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☆ Russia arrests U.S. citizen on drug dealing charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. musician and former paratrooper has been arrested in Moscow on drug dealing charges and his court appearance, locked in a metal cage, has been shown on state television. "The former paratrooper and a musician, who is accused of running a drug dealing business involving young people, will remain in custody until Aug. 6, 2023." The spokesperson did not say if U.S. officials had yet had consular access to Leake. When Leake initially came to Moscow, he worked as an English teacher and helped translate songs for Russian bands. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in March on espionage charges that he, the Journal and Washington deny.

Persons: Michael Travis Leake, REN, Leake, Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, Washington, Evan Gershkovich, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Edmund Klamann, Frances Kerry Organizations: Moscow's, Reuters, REN TV, State Department, U.S ., Street, Washington, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, U.S, Moscow, Russian, Moscow's Khamovniki, Leake, Russia's, Ukraine, United States, Russia, Washington, Melbourne

MOSCOW, June 8 (Reuters) - For more than 15 months Russia has been fighting a war in Ukraine that the Kremlin refused to call a war - but that is changing: President Vladimir Putin is using the word "war" more often. The Russian media was ordered not to use the word war - and has either complied or shut down. But in response to what Russia said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, Putin last week used the word "war" four times in relation to Ukraine, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. "What is more important is what is says about the future: does war mean a more serious approach and what will Russia at war look like?" Attacks far inside Russia that Moscow blamed on Ukraine have stiffened opinion within the Kremlin, emboldening hawks who propose a much tougher approach to a war in which Putin has said Russia has not got even got serious yet.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Peskov, Sergei Lavrov, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Lyndon B, Johnson, George W, Bush, Leonid Brezhnev, Abbas Gallyamov, Nikita Yuferev, Yuferev, Prigozhin, Putin's, General Augusto Pinochet, Guy Faulconbridge, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Kremlin, Nazi, Red, Motherland, U.S, Soviet, West, Russia, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Moscow, Ukraine's, Crimea, Soviet, Nazi Germany, Russia's Belgorod, Europe, U.S, Vietnam, Afghanistan, St Petersburg, RUSSIA, Chile, Pinochet

☆ Kremlin: Western long-range missiles to Ukraine will fuel 'spiralling tension'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 4 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Sunday that any supply of long-range missiles to Kyiv by France and Germany would lead to a further round of "spiralling tension" in the Ukraine conflict. Britain last month became the first country to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles. Ukraine has asked Germany for Taurus cruise missiles, which have a range of 500 km (311 miles), while President Emmanuel Macron has said France will give Ukraine missiles with a range allowing it to carry out its long-anticipated counteroffensive. Ukraine says it needs more weapons, including long-range missiles, to defend itself against Russian attacks and re-capture its occupied territory. Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression and a land grab in Ukraine.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Caleb Davis, Gareth Jones Organizations: Taurus, Ukraine, NATO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, France, Germany, Ukraine, Britain, Russia, Moscow

MOSCOW, June 4 (Reuters) - Russian is fulfilling its oil output cut obligations, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Rossiya-24 TV channel on Sunday following a meeting of the OPEC+ group of leading oil producers. He said that total production cuts, which OPEC+ has undertaken since October 2022, reached 3.66 million bpd to ensure stability on the global oil market. Separately, Novak's office said that Russia will tweak its crude oil production level to 9.828 million bpd from Jan.1, and taking into account earlier announced additional voluntary reduction of 500,000 bpd, its output target will stand at around 9.3 million bpd. "That's the indicator (interest rate decisions), which is having an impact on investments, on demand for oil and oil products," he said. He said the data from secondary sources related to the OPEC+ voluntary cuts starting from May will emerge in the middle of this month.

Persons: Alexander Novak, Rossiya, Novak, Vladimir Soldatkin, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Organization of, Petroleum, U.S . Federal, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, OPEC, Russia, Nigeria, Angola

☆ Russian airlines have received millions of US-made aircraft parts since the invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Over $14.4 million worth of US-made aircraft parts illegally entered Russia in 2022. Millions of dollars worth of aircraft parts entered Russia in 2022 despite Western sanctions preventing exports — suggesting the strategy isn't as bulletproof as governments had hoped. The aviation sector was expected to take a big hit as Russian carriers — including Rossiya Airlines, Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, S7 Airlines, Utair Aviation, and Pobeda Airlines — mostly fly Boeing and Airbus planes. With the influx of parts, Russian carriers have been able to better maintain their fleets — a reality that was not initially anticipated by experts, Bloomberg reported. Even so, Russian airlines have scheduled over 10,000 flights between Russia and Central Asia in May, per the NYT.

