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☆ The CEO of Russia's biggest bank says the ruble is 'unjustifiably undervalued,' but Putin has downplayed the ruble's weakness — and it shows even Russia's elite don't see eye to eye about the economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said the Russian currency should be trading at 80 to 85 rubles to the US dollar. Gref's comments came just as Putin sought to project an image of calm in the country's economy at an economic forum on Tuesday. Russia's economy has been deeply impacted by Western sanctions ever since it invaded Ukraine, even if there's some support from the Kremlin's wartime spending. The impact of the sanctions on Russia's economy and currency has fuelled inflation. Russian inflation accelerated 5.15% year-over-year in August, well above the central bank's 4% annual inflation target.

Persons: Herman Gref, Putin, Gref Organizations: Service, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine

“They just come and say ‘vote.’ So people vote,” Baska told CNN. “Here, when you buy a SIM card for your phone, you immediately get an SMS from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and United Russia Party,” Baska said. The text messages carry pro-Kremlin messaging, informing voters that “about 90% of voters are ready to vote for Yedianaya Rossiya (United Russia),” or that “United Russia is helping Zaporizhzhia region,” she added. Guerrilla activity by Ukrainian partisans has taken place but is more difficult to achieve now, Baska told CNN. ‘Nothing to do with democracy’Few residents in Melitopol are interested in the bogus elections taking place, Baska told CNN.

Persons: ”, Alexander Ermochenko, ” Baska, Yedianaya Rossiya, ’, Vladimir Putin’s, “, Jens Stoltenberg, Baska, Melitopol, …, Republic Denis Pushilin, Yuriy Sobolevskyi, ” Sobolevskyi Organizations: CNN, Communist, National Resistance Center, Ministry of Internal Affairs, United Russia Party, Kremlin, “, NRC, Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of, NATO, Yale Humanitarian Research, United Russia, Russian, Russian Guard Locations: Melitopol, Ukrainian, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, United Russia, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, Kyiv, of Europe, ”, Mariupol, Crimea, Republic

☆ Lessor AerCap agrees settlement over Aeroflot jets stranded in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Conor Humphries | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Before last year's invasion of Ukraine, Russia was a major market for aircraft lessors, which bought jets from Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA) and leased them to Russian airlines. Aeroflot said in a statement that ownership of 18 aircraft and five engines had transferred to NSK following settlement with AerCap. AerCap filed a $3.5 billion London lawsuit last year against AIG and Lloyd's over 141 aircraft and 29 aircraft engines it owned that were on lease to Russian airlines. AerCap said settlement discussions were ongoing with respect to claims under the insurance policies of several other Russian airlines. AerCap in March said it had been approached by Russian airlines and their insurance companies about possible settlements for the stranded planes.

Persons: BOE, Denis Balibouse, AerCap, lessors, Conor Humphries, Gleb Stolyarov, Kirstin Ridley, Jason Neely, David Evans, Peter Graff Organizations: Airbus, Russian, Aeroflot, REUTERS, DUBLIN, NSK, Rossiya, Boeing, U.S . Treasury, Commerce, AIG, SMBC Aviation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Geneva, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, Ireland, Moscow, NSK, AerCap, EU

☆ Apparent death of Wagner boss Prigozhin might pay dividends for the Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Ukrainians and their allies, Solovyov insinuated, were “spreading a fake message about the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin” based on a report from Rossiya-24, a Russian state television channel. After all, Russian investigative outlets have reported that the Wagner head apparently employed at least one body double. Awaiting an impartial report from the Investigative Committee is like expecting a Russian state TV host to stop taking talking points from the Kremlin. The crash of Prigozhin’s plane happened just about two months after Prigozhin and Wagner staged their insurrection, the biggest challenge to Putin’s rule in over two decades. Russian investigative journalist Artem Borovik died in 2000 shortly after his plane to Kyiv crashed after take-off from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir Solovyov, Solovyov, Yevgeny Prigozhin ”, Prigozhin –, Batya, –, Vladimir Putin’s, Alexey Navalny, Putin, “, Russia, That’s, Alexander Lukashenko, defenestration, Artem Borovik, Alexander Lebed –, cui bono –, Vanda Felbab, Brown, liquidating Wagner, ”, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, Embraer, Kremlin, Russian Federation, Brookings Institution Locations: Kuzhenkinskoe, Russia’s Tver, Russian, Rossiya, Moscow, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Africa, St . Petersburg, Niger, Kyiv, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo, East

