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Three producers listed in the customs data confirmed to Reuters they had shipped coal from the two regions to Turkey during that period. Turkey, a major coal consumer and importer, is bucking the global trend by increasing coal's share in electricity generation. Customs data shows Nedra-06 made two shipments of coal to Turkey totalling 1,600 tonnes in May and June. The buyers were Belize-based Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD of Hong Kong, the customs data showed. Coal bought at Russian ports by Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD was taken to Turkey, the data showed.

Persons: Vitaliy Khotsenko, Adzhmal, Vostokugol, Anton Nadeyev, Nadeyev, I'm, Denis Karashchuk, Karashchuk, Filipp Lebedev, Gleb Stolyarov, Humeyra Pamuk, Tom Balmforth, Julia Payne, Jose Sanchez, Mike Collett, White, Daniel Flynn Organizations: NATO, Reuters, European, British Virgin Islands, Donetsk People's Republic, Russia's Ministry of Energy, Federal Customs Service, Luhansk People's Republics, European Union, United, Ukraine, U.S . State Department, UN, Assembly, Florance, Management, Hong, Brig Management, Rabbit, Belize Companies, Corporate Affairs, Green Rabbit, Coal, Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Turkey Ankara, Russia, Turkey, Donetsk, Luhansk, United States, European Union, Moscow . Washington, Moscow, Ankara, Ukrainian, Hong Kong, UAE, Belize, British Virgin, East, Africa, Russian, Rostov, Novorossiisk, Turkey . U.S, Antratsyt, Yasynuvata, Tbilisi, Washington, Kyiv, Brussels

Ukrainian Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the world's biggest aircraft, flies during the Independence Day military parade in Kyiv, Ukraine August 24, 2021. Antonov did not respond to requests for comment on the centre and expansion plans in the drone sector. Under Ukroboronprom, Antonov has designed and built drones in the past, including the Horlytsia model, but cargo planes have long been its primary focus. Antonov's expertise in cargo planes could also be applied to long-distance drones, the source added, giving Ukraine's armed forces the capability to strike deeper into Russian territory. LIVE TESTINGKyiv has used aerial drones to attack airfields and Russian troops and aquatic drones against ships and a bridge.

Persons: Gleb Garanich, Antonov, Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukroboronprom, inefficiently, Tom Balmforth, Tim Hepher, Mike Collett, White, Alexander Smith Organizations: world's, Independence Day, REUTERS, Reuters, Washington , D.C, Vehicle, Russia, Strategic Industries, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, KYIV, Washington ,, Soviet, Russia

Aziz Umerov looks at a portrait of his sister Leniye Umerova, a Ukrainian from Russian-annexed Crimea arrested in Russia, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 11, 2023. A Reuters review of Rudenko's social media account on Telegram didn't find any messages critical of the war. Russia's top investigative body, the Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office didn't respond to requests for comment on the phenomenon of carousel arrests or individual cases. A Reuters review of Russian court records identified seven cases of carousel arrests this year, with the suspects involved arrested and jailed between two and five times in succession. Not all "carousel" arrests lead to more serious criminal charges, and for some detainees, time spent behind bars is frightening enough.

Persons: Aziz Umerov, Leniye Umerova, Gleb Garanich, Rudenko's, Yulia Kiselyova, he'd, Kiselyova, Ivan Vtorushin, Valeriya, Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Alexei Navalny, Lauren McCarthy, McCarthy, Gevorg, Dmitry Golovlyov, Aleksanyan, Rudenko, Mike Collett, White Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Russian, Investigative, Interior Ministry, First Department, PUTIN, WHO, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Federal Security Service, of Russia Legion, Russia Legion, Thomson Locations: Russian, Crimea, Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Moscow, Bucha, Rudenko, Crimean Tatars, Ukrainian

[1/2] The logo of Russian technology giant Yandex is on display at the company's headquarters in Moscow, Russia December 9, 2022. Maksut Shadaev, the head of Russia's ministry of digital affairs, told parliament in December that around 100,000 IT specialists had left Russia in 2022. It is not yet clear whether Volozh's comments may have any bearing on how Russia decides to proceed with the company. One of the sources said "hawks" in state companies believed nothing at all should be paid to foreigners. Two sources said VTB had never been a serious option as a buyer, given sanctions on the state lender.

