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Representatives from the warring nations held peace talks in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. It was the only time that Ukrainian and Russian officials are known to have engaged in direct peace talks. This includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Mr. Putin annexed in 2014 in a swift operation that he considers central to his legacy. At another point, Russia’s lead negotiator, Mr. Medinsky, interrupted a video conference by claiming that Mr. Putin was phoning him directly. There were signs that Mr. Putin was micromanaging not only the Russian invasion but also the peace talks.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, —, Putin’s, … ”, “, Oleksandr Chalyi, Mr, Vladimir Medinsky, Oleksii Reznikov, Vladimir Putin, Leonid Slutsky, Medinsky, ”, Aleksandr Fomin, Reznikov, Ukraine’s, … “, Sergey Ponomarev, Ukraine —, Andrzej Duda, Duda, Putin “, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Murat Cetin Muhurdar, Russia’s, Zelensky, …, ‘, ’, Daniel Berehulak, Davyd Arakhamia, ” “, Roman Abramovich, ” Mr, Arakhamia, Abramovich, micromanaging, Nanna Heitmann, France —, Laetitia Vancon, Kamala Harris, Volodymyr Zelensky, “ Putin, Marc Weller, Russia “, Weller Organizations: The New York Times, Ukraine, Kremlin, NATO, “, Russian Federation, ”, European Union, West, Ministry, Times, Europe’s, Russian, Moscow, Donetsk People's, Nazi, U.S, Ukrainian, Turkish Presidential Press Service, Agence France, The Times, Russia, New York Times, stoke, Cambridge Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Kyiv, Crimean, Switzerland, Ukrainian, Crimea, “ Ukraine, Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol, ”, … ” Russia, Russian, ” Russia, Istanbul, Geneva, Belarus, Western, Russia’s, Donetsk, Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Simferopol, Poland, Germany, France, European, Brussels, Turkish, Zelensky, “, Great Britain, China, United States, Turkey, Canada, Italy, Israel, Bucha, Washington, Swiss, Russians

☆ US-Russia collaboration has long endured in space. The Ukraine war could ruin it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Tom Porter | Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The International Space Station has long been a symbol of international cooperation. AdvertisementSince the end of the Cold War, the International Space Station (ISS) has been a symbol of international cooperation. By 1988, 15 nations had agreed to participate in the project, then known as Space Station Freedom. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesThe Soviets had long-standing expertise in aerospace technology, having launched the world's first space station, "Salyut," in 1971. China has completed several unmanned Moon landings, has its own space station, and has developed a sophisticated commercial and military satellite program.

Persons: —, Peggy Whitson, Vladimir Putin, Jill Stuart, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Terry Virts, Anton Shkaplerov, Marco Tacca, Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov, Virts, Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Alexander Grebenkin, Jeanette Epps, Stuart, Verts, Musk Organizations: Astronauts, Service, Space, Veteran, ISS, Imperial College London, Politics, NASA, European Space Agency, ESA, Inter, Soyuz, Keystone, Hulton, Roscosmos, Reuters, Anadolu, Getty, Imperial College, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Elon Musk's SpaceX, The Independent, CNBC Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Europe, China, Japan, loggerheads, Hollywood, Canada, Soviet Union, Milan, Italy, Luhansk, Luhansk People's Republic, Russian, Baikonur, Kazakhstan, The, Soviet Russia

☆ Pro-Russian troops appear to use motorcycles to outwit drones and assault Ukrainian positions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Pro-Russian separatist soldiers appear to have attacked Ukrainian positions on motorcycles. Russian forces have had to explore increasingly inventive ways to outwit Ukrainian drone strikes. AdvertisementPro-Russian soldiers with a separatist militia have released footage on social media appearing to show them attacking Ukrainian positions on fast motorcycles. The maneuver appears to have been conducted by militia forces from the Zarya Battalion in the Luhansk region. It highlights Russian forces' adaptation to the continued challenges and threats posed by Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) attack drones.