☆ Tumbling rouble claws back ground as central bank to meet
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Putin's economic adviser Maxim Oreshkin earlier said the central bank could ensure that the pace of lending drops to sustainable levels with higher rates. "The central bank has all the tools to normalise the situation in the near future." Asked earlier whether it might make an emergency hike from the current 8.5%, the central bank declined to comment. "The central bank is not fully in control," independent Moscow-based economist Ian Melkumov told Reuters. "The central bank doesn't want to kill the economy and businesses in the same way it had to last year," he said.

Persons: Rouble, Vladimir Putin's, rouble, Putin, Maxim Oreshkin, Oreshkin, Denis Popov, Popov, Matt Vogel, REUTERS Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Vladimir Solovyev, Ivan, Timothy Ash, Ian Melkumov, Alexander Marrow, Marc Jones, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher, Christina Fincher Organizations: TASS, of Russia's, FIM, Moscow News Agency, Handout, REUTERS Central Bank Governor, Popular, Kremlin, Reuters, BlueBay Asset Management, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, London

☆ Cluster bombs could turn the war in Ukraine's favor — but Russia says it's ready to use them too
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

"But of course, if they [cluster munitions] are used against us, we reserve the right to tit-for-tat actions," the president said. Though not banned by the United States, Russia or Ukraine, cluster bombs are outlawed in over 100 countries under a global pact, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, because of the danger they pose to civilians. The United Nations called on the warring parties to immediately cease all use of cluster munitions. Up to 40% of cluster munitions fail to explode on impact, the U.N. said, which allows for "decades of intermittent detonations." They add that cluster munitions could be a critical factor in determining the outcome of the conflict.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, they're, Jack Watling, Justin Bronk, Anatolii Stepanov, Bronk Organizations: Getty Images, U.S, Tass, Ukrainian, Cluster Munitions, Washington Post, The Washington Post, Getty, United Nations, Defense, NATO, Royal United Services Institute, Armed Forces, Afp, Kyiv Locations: Russia, Moscow, Kremlin, Ukraine, U.S, Kyiv, Europe, United States, Russian, Lysychansk

☆ Russia has 'sufficient stockpile' of cluster bombs, says Putin, as Ukraine gets U.S. cluster bombs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin tours an exhibition of promising Russian companies during the forum "Strong ideas for the new time" in Moscow, Russia June 29, 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Russia has a "sufficient stockpile" of cluster munitions, and warned that Russia "reserves the right to take reciprocal action" if Ukraine uses the controversial weapons. In his first comments on the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine from the U.S., Putin said that Russia has not used cluster bombs in its war in Ukraine so far. The Pentagon said Thursday that cluster munitions provided by the United States had arrived in Ukraine. Proponents argue that Russia has already been using cluster munitions in Ukraine and that the weapons the U.S. is providing have been improved to leave behind far fewer unexploded rounds.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Joe Biden, Pavlo Kyrylenko, Oleksandr Prokudin, Yurii Malashko, Mikhail Razvozhaev, Vyacheslav Gladkov Organizations: The Associated Press, Telegram, Pentagon, United, U.S, Ukrainian, Staff, Gov, Russian, General's, Regional Gov Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, U.S, United States, Donetsk, Kherson, Kherson region, Yurii, Zaporizhzhia, Stepnohirsk, Russian, Crimea, Sevastopol, Russia's Belgorod, Shebekino

☆ Russian state TV attacks mutiny leader Prigozhin, says investigation still live
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