Persons: Yandex, Maksut Shadaev, Ramzan Kadyrov, Arkady Volozh, Andrei Kostin, VTB, Alexei Kudrin, Alexander Marrow, Polina Devitt, Mike Collett, White, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, nationalising Nasdaq, Reuters, Yandex NV, Yandex, U.S, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, nationalising, Ukraine, Serbia, Yandex

And his fellow veterans of the Ukraine conflict are bound to play a role in the fight for their own country. With nearly all the opposition now in jail or exile, that is no small feat. Six weeks ago, there was a brief jolt of hope for the Belarus opposition, when Russia's Wagner mercenary group launched a mutiny inside Russia. But within hours, Lukashenko himself helped bring an end to the Russian mutiny, negotiating for Wagner fighters to move to Belarus. Exactly what role the Wagner fighters will play in Belarus is anyone's guess, but for the opposition, nothing good can come of it, said Kedyshko.

Persons: Pavel Maryeuski, Alexander Lukashenko's, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko's, Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko, Stanislava Glinnik, Belarus's, Pavel Kuhta, Tsikhanouskaya's, Sergey Kedyshko, Russia's Wagner, Wagner, Weeks, Agnieszka Pikulicka, Mike Collett, White, Peter Graff Organizations: WARSAW, Reuters, Coordination, United Operational, Lukashenko's Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Minsk, Soviet, Karma, Warsaw, Belarusian, Moscow

☆ Exclusive: Russia doubles 2023 defence spending plan as war costs soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They show that in the first half of 2023 alone, Russia spent 12%, or 600 billion roubles, more on defence than the 4.98 trillion roubles ($54 billion) it had originally targeted for 2023. Defence spending in the first six months of 2023 amounted to 5.59 trillion roubles, 37.3% of a total 14.97 trillion roubles spent in the period, the document showed. Between 2011 and 2022, Russia spent a minimum of 13.9% and a maximum 23% of its budget on defence. Russia has already spent 57.4% of its new annual defence budget, the document showed. Funding for schools, hospitals and roads was already being squeezed this year in favour of defence and security, but as the share of defence spending grows, other areas could face cuts.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Ilya Pitalyov, Denis Manturov, Dmitry Polevoy, Yevgeny Suvorov, Suvorov, Mike Collett, White, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Sputnik, Reuters, Defence, MMI Telegram, Bank of Russia, Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: Russian, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Locko

☆ Insight: Rising domestic violence is a hidden front in Ukraine's war
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Borniakova, an alleged victim of domestic violence by her husband, died in January, her body badly bruised. Registered cases of domestic violence in Ukraine initially fell after Russia invaded in February 2022, as millions of people fled the fighting. The office created a unit to oversee domestic violence court procedures in February, Usenko said. "If we can at least get a charge of domestic violence it will be a victory," Seheda said, adding that there was still a view among some judges and police officers that domestic violence was a private matter to be settled between a couple. She said an increase in registered domestic violence cases was partly a reflection that police are giving more attention to the issue.

