DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Ukraine brings home 130 military in Easter prisoner exchange
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, April 16 (Reuters) - One hundred and thirty Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released and returned home in a "great Easter exchange", a senior Ukrainian presidential official said on Sunday, the day of Orthodox Easter. Ukrainian and Russian forces have held regular prisoner exchanges during Moscow's invasion, now in its 14th month. Yermak said those returning home included military, border guards, national guard members, sailors and employees of the state border guard. The exchange was the second large prisoner swap in the past week. On Monday, Russia and Ukraine said they carried out a major prisoner swap with 106 Russian prisoners of war being freed in exchange for 100 Ukrainians.

☆ Dozens of POWs freed as Ukraine marks Orthodox Easter
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Ukrainian prisoners of war pose for a picture after a swap, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an unknown location, Ukraine. "The lives of our people are the highest value for us," Yermak said, adding that Kyiv's goal was to bring back all remaining POWs. At Easter, which from time immemorial has been a family holiday for Ukrainians, a day of warmth, hope and great unity. Others in the line echoed Zaluzhnyy's words about a wartime Easter being a symbol of hope. Despite the shared Orthodox holiday, Russian shelling and missile attacks continued to sow destruction in Ukraine, according to social media statements from Ukrainian regional officials.

☆ Polish government bans grain and food imports from Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Pavlo PalamarchukWARSAW, April 15 (Reuters) - The Polish government has decided to ban imports of grain and other food from Ukraine to protect the Polish agricultural sector, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), Jaroslaw Kaczyński, said on Saturday. "Today, the government has decided on a regulation that prohibits the entry, importation of grain into Poland, but also dozens of other types of food (from Ukraine)," Kaczyński said during the PiS party convention. The list of these goods will be included in the government regulation, and there are goods "from grain to honey products, very, very many things," he added. But it is the duty of every state, every authority, good authority in any case, to protect the interests of its citizens," Kaczyński said. Kaczyński said Poland was ready to start talks with Ukraine to settle the grain issue and the Ukrainian side had already been notified of the decisions of the Polish government.

☆ Finland starts fence on Russian border amid migration, security concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Anne Kauranen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Project manager Ismo Kurki said on Friday that, while it is not intended to stop any invasion attempt, the fence will have surveillance equipment. Meanwhile, there has so far been little human activity along the border, which stretches to 1,300 km in all. Last year, Finland detected only 30 illegal crossings there, while Russian border guards stopped some 800 attempts to enter Finland, the Finnish Border Guard said. "But in this totally changed (security) situation, Finland must have more credible and more independent border control. And Finland needs to be less dependent on the Russian border control," he added.

☆ Factbox: Who are Sudan's Rapid Support Forces?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KHARTOUM, April 13 (Reuters) - Here are some facts about Sudan's main paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, which said on Saturday it had taken control of the presidential palace and the country's international airport in an apparent coup attempt. International Criminal Court prosecutors accused government officials and janjaweed commanders of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. [1/2] Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces, greets his supporters as he arrives at a meeting in Aprag, Sudan, June 22, 2019. Rights groups have also accused RSF soldiers of tribal violence. * The Sudanese army as well as pro-democracy groups have demanded the RSF's integration into the regular armed forces.

☆ Factbox: Recent attacks on Indian military personnel
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Following are the major attacks on Indian military bases in the last few years:Aug. 2022 - Militants attack an Indian army post in Rajouri in the disputed Kashmir region, killing three soldiers, while two attackers died in the shootout. Nov. 2016 - Militants attacked an army base at Nagrota near Jammu city, killing seven security personnel and taking hostages in the military base. Oct. 2016 - At least six militants attacked an Indian army camp in Baramulla in Kashmir, killing one border guard. Sept. 2016 - Four gunmen burst into a brigade headquarters in the town of Uri in Kashmir, killing 18 Indian soldiers. Jan. 2016 - Indian security forces killed six militants who launched an assault on a military air base in Pathankot in Punjab that killed seven security personnel and injured 22.

