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☆ Senior Russian lawmaker calls for professional army of seven million
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, who early in the 16-month war took part in peace negotiations with Ukraine, said that Russia needs a contract army of at least seven million military and civilian personnel, on top of the current conscript army. He said Wagner fighters can continue fighting with Russian army, go home or go to Belarus. At the end of 2022, Putin backed beefing up the army to 1.5 million combat personnel - including 695,000 contract soldiers - from 1.15 million. Creating a contract army of seven million would require a huge budget allowance. The Russian economy, crippled by the war and subsequent Western sanctions contracted 2.2% percent last year and is expected to rebound only marginally this year.

Persons: Leonid Slutsky, Sergei Lavrov, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Evgenia, weekend's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: Russia's, Russian, Qatari Deputy, Foreign, REUTERS, Liberal Democratic Party, Thomson Locations: Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, Thani, Moscow, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, aborting, Belarus, Melbourne

☆ 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

☆ A Russian far-right party made an AI chatbot of its dead leader which makes predictions about the Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian ultranationalist party has made an AI chatbot of deceased leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The chatbot answers questions about the Ukraine war. According to The Moscow Times, people can ask the chatbot questions, and it makes "predictions" about key world events. At Thursday's event, the outlet said, the chatbot predicted that the war in Ukraine would continue until "peace and the Russian people's safety are fully restored." Putin paid tribute to Zhirinovsky after his death, and made a rare public appearance to attend his funeral last April.

Persons: Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Zhirinovsky, —, ultranationalist, Max Seddon, Alexander Dupin, Lenta.ru, Dupin, Vladimir Putin's, Putin Organizations: Service, Liberal Democrat, St ., Economic, Moscow Times, Financial Times, University of World Civilizations, Duma Locations: Russian, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, St, Moscow, USSR, Russia

☆ Chechen commander 'alive and well', Russia's Duma speaker says after report he was wounded
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, June 14 (Reuters) - The speaker of Russia's parliament said a senior Chechen commander was alive and well on Wednesday, following reports he had been killed or wounded in Ukraine. The commander, Adam Delimkhanov, is a member of parliament as well as heading the Chechen division of the Russian national guard. He is widely seen as the Caucasian region's second most senior official after its leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Not only that, but he wishes you all good health," Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Duma, told lawmakers. Russia's TASS news agency quoted another Chechen commander as saying Delimkhanov was in Chechnya, not Ukraine, and media reports he had come under fire in Ukraine were all "fakes".

Persons: Adam Delimkhanov, Ramzan Kadyrov, He's, Vyacheslav Volodin, Delimkhanov, Gareth Jones, Peter Graff Organizations: Chechen, Russian, Caucasian, Duma, TASS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Chechen, Ukraine, Chechnya, Moscow, Mariupol

☆ 'Moscow is becoming a front line city' – The Ukraine War has finally come home to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Dominik Kalus | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

For weeks now, attacks by Ukraine within Russia have been increasing. Dead civilians, villages cleared out, and a seemingly overworked government: Moscow's war on Ukraine has finally hit home in Russian society. A woman waits at a bus stop next to a poster promoting Russian army service, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, in Moscow, Russia April 12, 2023. "The attacks in Belgorod are busting the myth of Putin's military being invincible," said political scientist Abbas Galljamow to the DPA news agency. Because these attacks within Russia are making even initially neutral Russians care about the war – and they're starting to approve of it.

Persons: —, Schapscha, Moscow's, Sergej Markow, Michail Rostowski, Alexander Dugin, Yulia Morozova, Jens Siegert, who's, Savva Tutunow, Putin, Abbas Galljamow, There's, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Konstantin Satulin, Russia hasn't, –, Putin's, Dmitry Peskov, They're, Peskov, Alarmism Organizations: Service, Putin, Pictures, REUTERS, Novaya Gazeta, Wagner Group, Russia, Publicly Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kherson, South Ukraine, Belgorod, Strelkovka, Kaluga, Moscow, Voronezh, Russian

☆ How a coup to force Putin from power could go down if he loses in Ukraine, according to former intel officers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia's defeat to Ukraine would be a tipping point, former intelligence officers told Insider. During his two decades in power, the Russian president has surrounded himself with an inner circle of hardline loyalists known as "the Siloviki." But in the chaotic fallout of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Putin's grasp on power appears much less secure, former intelligence officers told Insider. The faltering invasion has prompted criticism of the Russian president that would have previously been unthinkable. Ingram cautioned that Russian defeat could provoke even broader global instability.

