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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — They were banned under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin but commonplace under later Kremlin leaders. Now, after less than a century, official attitudes about abortion in Russia are changing once again. Although abortion is still legal and widely available, new restrictions are being considered as President Vladimir Putin takes an increasingly socially conservative turn and seeks to reverse Russia's declining population. In 2012, the number of “social reasons” for allowing abortion between weeks 12 and 22 was cut to just in the case of rape. He also moved to restrict abortion pills, which are approved to be taken to end a pregnancy in the first 10 weeks.

Persons: —, Josef Stalin, Vladimir Putin, ”, Lina Zharin, we’re, Michele Rivkin, natalist ”, Rivkin, Fish, Mikhail Gorbachev's, Boris Yeltsin, Lyubov, ” Rivkin, Tatyana Golikova, Mikhail Murashko Organizations: Kremlin, Orthodox Church, University of North, Abortion, Conservative, Russian Association of Population, Health, Russian Association for Population, Development, Health Ministry Locations: TALLINN, Estonia, Russia, Kaliningrad, University of North Carolina, Chapel, —

Last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision rescinding a five-decade-old right to abortion has reshaped American abortion policy, shifting power to states. Sales of abortion pills in 2022 were up 60%, according to Nikolay Bespalov, development director of the RNC Pharma analytical company. A recent Health Ministry decree restricted circulation of abortion pills, used to terminate pregnancies in the first trimester. Regional authorities have tried to get private clinics to stop offering abortions, with varying success. In Tatarstan, about a third of all private clinics no longer provide them, officials said.

Persons: heartened Dasha, Vladimir Putin, Yakovleva, ”, Michele Rivkin, rescinding, Putin, Mikhail Murashko, Nikolay Bespalov, Yekaterina Hivrich, Irina Fainman, Fainman, Pyotr Tolstoy, Irina Volynets, Lina Zharin, ” Natalya Moskvitina, Moskvitina, Olga Mindolina, Mindolina, Anastasia, “, Lyubov Organizations: Associated Press, Nationwide, Health Ministry, University of North, Supreme, Russian Orthodox Church, Health, AP, Authorities, Lahta Clinic, Conservative, Women Locations: TALLINN, Estonia, Kaliningrad, Russia, U.S, University of North Carolina, Last, Soviet Union, ” State, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Karelia, Tatarstan, mulling, Chelyabinsk, Mordovia, Voronezh

☆ Russia is highly likely using an amphibious plane from the 1960s to hunt for a new threat to its Black Sea Fleet, Western intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine has battered Russia's Black Sea Fleet with cruise missile strikes and sea drone attacks. To deal with the new sea drone threat, Russia is increasing its maritime air patrol operations. AdvertisementAdvertisementRussia is highly likely relying on a decades-old amphibious plane to seek out a dangerous Ukrainian threat to its Black Sea Fleet, according to Western intelligence. This includes cruise missile strikes on a key shipyard and the fleet's headquarters and attacks with uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) — or sea drones — on Russian ships. It remains to be seen if the Be-12 makes a difference in curbing the threat of Ukraine's sea drones.

Persons: —, Michal Fludra, sonobuoys Organizations: Fleet, Service, Kyiv, Black, Sig, Naval Aviation, Aviation, Getty, Kacha Air Base Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Crimean, Kyiv, Novorossiysk, Russian, Kerch, Moscow, Crimea, Kaliningrad, Soviet, Sevastopol, Black

☆ As Russia's war in Ukraine drags on, Kyiv's neighbors are loading up on new high-tech military gear
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementRussia's invasion of Ukraine has upended European security, driving countries there to plan once again for the possibility of a major land war. Those European countries have transferred billions of dollars' worth of military hardware to Ukraine, and now they are seeking to rebuild their own stocks. Poland and Romania both border Ukraine and have been affected by the war. US Army/Markus RauchenbergerBased on disclosed weapon transfers, Poland is Europe's second biggest contributor of military aid to Ukraine, sending Kyiv large quantities of Soviet-era arms. AdvertisementAdvertisementPoland also announced in September a $2 billion purchase of several hundred Naval Strike Missiles from Norway.