Persons: —, Forbes, Robotyne Organizations: Luhansk People's, Service, Zarya Battalion, Forbes, CNN, Business Locations: Russian, Luhansk, Luhansk People's Republic, Ukrainian, Donetsk Oblast

☆ Russia accidentally bombed itself again, the fourth time this month, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewA Russian plane accidentally dropped two bombs on Russian territory, according to UK intelligence, marking the fourth time it's happened this month. The UK Ministry of Defence highlighted the incidents in an intelligence update on Tuesday, citing a report by the independent Telegram news channel Astra. According to the report, a Russian aircraft discharged two FAB-250 bombs in the Belgorod region last Saturday. AdvertisementThis is the fourth such incident this month and the fifth over the last 12 months, the MOD said.

Persons: —, Russian warplane, Leonid Pasechnik Organizations: Service, Business, UK Ministry of Defence, Telegram, Astra, FAB, MOD Locations: Russian, Belgorod, Postnikov, Streletskaya, Petropavlovka, Russia's Voronezh Oblast, Luhansk People's Republic, Rubizhne, Russia, Luhansk

☆ 'Loyalty alone is not enough': Kremlin reveals the qualities Russia's Vladimir Putin values the most
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via a video link in Saint Petersburg on October 10, 2022. "But for Vladimir Putin, loyalty alone is not enough. Russia's president Vladimir Putin (R) and his spokesman Dmitry Peskov (L) attend the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting at the Congress Hall in Bishkek on December 9, 2022. Contributor | Getty ImagesDuring Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, as it calls its invasion, questions have been raised about the strategy and competency of Russia's military leadership. FILE - Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin, around his factory which produces school meals, outside St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday, Sept. 20, 2010.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Gavriil Grigorov, Putin, Andrei Kondrashov, it's, Dmitry Peskov, Vyacheslav Oseledko, —, Sergey Lavrov, Sergei Shoigu, Sergei Lavrov, Nikolay Patrushev, Mikhail Mishustin, Sergei Sobyanin, There's, Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Patrushev, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Sergei Medvedev, Dmitry, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Alexander Ermochenko, Sergey Shoigu, Shoigu, Prigozhin, Wagner, Kirill Shamiev, Prigozhin Prigozhin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexei Druzhinin Organizations: Afp, Getty, CNBC, Economic, Kremlin, Security, Moscow, SVR, Russian Security Council, Ukraine, West ., Kyiv, Russian, Luhansk People's, Reuters, Wagner Group, European Council, Foreign Relations Locations: Saint Petersburg, Bishkek, Russian, Yerevan, Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Luhansk, Luhansk People's Republic, Crimea, Moscow, Belarus, Prigozhin, St . Petersburg

Three producers listed in the customs data confirmed to Reuters they had shipped coal from the two regions to Turkey during that period. Reuters was unable to find any information in customs data about deliveries of coal produced in the DNR to Turkey or other countries in 2022. Customs data shows Nedra-06 made two shipments of coal to Turkey totalling 1,600 tonnes in May and June. The buyers were Belize-based Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD of Hong Kong, the customs data showed. Coal bought at Russian ports by Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD was taken to Turkey, the data showed.

Persons: Vitaliy Khotsenko, Adzhmal, Vostokugol, Anton Nadeyev, Nadeyev, I'm, Denis Karashchuk, Karashchuk, Filipp Lebedev, Gleb Stolyarov, Humeyra Pamuk, Tom Balmforth, Julia Payne, Jose Sanchez, Mike Collett, White, Daniel Flynn Organizations: NATO, Reuters, European, British Virgin Islands, Donetsk People's Republic, Russia's Ministry of Energy, Federal Customs Service, Luhansk People's Republics, European Union, United, Ukraine, U.S . State Department, UN, Assembly, Florance, Management, Hong, Brig Management, Rabbit, Belize Companies, Corporate Affairs, Green Rabbit, Coal, Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Turkey Ankara, Russia, Turkey, Donetsk, Luhansk, United States, European Union, Moscow . Washington, Moscow, Ankara, Ukrainian, Hong Kong, UAE, Belize, British Virgin, East, Africa, Russian, Rostov, Novorossiisk, Turkey . U.S, Antratsyt, Yasynuvata, Tbilisi, Washington, Kyiv, Brussels