China and Russia have declared a "no limits" partnership and Xi has sought to position China as a mediator in the Ukraine conflict. [1/3] Members of Ukrainian special forces engage in zeroing their weapons prior to a mission, amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine, in the region of Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 6, 2023. But Ukrainian border guard Levko Stek, speaking in a video clip amid explosions, said Ukrainian forces did not sense any "ammunition hunger" on the Russian side. Ukrainian military expert Oleksander Musienko said Russian forces were "exhausted and cannot maintain the same pace of attacks" that they launched in February. "The Russian forces are preparing to organise defensive positions.

Border of Steel is one of eight new storm brigades totalling 40,000 soldiers that Ukraine wants to use during a counter-offensive against Russian occupiers in coming weeks or months. Ukraine beat back Russian forces from Kyiv last year before liberating swathes of the northeast and of the southern Kherson region. But Russian forces still occupy tracts of the east, the strategically important south and the Crimean peninsula. "For them, the objective is to liberate Ukraine," Klymenko said of the recruits during an interview in Kyiv. He gave no clues as to when or where Ukraine would launch its counter-offensive.

"I feel it's a good thing that Finland is joining NATO. In Virolahti, near the Russian border due east of Helsinki, retired Finnish combat engineer Ilkka Lansivaara had hung his own NATO flag from the side of his house. Memories of Finland's close relations with Moscow to preserve independence - a tactic known as "Finlandisation" - run deep for many Finns. Finland brings a sizable, well-trained military into NATO and Russia has said it will have to take "counter-measures" to ensure Russian security in response. Meanwhile, Finland's close partner Sweden continues to wait for ratification of its NATO membership bid in the face of opposition from Turkey and Hungary.

☆ Zelenskiy says Russian UN Security Council presidency is absurd
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERSKYIV, April 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said it was absurd Russia had assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, adding this showed the institution's "total bankruptcy". On Saturday Russia took over the presidency of the U.N.'s top security body, which rotates every month. "And at the same time Russia is chairing the U.N. Security Council. Zelenskiy said it was time for a general overhaul of global institutions, including the Security Council. "It is very telling that on the holiday of one terror state – Iran - another terror state – Russia – begins to preside over the U.N. Security Council," Yermak wrote on Twitter, referring to Iran's Islamic Republic Day holiday.

☆ Fact Check-Photo shows Israel-Egypt border, not Mexico-Guatemala border fence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Amidst reports of a migrant rush toward the U.S-Mexico border in March 2023, social media users have circulated a photo of a barricade along Israel’s border with Egypt claiming that it shows a fortified fence that Mexico has built along its border with Guatemala. The photo, accompanied by a description that says, “This is the border fence Mexico has built on their border with Guatemala to keep out freeloaders. The original photograph is more than a decade old and was shot on Feb. 15, 2012, in western Israel, along a 150-mile-long border fence with Egypt. Reuters has reported on Mexico’s struggles to control migrants coming in through its southern border (here), (here), (here), (here). The 2012 photograph shows Israel’s border fence with Egypt and not a structure along Mexico’s border with Guatemala.

☆ They wined, dined and fled - but law finally catches up with Spain wine thieves
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, March 6 (Reuters) - A former Mexican beauty queen and her partner enjoyed a 14-course dinner at Atrio's Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel in western Spain followed by a guided tour of its wine cellar. They were also ordered to pay damages to insurers worth over 750,000 euros ($799,000), the court said in a statement. They had a 14-course dinner at the hotel's restaurant and were then taken on tour of the wine cellar. The couple left the hotel before dawn and quickly fled Spain, but after a nine-month hunt across Europe, they were detained by border guards while crossing from Montenegro into Croatia. ($1 = 0.9386 euros)Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Poland curbs border traffic as Belarus expels three Polish diplomats
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Poland announced more curbs to road traffic with Belarus on Monday, hours after saying Minsk was expelling three Polish diplomats, as relations between the two nations deteriorate. Citing "state security", Poland said on Feb. 9 it was closing a border crossing into Belarus at Bobrowniki, driving already hostile relations between the two countries to a new low. Freight traffic for Belarusian vehicles at the Kukuryki-Kozlowicze border crossing will be suspended as of 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Polish Interior Ministry said on Monday. The decision was linked to Minsk curbing traffic for Polish road freight on Belarus' borders with Latvia and Lithuania, the ministry said. Belarus has called the decision to close the Bobrowniki border crossing irrational and dangerous.

