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☆ Putin deploys new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles to Atlantic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"This time the ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic missile system - 'Zircon'," said Putin. The weapons, Putin said, had "no analogues in any country in the world". Along with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle which entered combat duty in 2019, the Zircon forms the centrepiece of Russia's hypersonic arsenal. Shoigu said the hypersonic missiles could overcome any missile defence system. A U.S. Congressional Research Service report on hypersonic weapons says that Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles are designed to be used with nuclear warheads.

☆ Putin sends new hypersonic cruise missiles to Atlantic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sent off a frigate towards the Altantic and Indian oceans armed with new hypersonic Zircon cruise missiles which he said were unique in the world. "This ship, armed with 'Zircons', is capable of delivering pinpoint and powerful strikes against the enemy at sea and on land," Shoigu said. Shoigu said the hypersonic missiles, known as either Tsirkon or Zircon, could overcome any missile defence system. Russia, China and the United States are currently in a hypersonic weapons race. The target of a hypersonic weapon is much more difficult to calculate than for intercontinential ballistic missiles.

☆ Pro-Putin operatives in Germany work to turn Berlin against Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +17 min

Now the main Russian Cossack organisations are loyal to Putin, and they are fighting alongside Russia’s forces in Ukraine. He is regularly pictured on his and other social media pages at Cossack gatherings, often wearing Cossack military uniform. Felk has worked as a security guard and has run a logistics firm, according to posts on Felk’s OK social media account. Photos shared by Kharkovsky on social media show him and other participants standing in front of a Great Don Army flag. Eremenko confirmed to Reuters that he worked for Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

☆ Moscow's military leadership is under fire after a Ukrainian HIMARS strike killed scores of Russian soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russia said a recent Ukrainian HIMARS strike in the occupied Donetsk region killed 63 of its soldiers. Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces used a US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to attack Russian positions in Makiivka, a city with a pre-war population of nearly 350,000 people in eastern Ukraine's occupied Donetsk region. Russia's defense ministry said on Monday that Ukrainian forces fired six rockets and that the strikes on Russian positions killed 63 soldiers, state news agency TASS reported. Videos of the aftermath of the deadly attack, which have been published on social media by top Ukrainian officials, showed a scene of rubble and smoke. Ukraine's HIMARS strike came as Russian forces fired a barrage of Iranian-made suicide drones into Ukraine over a two-day period, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

☆ Factbox: What do we know about the Ukrainian New Year's Eve attack on Russian troops?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

What do we know, and what do we not know, about what happened? Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine struck with six U.S.-made HIMARS rockets. The ministry acknowledged the attack only in the final paragraph of a 528-word daily roundup, more than 36 hours after the attack took place. Grey Zone, a Telegram channel linked to the Wagner mercenary outfit, said that around 500 men were billeted in the complex. You see, they turned on their phones and got spotted," wrote Grey Zone, a Telegram channel linked to the Wagner Group mercenary outfit.

☆ Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine can freeze their sperm for free says Putin's government: TASS
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine will have access to free sperm-freezing services. The offer applies to "those called up for military service as part of the partial mobilization." Soldiers want to freeze their sperm that their wives can access if they are killed in action, said local reports. The number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded fighting in Ukraine, where Putin's forces have experienced a series of military setbacks in more than 300 days of fighting, remains unclear. In November, a US military chief put the number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded at up to 100,000, according to CNN.

☆ Russia's mobilised troops entitled to free sperm freezing - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 28 (Reuters) - Russian troops who have been part of a mobilisation drive for military operations in Ukraine will have the right to get their sperm frozen for free in cryobanks, the state TASS agency reported on Wednesday. Citing Igor Trunov, president of the Russian Union of Lawyers, TASS reported that the Health Ministry responded to his appeal for budgetary assistance with the plan. Families can also use the stored biomaterial free of charge if their compulsory medical insurance indicates they can do so. Russia called up more than 300,000 reservists to support what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine in a mobilisation drive launched in September. Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Meet the little-known Google exec steering the company's $209 billion ad business through an uncertain economy and the minefield of privacy concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Jerry Dischler is steering Google's $209 billion ads business through major challenges. It falls to him to reinvent digital advertising to keep its $209 billion ad business going. At the same time, he has to keep growing Google's ad business amid increasingly dour spend forecasts. He went on to search ads in 2008, and by 2009, he was overseeing Google's team that developed new ad formats. Even when some parts of Google's ad business slows, as YouTube and Google network ads did last quarter, it gains strength in other areas, such as search.

