 amid Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian forces on Friday sought to hold back Russia's advances in and around the strategically important city of Avdiivka. The industrial hub of Avdiivka is regarded as the gateway to Donetsk, the capital of the eastern Donbas region. Ukraine's state emergency services said one person was killed and 12 others were injured in a Russian attack on Ukraine's eastern city of Pokrovsk. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet with world leaders at a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States, an international grouping of former Soviet republics.

Persons: Andriy Yermak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Kremlin, Commonwealth of Independent Locations: Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Pokrovsk, Commonwealth of Independent States, Soviet, Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek

☆ Putin: Civilian toll from Israeli ground attack in Gaza would be unacceptable
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) leaders' summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, October 13, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsBISHKEK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza would result in a level of civilian casualties that would be "absolutely unacceptable". "And most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable. Putin said, however, that Israel had the right to defend itself after being subjected to "an attack unprecedented in its cruelty". Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan and Alexander Marrow; editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Pavel Bednyakov, Putin, Mikhail Bogdanov, Mark Trevelyan, Alexander Marrow, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Hamas, Russian Foreign Ministry, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Rights BISHKEK, Gaza, Gaza City, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Israel, Russia, East Jerusalem, United States, East, Moscow, Lebanese, Lebanon

☆ Russia's Putin visits Kyrgyzstan in first foreign trip since ICC arrest warrant
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Neither Kyrgyzstan nor China are members of the ICC, which was established to prosecute war crimes. At a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Putin underscored Russia's importance as the biggest investor in the Kyrgyz economy and said the two sides would further develop cooperation. "Our country is the main supplier of oil products to Kyrgyzstan, we fully supply Kyrgyz consumers with gasoline (petrol) and diesel," Putin told a briefing. Putin cited fast growth in Russian-Kyrgyz trade, which some in the West suspect is partly due to Kyrgyz intermediaries facilitating sanctions-busting by Russian businesses. The United States imposed sanctions on four Kyrgyz companies in July for re-exporting electronics components and other technology to Russia.

Persons: Putin, Vladimir Putin, Russia's, Sadyr Japarov, Japarov, Marlis Myrzakul, Olzhas, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Russian, Criminal Court, ICC, Kremlin, Forum, Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, Moscow, Thomson Locations: Kyrgyzstan, BISHKEK, Central Asian, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Bishkek, Kyrgyz, Central Asia, Russian, China, Beijing, Soviet, Soviet Union, Armenia, United States, Kyrgyzstan's

☆ Putin to travel to Kyrgyzstan in first known trip abroad since ICC arrest warrant
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Putin to visit KyrgyzstanPutin also to attend CIS summitArmenian PM Pashinyan not to attend CIS summitMOSCOW, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin will visit Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, the presidential office of the Central Asian country said, in what would be the Russian leader's first known trip abroad since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest. Putin agreed in May during talks with Japarov to visit Kyrgyzstan, but there has been no official confirmation yet from the Kremlin that the Russian president will travel there on Thursday. The Russian leader is also due to travel to China next week for the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. Neither Kyrgyzstan nor China are members of the ICC, which was established to prosecute war crimes. Pashinyan said on Tuesday that plans were proceeding for a meeting with the Azeri president to discuss a durable peace accord.

Persons: Putin, Kyrgyzstan Putin, Vladimir Putin, Sadyr, Japarov, Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: CIS, MOSCOW, Central, ICC, Kremlin, Russian Federation, Forum, Russian Aerospace Forces, 999th Air Base, Commonwealth, Independent States, Thomson Locations: Kyrgyzstan, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Kyrgyz Republic, China, Beijing, Moscow, Kant, Armenia, Bishkek, Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Karabakh, EU, Brussels, Melbourne