Persons: Yakov Borniakov, Alina Smutko, Borniakova, Borniakova's, Kateryna Vedrentseva, Kateryna Levchenko, Tetyana Pogorila, Pogorila, Yulia Usenko, Usenko, Lilia Kalytiuk, Borniakov, Olga Dmitrichenko, Yulia Seheda, Seheda, Dmitrichenko, Layli Foroudi, Mike Collett, White, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Reuters, Dnipro, . Police, United Nations Population Fund, Police, Department for, Ukraine's, Prosecutor's, Dnipro . Police, Thomson Locations: Dnipro, Ukraine, DNIPRO, Russia, CENTRAL, Lviv

☆ Ukraine's spymaster comes out of the shadows
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

For an intelligence chief running Ukraine's spy operations during war with Russia, Kyrylo Budanov, 37, has built up an unusually public profile that he has used to get his message out and to menace Russia from afar. These days, a spy boss cannot stay in the shadows, he says. "It's not possible without this, not anymore," the head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) told Reuters in an interview at his heavily defended headquarters in the capital. The prospect of a spy agency sending assassins to hunt down Ukraine's enemies has drawn comparisons with Israel's Mossad. Budanov began his military career as a special forces operative and served in the east after Russia illegally annexed Crimea and its proxies took over Ukraine's eastern fringes.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Kyrylo Budanov, GUR, Budanov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, haven't, Tom Balmforth, Sergiy, Mike Collett, White, Peter Graff Organizations: Kyiv, Ukraine's Main Intelligence, Reuters, Russian Interior Ministry, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, RUSSIA, Russian, Crimea, Rybalskyi

☆ Ground vehicles are the new frontier in Ukraine's drone war
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Yevhen Hnatok, 22, former Ukrainian serviceman, shows an unmanned ground vehicle, with his patches, in workshop, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, July 5, 2023. Among the Ukrainian engineers working in the sector is 22-year-old Yevhen Hnatok, who said he had already supplied several dozen remote-controlled ground vehicles for the armed forces. As more experimental technologies are introduced onto the battlefield, small-scale engineers like Hnatok are hoping to influence the war's outcome with Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) that carry weapons and explosives or conduct reconnaissance. The impact of combat UGVs from both sides has been extremely limited so far, according to Samuel Bendett, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Hnatok said he does not profit from his vehicles, but asks his military buyers to cover production costs.

Persons: Hnatok, Alina Smutko, Samuel Bendett, Ukraine that's, Max Hunder, Mike Collett, White, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Vehicles, Center, New, New American Security, Thomson Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Kyiv region, Russia, KYIV, Russian, New American, Kyiv, Moscow

[1/5] Ukrainian service members check a destroyed Russian a BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the front line in the newly liberated village Storozheve in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 14, 2023. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy concedes that Ukraine will probably not be allowed into NATO while the war with Russia is raging, but he is pushing for accession one day. You won't see that on television," he said at a practice shooting range in eastern Ukraine in late June. Neskuchne was one of several settlements captured by Ukraine in a southward thrust along the Mokri Yaly river starting in June. Yoda said he had been wounded four times over the course of the war, and that many soldiers were carrying injuries.

Persons: Oleksandr Ratushniak, Povar, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Neskuchne, It's, Andriy, Yoda, Max Hunder, MIke Collett, White, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, NATO, Andriy, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Storozheve, Donetsk region, Russia, DONETSK, Vilnius, Ukrainian, Makarivka, Moscow, Crimea, Bakhmut, Azov, Crimean, Kharkiv, Kherson

☆ Ukrainian refugees: how will the economy recover with a diminished population?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

In previous refugee crises, for example in Syria, refugees' desire to return home has faded with time, UNHCR studies show. Conscription-aged men are restricted from leaving Ukraine, so working-aged women, and children, make up the majority of refugees. Ukraine's population problem goes beyond millions of refugees. A census in 2001 - the country's only so far - recorded a population of 48.5 million. Demographer Libanova estimated the population at between 28 million and 34 million at the start of 2023 in parts of the country controlled by Kyiv.