☆ A Kremlin propagandist boasted of Russia's low unemployment rate, not mentioning it's partly because it suffered so many casualties in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian TV anchor Dmitry Kiselyov boasted of the health of Russia's economy. But he made no mention of how Russia's invasion of Ukraine impacted those figures. He omitted how Russia's invasion has decimated the Ukrainian economy, and boasted that in Russia "unemployment is at an historic low." The labor shortage has been exacerbated by the mass mobilisation of working age men to fight in Ukraine, where the Russian military has suffered steep casualty rates, reports say. Around 300,00 men were drafted into the Russian military last September, and a new wave of mobilizations is considered likely amid continued setbacks.

"It could be some kind of non-controlling stake in public companies," Kostin said in the interview. COMPETITIONHe said some industries lacked competition, a hangover from Soviet times, a consequence of which would ultimately see more investors take money elsewhere. Telecoms operator Rostelecom (RTKM.MM), defence conglomerate Rostec and state nuclear energy company Rosatom could have subsidiaries privatised, he said, adding: "The main thing is not to miss the moment when we can attract private money here." Under that programme, state property was sold very cheaply to well-connected businessmen who became known as "oligarchs". "We have a different country now, a different president, a different government that cannot allow what happened then," he said.

MOSCOW, April 24 (Reuters) - Russia should consider taking over and managing the assets of foreign firms such as Fortum (FORTUM.HE) in Russia, giving them back only when sanctions are lifted, Andrei Kostin, the CEO of state-owned bank VTB (VTBR.MM), said on Monday. "Completing the exit is likely to take further time and there still are significant uncertainties – including regulatory approvals – related to the ongoing divestment process," Fortum said in February 2023. Kostin said Russia should consider taking over foreign companies' assets, a process that he said would mirror restrictions imposed on Russian assets abroad. Kostin named Fortum as an example of a large foreign company whose assets could be targeted. Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian official claims 75% of Bakhmut seized
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, April 10 (Reuters) - The Russian-installed head of the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine's Donetsk region said on Monday that Russian forces controlled more than 75% of the besieged city of Bakhmut. The battle for Bakhmut has been one of the bloodiest of the 13-month war, drawing comparisons with World War One due to massive casualties on both sides. Moscow-installed regional leader Denis Pushilin published footage of himself on Telegram purportedly visiting the small mining city where battles have raged since last summer. Russia says the capture of Bakhmut will open up the possibility for future offensives across Ukraine, while Kyiv and the West say the now smashed city has only symbolic importance. In video from an unidentified underground location, Pushilin decorated fighters from the Wagner Group mercenary army that has been spearheading the assault on Bakhmut.

☆ Russia posted a $29 billion deficit in the first quarter as energy revenue plummets — and it could spell trouble for the country's military bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's spending jumped 34% in 1Q to 8.1 trillion rubles, or $99 billion, amid the Ukraine war. However, energy revenues plunged 45% to 1.6 trillion rubles due to boycotts and sanctions. As a result, Russia posted a deficit of 2.4 trillion rubles in the first quarter of 2023. Government income declined nearly 21% to 5.7 trillion rubles during the quarter compared to a year ago, per data released by Russia's finance ministry on Friday. This comes after the European Union — a major customer of Russian energy — banned Russian crude oil starting December 5.

☆ Russia: U.S. threats over reporter's arrest will 'reap whirlwind'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, March 31 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that if the United States threatened Moscow over its arrest of Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, it would reap a "whirlwind", the state-owned news agency RIA reported. U.S. President Joe Biden urged Moscow on Friday to "Let him go", after his administration said on Thursday it was unacceptable for Russia to target U.S. citizens and urged all Americans in Russia to leave at once. Speaking on the "60 Minutes" programme of Russia's flagship Rossiya 1 channel, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the United States had made no attempt to understand what had happened to Gershkovich. If this logic continues in the public space, they will reap a whirlwind," Zakharova said. Gershkovich pleaded "not guilty" on Thursday as a court remanded him in pre-trial detention for two months.