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks before a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin following the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 29, 2023. The army said it would soon go on the offensive after the biggest mobilisation in Israeli history. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital - all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. The Quartet, set up in 2002, consists of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia. He said Russia was in contact with the Palestinians to find out if any Russians had been injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Bobylyov, Lavrov, Sergei Lavrov, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Israel, Aboul Gheit, Hosni Mubarak’s, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Agency, REUTERS, Kremlin, League, Quartet, Arab League, West Bank, United Nations, European Union, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, MOSCOW, Israel, Palestinian Territories, United States, Gaza, East, Iran, Palestinian, East Jerusalem

Wagner communications channels were silent, but some supporters and patriotic bloggers expressed disbelief. 'LAUGHABLE' EXPLANATIONWestern diplomats say Putin ordered the killing of Prigozhin after the humiliation of the mutiny. "Two heroes of great Russia died in this plane crash, just in case someone forgot, and not druggies," said the Southern Front Telegram channel. And that is why Prigozhin himself did not just die, but became a 'downed pilot'," Pastukhov wrote on Telegram. (But) he needs society to understand the hint unambiguously: this is how everyone (who betrays us) will be dealt with."

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Anton Vaganov, Putin, Vladimir Putin's intimation, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, CHVK, Vladimir Pastukhov, Pastukhov, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Embraer, Federal Security Service, Wagner, KGB, Southern Front Telegram, Zone, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, Said, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow

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

Aslan Bzhania, the self-styled president of Russian-backed Abkhazia, said an agreement had been signed for a permanent naval base in the Ochamchira region. Three of the Black Sea littoral states are NATO members - Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania. The news of the Russian base at Ochamchira, where the Soviet Union had a naval base, could indicate Russia is seeking alternatives to Sevastopol while also expanding its military presence down the Black Sea coast towards Turkey. The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia had withdrawn the bulk of its Black Sea Fleet from its main base in annexed Crimea due to Ukrainian attacks. At his meeting with Bzhania on Wednesday, Putin did not say anything about a naval base.

Persons: Izvestiya Putin, Vladimir Putin, Aslan Bzhania, Bzhania, Izvestiya, Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Abkhazia Abkhaz, Ukrainian, Russian Navy, NATO, Soviet, Street Journal, Thomson Locations: Abkhazia, Russia, Sevastopol MOSCOW, Georgian, Sevastopol, Moscow, Ukraine, Ochamchira, South Ossetia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, Syria, Soviet Union, Crimea

Russia has been bolstering its armed forces and ramping up weapons production in the expectation of a long war in Ukraine, where front lines have barely shifted for a year. "There are no plans for an additional mobilisation," Shoigu was shown telling top generals on state television. "The armed forces have the necessary number of military personnel to conduct the special military operation." Putin ordered a "partial mobilisation" of 300,000 reservists in September last year, prompting hundreds of thousands of young men to flee Russia to avoid being sent to fight. While Ukraine was able to win back territory last year from Russia in attacks which humiliated the Russian armed forces, this year has been different.

Persons: Anton Vaganov, Shoigu, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Putin, Mark Milley, Milley, Dmitry Peskov, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Defence, West, Belfer, Harvard Kennedy School, CNN, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Leningrad Region, MOSCOW, Russian, That's, United States

President Vladimir Putin, who rules the world's biggest nuclear power, has repeatedly cautioned the West that any attack on Russia could provoke a nuclear response. The Soviet Union's last nuclear test took place in 1990. The United States' last nuclear test took place in 1992 and France and China conducted their last nuclear tests in 1996, according to the United Nations. Simonyan said the Ukraine crisis was moving towards a nuclear ultimatum and that the West would not stop until Russia sent a nuclear message. He also cautioned that if the United States returned to nuclear testing, then Russia would resume too.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Margarita Simonyan, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Simonyan, Putin, Russia's, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Nick Macfie, Gareth Jones Organizations: Donetsk, Kremlin, New York Times, Soviet, United, United Nations, RT, Soviet Union, Washington, Thomson Locations: Russian, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Siberia Kremlin, MOSCOW, Russia, Moscow, Siberia, United States, France, China, Ukraine, Alamogordo , New Mexico, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Soviet, Ban, Soviet Union

