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CNN —Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN that Ukraine’s request to use long-range missiles on targets inside Russia is part of his “victory plan,” that he is due to present to US officials next week. Zelensky added that, besides Biden, he would also meet the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Zelensky is expected to visit the US next week, taking part at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. On Wednesday, Ukraine claimed it destroyed a large Russian ammunition depot in the western Russian region of Tver. CNN cannot confirm the Ukrainian claims and Russian authorities have not commented on ammunition depots being hit overnight.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, let’s, ” Zelensky, Biden, ”, Kamala Harris, “, Donald Trump, Veniamin Kondratiev, Ukraine ” Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Biden, United Nations General Assembly, General Staff of, Armed Forces, country’s Security, Ukrainian Defense Forces Locations: Russia, United Kingdom, United States, Ukraine, New York, Russia’s Krasnodar, Tver, Krasnodar, Kyiv, Oktyabrskiy, Tver region, Russian, “

A Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian missile facility early Wednesday threw up towering fireballs visible from space and thundering detonations that triggered earthquake monitors. Officials on both sides said it was the result of a large Ukrainian drone attack on Toropets, a town in the Tver region around 230 miles from the Russian capital. Russian state media has previously reported that the military was building an arsenal for storing missiles and other explosives there. Russia’s air defense systems destroyed some 54 drones launched overnight against five western Russian regions, Russian state news agencies said, citing a report from Moscow’s defense ministry. Kyiv has increasingly been hitting back with drone attacks on what it says are military targets on Russian soil.

Persons: Igor Rudenya, Rudenya, George William Herbert, Volodymyr Zelenksyy Organizations: NASA, Security Service, NBC News, Reuters, Middlebury Institute of International Studies Locations: Ukrainian, Russian, Moscow, Tver, Norwegian, Ukraine, Monterey, California, Russia, Kyiv, United States, Washington, Kremlin

☆ Ukraine says it wiped a key Russian missile and artillery arsenal 'off the face of the earth' in long-range strikes
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-18 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewUkrainian forces used long-range drones to strike a key Russian ammunition depot overnight, destroying missiles, bombs, and artillery. The warehouse was "literally wiped off the face of the earth," the source said, according to a translation of their remarks. AdvertisementAn image of the Toropets facility on September 7. The facility after the Ukrainian attack on Wednesday. A former Ukrainian military officer who goes by the social media handle Tatarigami called the Toropets attack "a very significant achievement."

Persons: —, Russia's, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, Security Service, Ukraine, Business, Arsenal GRAU, GRAU Arsenal, Defense Forces, Maxar Technologies, Technologies Locations: Toropets, Russia's, Tver, Moscow, Ukraine, Belarus, Tver Oblast, Russia, Ukrainian, Kyiv

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia attacked by wave of Ukrainian drones, shelling; Vatican rows back on 'white flag' comments
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russian authorities said seven regions were targeted by a wave of Ukrainian drones overnight, with attacks carried out against the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Leningrad, Moscow, Oryol and Tula regions. Air defense systems destroyed and intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones (also known as UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles) overnight over the regions, the Russian Ministry of Defense said, according to a statement published by the Tass news agency. In a separate report, Tass cited the defense ministry as saying it had foiled a separate attempt to target the border region of Belgorod with missiles and shelling. "In the morning, the Kstovo industrial zone, a fuel and energy complex facility, was attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian territory with drones on previous occasions, however, particularly targeting energy and fuel infrastructure, such as oil refineries.

Persons: Gleb Nikitin, Holly Ellyatt Organizations: Russian Ministry of Defense, Tass, Russian Federation, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ministry of Defense, CNBC Locations: Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Leningrad, Moscow, Oryol, Tula, Kiev, Nizhny Novgorod, Ukraine

☆ Burger King still hasn't closed its Russian restaurants 18 months after its parent company said it would
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Burger King's roughly 800 Russian restaurants remain open. Its parent company said in March 2022 it had started the process to dispose of its ownership stake. AdvertisementAdvertisementBurger King still hasn't closed its Russian restaurants, more than 18 months after parent company Restaurant Brands International said it would. Burger King's franchise restaurants in Russia are run by a joint venture partnership in which RBI has a 15% stake. Shear added that RBI had "demanded" that the main operator of Russia's Burger King restaurants stop operations, but that it "refused to do so."