☆ How Ukraine uses high-tech anti-drone guns to down Russian drones and recover intelligence from them
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine is using anti-drone guns to down Russian drones and collect intelligence from them. The Ukrainian company Kvertus Technology developed the KVS G-6, a long-range anti-drone gun that uses radio signals to jam Russian drones. While both Russia and Ukraine have used older anti-aircraft guns to shoot down drones, anti-drone guns disrupt drones without physically damaging them. It uses electromagnetic pulses to jam and down Russian drones. Samuel Bendett, an analyst and expert in unmanned and robotic military systems at the Center for Naval Analyses, told Insider that weapons like anti-drone guns are in high demand.

☆ Video shows Ukrainian soldiers in intense house-to-house fighting in Bakhmut as Russia's invasion approaches one-year mark
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Footage released by Ukrainian forces shows intense scenes of border guards firing at Russians. In the video released last Tuesday on Facebook, the Border Guard Service said four Russian "occupiers" were killed, and five were wounded. Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants to capture Bahkmut by the war's one-year mark on February 24, Sky News reported. Ukrainian forces have held off shelling of 20 settlements near Bakhmut as of Friday, General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a Facebook post. Russian forces are responsible for a "widespread and systematic attack" against Ukrainian civilians, she said, including execution-style killings, rape, and torture.

☆ More Russian forces moved to Kursk region on Ukrainian border -governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Russia has moved additional forces and equipment to the Kursk region on the border with Ukraine to protect the frontier and ensure security, regional governor Roman Starovoit said on Monday, according to Interfax news agency. Local authorities say that the region has repeatedly been subjected to Ukrainian shelling since Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago. Some of Russia's troops entered from the Kursk region, although the areas of northeastern Ukraine that they seized have since been retaken by Kyiv's forces. Starovoit told a meeting of the regional government that a solid contingent of personnel from the armed forces, border guards and law enforcement agencies had already been formed in Kursk, but that "it is necessary to provide comprehensive support for the reception, deployment and arrangement of additional forces". Writing by Kevin Liffey Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia is preventing migrant workers from leaving the country as authorities consider more military call-ups, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia is keeping dual-citizen migrant workers from leaving the country, UK military intel says. It cited a report that said Kyrgyz workers were stopped by border guards as they tried to leave. Russia is "keeping open the option" of another round of military call-ups, per the update. The UK defense ministry said these reports come as Russian authorities are "keeping open the option" of another round of military call-ups. But this latest UK military update said that Russia's leadership is "highly likely" to continue looking for ways to meet the huge numbers of personnel required to launch any future offensive in Ukraine.

☆ Zelenskyy fired 9 top officials after reports that members of his government went on vacation to Spain and France and took bribes during the war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired a slew of senior officials on Tuesday. In December, Symonenko went on holiday to Spain using a Mercedes owned by a prominent Ukrainian businessman, The Guardian reported. "Of course, now the main focus is the issue of defense, this is the issue of foreign policy, this is the issue of war," he said. On Monday, Zelenskyy banned officials from traveling abroad until the end of the war, except for when performing government duties. Zelenskyy's press office and Ukraine's Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Russia and Belarus Stage Military Exercises on Ukraine’s Border in Show of Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Thomas Grove | Bojan Pancevski | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ukrainian border guards at their positions near the country’s border with Belarus, Ukraine, on Friday. Russia and its ally Belarus launched a series of air-force exercises Monday along the border with Ukraine in an effort to boost cooperation ahead of what Ukrainian officials and military analysts believe could be a fresh effort by Moscow in the coming months to retake battlefield momentum. Moscow has reorganized mobilization and training efforts, boosted arms production and last week appointed its top general in charge of Ukraine operations in an effort to increase efficiency on the battlefield and end a series of wins by Ukraine in recent months.