REUTERS/Igor RussakWASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled new curbs on technology exports to Russia's Wagner military group, in a bid to further choke off supplies to the contractor over its role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Wagner group, which was added to a trade blacklist in 2017 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, will now be labeled a military end user and face tough new curbs on access to technology made anywhere in the world with U.S. equipment. “The Wagner Group is one of the most notorious mercenary organizations in the world and is actively committing atrocities and human rights abuses across Ukraine,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez. The Wagner group, a private military contractor with close ties to the Kremlin, was founded in 2014 after Russia seized and annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and sparked a separatist insurgency in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. Reporting by Alexandra Alper and David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"If Bakhmut had been captured when they started their attack in August then it would have been significant. Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at the U.S.-based CNA think-tank, said Moscow appeared committed to the battle because of resources it had already spent rather than because of "sound strategy". WAR OF ATTRITIONFor Russia, Bakhmut, which it calls Artyomovsk, the city's Soviet-era name, has long held political value. Muzyka, the Polish military analyst, said Bakhmut had become a battle of attrition. It could also boost Prigozhin's political capital in Moscow if he can take some credit for such a victory.

☆ NHL roundup: Jordan Staal completes Hurricanes' rally vs. Penguins
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

December 19 - Jordan Staal's goal with 6:27 to play gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 comeback victory against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. However, Pittsburgh's seven-game winning streak, which was the longest active mark in the NHL, came to a close. Derek Stepan and Brady Skjei both had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who have three one-goal victories to begin a four-game homestand. Brock McGinn scored at the 5:03 mark of the third to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead before Skjei provided the equalizer and Staal put home the game-winner. Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck each had a goal and an assist as seven Rangers notched multiple points.

The Special Technology Centre did not respond to a written request for comment. Russia's Ministry of Defence did not respond to questions from Reuters about the impact of sanctions and its relationship to the Special Technology Centre. Reached by phone, Alexey Terentyev, a top scientist and major shareholder at the Special Technology Centre, said the war has forced it to focus on making drones. Those corporate records show iLogic is based at the same St Petersburg office address as the Special Technology Centre. In a brief telephone interview, Roman Agafonnikov, chief executive officer of the Special Technology Centre, said he didn't know anything about iLogic.

President Caputova will dismiss the cabinet but ask it to stay on until she at some point appoints a new one. SaS joined a leftist opposition party in bringing the no-confidence vote, accusing the government of not helping people cope with the higher energy costs. The political clash has prevented support for Heger's 2023 budget plan, which includes spending to offset energy prices. Sulik told a televised briefing SaS wanted to back the creation of a new government and did not support calling early elections. The poll-leading opposition party Hlas, though, called early elections the only option.

☆ Defenses Carved Into the Earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Marco Hernandez | Josh Holder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

This satellite image shows newly built Russian fortifications near one of the deadliest frontlines of the war in Ukraine. This satellite image shows newly built Russian fortifications near one of the deadliest frontlines of the war in Ukraine. An illustration of the main defensive structures built by Russians in Ukraine: an anti-vehicle trench, dragon’s teeth and pillboxes. Russian defensive fortifications built in November Fedorivka Russia has built multiple defensive lines behind the frontline on the outskirts of Popasna. A map showing defensive structures built by the Russians in Kherson Oblast.

☆ From bloody Balkan war to World Cup heavyweight: the making of Croatia as a soccer nation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Croatia’s World Cup pedigree is an altogether different story. Štimac challenges Clarence Seedorf of the Netherlands during the 1998 World Cup third place playoff match, which Croatia won 2-1. The Croatia players celebrate a goal against France in the 1998 World Cup semifinals. Having been appointed after the team’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup, Dalić came with pressure on his shoulders. Antonio Bronic/Reuters“There is no place in the national team dressing room of Croatia for big egos, and everyone knows that.