Persons: Burger, —, David Shear, Shear, Russia's, didn't, hadn't, Angus, Whoppers, Popeyes, Tim Hortons, McDonald's Organizations: Service, Restaurant Brands, BBC Locations: Russia, Russia's Burger, Ukraine

☆ Domino's Pizza will close in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Domino’s Pizza will close all its outlets in Russia, becoming one of the first major Western fast-food chains to exit the country since McDonald’s and Starbucks left more than a year ago. DP Eurasia — the company that owns franchise rights for the Domino’s Pizza brand in Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia — said Monday that it would file for bankruptcy for its Russian unit, DPRussia. The move highlights the increasingly hard choices facing Western firms that stayed in Russia after the start of the Ukraine war. The Kremlin has made it vastly more difficult and more costly for Western companies to sell their Russian businesses. Starbucks became Stars Coffee and McDonald’s is now “Vkusno i tochka,” which translates to “Tasty, period.”In a statement, New York-listed Domino’s Pizza Inc (DPZ).

Persons: Georgia —, “ Organizations: London CNN, Starbucks, Eurasia —, Carlsberg, Danone, ” DP Eurasia, DP, Yale University, Kremlin Locations: Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, ”, New York

☆ Ukraine is re-engineering a 36-foot-long Soviet-era missile system to strike inside Russia, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukraine is repurposing the Soviet-era S-200 surface-to-air missile system to strike inside Russia. The weapon, which weighs 7.5 tons and is 36 feet long, is used for ground attacks, the UK MoD says. The weapon also called the S-200 surface-to-air missile system, weighs 7.5 tons and is 36 feet long. Forbes reported in July that Kyiv might be repurposing the obsolete weapons for ground attacks to replace its diminishing stockpile of Tochka ballistic missiles. A video showed what appears to be a V-860 or V-880 missile, the munition used in the S-200 system, hitting the ground in Bryansk Oblast in Russia, just north of the border with Ukraine.

Persons: Forbes, Vladimir Putin Organizations: MoD, Russia's Aerospace Forces, Service, UK Ministry of Defence, GAMMON Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Soviet, Moscow, Kyiv, Bryansk Oblast, Crimea

☆ VIDEOS: Russia shows off purported war trophies — prized Western weapons captured in Ukraine — at a new military theme park exhibit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New photos and videos show a Russian exhibit of captured Western tanks and artillery from Ukraine. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty ImagesAnd destroyed Ukrainian weapons were also included. Prior to this new display of Western assets, Patriot Park had exhibits of captured Ukrainian armored vehicles and patrol boats, as well as T-72 tanks. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty ImagesUkraine has their own exhibit of wrecked Russian military equipment, which opened last June. Ukraine has also managed to capture functional Russian weapons, which has put back in service to help fuel combat actions, including the ongoing counteroffensive.

Persons: it's, that's, Kalashnikov, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Russia's Organizations: Service, NATO, RIA Novosti, Moscow Conference, International Security, Russian, Armored Vehicle Husky, Navistar, Getty Locations: Ukraine, Swedish, Kyiv, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Moscow, Russia, American, USA, Kubinka, AFP, Ukrainian

☆ Ex-McDonald's in Russia feeds waste cooking oil to fuel Gazprom Neft's vessels
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, July 20 (Reuters) - Russia's successor to McDonald's has teamed up with energy company Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM) to fuel marine vessels with biofuel produced using waste cooking oil an effort to lower their carbon footprints, the companies said on Thursday. Russia has said it was still committed to its climate targets despite the deepest political rift with the West in decades. It said the new fuel is in compliance with technical regulations and can be used for most sea and river vessels. Vkusno & tochka already supplies waste cooking oil for production of biofuel used for heating of electric-powered buses in Moscow and has been recycling used cooking oil for over a decade. Irina Korshunova, in charge of sustainable development at Vkusno & tochka, said the company processes around 5,500 tonnes of waste cooking oil each year.

