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☆ Russia says use of depleted uranium shells in Ukraine would harm population, land for decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 24 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Friday that the use of depleted uranium shells in Ukraine would harm Ukrainian troops, the wider population and negatively affect the country's agriculture sector for decades or even centuries. Russia has reacted furiously to plans outlined by Britain earlier this week to send shells containing depleted uranium to Ukraine. Countries such as the United States and Britain say depleted uranium is a good tool for destroying a modern tank. Russia's defence ministry on Friday disputed those claims and said the use of depleted uranium shells, compared to Tungsten-based ammunition, "has no significant advantage" on the battlefield. Russia is also known to produce uranium weapons along with around 20 other countries, according to the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons.

☆ Mistakes by the US's top spies allowed China to turn a deadly mid-air collision into an intelligence coup
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( James Bamford | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +36 min

On April 1, 2001, a US EP-3 spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea. One of eleven left in the fleet, the tired 1960s-era spy plane bristled with porcupine-like antennas. Within minutes, however, the fighters had reached the lumbering spy plane, and while Zhao Yu hung back about a half-mile, Wang Wei rapidly closed in. In severe trouble, he immediately radioed the base, telling them he was unable to maneuver and being sucked in by the spy plane. "You are not allowed aboard the aircraft," Osborn said.

☆ Explainer: Bakhmut: Why Russia and Ukraine are battling so hard for one small city
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Yet Russia and Ukraine are still battling for the small city of Bakhmut. After nearly eight months of trench warfare Ukrainian forces are surrounded on three sides, Kyiv's supply lines are fraying, and Moscow is in control of just under half of Bakhmut. Volodymr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's president, has portrayed "Fortress Bakhmut" as a symbol of defiance which is bleeding the Russian military dry. It also claims to be decimating Ukrainian forces. A regional transport and logistics hub, Bakhmut would be useful for Russian forces although that depends on how much of its infrastructure is intact.

☆ Russian mercenary chief sets out ambitions for an 'army with an ideology'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary force said in an interview published over the weekend that he had ambitions to turn his private military company into an "army with an ideology" that would fight for justice in Russia. "After the capture of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), we will begin to reboot," Prigozhin said in a clip posted on Telegram channels associated with Wagner. "The Wagner private military group must turn from just a private, the best, army in the world which is capable of defending the state, into an army with an ideology. But his public profile, political influence, and fondness for profanely lambasting top army brass and anyone else in his way has angered some in government who want him reined in. Prigozhin has repeatedly denied harbouring any political ambitions.

"It seems to me that all the countries located around the Russian Federation should draw their own conclusions about how dangerous it is to take a path towards engagement with the United States' zone of responsibility, its zone of interests." Putin casts the war in Ukraine as an existential battle with the West over the future of both Russia and its former Soviet and imperial satellites which since 1991 have been courted by the United States, NATO, the EU, and China. Washington and the broader West, Lavrov said, wanted to punish Russia because it was perceived as "too independent a player" which challenged the hegemony of the United States. Lavrov, Putin's foreign minister since 2004, said that events in Georgia were orchestrated from outside and motivated by a Western attempt to claw away Russia's traditional allies. They say they simply did not agree with the proposed law and want a Western future which Russia, that fought a war against Georgia in 2008, does not offer.

☆ Georgian police use tear gas on protesters after parliament backs 'foreign agents' law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/9] A protester sits on his haunches in front of police officers, who block the way during a rally against the "foreign agents" law in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli GedenidzeTBILISI, March 7 (Reuters) - Georgian police used tear gas to disperse protesters on Tuesday in central Tbilisi after parliament gave its initial backing to a draft law on "foreign agents" which critics say represents an authoritarian shift in the South Caucasus country. The law, backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, would require any organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as "foreign agents", or face substantial fines. Georgian television showed protesters angrily remonstrating with police armed with riot shields who then used tear gas. "The future of our country doesn't belong to, and will not belong to, foreign agents and servants of foreign countries," he said.

