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☆ 'Ultra-patriots' may try to overthrow Putin because of his army's failures in Ukraine, says Russian MP
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The biggest threat to Putin is ultra-nationalists, a pro-Kremlin Russian MP said. Oleg Matveychev said "ultra-patriots" could overthrow Putin over his army's performance. He said that for Putin "the situation is not so critical yet, but 2023 will be very dangerous," the Times reported. In Russia he's also faced backlash from pro-war figures, who are unhappy with the army's performance and want even more brutal tactics in Ukraine. A former Putin speechwriter said last month that a coup could happen in Russia as military generals are frustrated at their troops' defeats.

☆ As Ukraine war drags on, Russian lawmakers told to compare it to the bloody (but ultimately victorious) WWII Battle of Stalingrad
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's largest party told members to compare the Ukraine war with World War II's biggest battle. Politicians were told to talk about the Battle of Stalingrad, which turned the tide against Nazi Germany. Russia's war in Ukraine is dragging on and sees no end in sight, with casualties mounting. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the biggest battles in World War II, helping to stop Nazi forces from advancing into the Soviet Union. Up to two million people died in and around Stalingrad, according to news agency AFP.

☆ How Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president, went from perceived pro-West reformer to virulent warmonger since the invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Russia's former president has become one of its most vitriolic figures amid the Ukraine invasion. When Dmitry Medvedev was elected, some saw him representing a more liberal future for Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in December 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during the United Russia party congress in Moscow, Russia, in December 2017. Putin became president again once Medvedev's first term was up, and Medvedev duly became his prime minister, serving until 2020.

☆ Indian police are looking into the death of a Russian sausage magnate critical of Putin's war in Ukraine, who died after an alcohol-fueled trip in the jungle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian sausage magnate Pavel Antov died in India in late December and was a longtime Putin ally. According to The Wall Street Journal, Indian police have discovered new details about the pair of deaths in late December. Russian lawmaker Pavel Antov died in Rayagada, India, two days after his friend, Vladimir Bydanov. Bydanov, who shared a room with Antov, died of a heart attack on Antov's birthday. Antov is at least the 19th Russian executive who has mysteriously perished throughout the course of the war, according to The Journal.

☆ Russia lashes out at the West, warns Ukraine to fulfil its territorial demands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the international conference "Eurasian Choice as a Basis for Strengthening Sovereignty" organised by the United Russia party in Moscow, Russia December 14, 2022. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERSA day after President Vladimir Putin said he was open to negotiations over Ukraine, Russia's foreign minister lashed out saying Kyiv and the West sought to destroy his country and Ukraine must meet Moscow's demands or its army will. Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, calling it a "special operation" to "denazify" and demilitarise Ukraine, which he said was a threat to Russia. Kyiv and the West say Putin's invasion was merely an imperialist land grab. The United States and its allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia for its invasion and sent billions of dollars in assistance to the Ukrainian government.

☆ Here’s a list of Putin critics who've ended up dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Jeremy Wilson | Taylor Ardrey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Here's a list of people who have been critical of Putin and the Russian president is suspected of assassinating:Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Anna PolitkovskayaAnna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist who was critical of Putin. In her book "Putin's Russia," she accused Putin of turning his country into a police state. She specialised in uncovering human-rights abuses carried out by the Russian state in Chechnya. Sergei YushenkovSergei Yushenkov was a Russian politician who was attempting to prove the Russian state was behind the bombing of an apartment block.

CNN —Russian sausage magnate-turned-lawmaker Pavel Antov died in India on Saturday after falling from the third floor of his hotel, according to the Indian police. Police believe Antov died by suicide after falling from the third floor of his hotel in the Rayagada district, although the postmortem report has not been released yet, Sharma said. He was a member of the Russian parliament’s United Russia party, which was formerly headed by Vladimir Putin and is still staunchly supportive of the Russian President. Russian Consul General in Calcutta Alexey Idamkin told Russian state media RIA Novosti on Monday that the Odisha State Police and the Consulate General in Calcutta didn’t see anything suspicious in the death of two Russians in India. In mid-September, Russian businessman Ivan Pechorin, who was the top manager for the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok, according to Russian state media.

☆ Another Putin critic died after falling out of a window
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A second Vladimir Putin critic has died after falling from a hotel window. Antov was a known critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the BBC reported. Antov is the second Putin critic to die after falling from a window. In September, Russian energy oligarch Ravil Maganov, 67, died after falling from a hospital window, Insider reported at the time. The BBC reported Odisha police Superintendent Vivekananda Sharma said Budanov died of a stroke.