Persons: Korzh, Volodymyr Kostiuk, Kostiuk, It's, Dmytro Tsygankov, Ella Libanova, Libanova, Ksenia Karpenko, Karpenko, Corina Rodriguez, Catarina Demony, Mike Collett, White, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: United Nations, UNHCR, Kyiv, for Economic Research, Political, for Economic, MEN, National Academy of Science, European Commission's, Research, The, Economic Strategy, Reuters, Thomson Locations: KYIV, Europe, Kyiv, Portugal, Ukraine, Lagoa, Syria, Ukrainian, Moscow, Russia, Crimea, Belarus, Russian, Tarragona, Spain, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon

"Given the events, their relationship with the Syrian defence ministry is now over." Mali authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the flights and whether any Wagner fighters had been redeployed from Syria to Mali. Wagner fighters secured Syrian oilfields and Western officials say Wagner is linked to Evro Polis, a company that profits from those assets. Reuters was unable to determine the fate of those commercial interests in the wake of the Russian defence ministry's moves against Wagner in Syria and Russia. In the wake of the Wagner uprising, Syria's leadership quickly restated publicly the importance of its military alliance with Russia.

Persons: Wagner, Nawar Shaban, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Bashar al, Assad, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, Russian Wagner, Evro Polis, Asmaa al, Laila Bassam, Tom Perry, Ed McAllister, Joanna Plucinska, Mike Collett, White, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Omran Center, Strategic Studies, Syrian Republican Guard, Republican Guard, Reuters, Russian Reconciliation Center, Moscow State University, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Moscow, Syria, Russian, Russia, Istanbul, Damascus, Ukraine, Belarus, Syrian, Syria's, Homs, Hmeimim, Latakia, Bamako, West African, Mali, Evro Polis, Libya, elswhere, Africa, Western, U.S, Deir, Beirut, London

☆ Inside Ukraine's tech push to counter Russian 'suicide' drone threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

One man arrived in shorts and a baseball cap with a large drone under his arm. Another participant, Yuriy, an engineer and deputy head of a Ukrainian company, said his team presented designs for new anti-drone electronic warfare systems that would be more effective against Shaheds. "This really is an unprecedented war of drones," Fedorov said, adding that Ukraine's military technology innovation had boomed since Russia's invasion. Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi, who works for a firm developing electronic warfare technology, contrasted Ukraine's approach to technological innovation with Russia's. "There were seven companies that could sell drones to the state when we began this project last year.

Persons: Yuriy Motov, Alina Smutko, Mykhailo Fedorov, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Fedorov, Oleksandr, Yuriy, Yurii, Shchyhol, Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi, ", " Fedorov, Tom Balmforth, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Russian, Reuters, Shaheds, Army, Defence Ministry, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, KYIV, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Yemen, Syria, Nagorno, Karabakh, China

☆ Insight: Young Russian lawyers step up to defend anti-war protesters
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Lucy Papachristou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

"I have always had a keen sense of justice," Gominova told a Reuters reporter based in Poland. "Defending protesters in court is my version of protest," said Gominova, who began representing anti-war activists in court almost immediately after the invasion. With numerous civil society groups disbanded by the state, many other lawyers also defend anti-war activists independently, but it is hard to determine how many. Several Russian lawyers have attracted the attention – and condemnation – of authorities, not only for defending critics of the invasion but also for expressing their own opposition. Before the Ukraine conflict, Gominova, in St Petersburg, worked mainly on civil cases ranging from family disputes to consumer rights.

Persons: Young, acquittals, Sofia Gominova, Gominova, Violetta Fitsner, Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Russia's, Evgenia Kara, Vladimir, Vadim Prokhorov –, Putin –, Prokhorov, Dmitry Talantov, Ivan Safronov, Maria Bontsler, Anastasia Rudenko, George Orwell's, Yuri Mikhailov, Mikhailov, Filipp Lebedev, Gabrielle Tetrault, Farber, Mike Collett, White, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Russia, Ukraine Lawyers, Petersburg Bar Association, Moscow Bar, Russia's, Ministry, Russian Federation, Reuters, U.S, of America, Facebook, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, acquittals Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, Poland, St . Petersburg, St, Petersburg, Moscow, Ivanovo, Russian, St Petersburg, Tbilisi, Geneva