☆ Brawl erupts in Georgia parliament over 'Russian-inspired' foreign agent law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] People take part in a protest against the controversial "foreign agents" bill outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia March 6, 2023. Critics have compared it to a 2012 Russian law, which has been steadily expanded since then and used to crack down on Russian civil society and independent media. "The Russian legislation that now is proposed in parliament is against Georgia's national interests, against our European aspirations," said Irakli Pavlenishvili, a civil rights activist and opposition politician. However, Givi Mikanadze, a Georgian Dream lawmaker, told national television: "Georgian society absolutely deserves to know which organisations are being financed, from which sources. Last month, more than 60 civil society organisations and media outlets said they would not comply with the new "foreign agent" legislation if it becomes law.

☆ Belarus court sentences exiled opposition leader to 15 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 6 (Reuters) - A court in Belarus has sentenced exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years in prison in absentia, the state news agency Belta reported on Monday. Tsikhanouskaya, 40, fled Belarus after running for the presidency in 2020 against veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko. The election was followed by mass protests after the opposition accused Lukashenko of electoral fraud, something he denied. Tsikhanouskaya, whose supporters have dismissed the charges against her as a meaningless farce, was put on trial in absentia for treason charges in January. Reporting by Reuters Editing by Andrew OsbornOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin amends law to ensure state defence orders are properly met
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday enabling the state to suspend the directors and shareholders of any companies that fail to meet state defence contracts under conditions of martial law. The decree would allow the industry ministry to name a new external administrator to take over the running of such companies. Putin said in October he was introducing martial law in four regions of Ukraine that Moscow has partly seized control of and claimed as its own territory, a move condemned as illegal by most countries. The new decree would apply to companies that "violate their obligations under a state contract, including failing to take measures to guarantee production deliveries". Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan Editing by Andrew OsbornOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian mercenary chief says Ukraine's Bakhmut is practically surrounded
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force, speaks in Paraskoviivka, Ukraine in this still image from an undated video released on March 3, 2023. "Units of the private military company Wagner have practically surrounded Bakhmut. Only one road is left (open to Ukrainian forces) The pincers are getting tighter," said Prigozhin. Reuters geolocated the video to the village of Paraskoviivka, 4.3 miles (7 km) north of the centre of Bakhmut. Reuters geolocated the footage to the east of Bakhmut, around 1.2 miles (2 km) from the city centre.

☆ Nobel winner Bialiatski jailed in Belarus for a decade, sparking outcry
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Footage from the cramped Minsk court showed Bialiatski, who co-founded the Viasna (Spring) human rights group, looking sombre, his hands cuffed behind his back, as he and his co-defendants watched proceedings from a courtroom cage. Bialiatski, who was arrested in 2021, and three co-defendants were charged with financing protests and smuggling money. Belarusian state news agency Belta confirmed the court had handed down long jail sentences to all the men, including a decade in prison for Bialiatski. That, she said, placed human rights defenders at risk of criminal prosecution for their legitimate activities. Viasna, the organisation he co-founded, took a leading role in providing legal and financial assistance to those jailed.

☆ Russian forces are battling Ukrainian saboteurs in border region - officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - Russian forces are battling a Ukrainian sabotage group which infiltrated Bryansk region that borders Ukraine and took several people hostage, Russian officials were cited by state news agencies as saying on Thursday. The FSB security service said in a statement to Russian news agencies on Thursday that its own forces and the army were trying to liquidate what it described as "an armed group of Ukrainian nationalists" who had crossed the border. "Today, a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group penetrated the Klimovsky district in the village of Lubechanye," Bogomaz said on his Telegram channel. He said Ukrainian armed forces had launched a drone attack and fired artillery shells at other areas near the border. In December, the FSB security service said a four-person Ukrainian "sabotage group" had been "liquidated" while trying to enter Bryansk.