Persons: Russia's Vladimir Putin, —, Vladimir Putin's, he's, George Beebe, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Abbas Gallyamov, Dmitry Medvedev, Nikolai Patrushev, Vyacheslav Volodin, Vladimir Putin, Russia's, Mikhail Svetlov, Philip Ingram, Beebe, RIA Novosti Ingram, Ingram, Putin's, Ramzan Kadyrov, Kadyrov, Ben Noble Organizations: Service, CIA, Wagner Group, Kremlin, CNN, Russian Security Council's, Security, RIA, NATO, University College London Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Russian, Moscow, Kremlin, Crimea, Soledar

☆ 'Stop yelling': Top Chechen fighter scolds Russia's Wagner chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Chingis KondarovMOSCOW, June 1 (Reuters) - One of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's close allies on Thursday publicly criticised Russia's most prominent mercenary, casting Yevgeny Prigozhin as a blogger who yells all the time about problems, drawing a stern rebuke from a top Wagner fighter. "You have become a blogger who screams and shouts off to the whole world about all the problems," Delimkhanov said. "Where did such familiarity come from: who gave you the right to use the address 'ty' and 'Zhenya'?" Utkin said in a message which Prigozhin reposted on Telegram. Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Felix Light; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Adam Delimkhanov, Ramzan Kadyrov's, Russia's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Kadyrov, Prigozhin, Delimkhanov, Dmitry Utkin, Utkin, Akhmad Kadyrov, Vladimir Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Felix Light, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Fighters, Russia's, Duma, Steel Works, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Mariupol, Chingis, MOSCOW, Grozny

☆ 'Stop yelling': Top Chechen fighter scolds Russia's Wagner mercenary chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Russian parliament chief proposes Polish truck ban, says Warsaw owes Moscow billions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, May 21 (Reuters) - Russia's top lawmaker on Sunday called for a ban on Polish trucks transiting Russian territory and for Poland to compensate Moscow financially for what he said was the Soviet rebuilding of the east European country after World War Two. He said Poland should also hand back territory it received after the war. Volodin said a parliamentary committee would begin considering a ban on Polish trucks entering Russian territory as soon as Monday. Strained Russian-Polish relations have deteriorated further since the war in Ukraine - something Moscow calls "a special military operation" with Warsaw positioning itself as one of Kyiv's key allies. In March 2022, Poland said it was expelling 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Moscow's intelligence services.

☆ The widow of Putin's political mentor and mother of his rumored goddaughter is increasingly voicing concerns about Russia's war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A prominent Russian senator with close ties to Putin is increasingly criticizing the war in Ukraine. Sen. Lyudmila Narusova, whose late husband was a mentor to Putin, has been a skeptic of the war since the start. "Nobody has explained how victory is supposed to look," Narusova told an interviewer with Forbes Russia in an April video, according to a translation in The Washington Post. "I think they themselves do not know what they are doing," Narusova told the independent Dozhd channel in February 2022, per The Times. His widow's public defiance is a sign of the worry growing among top Russian officials ahead of Ukraine's much-anticipated counteroffensive.

☆ A Russian lawmaker wants to boost Russia's army by using 'large' and 'aggressive' stray dogs as military assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian lawmaker has floated the idea of using "large" and "aggressive" stray dogs in the military. The dogs could be trained to rescue wounded troops, and to sniff out hidden mines. His proposal came just before Kyiv's military claimed 200,000 Russians had been killed in the war. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyA Russian lawmaker has made an outlandish proposal to boost Russia's army — using "aggressive" stray dogs as military assets. While Ukrainian soldiers have not trained stray animals for combat, some have turned to them for companionship, a report by AFP revealed.