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. surveillance drone brought down over the Black Sea after a Russian military intercept probably broke apart and would be difficult to recover given the depth of the water in the area, the top U.S. general said on Wednesday. Russia's defense ministry blamed "sharp maneuvering" by the drone for the crash and said its jet did not make contact. Milley said the United States had already taken measures to guard against a loss of sensitive intelligence if the drone were to be recovered by Russia. The State Department on Tuesday summoned Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, to express U.S. concerns over the encounter. Antonov after the meeting said the drone "deliberately and provocatively was moving toward Russian territory with transponders turned off."

☆ Russia says it will try to retrieve remains of U.S. drone
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev attends a meeting of the collegium of the Prosecutor General's office in Moscow, Russia, March 15, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERSMarch 15 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it would try to retrieve the remains of a U.S. military surveillance drone that fell into the Black Sea after an incident involving Russian fighter planes, accusing Washington of "directly participating" in the war in Ukraine. Russia denied being responsible for the crash and said relations with the United States had reached their "lowest point". Kremlin Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told the Rossiya-1 TV channel: "I don't know whether we will be able to retrieve it or not, but that it has to be done. "Secondly, regarding the drone - the Americans keep saying they're not taking part in military operations.

☆ Putin says Nord Stream blasts carried out on 'state level'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Caleb Davis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 14 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that last year's blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines had been carried out on a "state level", dismissing the idea an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was responsible as "complete nonsense". The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea were hit by a series of unexplained explosions last September, in what Moscow has called an act of "international terrorism". 'ANTENNA'Commenting on a report suggesting that a pro-Ukraine had attacked the pipelines, Putin said this was "complete nonsense". Theoretically, of course, the United States is interested," Putin said. The United States strongly denies any involvement in the Nord Stream blasts.

☆ Putin says Germany remains "occupied"
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Germany's response to the explosion on North Sea pipelines showed that the country remained "occupied" and unable to act independently decades after its surrender at the end of World War Two. Putin, interviewed on Russian television, also said European leaders had been browbeaten into losing their sense of sovereignty and independence. "The matter is that European politicians have said themselves publicly that after World War Two, Germany was never a fully sovereign state," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as telling state Rossiya-1 TV channel. Putin told the interviewer that the blasts were carried out on a "state level" and dismissed as "complete nonsense" suggestions that an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was responsible. The pipelines were intended to bring Russian gas to Germany, though since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine a year ago Berlin has taken steps to reduce its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.

☆ Terrifying video shows a Russian plane losing cabin pressure mid-flight — showing how dangerous it's gotten to fly in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A video of the incident shows panicked passengers with oxygen masks on their faces. An expert told Insider that Western jets are deteriorating due to a lack of servicing and parts. The main federal investigating authority in Russia told RIA Novosti that the flight was forced to land "due to depressurization of the aircraft cabin," adding that an investigation is ongoing. One expert told Insider that flying in Russia could become increasingly dangerous. "Access to spare parts, which are sanctioned, is very limited," Denis Brailsford, the head of asset management at the UK's leading aviation consultancy group IBA, told Insider.

☆ Terrifying video of Russian plane losing cabin pressure mid-flight shows how dangerous it's gotten to fly in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A video of the incident shows panicked passengers with oxygen masks on their faces. An expert told Insider that Western jets are deteriorating due to a lack of servicing and parts. Musician Andrey Saltanov, who was also on the flight and verified the video to Insider, said: "The plane turned out to be ancient. The main federal investigating authority in Russia told RIA Novosti that the flight was forced to land "due to depressurization of the aircraft cabin," adding that an investigation is ongoing. One expert told Insider that flying in Russia could become increasingly dangerous.

☆ Putin: Russia must take into account NATO nuclear capability - state TV
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Feb 26 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia had no choice but to take into account the nuclear capabilities of NATO as the U.S.-led military alliance was seeking the defeat of Russia. "In today's conditions, when all the leading NATO countries have declared their main goal as inflicting a strategic defeat on us, so that our people suffer as they say, how can we ignore their nuclear capabilities in these conditions?" Putin told Rossiya 1 state television, according to TASS. The West, Putin said, wanted to liquidate Russia. "They have one goal: to disband the former Soviet Union and its fundamental part - the Russian Federation," Putin said, according to TASS.