Persons: —, Markus Rauchenberger, HIMARS, Mariusz Blaszczak, Attila Husejnow, Abrams, DANIEL MIHAILESCU, spender, Constantine Atlamazoglou Organizations: Service, US Army, Baltic Fleet, Polish, Getty, Patriot, Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensors, US, US State Department, Apaches, NATO, Polish Air Force, Washington, Getty Images, Naval, Missiles, Reuters, Fletcher School of Law, LinkedIn, Twitter Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Eastern Europe, Poland, Romania, Warsaw, Bucharest, Norway, NSMs, Kaliningrad, Poland's, Belarus, South Korea, Seoul, Romanian, AFP, Getty Images Romania, Eastern, Slovakia, Czech Republic

☆ Q+A What is known about the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Nerijus Adomaitis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

This is what we know so far:WHAT ARE NORD STREAM PIPELINES? The multibillion-dollar infrastructure project was built by Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) in two stages - Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Gazprom owns 51% of Nord Stream 1, while Germany's E.ON (EONGn.DE) and Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL) have 15.5% each, while French Engie (ENGIE.PA) and Dutch Gasunie (GSUNI.UL) hold 9% each in Nord Stream 1. Nord Stream 2, fully owned by Gazprom and operated by Nord Stream 2 AG, was completed in September 2021 at a cost of $11 billion, but was never put into operation because Germany had cancelled Nord Stream 2's certification days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The Nord Stream pipelines have been a flashpoint in an energy dispute between Europe and Moscow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: Pipes, Fabian Bimmer, Wintershall, OMV, Peter Frank, Die, Seymour Hersh, Mats Ljungqvist, Der Spiegel, Der Siegel, BfV, Nerijus Adomaitis, Christoph Steitz, Nina Chestney, Ros Russell Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Gazprom, Nord, E.ON, Shell, . Security, WHO, Washington Post, Die Welt, . Security Council, Reuters, Street, ZDF, Kyiv, CIA, NDR, WDR, German Federal Intelligence Service, Thomson Locations: Baltic, Mukran, Germany, Rights OSLO, Russia, Swedish, Bornholm, Sweden, Denmark, Nord, Ukraine, Uniper, Washington, NATO, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Russian, Britain ., U.S, Norway, China, Brazil, Rostock, Wiek, Rugen, Danish, Christianso, Kolobrzeg, Poland, Europe, United States, Oslo, Frankfurt

☆ Russia's Corvette Carries Out Firing Drills at Baltic Sea - Russia's Defence Ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

(Reuters) - Russia's Stoikiy corvette of the Baltic Fleet carried out firing drills at mock targets in the Baltic Sea, the Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday. The crew of the small warship conducted a series of scheduled exercises, firing at surface and air targets in a "difficult jamming environment" with the use of electronic countermeasures of a possible enemy, the ministry said. "The sea range of the Baltic Fleet, where the exercise took place, was declared temporarily dangerous for civil shipping and aviation flights," the ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging platform. It was not clear when the drills took place. The Baltic Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy is headquartered in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania, both NATO member states, on the Baltic Sea.

Persons: Lidia Kelly, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Reuters, Baltic Fleet, Baltic, Fleet, Russian Navy, NATO Locations: Baltic, Kaliningrad, Russian, Poland, Lithuania, Melbourne

☆ A Russian Su-24 jet has crashed in Volgograd during a training exercise gone wrong: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A Russian bomber was participating in a training exercise on Tuesday when it crashed, per TASS. The Su-24 plane crashed in a deserted area in Volgograd. Several Russian plane crashes have happened amidst the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In August, a Russian Su-30 crashed during a training exercise in Kaliningrad, killing its crew. Representatives for Russia's Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Organizations: Russian, Russia's Ministry of Defense, Service Locations: Volgograd, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Yeysk