July 5 (Reuters) - Russian state TV on Wednesday launched a fierce attack on Yevgeny Prigozhin, the exiled mercenary leader of an aborted armed mutiny last month, and said an investigation into what had happened was still being vigorously pursued. Under the agreement which ended the mutiny, Prigozhin, whose aim had been to topple the defence minister and chief of the General Staff for what he cast as their incompetent prosecution of the war, was meant to relocate to neighbouring Belarus. Images of armed Russian law enforcement agents entering Prigozhin's office were shown. "I consider that the creation of Yevgeny Prigozhin's image as a people's hero was all done by media fed by Yevgeny Prigozhin," said Petrov, referring to media outlets financed by Prigozhin. The programme showed what it said were multiple passports which Prigozhin had used and which carried different names.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Popov, Eduard Petrov, Petrov, Yevgeny, Putin, Andrew Osborn, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Wednesday, Kremlin, General Staff, Prigozhin, Thomson Locations: Russian, Rostov, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Belarus, St Petersburg

☆ Russia's Aeroflot resumes regular flights to Cuba, suspended since Ukraine invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 1 (Reuters) - Rossiya Airlines, part of Russia's Aeroflot (AFLT.MM) group, on Saturday resumed scheduled flights to Cuba, which had been suspended since Western countries shut Russia out of their airspace in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The first flight of what will begin as a twice-weekly service took off for the Cuban resort of Varadero from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Saturday, Aeroflot said. Russian airlines suspended flights to Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic on Feb. 28 last year, four days after the invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation". The deputy prime minister for tourism, sport, culture and communications, Dmitry Chernyshenko, announced in May that regular flights to Cuba skirting the airspace of "unfriendly" countries would resume by July. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dmitry Chernyshenko, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Rossiya Airlines, Aeroflot, Saturday, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Cuba, Russia, Ukraine, Cuban, Varadero, Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Mexico, Dominican Republic

☆ Putin expresses confidence on Ukraine in interview recorded before revolt
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 25 (Reuters) - Russian state television on Sunday showed Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing confidence in plans for Ukraine in an interview that appeared to have been recorded before Saturday's aborted revolt by the Wagner group of mercenaries. "This also applies to the country's defence, it applies to the special military operation, it applies to the economy as a whole and its individual areas." The comments in an interview with Kremlin correspondent Pavel Zarubin were broadcast by Rossiya state television. The short report did not mention Saturday's revolt, in which Wagner mercenaries took a southern city before heading toward Moscow. Asked in the interview how much time he dedicates to what Russia calls its special military operation, Putin said: "Of course, this is paramount, every day starts and ends with this."

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Saturday's, Wagner, Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Zarubin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexander Marrow, Maxim Rodionov, Conor Humphries, David Goodman, Frances Kerry Organizations: Kremlin, Defence Ministry, Russia, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Moscow

Summary Lukashenko says he already has Russian tactical nuclear weaponsIndicates delivery process is ongoingSays their use can be swiftly agreed with MoscowJune 14 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia, which will retain control of the tactical nuclear weapons, would start deploying them in Belarus after special storage facilities to house them were made ready. The Russian leader announced in March he had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, pointing to the U.S deployment of such weapons in a host of European countries over many decades. Earlier on Tuesday, he had said separately that the Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be physically deployed on the territory of Belarus "in several days" and that he had the facilities to host longer-range missiles too if ever needed. No one has so far fought against a nuclear country, a country that has nuclear weapons."

Persons: Lukashenko, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Putin, didn't, Lidia Kelly, Andrew Osborn, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: United, NATO, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russia, Soviet Union, Belarusian, Russian, Belarus, United States, China, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Soviet, Melbourne, London

The deployment is Moscow's first move of such warheads - shorter-range less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia, which will retain control of the tactical nuclear weapons, would start deploying them in Belarus after special storage facilities to house them were made ready. The Russian leader announced in March he had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, pointing to the U.S deployment of such weapons in a host of European countries over many decades. Earlier on Tuesday, he had said separately that the Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be physically deployed on the territory of Belarus "in several days" and that he had the facilities to host longer-range missiles too if ever needed. No one has so far fought against a nuclear country, a country that has nuclear weapons."

Persons: Lukashenko, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Putin, didn't, Lidia Kelly, Andrew Osborn, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: United, Press Service, REUTERS, WE, NATO, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russia, Soviet Union, Belarusian, Russian, Belarus, United States, China, Ukraine, Minsk Region, Republic of Belarus, Handout, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Soviet, Melbourne, London

☆ 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.

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.

"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.

☆ 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.

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