☆ Cheap Russian drone a menace to Ukrainian troops and equipment
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] View of what appears to be a Lancet drone, in this handout still image released on January 22, 2023. Bendett said that, according to publicly available Russian sources, a Lancet drone costs approximately 3 million roubles (around $35,000). DRONE WARSUkraine has also developed strong capabilities in drones - also known as UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) - as a cost-effective way to hit Russian targets. Having fired on a Russian target, Voron said his Grad was immediately targeted by a Russian S-300 missile, which missed by about 150 metres. However, a Lancet drone then appeared in the sky and chased the Ukrainian rocket system.

Persons: Caesar, Bohdan, Samuel Bendett, Bendett, Yuriy Sak, Lancets, it's, Sak, Voron, Grad, Max Hunder, Mike Collett, White, Alex Richardson Organizations: Defence, REUTERS, Reuters, Center, New, New American Security, MISS, Drones, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Handout, DONETSK, Moscow, Ukrainian, Russian, Avdiivka, Donetsk, frontlines, New American, Russia, Iran, Soviet

Wagner fighters took control of the southern port and logistical hub for Russia's war in Ukraine on Saturday morning. Facial recognition software linked him to an account on VKontakte, Russia’s Facebook equivalent, created in the name of Dmitry Chekov. Russian media reported last September that Prigozhin had visited prisones in Rostov region, recruiting more than 1,000 convicts for Wagner. The man was identified by facial recognition software as 33-year-old Sergei Shirshov, a native of the Volga River city of Saratov. A third Wagner fighter pictured in Rostov was identified by facial recognition software as Roman Yamalutdinov, a native of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia.

Persons: Wagner, Prigozhin Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin, Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Dmitry Chekov, Chekov's, Sergei Shirshov, Shirshov, Yamalutdinov, Olga Romanova, Felix Light, Filipp Lebedev, Guy Faulconbridge, Mike Collett, White, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Wagner Group, Don, Reuters, Belarusian, Facebook, TASS, Local, Penal, Thomson Locations: TBILISI, Russian, Rostov, Ukraine, Moscow, Bakhmut, Belarus, Volga, Saratov, Saratov region's, Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Tbilisi

☆ Where are Russian generals Gerasimov and Surovikin after Wagner rebellion?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Absent from view too is General Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed "General Armageddon" by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict, who is deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. Rybar, an influential channel on the Telegram messaging application run by a former Russian defence ministry press officer, said a purge was underway. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attend an annual meeting of the Defence Ministry Board in Moscow, Russia, December 21, 2022. Dara Massicot, an expert in the Russian military at the RAND Corporation think-tank, said that something looked odd about the video, in which Surovikin has an automatic weapon on his lap. "Surovikin (is) a brute but also one of the more capable Russian commanders," Freedman said on Twitter.

Persons: Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Putin, Valery Gerasimov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Gerasimov, Sergei Surovikin, Surovikin, Dmitry Peskov, Wagner, Rybar, Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, Mikhail Kuravlev, Prigozhin, Michael Kofman, Viktor Zolotov, Shoigu, Dara Massicot, He’s, he’s, Alexei Venediktov, vilifying Shoigu, Lawrence Freedman, Freedman, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White, Lisa Shumaker, Angus MacSwan, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: New York Times, Wednesday, Staff, Reuters, Moscow Times, Staff of Russian Armed Forces, Defence Ministry Board, Sputnik, REUTERS, Carnegie Endowment, Twitter, National Guard, Moscow, Tuesday, RAND Corporation, Western, King's College London, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Surovikin, Russia, Russian, Moscow, Ukrainian, Kremlin, Moscow's, Lefortovo, Chechnya, Syria