☆ See inside President Vladimir Putin's opulent $100 million superyacht
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin spent $32 million refitting a superyacht, a new report suggests. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhile his troops flooded into Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin was spending millions of dollars on an opulent refit of one of his superyachts, according to an investigation from opposition leader Alexei Navalny's team. Advertisement Advertisement Watch: Inside Putin's secret bunker and billion-dollar palaceThe total cost of the works came to $32 million, according to the investigation. AdvertisementAdvertisement"OFAC is identifying Russia-flagged Graceful and Cayman Islands-flagged Olympia, as blocked property in which President Vladimir Putin has an interest," the US Treasury website said in a June 2022 press release. The Russian president is reportedly also the owner of the 450-foot, $700 million Scheherazade, one of the largest yachts in the world.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny's, Pyotr Stolypin, Putin, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich Organizations: Morning, Russian, Blohm, Russian Federation, US Department of, Foreign, Control, US Treasury, Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Saint Petersburg, Hamburg, Germany, Voss, Kaliningrad, Russia, Islands, Belarus, Cayman Islands, Olympia

☆ Russian tourism in Crimea is down, but many still shrug off risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Summary This content was produced in Russian-annexed Crimea, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. They said it was all calm here with no problems on the Crimea Bridge. Fewer visitors to Crimea have meant more for Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and Dagestan in Russia's north Caucasus region, he said. FATAL CROSSINGFor one Russian couple, the choice of Crimea as a holiday destination proved fatal. "The goal of our trip is, of course, to have a rest, and support Russian tour operators, hoteliers, and Russian tourism, no doubt."

Persons: Siberian Viktor Motorin, Olga Morskova, Alexei Volkov, Volkov, Vasyl Maliuk, Alexander Semashko, Sergei Lenkov, Mark Trevelyan, Alexander Marrow, Gareth Jones, Sharon Singleton Organizations: National Union of Hospitality Industries, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Crimea, Ukraine, YALTA, Siberian, Moscow, Russia, Khanty, Siberia, Turkey, Thailand, Rybinsk, Sochi, Novorossiysk, Kaliningrad, Dagestan, Russia's, Caucasus, Stavropol, Vologda

☆ A possible future mission for the US's secretive Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade drones? Hunting Russian nukes
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The tense environment has been punctuated by Russian threats of nuclear strikes against the West in response to NATO's military support for Ukraine. In a future war, the secretive drones the US has supplied to Ukraine — the Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade — could get a new mission: hunting Russian nukes in Kaliningrad. NATO forces could use loitering munitions — drones designed to linger near a target before crashing into and destroying it — for such a mission in Kaliningrad. "A focus should also be on the training of these forces with the Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade drones to assist them in their search and destroy efforts," DiRubbio writes. The US has provided a few hundred of those two drones to Ukraine, including both version of the Switchblade.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, nukes, Vitaly Nevar, William DiRubbio, DiRubbio, Sarah Pysher, Stavros Atlamazoglou Organizations: Service, NATO, Russian, Ukraine, Baltic Fleet, REUTERS, US Air Force, Royal United Services Institute, Russian Defense Ministry, US Army's Delta Force, Special Air Service, Phoenix, Delta Force, Lejeune, US Marine Corps, Hellenic Army, 575th Marine Battalion, Army, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins, School, International Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Europe, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Russia's, Baltic, Vitaly Nevar Kaliningrad, Lithuania, Poland, British, Russian, North Carolina, Johns