Persons: McDonald's, Gazprom Neft Marin Bunker, Anton Soboled, Irina Korshunova, Olesya Astakhova, Vladimir Soldatkin, Alexander Marrow, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Gazprom Neft, Biofuels, Gazprom Neft's, Thomson Locations: PETERSBURG, Russia, Baltic, St . Petersburg, McDonald's, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Russia has been scrambling to find missiles to fire at Ukraine, but it's not going to run out of them
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Russia has had to dig deep into its arsenal to find missiles to fire at targets in Ukraine. ReutersBy far, most missiles fired by Russia into Ukraine have been launched from aircraft — mainly Tu-95, Tu-22M, and Tu-160 bombers and Su-24 and Su-35 fighter-bombers. Other air-to-surface missiles used by Russia include the Kh-25, Kh-29, Kh-31, Kh-58, and Kh-59. Russia has also fired interceptor missiles from S-300 and S-400 air-defense batteries at targets in Ukraine. Remnants of Russian missiles and shells at a collection site in Kharkiv in December.

Persons: Ian Williams, Kinzhal, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Oleksii, Valentyna, Williams, Yan Dobronosov, Russia's Organizations: Service, Russian, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Army, Reuters, CSIS, Russia, AP, Getty, Kharkiv Regional, reallocating, Ukraine Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarus, Kyiv, Alexandra, Alexander Zemlianichenko Russian, Kharkiv, United States

☆ Russian troops to get bonuses for destroying Western tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 16 (Reuters) - Russian troops who have destroyed German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-supplied armoured vehicles being used by Ukraine will receive bonus payments, the Defence Ministry said on Friday. The ministry said this was part of a wider reward scheme under which more than 10,000 Russian servicemen had received individual bonuses since the start of the war nearly 16 months ago. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday awarded the "Hero of Russia gold star" medal to soldiers who Moscow said had destroyed Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley fighting vehicles being used by Ukraine, which has launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive. The ministry said that up to May 31, a total of 10,257 servicemen had been rewarded for destroying 16,001 items of Ukrainian and Western military equipment. An enemy armoured vehicle was worth 50,000 roubles ($596) and a tank 100,000 roubles, it said.

Persons: Sergei Shoigu, Moscow, Bradley, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Defence Ministry, Russian Federation Armed Forces, NATO, Defence, Russia, Military, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russian, USA

☆ McDonald's in Russia is now called 'Tasty & that's it' and Big Macs are Big Hits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Lauren Steussy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New owners of locations that once housed McDonald's and Starbucks say they got a great deal. In May 2022, McDonald's stopped doing business in Russia, citing the war in Ukraine, and the "unpredictable operating environment." They replaced Big Macs with Big Hits and sold a record 120,000 burgers on the first day in business, the chain's CEO told Reuters at the time. "We have never seen such daily turnover in the whole time McDonald's has worked in Russia," Oleg Paroev told Reuters in June 2022. Starbucks locations in Russia also ceased operations around the same time and became Stars Coffee, a cafe with a familiar green logo of a vaguely seafaring-looking queen.

Persons: —, McDonald's, Krispy Kreme, Oleg Paroev, Maxim, Anton Pinskiy, Timati, Vladimir Putin, Pinskiy, Alexander Govor, Vladimir Organizations: Global, Service, Guardian, Reuters, REUTERS, Tass, Starbucks Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian

☆ Russia's McDonald's replacement says it's serving 2 million customers a day, but diners are divided on whether it's as good as the original
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's McDonald's replacement, Vkusno & tochka, opened a year ago. The chain can't sell iconic McDonald's items like the Big Mac and has created substitutes instead. Its CEO told Reuters that it has sold more than 24 million "Big Hits," its Big Mac dupe, since opening. Paroev previously said that Vkusno & yochka sold 120,000 burgers on its opening day, which he said was higher than any other day in McDonald's Russia's history. Have you been to Vkusno & tochka?

