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☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ Putin says Russia is ready to negotiate over war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the State Council on youth policy in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2022. Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired on Sunday. "We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them — we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are," Putin told Rossiya 1 state television in the interview. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Putin needed to return to reality and acknowledge that it was Russia that did not want any negotiations. "Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens," Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.

☆ Russia is ready to cut its oil output by 7% early next year to hit back at the EU-led price cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia could slash its oil output by up to 700,000 barrels a day, its deputy prime minister said. The US and its allies capped Russian crude prices at $60 a barrel earlier this month. "We are ready to partially cut our production early next year," Alexander Novak told state TV Friday. "We are ready to go for a partial reduction in production," Novak said in an interview with the state-run Rossiya-24 TV channel, per Tass. Read more: Russian oil exports crater by 54% in the first full week of the EU's embargo amid a shortage of tankers willing to carry cargoes

☆ Eutelsat: suspending programmes in Russia and Iran will hit financial results
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Eutelsat (ETL.PA) will take a bottom-line hit of around 10 to 15 million euros ($16 million) to its full-year revenues following the suspension of several television programmes in Russia and Iran, the company said. The moves to stop carrying three Russian programmes as well as ending all broadcasting activities in Iran, will cost the company's EBITDA operating profit 15-20 million euros ($15.96 -21.28 million) and reduce available cash flow by around 10 million euros. "Eutelsat has also ensured that it is not involved in the broadcasting of RT News in Russia," it added. The company's halting of broadcasting activities related to Iran came in reaction to a European Union regulation this month. ($1 = 0.9394 euros)Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-GuptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's Transneft receives Polish and German requests for oil
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime routes from Dec. 5, with Western nations also imposing price caps on Russian crude oil, but the Druzhba pipeline remains exempt from sanctions. And now we have received requests from Polish consumers: give us 3 million tonnes next year, and 360,000 tonnes for December, and Germany has already submitted a request for the first quarter," Transneft head Nikolay Tokarev said on Tuesday. Transneft, which handles more than 80% of total oil produced in Russia, has cranked up oil exports by a fifth this year, he added. Tokarev also said that oil supplies via the southern spur of Druzhba, which transports oil through Ukraine to Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will remain unchanged next year thanks to a ssanctions exception. Exports via the far eastern port of Kozmino are expected to total 42 million tonnes this year, exceeding usual annual capacity of 30 million tonnes, Tokarev said.

☆ Russia promotes engineer to head of seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it had promoted the chief engineer of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to become its director, after Kyiv said the plant's previous boss was abducted by Russian authorities. The nuclear power plant, Europe's biggest, has been occupied by Russian forces since March. Moscow said in October it was putting the plant under the control of Russian nuclear authorities, a move the Ukrainian government says is illegal. "The new director of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and first deputy general director of the Zaporizhzhia power plant operating company is Yuriy Chernichuk," said Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the CEO of Russian state energy organisation Rosenergoatom, according to Russian state Rossiya 24 TV. Kyiv also accuses Moscow of hiding military equipment at the plant, which Russia denies.

☆ Putin touts Russia's 'Arctic power' with launch of nuclear icebreakers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Nov 22 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday touted Russia's Arctic power at a flag-raising ceremony and dock launch for two nuclear-powered icebreakers that will ensure year-round navigation in the Western Arctic. Presiding via video link from the Kremlin at the launch ceremony in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg in northern Russia, Putin said such icebreakers were of strategic importance for the country. "Both icebreakers were laid down as part of a large serial project and are part of our large-scale, systematic work to re-equip and replenish the domestic icebreaker fleet, to strengthen Russia's status as a great Arctic power," Putin said. The Arctic is taking on greater strategic significance due to climate change, as a shrinking ice cap opens up new sea lanes. Vast oil and gas resources lie in Russia's Arctic regions, including a liquefied natural gas plant on the Yamal Peninsula.