☆ Poland to hold biggest military parade in decades, as its clout in Europe grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Kacper Pempel/ReutersPolish military vehicles are seen during a Saturday rehearsal for this week's parade in Warsaw. “Nobody is going to say that military security is not an important issue and that we shouldn’t be strengthening the military. With the UK out of the European Union and Germany still hesitant to take on a leadership role on Ukraine, Poland has sensed its opportunity. In November, two people were killed in eastern Poland, about four miles (6.4 kilometers) west of the Ukrainian border, by a Ukrainian missile defending against incoming Russian fire. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked the group to help train his country’s military, and earlier this month the two forces held joint training exercises near the Polish border.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Kacper Pempel, Pawel Supernak, ” Edward Arnold, Arnold, Aleks, ”, Jamie Shea, Putin, ” Arnold, ” Shea, Abrams, “, Dominika, Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Mariusz Blaszczak, Lukashenko Organizations: CNN, NATO, Poland’s Defense Ministry, Polish, Russia’s, Abrams, University of Sussex, University of Exeter, Chatham House, Eastern Europe …, European Union, Ukraine, United Nations, “, Polish Army, Getty, Kremlin . Locations: Poland, Belarus, Korean, Crimea, Ukraine, Russian, Kaliningrad, Warsaw, Russia, Polish, Soviet, North Korea, Iran, Communist Poland, England, East, Afghanistan, Central, Eastern Europe, Germany, France, Washington, Ukraine Poland, South Korea, Italy, Polanka Wielka, Ukrainian, Minsk

☆ Russian pilots died in a Su-30 fighter crash during a training exercise over Kaliningrad, with reports saying they didn't have time to eject
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian Su-30 crashed during training on Saturday in Kaliningrad, killing its crew. Officials told state media that the crash probably happened due to a "technical malfunction." "On August 12, a Su-30 aircraft crashed in an uninhabited area while flying a training sortie in the Kaliningrad Region," the Western Military District told state agency TASS. It's been heavily used by the Russian military to carry out long-range attacks on ground targets in Ukraine via air-to-surface missiles. Russian Telegram news channel 112 reported on Saturday that the plane crashed in the Chernyakhovsky district in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania.

Persons: didn't, It's, Su Organizations: Service, Western Military District, TASS, Russian Telegram, Kremlin, Russian Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Kaliningrad, Wall, Silicon, Kaliningrad Region, Soviet, Ukraine, Chernyakhovsky, Poland, Lithuania, Belgorod, Yeysk

☆ Wagner fighters seek to unsettle NATO's eastern flank, Polish PM says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Fighters from Russia's private Wagner mercenary force are being moved close to NATO's eastern flank to destabilise the military alliance, Poland's prime minister said on Thursday. Wagner soldiers have begun training with the Belarus national army, prompting Poland to start moving more than 1,000 troops closer to the border. "We need to be aware that the number of provocations will rise," Mateusz Morawiecki said after meeting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland. "The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilize it." Nauseda said the number of Wagner fighters in Belarus could be higher than 4,000.

Persons: Wagner, Mateusz Morawiecki, Gitanas Nauseda, Nauseda, Vladimir Putin, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Wlodarczak, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: WARSAW, Belarus national, NATO, Thomson Locations: Poland, Belarus, Russian, Kaliningrad, Baltic, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine

☆ Poland-Belarus: Tensions high on NATO's border with Belarus after Wagner troops move closer
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Sana Noor Haq Josh Pennington Niamh Kennedy Darya Tarasova Jessie Gretener Yulia Kesaieva | Sana Noor Haq | Josh Pennington | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Belarusian soldiers and Wagner troops attend joint training exercises near the border city of Brest, in Belarus on July 20, 2023 amid increased border tensions between Warsaw and Minsk. Belarus' Defense Ministry/Handout/AP/FileMinsk had informed Warsaw about the exercise, but a border crossing took place in the eastern Bialowieza region at a “very low altitude, making detection by radar systems difficult,” the Polish defense ministry said in a statement. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak subsequently ordered that more troops and combat helicopters be deployed along the border, the ministry added. “By deploying troops from both the west (Kaliningrad) and the east (Belarus), Russia would be able to effectively cut off the Baltic States from its NATO allies in central and western Europe. Five EU countries, four of whom border Ukraine – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – lifted sanctions on the import of Ukrainian grain, which they had installed to protect their own agricultural industries.