☆ Belarus PM replaces Lukashenko at ceremony, sparks speculation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lukashenko also did not speak at an event in Minsk marking the anniversary for the first time in his long presidency. According to the opposition news outlet Euroradio, Lukashenko was taken to an elite Minsk clinic on Saturday. Russian media rarely publish stories about the health of the leaders of Russia or its allied neighbours. Belarus' foreign minister Sergei Aleinik is expected on Monday to start this three-day visit to Moscow, Russia's foreign ministry said last week. Reporting by Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin allies call for Zelenskyy's plane to be shot down in revenge for what Russia claims was a Ukrainian drone strike on the Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Pro-Putin hardliners called for Russia to assassinate Ukraine's president. It followed Russia's claim Ukraine launched a drone attack on the Kremlin. Putin allies in the Duma, the Russian lower legislature, also called for strikes against the Ukrainian government. Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of launching the drone strikes as part of a bid to assassinate Putin. Some analysts believe that the attack may have been a "false flag," or staged by Russia to justify a retaliatory response.

☆ Kremlin says electronic draft papers will fix 'mess' at military recruitment offices
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, April 12 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a move to bring in electronic draft papers for the first time in Russia's history was needed to sort out what it called "a mess" at military recruitment offices. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the problems in drafting men into the army had come to light last year when Moscow launched what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, on Tuesday gave its backing to a package of legislative amendments that will bring in electronic draft papers and close numerous loopholes exploited by draft dodgers. "When the special military operation began, you and I saw that in some places we had a lot of mess in the military recruitment offices," said Peskov. "That is exactly the purpose of this legislative initiative: to clear up this mess and to make it (the system) modern, effective and convenient for citizens."

☆ Russia is set to pass a measure that bans people who have been drafted to the military from leaving the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The measure would ban people who have been drafted from leaving the country, and track summons. According to The New York Times, Russia's state Duma has passed a measure which bans those who have been drafted to the military from leaving the country, imposing electronic draft summons and other measures. In Ukraine, the army is also trying to recruit more manpower amid heavy casualties sustained in the ongoing battle with Russia in eastern Bakhmut. At the outset of the war, Ukrainian imposed martial law, banning men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country in case they're needed for a draft. The country also instituted mobilization rules which make that same pool of men eligible to be drafted on a whim.

☆ Russia's e-conscription overhaul underlines scramble for military manpower
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

It is going to be much more difficult to dodge," said Artyom, who asked for his surname to be withheld. The new law appeared part of a renewed push to generate more manpower for Russia’s military in Ukraine, where analysts say a much-anticipated winter offensive appears to have fizzled out without meaningful gains for Moscow. On March 30, British Defence Intelligence said that Russia planned to recruit an additional 400,000 professional soldiers, echoing Russian media reports. Mike Kofman, an expert in the Russian military at the U.S.-based CNA think-tank, has said that only a small proportion of Russia's troops in Ukraine are capable of offensive operations. Meanwhile, a physical recruitment drive is being rolled out across Russia.

☆ Russia plans electronic call-up papers in crackdown on draft dodgers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"(This plan) is not connected to mobilisation," he said, repeating previous assurances that there were no plans for a second wave of mobilisation. Under the current system, men targeted by military recruiters are sent paper summons to their registered addresses. Under the new proposals, summons would be sent electronically to a potential draftee's personal account on the main government portal. Once the electronic summons is received, under the legislation, citizens who fail to show up at the military enlistment office would be automatically banned from travelling abroad. Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Caleb Davis Editing by Gareth Jones and Andrew OsbornOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian lawmakers propose tougher sentences for terrorism, treason -agencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 7 (Reuters) - Russian legislators on Friday proposed tougher sentences for those convicted of terrorism, high treason and sabotage, domestic news agencies reported, a move officials have been cited as saying was prompted by the war in Ukraine. "We propose to establish life imprisonment for high treason," agencies quoted him as saying, but gave no details. President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials regularly accuse Ukraine and the West of wanting to undermine and dismember Russia. Last month, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a law allowing for use of the death penalty against officials and army servicemen convicted of high treason. Belarus, a neighbour and close ally of Russia, is the only country in Europe that still applies the death penalty.

☆ Russia's weekly consumer prices rise quickened in late March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, April 5 (Reuters) - The rise in Russia's weekly consumer prices quickened at the end of March, data from state statistics service Rosstat showed on Wednesday, with authorities still fighting to slow inflation. Russia's central bank held the key interest rate at 7.5% last month, maintaining a hawkish stance as a widening budget deficit and labour shortages pose ongoing inflationary risks. On Wednesday, Central Bank Deputy Governor Alexei Zabotkin maintained that hawkish signal, addressing the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. Consumer prices rose 0.13% in the week to April 3, Rosstat said, compared with a 0.05% rise the previous week. Russia's annual inflation rate in 2022 was 11.9%, almost three times the official 4% target.