☆ Resist Russian conscription, Zelenskyy tells men in occupied regions; Ukraine imposes curbs on energy use
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Russian-installed deputy governor of the Kherson region has insisted Russia is not surrendering the city of Kherson, despite calling on residents to evacuate immediately. Russian officials frequently and baselessly refer to Ukrainian forces as "Nazis" in a bid to demonize them. Russian-installed officials say up to 60,000 people could evacuate the area over the next six days. In a further development, the acting governor of the region Vladimir Saldo told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Wednesday that entry to the Kherson region for civilians will be very limited for seven days due to the turbulent situation. "Only those who will be given a pass by the commandant's office" will be able to enter the region, Saldo said, according to comments reported by the Tass news agency.

☆ Russian commander admits situation is 'tense' for his forces in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"The situation in the area of the 'Special Military Operation' can be described as tense," Sergei Surovikin, the Russian air force general now commanding Russia's invasion forces, told the state-owned Rossiya 24 news channel. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterOn Kherson, Surovikin said: "The situation in this area is difficult. Russian forces in Kherson have been driven back by 20-30 km (13-20 miles) in the last few weeks and are at risk of being pinned against the western bank of the 2,200-kilometre-long Dnipro river that bisects Ukraine. Both Ukraine and Russia have denied targeting civilians, although Kyiv has accused Moscow's forces of war crimes. The Russian military was preparing to repel the offensive, he said, and "where the military operates, there is no place for civilians".

☆ Russian forces in Ukraine under pressure as Kherson towns to be evacuated
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine acknowledged on Tuesday that his troops were under broad pressure and faced hard choices, as the Russian-appointed governor of occupied Kherson province announced a partial evacuation. Russian forces in Kherson have been driven back by 20-30 km (13-20 miles) in the last few weeks and are at risk of being pinned against the right or western bank of the Dnipro River. In a video statement, Saldo accused Ukrainian forces, without citing evidence, of planning to destroy a major dam at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. Russia captured the city of Kherson largely unopposed in the early days of the invasion, and it remains the only major Ukrainian city that Moscow's forces have seized intact. "Our further plans and actions regarding the city of Kherson itself will depend on the emerging military-tactical situation.

☆ Putin aide says Russia is not prioritizing the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A close aide to Vladimir Putin said that Brittney Griner's release is not Russia's "main issue." The aide also said that he didn't believe US President Joe Biden is prioritizing her release. Griner has been wrongfully detained in Russia on drug smuggling charges for the last eight months. Biden has spoken about Griner's release in public on multiple occasions and met with her family in September, after writing the basketball star a letter in July. "But, for example, if he came to me at the G20 and said, 'I want to talk about the release of Griner,' I would meet with him."

☆ Russian roulette: Is Putin serious about nuclear war, or bluffing?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Jason Corcoran | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

On Oct. 26, President Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian state television overseeing a practice run of Russia's strategic nuclear deterrence forces. The conflict has revived Cold War-era fears of nuclear war across the region. In August, a Ukrainian official said that 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel had been killed, though another source said the number could be far higher. (President Zelensky previously estimated that 30% of Ukraine's power stations have been damaged or destroyed, although the figure is now likely to be greater.) In a wide-ranging answer, Putin had offered, almost as an aside, that Russian victims of nuclear war "will go to heaven as martyrs" while Western citizens would perish without having "time to repent."

☆ Half the workers of Russia's biggest airline may be forced to join the army by Vladimir Putin, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Vladimir Putin announced Russian military mobilization in a speech on Wednesday. The Russian leader may force at least half the staff of Russia's biggest airlines to join the army. Military service is compulsory in Russia for those aged between 18 and 27. The Russian president announced a partial military mobilization in a speech on Wednesday, in which he also threatened to use nuclear weapons. Military service is compulsory in Russia for those aged between 18 and 27.

IZYUM, Ukraine — The stench of death hangs over a small forest in northeastern Ukraine. Already, hundreds of bodies have been retrieved, including those of children, Ukrainian forensic technicians here say. Some of the graves bear wooden crosses, inscribed with the names of the dead and sometimes floral tributes. A forensic technician closes a body bag in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, Ukraine, on Friday. During a video address late Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said investigators had discovered new evidence of torture.

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