Persons: Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Wagner’s, Mariusz Blaszczak, Mateusz Morawiecki, Paweł Jabłoński, Barbara Yoxon, Putin, “, ” Yoxon, ”, Yoxon, Bulgaria –, Marcin Przydacz, Poland Organizations: CNN, NATO, EU, Belarus ' Defense Ministry, Polish, Belarusian Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Lancaster University, “, Presidential, International, Ukraine, ” Locations: Poland, Belarus, Minsk, Europe, Warsaw, Belarusian, Lithuania, Russian, Moscow, Brest, Polish, EU, Russia, Kaliningrad, Baltic, Grodno, England, Ukraine, Baltic States, Latvia, Estonia, Western, Ukrainian, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Kyiv, Republic of Poland

Thousands of Wagner troops are reportedly in Belarus following a failed military uprising in Russia. What exactly Wagner troops are doing in Grodno is unclear, as Wagner has not commented on the reports. It is not clear exacttly how many Wagner troops are in Belarus. They were invited to the country as part of a deal negotiated by the Belarus president to end the mercenary group’s armed insurrection against the Kremlin last month. The two plan to hold joint military exercises near the border with Poland, a move likely to further raise tensions.

Persons: Wagner, Mateusz Morawiecki, Morawiecki, ”, “, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko, Putin Organizations: CNN, Poland ”, EU, NATO, Analysts, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Poland, Lithuania, Polish, Grodno, Belarus, Russia, Belarusian, EU, Kaliningrad, Baltic, Ukraine, Russia’s, “, ” Poland

☆ More Wagner fighters move closer to Polish border, Poland PM says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, July 29 (Reuters) - A group of a hundred soldiers from the Russian Wagner group have moved closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday. Earlier this month, Poland began moving more than 1,000 troops to the east of the country amid rising concerns that the presence of Wagner fighters in Belarus could lead to increased tension on its border. Most likely they (the Wagner personnel) will be disguised as the Belarusian border guard and help illegal migrants get to the Polish territory (and) destabilise Poland," Morawiecki said at a press conference in Gliwice, western Poland. "They will most likely try to enter Poland pretending to be illegal migrants and this poses additional threats," Morawiecki said. The following day, some Wagner fighters arrived at the training ground of the 38th airborne assault brigade outside the city of Brest, just a few miles from the Polish border.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Mateusz Morawiecki, Wagner, Morawiecki, Anton Motolko, Russia's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Agnieszka Pikulicka, David Holmes Organizations: WARSAW, Warsaw Pact, NATO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Belarusian, Grodno, Polish, Poland, Warsaw, U.S, Ukraine, Belarus, Gliwice, Lithuanian, Kaliningrad, Africa, Brest, Moscow, Russia

☆ NATO's northernmost members are preparing for an undersea showdown with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

NATO navies worry about those subs and they've increased their focus on countering undersea threats. Nordic navies are investing in their own submarine fleets to keep track of Russia's boats. A particular concern for the alliance is Russia's submarines, many of which are assigned to those two fleets. The potential threat from Russia's undersea forces has prompted its neighbors to reevaluate their own submarine needs. But Sweden's western neighbors, Norway and Denmark, both see a need for bigger sub fleets.

Persons: Christopher Cavoli, OLGA MALTSEVA, Ronald Reagan, Fredrik Linden, Petty, Marlowe Dix, Michael Aastrup Jensen, Aastrup Jensen, HENRIK MONTGOMERY, Eirik Kristoffersen, Kristoffersen, Constantine Atlamazoglou Organizations: NATO, Nordic, Service, Baltic, US, Command, Allied, Getty, North Atlantic, Baltic Fleet, Navy, Submarine, Reuters, Naval, Norfolk, US Navy, Hudson Institute, Getty Images, Submarines, Armed Forces, Fletcher School of Law, LinkedIn, Twitter Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Nordic, Gulf of Finland, St . Petersburg, AFP, Finland, North, Russia's, Kaliningrad, Russia, Baltic, Sweden, Swedish, Gotland, Blekinge, Navy Gotland, Sweden's, Norwegian Ula, Norway, Denmark, Danish, Ula, Oslo, Swedish Gotland, Halland, Stockholm

[1/5] German Patriot air defence system units are seen at the Vilnius airport in Vilnius, Lithuania July 7, 2023. Many are also providing advanced air defence systems which the Baltic states lack. But for the region with total population of about 6 million people, this is not enough to sustain large militaries, invest in their own fighter jets or advanced air defence. NATO is NATO, and we feel ourselves safe because we are in NATO. He added that he feared waves of migrants at the border, or border violations, or military vehicles appearing at the border without explanation.