☆ Russian military releases propaganda pop song fantasizing about its nukes wiping out NATO and the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A branch of Russia's defense ministry released a pop song celebrating its vast nuclear arsenal. The song celebrates the power of the "Sarmat" missile, also known as the "Son of Satan." The music video for the song was published by ParkPatriot.media, an arm of the Russian defense ministry focused on propaganda. It shows images of the Sarmat missile being test-fired and, at one point, showed Maidanov watching Putin speak on TV. The Russian Sarmat is ready/ To strike our enemy," Maidanov sings in the video, translated by Insider.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

☆ Freed Russian arms dealer Bout joins Kremlin-loyal ultranationalist party
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer freed on Thursday after 14 years in U.S. custody in exchange for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, has joined the Kremlin-loyal ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), its leader said on Monday. In a video posted on Telegram, LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky, standing on a stage beside Bout, said: "I want to thank Viktor Anatolievich (Bout) for the decision he has made and welcome him into the ranks of the best political party in today's Russia." Despite its name, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) has since its founding in 1991 espoused a hardline, ultranationalist ideology, demanding Russia reconquer the countries of the former Soviet Union. Its founder and long-time leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky gained a reputation as a political showman for his outrageous stunts and eccentric behaviour before his death in April. It has a history of recruiting controversial personalities into Russian politics.

☆ Kremlin complains about Time magazine naming Zelenskyy Person of the Year, calls it 'short-sighted' and 'anti-Russian'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Vladimir Putin's spokesperson complained about Time naming Zelenskyy its person of the year. Dmitry Peskov said the accolade was "vehemently Russophobic" and attacked Western media. Time said that the choice of Zelenskyy was "the most clear-cut in memory." Speaking to reporters, Dmitry Peskov claimed the accolade was evidence of an anti-Russian Western media system. Time announced the award on Tuesday, naming not only Zelenskyy but also "the spirit of Ukraine" as its person of the year.

☆ Putin's war in Ukraine looks more and more like a failure. Past Russian leaders haven't survived similar mistakes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Joy Neumeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Instead, Russia's failing war effort has raised doubts about Putin's hold on power. For now, Putin looks secure, but past Russian leaders have suffered at home for blunders abroad. By the following summer, the Germans had taken huge swathes of Russian-controlled territory and a million Russian soldiers were dead. Captured Russian soldiers after the defeat at Tannenberg, in present-day Poland, on August 30, 1914. After an ineffectual troop surge, Gorbachev gave up on trying to improve the situation, and the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989.

☆ Russia is adding military training to its school curriculum, marking a reversion to a Soviet-era practice that teaches students how to handle rifles and perform first aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian schools are adding a basic military training course to their curricula, per TASS. The course is a Soviet-era practice that teaches students first aid and how to use rifles. Mironov and deputy defense minister Valery Gerasimov have vocally supported reinstating military training in schools, with Gerasimov suggesting that students in the 10th and 11th grades be given 140 hours of training, per Izvestia. When we were engaged in military training at school, it worked only as a plus," said Adalbi Shkhagoshev, the deputy chairman of the United Russia party, per the outlet. The basic military training program was retired in 1993, two years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, per independent Russian news outlet The Moscow Times.

☆ Russia has a plan to put children to work since so many men are fighting Putin's war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia is planning to change its child labor laws to allow kids as young as 14 into the workforce more easily. They will no longer need approval from a guardian or a social services agency to be hired. Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine pulled 300,000 people into battle, causing labor shortages. Russia is facing labor shortages caused by the absence of nearly 300,000 people from their jobs and onto the battlefield to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. "They have to go through countless checks, bureaucracy, and getting approvals, it is simply not profitable for employers."

☆ Discussing "sensitive" war topics, Russian Duma halts live broadcasts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Russia's Duma has indefinitely stopped broadcasting live plenary sessions to protect information from "our enemy", a leading lawmaker said on Tuesday as parliament's lower house debated topics related to the war in Ukraine. Russia uses the term "special military operation" to describe what Ukraine and its Western allies say is a war of imperial conquest. Another deputy, Andrei Svintsov, said the broadcast restriction was imposed because most issues under discussion at the moment related to the "special military operation". We understand that there may be some sensitive information from government representatives, from deputies," Svintsov said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReported by Filipp Lebedev; Editing by Mark TrevelyanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian politicians shouldn't be drafted to fight in Ukraine because they need to stay and explain the war, lawmaker says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Dmitry Vyatkin said that it is their "duty" to stay behind and explain the importance of the war. His comments came after one member of the State Duma requested to join the fight. His speech came after another member of the State Duma, who has a military background, said he wanted to join the fighting in Ukraine, Kommersant reported. Yury Shyvtkin, who is also a member of the United Russia political party, had previously been in the army between 1986 to 1992, Kommersant reported. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that around 300,000 people would be called up immediately as part of the mobilization.

☆ Putin is facing pressure from Russia's hawkish nationalists who want all-out war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-07 | by ( Jason Corcoran | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

As the nationalists' most prominent figurehead, Igor Girkin has been among the most searing in his criticism of Russia's military strategy. Addressing his followers last week, Girkin said: "The war in Ukraine will continue until the complete defeat of Russia. The Smolninskoye District Court ruled that the municipal council should be dissolved and subsequently charged the deputies with "discrediting" Russia's military. The widespread purging of liberals and journalists that occurred in the early days of the Ukraine war is relatively straightforward in Russia. But cracking down on ultra- nationalists is more dangerous and may have dire consequences – especially if Russia loses the war.

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