Three producers listed in the customs data confirmed to Reuters they had shipped coal from the two regions to Turkey during that period. Turkey, a major coal consumer and importer, is bucking the global trend by increasing coal's share in electricity generation. Customs data shows Nedra-06 made two shipments of coal to Turkey totalling 1,600 tonnes in May and June. The buyers were Belize-based Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD of Hong Kong, the customs data showed. Coal bought at Russian ports by Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD was taken to Turkey, the data showed.

☆ Ukrainian women are using dating profiles with AI images to trick horny Russian soldiers into giving away secrets, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainian women are using online profiles to lure in Russian soldiers, The Times reported. The soldiers often share crucial information about the war with the women, they told The Times. The women, who say they feel no remorse, pass on the information to the Ukrainian military. The soldiers, she said, constantly reveal information about the state of the Russian army, which she then passes on to the Ukrainian military. Angelina, whose brother fought and died in the war last year, said she feels no sympathy for the soldiers.

Persons: Angelina, Masha, Maxim Korneev, Putin Organizations: The Times, Times, Service, Luhansk People's Republics Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Luhansk

☆ Ukraine, Poland say Wagner fighters arrive in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A fighter from Russian Wagner mercenary group conducts training for Belarusian soldiers on a range near the town of Osipovichi, Belarus July 14, 2023 in this still image taken from handout video. "Wagner is in Belarus," Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian border agency, said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Some Wagner fighters have been in Belarus since at least Tuesday, two sources close to the fighters told Reuters. The Belarusian defence ministry released a video on Friday, showing what it said were Wagner fighters instructing Belarusian soldiers at a military range near the town of Osipovichi. Poland's deputy minister coordinator of special services, Stanislaw Zaryn, said Warsaw also has confirmation of Wagner fighters' presence in Belarus.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Wagner, Andriy Demchenko, Wagner's, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Stanislaw Zaryn, Zaryn, Alexander Lukashenko, Hajun, Lidia Kelly, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Belarusian Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Fighters, Reuters, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Russian, Osipovichi, Belarus, Russia, Minsk, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Moscow, Rostov, Warsaw, Poland, Ukraine, Donetsk, Luhansk, Tsel, Melbourne, London

☆ How the Russian officer elite has been decimated in Ukraine — here are the generals and top commanders killed in action
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Alia Shoaib | Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Vitaly GerasimovMaj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov became the second senior Russian commander reported to be killed after Ukrainian military intelligence claimed he was shot dead in Kharkiv. Andrey KolesnikovUkraine's military said in a tweet that they killed Russian Maj. Gen. Andrey Kolesnikov. Ivan GrishinColonel Ivan Grishin, commander of Russia's 49th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, died in Ukraine, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Vyacheslav SavinovLieutenant Colonel Vyacheslav Savinov, who headed Russian artillery intelligence, was killed in Ukraine, a Russian artillery school confirmed. A damaged Russian military vehicle is seen after Russian Forces withdrawal as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on September 14, 2022.