Persons: Janis Laizans, Joe Biden, Biden, Gitanas Nauseda, Caesar, Wagner, Edvard Rynkun, Elena Tarasevic, Col Steffen Lieb, Rustamas Liubajevas, Sabine Siebold, John Irish, William Maclean Organizations: Patriot, REUTERS, NATO, Belarus Allies, Baltic, European Union, Reuters, Wagner, Thomson Locations: Vilnius, Lithuania, Belarus, KANIUKAI, Russia, Baltic, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Spain, France, Finland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Poland, Kaniukai, Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Russian, Minsk

Lithuania is the only one of the three states to have a land link to a fellow NATO ally, Poland. The three Baltic states have also attracted journalists who have fled Russia. DEFENCESpurred by Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the three Baltic states sharply increased military spending. According to NATO estimates for 2022, all three exceeded the NATO agreement to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defence. Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Baltic states have requested the forces deployed are beefed up to 3,000-5,000 troops in each state.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Boris Pistorius, Andrius Sytas, Edmund Blair Organizations: NATO, RAND Corporation, European Union, Corruption, German, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Lithuania, Baltic, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Soviet Union, Siberia, Soviet, Russia, Belarus, NATO, Poland, Russia's Kaliningrad, Estonian, U.S, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, United States, West, Moscow, Vilnius, Russian, Crimea, Germany, Britain, Canada, British

☆ Explainer: What's on the table for NATO at Vilnius summit?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

It will be the fourth NATO summit since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the first held virtually on Feb. 25, 2022, just one day after the assault, followed by meetings in Brussels and in Madrid. Security measures in Vilnius will be high, with three German Patriot air defence units deployed to protect the venue, a first for a NATO summit. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has made clear that Kyiv will not become a member while war rages, and that the Vilnius summit will not issue a formal invitation. NATO is also likely to find a stronger wording than 2008 to underscore Kyiv's perspective for joining the alliance. BOLSTERING NATO'S EASTERN FLANKLeaders will review the first defence plans the alliance has drawn up since the Cold War, detailing how NATO would respond to a Russian attack.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Tayyip Erdogan, Sabine Siebold, Gareth Jones Organizations: NATO, German Patriot, Kyiv, British, UKRAINE, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Vilnius, Ukraine, Brussels, Madrid, Lithuania, Russian, Kaliningrad, Belarus, UKRAINE, Kyiv, United States, Germany, Russia, Bucharest, NATO, Washington, Moscow, Turkey, Cyprus, SWEDEN Sweden, Stockholm, Britain, Poland, Greece, Estonia, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Canada, Slovenia, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg

☆ Russia is 'accepting risks' and dropping its guard against other threats to hold its ground in Ukraine, British military says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Shifting the bulk of its military to Ukraine has made Russia vulnerable elsewhere, experts say. The war has become a nearly all-consuming effort for Russia's military. Units from across Russia are now "bearing the brunt" of the Ukrainian counteroffensive that kicked off in early June, the British Ministry of Defense said in an update published Thursday. "The way Russia is accepting risks across Eurasia highlights how the war has dislocated Russia's established national strategy," the ministry said. "Russia has really made itself vulnerable globally," Dara Massicot, an expert on the Russian military at the Rand Corporation think tank, said in April.