[1/5] A woman mourns next to a makeshift memorial for Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, as people mark 40 days since his death to respect an Orthodox tradition, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 1, 2023. It is still unclear what caused the plane to crash two months to the day since Prigozhin's failed mutiny. The Kremlin said on Aug. 30 that investigators were considering the possibility that the plane was downed on purpose. At memorials in Moscow and other Russian cities dozens of Wagner fighters and ordinary Russians paid their respects, though there was no mass outpouring of grief. Putin was on Friday shown meeting one of the most senior former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group and discussing how best to use "volunteer units" in the Ukraine war.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Anton Vaganov, Prigozhin, Prigozhin's, Violetta, Pavel, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Mikhail, Marta, Dmitry Utkin, Hope, Anton Yelizarov, Guy Faulconbridge, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, State, Embraer, KGB, Reuters, United States, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow, Ukraine, Rostov, Mali

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with senior former commander of the Wagner mercenary group Andrei Troshev and Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov in Moscow, Russia, September 28, 2023. Putin was shown on state television meeting at the Kremlin with Andrei Troshev, a former Wagner commander known by his nom de guerre "Sedoi" - or "grey hair". Russia's Kommersant newspaper has reported that just days after the Wagner mutiny Putin had suggested that Troshev take over from Prigozhin. The Putin meeting in the Kremlin appears to indicate that what remains of Wagner will now be overseen by Troshev and Yevkurov. After Bakhmut's fall, Wagner units withdrew from Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Andrei Troshev, Yunus, Bek Yevkurov, Mikhail Metzel, Putin, Troshev, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Peskov, Prigozhin's, WAGNER'S, Yevkurov, of, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Ukraine British, Kremlin, Deputy, Russia's Kommersant, Reuters, British, Russian Ministry of Defence, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, MOSCOW, Russian, Prigozhin, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, redeploy, Afghanistan, Chechnya, St Petersburg, of Russia, Palmyra, Syria

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a televised address to the nation in Yerevan, Armenia, in this picture released September 24, 2023. "We are convinced that the Yerevan leadership is making a massive mistake by deliberately trying to destroy Armenia's multi-faceted and centuries-old ties with Russia while making the country hostage to the geopolitical games of the West," it said. Moscow denied suggestions that it had any hand in protests in Yerevan and cautioned Pashinyan that while Russia did not stoke revolutions, the West did. "The head of the Armenian government should be well aware that Moscow does not get involved in such things - unlike the West which is pretty adept at organizing 'colour revolutions'," Russia said. Russia blames the United States for stoking so-called colour revolutions in several post-Soviet republics including Ukraine.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Armenian, REUTERS, Rights, Karabakh, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Yerevan, Armenia, Handout, Russia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Moscow, Baku, Azerbaijan, Russian, United States, Ukraine

[1/5] A view shows a border-crossing point on the frontier between Armenia and Azerbaijan and a base of Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh as seen from a road near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 23, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze Acquire Licensing RightsSummary Ethnic Armenians to leave Karabakh - leadership120,000 people could move into ArmeniaProcess of giving up weapons is underwayNEAR KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday. Azerbaijan says it will guarantee their rights and integrate the region but the leadership of the Armenians in Karabakh told Reuters that they would leave. He said it was unclear when the Karabakh Armenians would move down the Lachin corridor which links the territory to Armenia, where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has faced calls to resign for failing to save Karabakh. Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim, has said the Armenians, who are Christian, can leave if they want.