Persons: , Oleg Tsokov, Andrei Sukhovetsky Maj, Andrei Sukhovetsky, Sukhovetsky, Vitaly Gerasimov Maj, Vitaly Gerasimov, Alexander Nevsky, Andrey Kolesnikov Ukraine's, Andrey Kolesnikov, Oleg Mityaev Russia, Oleg Mityaev, Anton Gerashchenko, Andrei Mordvichev, Oleksiy Arestovych, Ramzan Kadyrov, Yakov Rezantsev, Illia Ponomarenko, Zelenskyy, Rezantsev, Dmitry Safronov Ukraine's, Dmitry Safronov, Denis Glebov, Glebov, Courage, Konstantin Zizevsky, Mikhail Vedernikov, Yuri Agarkov, Agarkov, Andrei Zakharov, Sergei Porokhnya, Gleb Garanich, Reuters Magomed, Magomed Tushaev, Putin, Vladimir Zhonga, Vladimir Zhoga, Sergei Sukharev, Sergei Krylov, Sukharev, Alexei, Alexei Sharov, Sharov, Sergey Bratchuk, Dmitry Dormidontov, Dmitry Pavlovich Dormidontov, Igor Zharov, Igor Igoshin, Zharov, Denis Kurilo, Kurilo, Anton Kuprin, Kuprin, Anton Gerashenko, Stringer, Denis Mezhuev, Vladimir Petrovich Frolov Maj, Gen, Vladimir Petrovich Frolov, Alexander Beglov, Fontanka, Miras, Miras Bashakov, Ivan Grishin, Vyacheslav Savinov, Savinov, Metin Aktas, Denis Kozlov, Kozlov, Andrei Simonov, Simonov, Roman Kutuzov Major, Roman Kutuzov, Alexander Sladkov, Tsargrad, Roman, Roman Berdnikov, Kutuzov, Volya, Kanamat, Botashev, Artem Nasbulin Maj, Artem Nasbulin, Serhiy Bratchuk, Tsokov, Михаил Ведерников Organizations: UK Defence Ministry, Service, British Defence Ministry, West, Storm, Russian, 7th Airborne Division, Combined Arms Army, Russian Federal Security Service, Arms Army, Interior Ministry, The New York Times, 8th General Army, Southern Military District of, Armed Forces, Twitter, Telegraph, Dmitry Safronov Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, Separate Marine Brigade, Russian Armed Forces, Ukraine's Defense Ministry, Airborne, 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment, Luhansk People's, 56th Air Assault Brigade, Guardian, 12th Engineer Brigade, Russian Armoured, Carrier, Reuters, The Daily Mail, Forces, Sparta Battalion, Donetsk People's, Daily Mail, 331st Guards Parachute, Ukraine, Ukraine's, Strategic Communication, Information Security, The Independent, 810th, Zhukov Brigade, Russian Marines, Evening, Local, 200th, Rifle Brigade, Black, Fleet, Russian Federation, Ukrainian, New York Times, 1st Guards, Banner, The Times, Kremlin, 8th Army, Aircraft Missile Brigade, Armed Forces of, Russian Missile Troops and Artillery, Russian Forces, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Separate Guards Engineers of Keningsbersko, Red Banner Brigade, Courage, Russian 2nd Army, Presidential, Russian Air Force, BBC, High Mobility Artillery, Southern Military District Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chornobayivka, Kherson Airport, London, Yakov Rezantsev Ukraine, Kyiv, Chornobaivka, Ukrainian, Chuhuiv, Donbas, Donetsk, Luhansk, Pskov Region, Andrei Zakharov Ukraine, Ufa, Nova Husarivka, Chechen, Hostomel, Russia's Chechnya, Donetsk People's Republic, Volnovakha, Kostroma, Tatarstan, Pechenga, Sevastopol, St, Petersburg, St . Petersburg, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, Izyum, Ukraine's Donbas, Severodonetsk, Kherson, Berdyansk

The Chinese customs service did not provide detailed information on imports. It said that "company trade data are not disclosed in our public information". China imported copper and copper alloys worth $852 million from Russia between October and February, according to public customs statistics. As of early 2023, its only owner was the Ukrainian Donetsk regional state administration. The copper alloy shipments from the plant were carried out via the port of Novorossiysk in southern Russia, according to the customs data.

☆ Putin says situation in occupied Ukrainian territories is 'extremely difficult,' in a rare admission the war isn't going well
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Putin said that Russia faces an "extremely difficult" situation in occupied Ukrainian territories. It was a rare acknowledgement that Russia's war in Ukraine has not gone according to plan. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy visited Ukrainian troops in a city Russia has tried and failed to capture for months. Putin was referencing four Ukrainian regions he illegally annexed in September, though Russia did not fully occupy those regions at the time. Putin has generally painted a rosy picture of how the war is going, and in the early days of the conflict signed a law that effectively criminalized criticism of the Russian military.