DNIPROVS’KE, Ukraine — The smell of sawdust hangs in the air around a network of neatly dug trenches in a quiet and densely forested area on Ukraine’s border with Belarus. Originally built in April, Ukrainian forces continue to update and strengthen defenses such as these trenches, amid reports of Russian troops and armor pouring into Belarus. Air force drills will be held from Monday to Feb. 1 using all of Belarus's military air fields, and joint army exercises involving a “mechanized brigade subdivision,” the Belarusian defense ministry said. “We are now focused on the reserves and groupings of troops that Russia is putting in the temporarily occupied territories. Across the Dnipro river from Belarus, not far from the trenches, Ukrainian forces are taking no chances.

☆ Ukraine forces retain control of Soledar, governor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A tank fires a round, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this screen grab released on January 8, 2023 and obtained from a social media video by Reuters on January 10, 2023. State Border Guard Service Of Ukraine/via REUTERS/File PhotoKYIV, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces are fighting to retain control of Soledar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the regional governor said on Saturday, contradicting Russian claims that Moscow's forces had captured the small town. "Soledar remains under control of our military, though there is street fighting and also fighting outside of the city because the enemy is trying to advance in several directions. Kyrylenko's comments came after Russia said repeatedly that its forces had taken control of the town. He said about 550 residents were still living in Soledar, which had a population of about 10,000 before the war.

☆ Ukraine forces retain control of Soledar despite Russian claims, governor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A tank fires a round, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this screen grab released on January 8, 2023 and obtained from a social media video by Reuters on January 10, 2023. State Border Guard Service Of Ukraine/via REUTERS/File PhotoKYIV, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces are fighting to retain control of Soledar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the regional governor said on Saturday, contradicting Russian claims that Moscow's forces had captured the small town. For days Soledar, a small salt-mining town, has been the focus of a Russian assault. Kyrylenko's comments came after Russia said repeatedly that its forces had taken control of the town. He said about 550 residents were still living in Soledar, which had a population of about 10,000 before the war.

☆ Drone footage shows Ukrainian forces trapping fighters from Russia's Wagner Group in a lethal crossfire
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Drone footage shows the Ukrainian troops annihilating a unit of Wagner fighters in Soledar. The video shows soldiers — who the State Border Service of Ukraine identified as Wagner Group fighters — being monitored by a drone. The soldiers then come under fire from Ukrainian fighters using large-caliber machine guns, resulting in a number of injuries, according to the border force. In a Telegram post, the State Border Service of Ukraine described the events. "Although the enemy has concentrated its greatest forces in this direction, our troops – the Armed Forces of Ukraine, all defense and security forces – are defending the state."

☆ The not-quite-redemption of South Africa's infamous ultra-marathon cheats
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Ryan Brown | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +35 min

"A runner can always recognize another runner," Eugene tells me. Ryan Brown for insiderIn those days, they didn't run for South Africa, but for QwaQwa – one of ten "homelands" established for Black South Africans. Tiny, non-contiguous territories – supposedly, the original territory of different Black South African ethnic groups – dotted across the country. It didn't turn out like that, but it didn't turn out like that for most Black South Africans either. As I sat speaking to Sergio, South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, was fighting for his political life after revelations that wads of cash, potentially ill-gotten, had been stolen from inside his sofa.

☆ Iran’s Online Crackdown Prompts Smuggling of Starlink Kits
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( David S. Cloud | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protests broke out in Iran more than two months ago after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody. Iranian border guards discovered the gray box in a van crossing from Iraq in late October. Inside was a sleek machine resembling a monitor. But after questioning the driver, the guards waved the vehicle through, people involved said. The guards had just allowed a Starlink satellite dish sold by a division of Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, into the country.

Search resuls for: "Border Guard"

25 mentions found