☆ Analysis: Where are Russia's top generals? Rumours swirl after mercenary mutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Valery Gerasimov, Russia's top general, has not appeared in public or on state TV since the aborted mutiny on Saturday when mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded Gerasimov be handed over. Gerasimov, 67, is the commander of Russia's war in Ukraine, and the holder of one of Russia's three "nuclear briefcases," according to some Western military analysts. Rybar, an influential channel on the Telegram messaging application run by a former Russian defence ministry press officer, said a purge was underway. Surovikin, Gerasimov's deputy, was last seen on Saturday when he appeared in a video appealing to Prigozhin to halt his mutiny. He had been spoken of by Russian war correspondents as a potential future defence minister.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, Mikhail Kuravlev, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Gerasimov, Sergei Surovikin, Surovikin, Rybar, Wagner, Prigozhin, Michael Kofman, Viktor Zolotov, Shoigu, Alexei Venediktov, vilifying Shoigu, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Staff of Russian Armed Forces, Defence Ministry Board, Sputnik, REUTERS, LONDON, New York Times, Wednesday, Moscow Times, Reuters, Russian Armed Forces, Carnegie Endowment, Twitter, National Guard, Moscow, Tuesday, Western, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Moscow's, Chechnya, Syria

☆ Analysis: Belarus leader, long the supplicant, feted in Russia after mutiny role
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speak during a meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi, Russia June 9, 2023. It was Lukashenko, according to his own narrative and Putin, who played a major role in ending a mutiny that threatened to destabilise the world's largest nuclear power. "Without Putin's support, the Lukashenko regime will not be able to survive," exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Twitter. High-profile Russian state TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov said Lukashenko deserved to be made a Hero of Russia and Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, on Tuesday lavished praise on the Belarusian leader. Independent Belarusian media outlet Zerkalo (the Mirror), which monitored Belarusian state TV coverage of Lukashenko's role, cited presenter Yevgeny Pustovoi as saying that Minsk was becoming "the peacemaker of Slavic civilisation".

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Lukashenko, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, you'll, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Vladimir Solovyov, Russia, Dmitry Peskov, Yevgeny Pustovoi, Zerkalo, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White, Alex Richardson Organizations: Belarusian, Sputnik, REUTERS LONDON, Twitter, Russia's, Duma, NATO, Independent, Thomson Locations: Sochi, Russia, Kremlin, defusing, Belarusian, Moscow, Soviet, Belarus, Independent Belarusian, Minsk

☆ How is Ukraine’s counter-offensive going so far?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Western equipment like battle tanks and armoured vehicles should help protect the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. "Ukraine's got choices," said Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at International Institute for Strategic Studies. Those thrusts may indicate Ukraine's generals have their eye on Tokmak, an occupied town in Zaporizhzia region some 25 km from the front line. Military analysts saw it as unlikely this would become the focus of the main Ukrainian offensive. Images shared by Russian military bloggers showed destroyed or damaged U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Leopard 2 tanks, headline items of military aid sent by the West for the counteroffensive.

Persons: Rob Lee, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's, Ben Barry, Lee, Konrad Muzyka, Hanna Maliar, Muzyka, Maliar, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Jack Watling, Tom Balmforth, Mark Trevelyan, Mike Collett, White, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Western, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Reuters, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russian, West, Interior Ministry, Deputy, Troops, Military, Bradley, Leopards, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, KYIV, Ukraine, Russia, Crimea, Moscow, Kherson, Kharkiv, Poland, Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Zaporizhzia, Melitopol, Velyka Novosilka, Bakhmut

☆ Analysis: Ukraine counteroffensive takes shape but main test still to come
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Moscow's strategy in the south likely aims to maximise Ukrainian casualties before Kyiv can reach the main Russian line of defences about 10-15 km (6-9 miles) away, according to Lee. The main thrusts have come near the Kyiv-controlled town of Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia region and Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk region, about 80 km to the east. "My main concern five or six days into this main phase is that the progress appears to have stopped. Military analysts saw it as unlikely this would become the focus of the main Ukrainian offensive. Images shared by Russian military bloggers showed destroyed or damaged U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Leopard 2 tanks, headline items of military aid sent by the West for the counteroffensive.