Persons: Russia's, —, Alexander Govor, tochka, hasn't, Oleg Paroev, Paroev, yochka, Tian Bing, tochka hadn't, tochka's, Ronald McDonald Organizations: Reuters, Service, Mac, China News Service, Getty Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Moscow

☆ Russia's McDonald's heir growing quickly, in for the long haul
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Olga Popova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) closed its Russian restaurants soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, eventually selling to a local licensee, Alexander Govor. The chain has sold more than 24 million of its Big Mac replacement burgers, the Big Hit, CEO Oleg Paroev said. Hamstrung by agreements with McDonald's, Vkusno & tochka, can not open restaurants in countries where McDonald's already has a presence. Russian authorities and Govor have said McDonald's has an option to buy back its Russia restaurants within 15 years. It would find a market where Vkusno & tochka is the master franchisee should it do so.

Persons: Alexander Govor, Govor, Oleg Paroev, Natalya Fadeeva, Evgenia, I've, McDonald's, Olga Popova, Alexander Marrow, Sharon Singleton Organizations: McDonald's Corp, Reuters, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine MOSCOW, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, McDonald's, Belarus, Kazakhstan

[1/2] The remains of the Ninel Hotel, a hotel taken over by Russian security officials that was hit by the Ukrainian military on October 5, are seen in downtown Kherson, Ukraine November 17, 2022. Ukraine's SBU and Russia's FSB did not respond to requests for comment on Dollar’s account or other partisan operations. Pavlo Zaporozhets served in the Ukrainian army from 2014-17 and joined Ukraine's GUR military intelligence during the occupation of Kherson, Ladin said. While some details about the FSB account were true, Ladin said, the FSB falsely accused Zaporozhets of deliberately targeting civilians as well as the night patrol. Despite the liberation of Kherson, Dollar said he and Kosatka would continue aiding the resistance until Ukrainian troops recover Crimea, where the couple owns an apartment.

☆ Former McDonald's restaurants reopen without branding in Kazakhstan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] A view shows a fast food restaurant, which used to operate under the McDonald's brand and reopened with no branding weeks after the U.S. company left the local market, in Almaty, Kazakhstan January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Pavel MikheyevALMATY, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Several restaurants which used to operate under the McDonald's (MCD.N) brand in Kazakhstan reopened on Monday with no branding to serve fast food under generic names such as "Cheeseburger", weeks after the U.S. company left the local market. McDonald's and Food Solutions KZ terminated their licence agreement this month, citing supply issues. Sources earlier told Reuters that McDonald's Kazakhstan had stopped buying supplies from Russia and had trouble replacing them. Food Solutions KZ did not say on Monday whether it has replaced any components such as beef patties with Kazakh produce, and declined to comment on any questions not addressed in its statement.

☆ Russia's rebranded McDonald's may expand into Kazakhstan after McDonald's reportedly banned its restaurants there from selling Russian meat, forcing them to close
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fast-food chain Vkusno & Tochka replaced some of McDonald's restaurants in Russia after they all closed. Alexander Govor, a Russian businessperson, bought Russia's closed McDonald's restaurants in May and rebranded them as Vkusno & Tochka, which translates as "tasty and that's it." Pavel Mikheyev/Getty ImagesMcDonald's confirmed to Insider that its contract with Food Solutions had been terminated. Kazakh news outlet Tengrinews, however, reported that Food Solutions' director said the company didn't plan to rebrand its restaurants as Vkusno & tochka. The chain said in December, however, that it was working on a substitute for McDonald's trademark Big Mac.

☆ Russia's McDonald's successor applies for trademark in Kazakhstan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ASTANA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Vkusno & tochka, the Russian successor brand to McDonald's (MCD.N), has applied to have its trademarks registered in neighbouring Kazakhstan following the U.S. company's exit from its market, the Kazakh government said on Monday. McDonald's and its Kazakh licensee terminated their agreement this month, citing supply issues. Sources earlier told Reuters McDonald's Kazakhstan had stopped buying supplies from Russia and had trouble replacing them. McDonald's closed its Russian restaurants soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine last February, eventually selling to a local licensee, Alexander Govor, who unveiled the Vkusno & tochka brand in June. Reporting by Tamara Vaal; writing by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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.