Persons: —, Ukraine's, Ben Wallace, Muhammed Enes Yildirim, Dara Massicot, Adm, Tony Radakin, Radakin, ANATOLII STEPANOV, Christopher Cavoli, Cavoli, we've, Justin Bronk, They'd, Bronk, they're Organizations: Service, British Ministry of Defense, Russian, Eastern Military District, 61st Naval Infantry Brigade, NATO, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Arms Army, Rand Corporation, US European Command, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, Belarus, Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Crimea, Velyka, Donetsk Oblast, Bakhmut, Moscow, Russian, Oskol, Ukraine's Kharkiv, AFP, British, Kaliningrad, Finland

"It's all about containing those kinds of capabilities from the north," retired U.S. Major General Gordon B. Davis Jr. told Reuters. "With five submarines we can close the Baltic Sea," Linden told Reuters. The region from the Baltic in the south to the high north may become almost an integrated operating area for NATO. It was first shipped from Germany across the Baltic Sea, then trucked nearly 900 km to the north. "It would make it very difficult for the Russian Baltic Sea fleet to operate in a free way," he said.

Persons: Mika Hakkarainen, Finland –, Major General Gordon B, Davis Jr, Fredrik Linden, Sweden's, Linden, Samu Paukkunen, Paukkunen, Sebastian Bruns, Michael Maus, Kurt Rossi, Rossi, Tuomo Lamberg, Bruns, Nick Childs, Anne Kauranen, Johan Ahlander, Jacob Gronholt, Sabine Siebold, Sara Ledwith Organizations: NATO, Reuters, Fleet, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Major, Analysts, Northern Fleet, Kiel University's Institute for Security, NATO's, Transformation, Field Artillery, U.S . Army, Baltic, Commission, Security, Cooperation, Naval Forces and Maritime Security, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Fouche, Pedersen, Thomson Locations: TORNIO, Finland, KARLSKRONA, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Stockholm, Ukraine, Moscow, Europe, RUSSIA, Russian, Murmansk, Kola, Barents, North America, Greenland, Iceland, Helsinki, Baltic, Nord, Russia's, Denmark, Kiel, Rovaniemi, Santa Claus, United States, Britain, Germany, –, St, Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sweco, Swedish, Gotland, Karlskrona, Oeland, London, Birmingham, Tornio, Oslo, Copenhagen, Brussels

☆ 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

☆ Russia asks IAEA to ensure Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant security
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 23 (Reuters) - Russia urged the International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday to ensure Ukraine does not shell the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, saying it was otherwise operating safely. Alexei Likhachev, chief executive of the Russian state nuclear energy firm Rosatom, made the comments at a meeting with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in the Russian city of Kaliningrad, Rosatom said in a statement, after Grossi visited the plant last week. "We expect concrete steps from the IAEA aimed at preventing strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, both on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and on adjacent territory and critical infrastructure facilities," Rosatom quoted its chief as saying in a statement. The IAEA said this week that the power plant was "grappling with ... water-related challenges" after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam emptied the vast reservoir on whose southern bank the plant sits. Moscow and Kyiv have regularly accused each other of shelling Europe's largest nuclear power station, with its six offline reactors.

Persons: Alexei Likhachev, Rafael Grossi, Rosatom, Grossi, Kevin Liffey Organizations: International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Armed Forces of, Kyiv, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Kaliningrad, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Moscow, Kyiv

☆ Russia re-deploys combat-ready marines and airborne troops, implying they blew up Khakhovka dam to gain military advantage, Ukrainian defense minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Khakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was mysteriously damaged, triggering intense flooding, this week. A Ukrainian official claims Russia blew it up to prevent a counteroffensive in the south. She said that Russia is now re-deploying its most combat-ready units to more needed areas. Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram on Sunday that Russia is now moving its most combat-ready units, including marines, airborne troops, and the 49th army, away from Kherson. She claimed that this backs up the theory that Russian forces sabotaged the dam in order to narrow the possible areas that Ukraine's army could take action.

Persons: —, Hanna Maliar, Vitaly Nevar Organizations: Service, United Nations, International Army Games, REUTERS, Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Kherson, Kaliningrad, Vitaly Nevar Russia, Norway, Russian

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