Persons: Irakli, David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Nikol Pashinyan, Babayan, Pashinyan, Felix Light, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, William Mallard, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Karabakh, Reuters, Sunday, Soviets, International Committee, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, KORNIDZOR, Soviet Union, Republic of Artsakh, Russians, Ottomans, South Caucasus, Russia, United States, Turkey, Iran, Moscow

Karabakh Armenian authorities accused Azerbaijan of violating a ceasefire agreed on Wednesday after a lightning Azerbaijani offensive forced the separatists to agree to disarm. When asked about giving up weapons, Babayan said his people could not be left to die, so would security guarantees first. Talks took place on Thursday in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh between Azerbaijan and representatives of the Republic of Artsakh, as the Karabakh Armenians call themselves. He said the region's ethnic Armenians would enjoy full educational, cultural and religious rights. An aide to Aliyev said Baku had given Yerevan a new draft peace agreement, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

Persons: Pashinyan, GORIS, David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Babayan, Ilham Aliyev, Melkumyan, Stringer, Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Khankendi, Gayane Sargsyan, Felix Light, Guy Faulconbridge, Nailia Bagirova, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Azerbaijan reclaims, Protesters, Reuters, National Assembly of, REUTERS, Karabakh, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh's, Azerbaijani, Yevlakh, Republic of Artsakh, Artsakh, Soviet Union, AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA, Caucasus, Baku, Yerevan, Russia, Moscow, Stepanakert, Goris

☆ The mastermind of Russia's treacherous defenses in Ukraine appears to be in a kind of faraway 'exile' as the line is being breached
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russian Army Gen. Sergey Surovikin appears to be in Algeria, according to recent photos. Surovikin is the mastermind of Russia's formidable defensive lines and fortifications in Ukraine. But as Kyiv's forces break through these elaborate fortifications, the mastermind behind them is nowhere near the action. The experts cited several additional photographs of Surovikin purportedly in Algeria, which were published to Telegram by Russian sources. Insider was unable to independently verify any of the recent photographs of Surovikin shared to X and Telegram.

Persons: Sergey Surovikin, Wagner, Surovikin, Dara Massicot, Yevgeny Prigozhin —, Russia's Aerospace Forces Sergei Surovikin, Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, Staff Sergei Rudskoi, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Metzel, subsume Wagner Organizations: Russian, Wagner Group, Service, RAND Corporation, Twitter, Institute for, Commonwealth, Independent States, CIS, Kommersant, Russia's Aerospace Forces, Staff, Russian Armed Forces, Armed Forces, Sputnik, Russian MoD Locations: Algeria, Ukraine, Africa, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Moscow, California, Washington, Yevgeny Prigozhin — Russia, North Africa, Russian, Sochi

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a presentation of a Haval F7 SUV produced at the Haval car plant located in Russian Tula region, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019. Nikolai Patrushev, a close Putin ally and the secretary of Russia's Security Council, said Russia and China should deepen cooperation in the face of the West's attempt to contain them both. Putin will attend the third Belt and Road Forum after an invitation by Xi during a high-profile visit to Moscow in March. Putin has pivoted towards China, and Xi has stood by him. Putin last visited Beijing in February 2022, days before the invasion, where he and Xi announced a 'no limits' partnership.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Maxim Shipenkov, Putin, China's Xi Jinping, Putin's, Nikolai Patrushev, Wang Yi, Xi, Maxim Reshetnikov, Reshetnikov, William Burns, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Christina Fincher Organizations: Kremlin, ICC, Security, Criminal Court, Cuban Missile Crisis, CIA, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian Tula, Moscow, Russia, China, MOSCOW, Beijing, Ukraine, CHINA, RUSSIA, Russian, United States

☆ Russian general in Algeria in apparent return to work after Wagner mutiny, Kommersant reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

General Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, visits the Joint Headquarters of the Russian armed forces involved in military operations in Ukraine, in an unknown location in Russia, in this picture released December 17, 2022. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSept 15 (Reuters) - Russian general Sergei Surovikin is in Algeria as part of a Defence Ministry delegation, in an apparent return to official duties after coming under suspicion in connection with a June mutiny by the Wagner mercenary force, Kommersant newspaper reported on Friday, citing a source close to the general. The newspaper published photographs of Surovikin wearing a khaki suit without military insignia that it said had been taken in Algeria, a major buyer of Russian weapons. He became popular among hardline critics of the Russian military establishment including Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash last month. Various media outlets reported that Surovikin had fallen out of favour with the Kremlin and that he was being investigated for possible complicity.