☆ Fact Check-Miscaptioned picture of Vladimir Putin with African leaders is not recent, dates back to 2019
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin posing alongside several African leaders was taken at the 2019 Russia-Africa summit in Sochi, not during the Russia-Africa parliamentary conference that took place in Moscow in March 2023. Focus.”The 2023 Russia-Africa parliamentary conference took place in Moscow on March 19 and 20 (here). A press release issued by the Russian Duma on March 20 says that parliamentary delegations of African countries, were present during the 2023 conference (duma.gov.ru/en/news/56536/). Reuters reporting on the 2019 summit is viewable (here). The photograph was taken at the 2019 Russia-Africa summit, not during the recent parliamentary conference in Moscow.

☆ New Russian law would strip acquired citizenship for discrediting Ukraine operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 15 (Reuters) - Proposed amendments to Russia's citizenship law would allow for the stripping of acquired citizenship for treason and discrediting the military operation in Ukraine, Russian media reported on Wednesday. Soon after sending its army into Ukraine just over a year ago Russia introduced sweeping wartime laws to silence dissenting voices. Russia calls its action in Ukraine a "special military operation," while Ukraine and its allies say that is a euphemism for a full blown aggression to grab land. The amendments on stripping the citizenship of those who have acquired it relate to "treason, discrediting the special military operation," the RIA news agency quoted Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs. In 2022, based on data from Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 691,000 people received Russian citizenship, with nearly half coming from CIS countries.

☆ Russian lawmaker introduces bill pushing back conscription age
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) - A senior Russian lawmaker on Monday introduced a bill to push back the age of conscription to compulsory military service to 21-30 years from the current 18-27 years. President Vladimir Putin gave his backing in December to Defence Ministry proposals to push back the age range. However, in September Moscow unilaterally annexed four Ukrainian regions where fighting is continuing, and now considers them Russian territory. Deferrals from military service are available on medical grounds, for university students, and for fathers of large families.

☆ Russian law amendments punish 'discrediting' military, including voluntary formations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Igor RussakSummary This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. MOSCOW, March 1 (Reuters) - Russia brought new law amendments to parliament on Wednesday that further strengthen the country's censorship laws, envisaging up to 15 years in jail for discrediting the armed forces and voluntary military organisations such as the Wagner Group. "As well as public actions aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, volunteer formations, organizations and persons who are facilitated in the implementation of tasks assigned to the ... Armed Forces," would be punishable, Volodin wrote on the Telegram messaging platform. "This initiative will protect everyone who today is risking their lives to ensures the security of the country and our citizens ... ($1 = 75.1 roubles)Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia tries to close ring on Bakhmut as Ukrainians mount 'furious resistance'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Yevhen Titov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group said the Ukrainians were putting up "furious resistance" trying to hold the city at all costs. That came a day after Moscow accused Kyiv of launching a series of drone strikes on targets in Russia itself. [1/4] Ukrainian service members ride BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, near the frontline city of Bakhmut, Ukraine February 27, 2023. After losing extensive territory in the second half of 2022, Russian forces have been replenished by hundreds of thousands of reservists. Fighting near Bakhmut has been led by Wagner, which has recruited tens of thousands of convicts from prisons.

☆ Trailblazing former UK House of Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd dies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( William James | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] FILE PHOTO-British Speaker of the House of Commons Betty Boothroyd looks on during her visit to State Duma lower house of parliament October 14. LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Betty Boothroyd, the trailblazing first female Speaker in Britain's House of Commons, has died aged 93, drawing tributes from across parliament for her distinctive, firm-but-fair style honed over a five-decade political career. She remains the only woman to serve as Speaker in the House of Commons. After retiring from the House of Commons in 2000, she was made a member of parliament's House of Lords upper chamber where she continued to contribute to political debate into her nineties. Tributes to Boothroyd poured in from across the political divide, hailing her formidable parliamentary presence and her personal warmth.

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