To Russian security agencies operating in Ukraine, he said late on Monday in comments translated by Reuters: "Yes, it is difficult for you now. The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult." Both Putin and Lukashenko were also at pains to dismiss the idea of Russia annexing or absorbing Belarus. Russian troops that moved to Belarus in October will conduct battalion tactical exercises, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing the defence ministry. It also said Ukrainian air and artillery forces carried out more than a dozen strikes on Russian troops and hardware, including ammunition dumps, and shot down two helicopters.

☆ Retaking Ukraine's Luhansk region is slow going because so many Russian troops fled there in other retreats, its governor said
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The governor of the occupied Luhansk region said many of those who fled ended up there. Haidai Serhiy, the governor of Luhansk, noted wrote on Telegram on Wednesday morning that "many Ukrainians expected the de-occupation of Luhansk Region to be as quick as that of Kharkiv Region." And many Russian troops retreated into Luhansk and the Donetsk regions. Luhansk is still almost entirely occupied by Russian troops, though Ukraine has retaken some small areas since it started its counteroffensive, preventing the region from being fully under Russian control. Serhiy said "freshly mobilized Russians, prisoners, and a lot of equipment and air defense have arrived in Luhansk region."

☆ Russia set to annex Ukraine territory; West warns of new sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe Russian-installed administrations of the four provinces have formally asked Putin to incorporate them into Russia, which Russian officials have suggested is a formality. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would need to keep fighting until it had taken control of all of Donetsk. Russia has announced it will mobilise some 300,000 reservists to bolster its forces in Ukraine. On the ground, Ukraine and Russian forces are engaged in heavy fighting in the four disputed provinces. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, once the main route for Russian gas to Germany, was already shut but cannot now be easily reopened.

☆ Factbox: Russia's annexation plan in Ukraine: Kremlin signing ceremony
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

- The Kremlin said a signing ceremony on incorporating the new territories would take place on Friday in the Georgievsky Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace. - "Kherson region, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic will now forever be part of Russia," Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy head of the Kherson region, said on Red Square. - A stage with giant video screens has been set up on Moscow's Red Square, with billboards proclaiming "Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson - Russia!" - The West and Ukraine say Russia is violating international law by seizing another part of Ukraine, whose post-Soviet borders Moscow recognised shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. That could prompt some sort of ultimatum from Russia to Ukraine and the West.

☆ Factbox: Russia's annexation plan in Ukraine: what happens now?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Banners read: "Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson. - Donetsk People's Republic (DPR): 99.23% for joining Russia, 0.62% against. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register- Luhansk People's Republic (LNR): 98.42% for joining Russia. A tribune with giant video screens had been set up on Moscow's Red Square, with billboards proclaiming "Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson - Russia!" That could prompt some sort of ultimatum from Russia to Ukraine and the West.

A service member of pro-Russian troops fires a mortar in the direction of Avdiivka during Russia-Ukraine conflict, outside Donetsk, Ukraine September 17, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoLONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - First partial voting results from four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine showed majorities of more than 96% in favour of becoming part of Russia after so-called referendums that Kyiv and the West have denounced as a sham. Russian-installed officials took ballot boxes from house to house in what Ukraine and the West said was an illegitimate, coercive exercise to create a legal pretext for Russia to annex the four regions. The scale of the pro-Moscow vote came as no surprise, after voting that Ukraine said was carried out at gunpoint in many cases. It mirrored a referendum in Crimea after Russia's seizure of the region from Ukraine in 2014, when Crimea's leaders declared a 97% vote to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.