☆ Putin casts war as a battle for Russia's survival
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The NATO and the West dismiss such narrative, saying their objective is to help Ukraine defend itself against an unprovoked attack. Russia's official nuclear doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons if they - or other types of weapons of mass destruction - are used against it, or if conventional weapons are used, which endanger "the very existence of the state." Putin said Russia would only resume discussion once French and British nuclear weapons were also taken into account. Russia, which inherited the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, has the world's biggest store of nuclear warheads. Putin said the biggest result of the past year was the unity of the Russian people.

☆ Hackers claim to have caused Russian websites broadcasting Vladimir Putin's annual address to go offline
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Online broadcasts of Vladimir Putin's annual speech were interrupted on Tuesday. A pro-Ukraine hacking group has claimed responsibility for a DDoS cyberattack. Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency, meanwhile, said disruptions to the broadcast were the result of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Though it is not clear who or what was behind the outages, at least one pro-Ukraine hacking group has claimed responsibility. Newsweek reported that another hacking group claiming to work on behalf of Russian opposition activist Alexey Navalny also claimed responsibility, saying it caused the disruption along with "other hackers."

☆ Russia can take Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa, Chechnya's Kadyrov says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, said in an interview aired on Monday that Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine by the end of the year and it would be wrong to negotiate with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. "I believe that, by the end of the year, we will 100% complete the task set for us today," Kadyrov said. Nevertheless, Kadyrov told interviewer Olga Skabeyeva, who hosts a stridently pro-war chat show: "If we sit down at the negotiating table with Zelenskiy, yes, I think that's wrong." Kadyrov is a former Chechen separatist fighter who switched sides in the late 1990s, joining the pro-Russian administration in the restive Caucasus region along with his wider family. His father was assassinated by pro-independence militants in 2004, and Russian President Vladimir Putin personally installed him as leader of Chechnya in 2007.

The West blocked several major Russian banks' access to the international SWIFT payments system soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, with dominant lenders Sberbank (SBER.MM) and VTB (VTBR.MM) - Russia's No. 2 bank - forced to shutter operations across much of Europe. Kostin, in an interview with state television channel Rossiya 24, said the bank had managed to grow its retail and corporate loan portfolios, but that sanctions accounted for all the lender's losses. VTB was forced to buy FX on the open market when the rouble had weakened sharply to more than 100 against the dollar, Kostin said. VTB was profitable in January and hopes to post profits in 2023 with a similar number of zeroes as the 320-billion-rouble figure achieved in 2021, Kostin said.

☆ Russia says Britain's tanks 'will burn' in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Britain said on Saturday it would send 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks as well as other advanced artillery support in the coming weeks. "They are using this country [Ukraine] as a tool to achieve their anti-Russian goals," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the British tanks. Vladimir Solovyev, a pro-Kremlin presenter on Rossiya 1 state television, said any Western countries which supplied more advanced weapons to Ukraine should be considered legitimate targets for Russia. "De-facto, Britain has entered the war," Solovyev told his flagship Sunday night talk show on state television. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under pressure to allow the export of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine by Germany, which makes them, and other countries that have them.

REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneKVIV/MOSCOW, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Russian forces bombarded scores of towns in Ukraine on Christmas Day as Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to negotiations, a stance Washington has dismissed as posturing because of continued Russian attacks. Ukraine has traditionally not celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25, but Jan. 7, the same as Russia. That range reaches deep into neighbours of Belarus: Ukraine and NATO member Poland, which has very strained relations with Minsk. The S-400 system is a Russian mobile, surface-to-air missile (SAM) interception system capable of engaging aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles, and has a terminal ballistic missile defence capability. Blasts were heard at Russia's Engels air base, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the Ukraine frontlines, Ukrainian and Russian media reported on Monday.

☆ Putin says Russia ready to negotiate over Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens," Putin said. Soon after that revolution, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and Russian-backed separatist forces began fighting Ukraine's armed forces in eastern Ukraine. "Actually, the fundamental thing here is the policy of our geopolitical opponents which is aimed at pulling apart Russia, historical Russia," Putin said. Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they cast as an imperial-style war of occupation which has sown suffering and death across Ukraine. Putin described Russia as a "unique country" and said the vast majority of its people were united in wanting to defend it.

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