☆ Kherson's unending nightmare: Occupation, shelling and floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Maybe it's the same with tragedy," said 52-year-old Radetska, who is deputy head of a school in the southern Ukrainian city. Pupils include 31 on the Russian-held east bank that was particularly badly hit by the floods, including the town of Oleshky. The past week's events have been a fresh tragedy for Radetska and Remyha, who both recounted threats, imprisonment and torture during Russia's occupation. He said the hospital's staff took risks to give illicit assistance to local Ukrainian soldiers left in the city after the occupation. Russia's FSB did not immediately respond when asked to comment on to the allegations made by Remyha and Radetska.

Persons: Iryna Radetska, Leonid Remyha, Remyha, Remya, Radetska, hasn't, that's, Max Hunder, Mike Collett, White, Frances Kerry Organizations: Russian, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Kherson, Moscow, KHERSON, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Dnipro, Kyiv, Oleshky, Radetska, LIBERATION, Kherson region, Russian

☆ Counting central Ukraine’s military losses, with a spreadsheet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Reuters has not been able to independently verify widely varying claims of battlefield losses on both sides of the conflict. But the spreadsheet offers a glimpse into the human cost of the war in one of Ukraine's 27 regions. Ukraine's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Ukraine's losses. According to his spreadsheet, at least 25 soldiers from the 116th Territorial Defence Brigade were killed there that month. "The entire region felt these losses," Tkachenko said.

Persons: Denys Bondarev, Dan Peleschuk, Viktor Tkachenko, Tkachenko, Kyiv's, Poltava's, Istomin, Andriy Karpov, Tetiana, Bondareva, Mike Collett, White, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Facebook, 116th Territorial Defence Brigade, Thomson Locations: Poltava, Ukraine, Dan Peleschuk POLTAVA, Sumy, Kharkiv, Russia, Poltava city, Russia's, Soledar, Bakhmut

But in a statement on April 8 last year, the company said: "Due to recent developments, Acer has decided to suspend its business in Russia." Asked about subsequent exports to Russia via Swiss subsidiary Acer Sales International SA, Acer in Taiwan said in a statement that "we strictly adhere to applicable international regulations and trade laws regarding exports to Russia". Acer did not say why it continued shipping its goods to Russia despite saying it would suspend business there. Reuters was unable to establish where some Acer goods that can still be found on sale in Russia had originated from nor when they had arrived in the country. There were no deliveries of the newly prohibited items by Acer to Russia from Switzerland after that date.

Persons: Dell, Artem Zhavoronkov, Acer, Filipp Lebedev, Gleb Stolyarov, Ben Blanchard, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Mike Collett, White, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Reuters, Dell, HP, Acer, Russia, European Union, Acer Sales International SA, PC, IDC Russia, Nordic Star, Economy Ministry, Economic Affairs, Russia's Ministry of Industry, Trade, Thomson Locations: Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine, Acer's, Switzerland, Swiss, St . Petersburg, Japan, Bioggio, WhatsApp, Switzerland's, Tbilisi, Taipei, Geneva

☆ Ukrainian firms venture abroad for growth as war hits home
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The ongoing conflict has prompted several Ukrainian firms to focus abroad to reduce their reliance on a shrinking home market and to tap into the millions of people who have left. Ukraine, which had a pre-war population of about 40 million, has seen its domestic economy turned upside down, with corporate investments and growth now rare. "Our choice was to go to Poland, mainly because Poland hosts now the highest number of Ukrainians who fled from the war." In September, 8.5% of all companies opened in Poland had Ukrainian capital, compared with 0.8% in January 2022. "The main goal is to grow abroad much faster than we planned for ourselves in the pre-war period," Vovk said.

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