The deal McDonald's struck with former licensee Alexander Govor included a set of requirements the new brand, Vkusno & tochka, must stick to, including restrictions on branding, colour scheme and product usage. New owner Alexander Govor said this week he and the management team regularly talk over video link to the former parent company. "We are not talking about how they somehow participate in our business, this is already done," Vkusno & tochka, which translates to "Tasty & that's it," CEO Oleg Paroev told Reuters. In a statement to Reuters, McDonald's said it fully exited the Russian market earlier this year. Russian authorities in June said McDonald's has an option to buy back its Russia restaurants within 15 years.

☆ An electric scooter company just pulled off Russia’s only IPO of the year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

London CNN Business —An electric scooter service just became the only company to pull off an initial public offering in Russia this year. Whoosh, which made its debut on Wednesday, said that it had raised 2.1 billion rubles ($32.6 million) through the listing, giving it a valuation of 20.6 billion rubles ($320 million). “In four years, we have gone from a startup to the leader of the Russian [scooter sharing] market, making electric scooter travel a familiar mode of transport,” Whoosh CEO Dmitry Chuiko said in a statement. It raised less than half of what it had been aiming for earlier in the month. As of the end of September, Whoosh had about 82,000 scooters in 40 cities across Russia and former Soviet states and 11.2 million registered users.

☆ Russia’s McDonald’s successor replacing Big Mac with ‘Big Hit’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Starved of Big Macs since McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) closed its Russian restaurants in March, Russians will from next year be treated to an alternative from the burger chain’s successor - the "Big Hit". Vkusno & tochka, or "Tasty & that's it", on Monday said the Big Hit would be available from February and a similar product to the McDonald’s Happy Meal would be making a comeback as "Kids' Combo". McDonald's closed its Russian restaurants soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February, eventually selling to a local licensee, Alexander Govor, who unveiled the new brand in June. Since acquiring Russia's McDonald's restaurants, Govor has snapped up Finnish packaging company Huhtamaki's (HUH1V.HE) Russian business and a logistics firm, set to be renamed "Logistics & that's it". Some Vkusno & tochka restaurants had to take fries off the menu earlier this year when faced with a potato shortage.

☆ Exclusive: Kazakh McDonald's shut outlets temporarily after halting supplies from Russia - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Mariya Gordeyeva | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In a statement, the U.S.-based company said that its "licensee in Kazakhstan has temporarily closed all of its restaurants due to local supply issues. Food Solutions, the Kazakh licensee company, announced the closure on Nov. 17 and cited "local supply issues." After Russia invaded Ukraine in what Moscow calls a "special military operation", McDonald's exited Russia, selling all the restaurants it owned to a local licensee in May. It was unclear where the decision to ditch Russian suppliers originated. Marr Russia, one of the Kazakh company's Russian suppliers, said it never worked directly with McDonald's, dealing with its Kazakh logistics partner HAVI instead.

☆ Krispy Kreme has exited Russia over the war in Ukraine. 'Krunchy Dream' is taking its place.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A chain of new donut shops called Krunchy Dream has sprung up in Russia, where Krispy Kreme once stood. They are owned by the Novikov Group, whose owner Arkady Novikov is Krispy Kreme's only former franchisee in Russia. It then proceeded to shutter all Russian Krispy Kreme shops. Krispy Kreme said in its second-quarter earnings results release that it had closed 30 franchise shops in Russia. Krispy Kreme and the Novikov Group did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment which were sent outside regular business hours.

☆ Exclusive: Kazakh McDonald's shut outlets temporarily after halting supplies from Russia-sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Mariya Gordeyeva | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Joe LaPaille, a spokesperson for McDonald's Corporation based in the United States, said in an email: "Our McDonald's licensee in Kazakhstan has temporarily closed all of its restaurants due to local supply issues. Food Solutions, the Kazakh licensee company, announced the closure on Nov. 17 and cited "local supply issues." It was unclear where the decision to ditch Russian suppliers originated. Marr Russia, one of the Kazakh company's Russian suppliers, said it never worked directly with McDonald's, dealing with its Kazakh logistics partner HAVI instead. Miratorg said it was a supplier for Vkusno & Tochka, the Russian successor to McDonald's, and did not directly address the question of Kazakh sales.

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