☆ Factbox: Russia prepares to formally annex 15% of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Sergei PivovarovLONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin is preparing to formally annex around 15% of Ukrainian territory after referendums on joining Russia in areas controlled by Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists. The United States is prepared to impose additional economic costs on Russia in conjunction with U.S. allies if Moscow moves forward with annexing portions of Ukrainian territory, the White House said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had received sophisticated air defence systems, known as National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), from the United States. Taken together, Russia would be annexing at least 90,000 square km of Ukrainian territory. With Crimea and the territory in the four other areas, Russia would have annexed at least one fifth of Ukrainian territory.

☆ Ukraine annexation votes to end amid Russian mobilisation exodus
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

A man walks with his bicycle past banners informing about a referendum on the joining of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. The mobilisation has also seen the first sustained criticism of the authorities within state-controlled media since the war began. Over the weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would defend any territory it annexes using any weapons in its arsenal. Even traditional Russian allies such as Serbia and Kazakhstan have said they will not recognise the annexation votes. When it held a referendum in Crimea after seizing that peninsula in 2014, it declared 97% of people had voted for annexation.

☆ Russia to begin annexation votes in Ukrainian regions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Russia will on Friday begin its plan to annex around 15% of Ukrainian territory via referendums in four regions controlled by Russian forces, a move the West says is a gross violation of international law that significantly escalates the war. Putin, Russia's paramount leader since 1999, said Russia would never abandon those in the regions it controls and whom he said wanted to secede from Kyiv. In a direct nuclear warning to the West, Putin said he would defend Russian territory - and these regions of Ukraine will be considered Russian territory by Moscow shortly - with all means at his disposal. 'SHAM VOTES'It is unclear exactly how the votes will work in a war zone when so many people have been displaced. "As of next week, Russia will consider these Ukrainian territories as being part of Russia, and they will claim any Ukrainian attempts to retake their own sovereign territory as an 'invasion of Russia'," Britain's Cleverly said.

☆ Russian President Vladimir Putin announces 'partial mobilisation'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File PhotoLONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "partial mobilisation" on Wednesday that will see 300,000 Russian reservists called up in a significant escalation of Russia's war in Ukraine. Putin spoke in Russian. PARTIAL MOBILISATION"In such a situation, I consider it necessary to make the following decision, which is fully appropriate to threats we face. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"We are talking about partial mobilisation. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Russia does not fully control any of the four regions, with only around 60% of Donetsk region in Russian hands. With Crimea and the territory in the four other regions, Russia would gain an area about the same size as the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. If Russia goes ahead with the referendums and joins all four regions to Russia then Ukraine - and potentially its Western backers too - would, from a Russian perspective, be fighting against Russia itself. "All this talk about immediate referendums is an absolutely unequivocal ultimatum from Russia to Ukraine and the West." The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine's Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea.

☆ Russian-backed separatists in Kherson say they will hold vote on joining Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | 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, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Russian-installed officials in the Kherson region of Ukraine said they have decided to hold a referendum on joining Russia and have urged the Kremlin to give its permission as soon as possible, the separatist head of the region said on Tuesday. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed head of Kherson, said he hoped Kherson would become "a part of Russia, a fully-fledged subject of a united country." Saldo said Kherson joining Russia would "secure our region" and be a "triumph of historical justice." read moreShortly after Saldo's announcement about plans for a vote in Kherson, the head of Russia's parliament said he would support the regions joining Russia.

☆ Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's Luhansk region to hold Sept. 23-27 referendum on joining Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A man rides a bicycle past the ruins of a building destroyed by recent shelling during Russia-Ukraine conflict in the city of Kadiivka (Stakhanov) in the Luhansk region, Ukraine September 19, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoSept 20 (Reuters) - Russian-backed separatists in the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) will hold a referendum on joining Russia between Sept. 23-27, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the separatist deputy speaker of the region's parliament. The Russian-backed separatist parliament passed a law earlier on Tuesday outlining the details of the proposed vote, though the document made no mention of a date for the vote. Russian-appointed officials in several regions of Ukraine that have been seized by Russian forces have stepped up their efforts to stage votes on joining Russia in coordinated moves. The Kremlin has yet to comment on the prospect of votes to incorporate these regions into Russia.

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