☆ Russian mercenary boss publishes video showing fighters inside Ukraine's Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 2 (Reuters) - The founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force on Thursday published a video showing his fighters inside Bakhmut, the small Ukrainian city Wagner has been fighting to capture for months. In a post on Telegram, the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's founder, cited him as saying: "The lads are mucking about, shooting home video. Reuters geolocated the footage to the east of Bakhmut, around 1.2 miles (around 2 kilometres) from the city centre. In the video, uniformed men are shown lifting a Wagner banner atop a semi-ruined multi-storey building. One of the men is shown dancing and holding a guitar, a reference to Wagner's informal nickname of "the musicians".

☆ Russia says it will only renew grain deal if its own exports are unblocked
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 1 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it would only agree to extend the Black Sea grain deal, which allows grain to be safely exported from Ukrainian ports, if the interests of its own agricultural producers are taken into account. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year, expires on March 18 and cannot be extended unless all parties agree. Russia has already signalled it is unhappy with aspects of the deal. Moscow's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had discussed the prospects for renewing the deal at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi. Reporting by Caleb Davis Editing by Andrew OsbornOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told the FSB domestic security service on Tuesday to step up its activity to counter what he said was increasing espionage and sabotage against Russia by Ukraine and the West. In a speech to officials, Putin said the FSB had to stop "sabotage groups" entering Russia from Ukraine, step up protection of infrastructure, and prevent Western security services reviving what he called terrorist or extremist cells inside Russia. "Western intelligence services have traditionally always been active in Russia, and now they have thrown additional personnel, technical and other resources at us. The FSB needs to strengthen all its counter-intelligence activity, Putin told the agency that he once headed. Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Moscow says Ukraine launched failed drone attacks on Russian territory overnight
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry on Tuesday accused Ukraine of launching attempted drone strikes against civil infrastructure targets in two southern Russian regions overnight, but said the attacks had failed. "Overnight, the Kyiv authorities attempted to use unmanned aerial vehicles to attack civilian infrastructure facilities in the Krasnodar and Adygea regions," the defence ministry said in a statement. It said its anti-drone defence systems had repelled the attacks, causing the drones to veer off course and fail to inflict any damage. One fell into a field, the other, deviating from its trajectory, did not harm the intended target," it said. Reporting by Reuters Editing by Andrew OsbornOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's St Petersburg suspends, then restarts flights due to 'unknown object'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Russia's Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg temporarily and briefly suspended all flights on Tuesday morning before restarting them amid unconfirmed Russian media reports of an unidentified object such as a drone in the area. The RIA Novosti news agency had earlier reported, citing a source in the city's emergency services, that an unidentified object had been spotted, prompting the initial closure. There was no official comment on what caused the disruption or on how the alleged unknown object was investigated. Data from the FlightRadar24 website showed a number of flights headed for St Petersburg turning back to their destinations early on Tuesday, while the airspace closure also affected flights en route to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which requires planes to fly over St. Petersburg. By 1200 local time, flights had resumed flying towards St. Petersburg, the FlightRadar24 website showed, and aircraft had recommenced landing and taking-off at the airport.

☆ Belarus official says claim activists blew up Russian spy plane near Minsk is fake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A senior Belarusian official on Tuesday dismissed as fake a claim by anti-government activists that they had blown up a Russian military surveillance aircraft in a weekend drone attack on an airfield outside the Belarusian capital Minsk. Aliaksandr Azarov, leader of Belarusian anti-government organization BYPOL, was quoted on Sunday as saying that Belarusian "partisans" had used drones to carry out the attack on a Russian Beriev A-50 spy plane. Britain's military intelligence service said on Tuesday that attribution for the attack and damage to the aircraft had not been officially corroborated. "However, the loss of an A-50 Mainstay would be significant as it is critical to Russian air operations for providing an air battlespace picture," it said in a statement. "This will likely leave 6 operational A-50s in service, further constraining Russian air operations."

☆ Putin gives U.S. actor Seagal top state award for 'humanitarian work'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed a top state award on Hollywood actor Steven Seagal to reward him for his international humanitarian and cultural work, a state decree published on Monday showed. The decree said the 70-year-old star of action films such as "Under Siege" had been given Russia's Order of Friendship. The decree mentioned Seagal's work as a special representative of Russia's Foreign Ministry for humanitarian ties with the United States and Japan. The U.S.-born actor and martial arts practitioner has worked in Japan and has long admired Putin, from whom he received a Russian passport in 2016. Ukraine in 2017 banned Seagal from entering for five years on national security grounds.