Persons: Sergei Surovikin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin’s, Surovikin, RIA, Viktor Afzalov, Felix Light, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Defence Ministry, Kommersant, New York Times, Kremlin, Commonwealth of Independent, Institute for, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Kremlin, Algeria, Moscow, Commonwealth of Independent States, Soviet

Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting at the Vostochny Сosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, September 13, 2023. DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's formal name. At the opening of the meeting with Putin, Kim said it was an unwavering position of the North to further develop its traditional friendship and ties with Russia. Russian media said Putin showed Kim around the building where Russia's new space launch rocket, the Angara, is assembled. Humanitarian aid to North Korea and U.N. Security Council resolutions imposed on Pyongyang may also be discussed, Russian officials have said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, North, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Smirnov, Kim, Putin, Kim Jong, Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, KCNA, Jo Chun Ryong, Hyunsu Yim, Josh Smith, Soo, hyang Choi, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, Jack Kim, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, North, DPRK, Democratic People's, Russia, Kremlin, Vostochny, Munitions Industry, Thomson Locations: Amur, Russia, North Korea, South Korea, MOSCOW, SEOUL, Washington, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North, Moscow, Ukraine, Pyongyang, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia's, South, United States, Korea, Seoul, Tokyo, Melbourne

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

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

Depleted uranium is a dense by-product left over when uranium is enriched for use in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. The depleted uranium is still radioactive, but has a much lower level of the isotopes U-235 and U-234 - way less than the levels in natural uranium ore - reducing its radioactivity. The United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and Pakistan produce depleted uranium weapons, which are not classified as nuclear weapons, according to the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons. Ingesting or inhaling quantities of uranium - even depleted uranium - is dangerous: it can depress renal function and raises the risk of developing a range of cancers. A United Nations Environment Programme report on the impact of depleted uranium on Serbia and Montenegro found "no significant, widespread contamination".

Persons: Sergei Ryabkov, Ryabkov, Guy Faulconbridge, Frank Jack Daniel, Tomasz Janowski, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Pentagon, International Atomic Energy Agency, Associated Universities, of, DU, WHO, International Coalition, Uranium, NATO, Royal Society, IAEA, United Nations Environment, TASS, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Tennessee, United States, Britain, Russia, China, France, Pakistan, Yugoslavia, Balkans, London, Serbia, Montenegro, RUSSIA, Washington

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Friday to discuss grain ahead of the Erdogan meeting. "It turned out that it is more difficult to do this than to build new corridors, new ground routes," said Shoigu, who attended the signing ceremony for the Black Sea deal in Istanbul in 2022. Turkey's foreign minister said at a briefing in Moscow on Thursday that reviving the deal was important for the world. U.S. wheat prices rose on Friday, though Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia saw no sign that it would receive the guarantees needed to revive the grain deal. Lavrov said he had discussed Putin's initiative to supply up to 1 million tonnes of Russian grain to Turkey at reduced prices for subsequent processing at Turkish plants and shipping to countries most in need.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Putin, Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, Dmitry Peskov, Erdogan, Hakan Fidan, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, it's, Russia's, António Guterres, Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Conor Humphries, Alison Williams Organizations: Sputnik, Erdogan, UN, United Nations, United, Kremlin, Turkish, Russian, Central African, Initiative, Qatar, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, Thomson Locations: Asia, Astana, Kazakhstan, Sochi Turkey, Russia, MOSCOW, Black, Sochi, Ankara, Ukraine, United Nations, Turkey, Moscow, Istanbul, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, Eritrea, EU, Odesa

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