☆ Kremlin's response to China's Ukraine peace plan tepid so far
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

China, which declared a "no limits" alliance with Russia shortly before Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine a year ago, called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine on Friday, touting its own peace plan. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks published on Tuesday that Beijing's voice should be heard, but the nuances of the proposal are important. "Any attempt to formulate theses for reaching a peaceful settlement of the problem is welcome, but, of course, the nuances are important," Peskov told the Izvestia daily. Earlier, Peskov said any such initiatives that might bring peace closer were worthy of attention. "We are paying a great deal of attention to the plan of our Chinese friends," Peskov told reporters on Monday.

He predicted that tough negotiations with Ukraine and the West would follow that would culminate in "some kind of agreement." To push back the borders that threaten our country as far as possible, even if they are the borders of Poland," said Medvedev. Poland shares long eastern borders with Ukraine and with Russia's ally Belarus, and a frontier of some 200 km (125 miles) in its northeastern corner with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Any encroachment on Poland's borders would bring Russia for the first time into direct conflict with NATO. U.S. President Joe Biden pledged in a speech in Warsaw this week to defend "every inch" of NATO territory if it was attacked.

☆ Brawling with elite, Russian mercenary boss wishes politician shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"During the 1941-45 war, which is now being repeated, Stalin simply shot people like you. I think we're going to return to those times soon," he told Sverdlovsk governor Yevgeny Kuivashev, according to his press service. Earlier this week, he accused various regional governors of refusing to bury Wagner fighters with military honours, labelling them as lawless, corrupt bureaucrats. From eastern Ukraine, Prigozhin replied that he had stopped being a businessman a year ago and was now devoting his life to leading his fighters. "There is a ceiling (of growth) and mechanisms in place," said the source, who declined to provide more details.

☆ Life and death in shattered Mariupol - a survivor's tale of war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

MARIUPOL, Russian-controlled Ukraine, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Shells were exploding nearby but Tatiana Bushlanova didn't flinch when she spoke to Reuters in front of the shattered remains of her home in Mariupol last May. Tatiana, who is still in Mariupol, said the death and destruction visited on the city had hardened people's hearts. Their old apartment block was demolished - "the excavator stood there and took the building down bit by bit" - but getting compensation is a drawn-out process. "They said we'd find out in 70 days' time (if they get the handout) and if not, they'll probably put us in the queue for an apartment," Tatiana said. Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan/Andrew Osborn; editing by Philippa FletcherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian mercenary boss escalates row with top army brass with image of dead bodies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The defence ministry, in a statement late on Tuesday, said such allegations were "completely untrue" and complained - without mentioning Prigozhin by name - about attempts to create splits that worked "solely to the benefit of the enemy". "This is one of the places where the bodies of those who have died are gathered," Prigozhin told a prominent Russian military blogger in an interview. But he has faced push back from the authorities in recent weeks amid some signs of a move by the Kremlin and defence ministry to curb his growing influence. "Twice as many of us are going to die that's all, until there are none of us left," he said. "And when Wagner are all dead then (Defence Minister) Shoigu and (General) Gerasimov will probably have to pick up a gun."

☆ Putin to update Russia's elite on Ukraine war in major speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Putin will also give his analysis of the international situation and outline his vision of Russia's development after the West imposed sweeping sanctions on it, the Kremlin said. Russian forces have suffered three major battlefield reversals since the war began but still control around one fifth of Ukraine. Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny accused Putin on Monday of destroying Russia's future for the sake of his own personal ambitions. With the West supporting Ukraine, China's position has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. Chinese weapons supplies to Russia would risk a potential escalation of the Ukraine war into a confrontation between Russia and China on the one side and Ukraine and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance on the other.

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