But they fear a harsh new anti-gay law passed by Russian lawmakers will leave them little choice. As the Kremlin prepared to finalize the expansion of the 2013 discriminatory anti-gay law, members of the LGBTQ community in Russia told CNN they feared the uncertain future ahead. Activists say a new legislative package that beefs up an existing anti-gay law is a threat to LGBTQ people in Russia. And it’s just reducing the space within which a non-heterosexual existence can comfortably take place in Russia,” Healey told CNN. Yulia Alyoshina, Russia's first transgender politician, said the new law was discriminatory and would make life tougher for Russia's LGBTQ community.

☆ Some Russian soldiers in Ukraine unhappy with top brass, Girkin says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nearly 10 months since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine, there is no end in sight to the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Some at the mid-levels of the military, Girkin said, were open about their dissatisfaction with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and even Putin. The United States' top general estimated on Nov. 9 that Russia and Ukraine had each seen more than 100,000 of their soldiers killed or wounded. Russia, Putin says, is defending Russians in Ukraine against a decadent West that ultimately wants to carve up Russia's vast resources and eradicate Russian civilisation. Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they cast as an imperial-style war of occupation.

☆ Ex-Russian operative who visited the front in Ukraine says Russian troops are in disarray due to a 'crisis of strategic planning'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Igor Girkin is a former Russian military commander who led the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The soldiers are facing "the deepest crisis of strategic planning," Girkin wrote on Telegram. On Tuesday, Girkin recounted what he saw at the front on Telegram and said that Russian troops are fighting with no clear "strategic goals." It's a mystery for them: What is the condition for victory or just a condition for ending the war," Gurkin wrote. His remarks to the presidential Human Rights Council came shortly after Ukrainian forces sent drone attacks deep into Russian territory.

☆ Putin has a plan to flee to South America if he loses the war in Ukraine, former aide says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Kremlin started coming up with an evacuation plan for Putin in the spring, a former aide said. Putin first considered a plan to evacuate to China — but later rejected the idea, Gallyamov said. "The leader's entourage does not exclude that he will lose the war, lose power and he will have to urgently evacuate somewhere," he added. Sechin, who is Putin's right-hand man, has been put in charge of the evacuation plan, Gallyamov said. He has regularly commented on the state of the war in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion on February 24.

☆ Russia's Human Rights Council was warned not to make Putin mad with questions about the war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's Human Rights Council was told not to upset Putin with questions about Ukraine. The chair of the council was told not to address the "toxic" issue of Russia's death toll. The war in Ukraine has gone poorly for Russia, which is estimated to have suffered approximately 100,000 casualties since Putin launched the invasion in late February. Putin in November booted a number of members from the council, including xenophobia researcher Alexander Verkhovsky and anti-torture campaigner Igor Kalyapin. At the meeting, Putin said the war in Ukraine could be a "long process" and denied plans for a second mobilization.

☆ Russia's Rosneft says net income hit by assets transfer in Germany
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Vladimir Soldatkin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The company also said it boosted oil sales to Asia amid growing rift with Europe over what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. Rosneft said nine-month net income was 591 billion roubles ($9.4 billion), without providing comparison. This was down 15% from a record-high 696 billion roubles reported for the same period in 2021. The transfer of assets also resulted in a 76 billion roubles reduction in cash. The company is facing more headwinds from the price caps on Russian oil imposed by the West.

☆ Analysis: Russian oil revenues could weather EU ban, G7 price cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Olesya Astakhova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Looking ahead to 2023, one of the main variables will be the ceiling G7 countries and the EU agree on importing Russian oil. Some of the biggest importers of Russian oil, including China and India, are not part of the initiative. The more Russian oil that is lost to world markets, the greater the likely impact on prices. "If the price cap is around $60 per barrel, Russia will continue to export its oil comfortably." Beyond the price cap and European import ban, Russia's oil sector may also be affected by COVID-19 restrictions in China, an increasingly important buyer of its crude.

☆ Dutch prosecutors won't appeal in MH17 case, making verdicts final
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Dutch prosecutors said on Thursday they would not file an appeal regarding the outcome in the trial over the 2014 downing of Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, making the verdicts final although the suspects remain at large. A Dutch court last month convicted three men and sentenced them to life in prison for the shooting-down of the Malaysian airliner as it flew over eastern Ukraine on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014. The three convicted were former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader. Prosecutors said on Thursday they were satisfied with the "clarity" the case had brought to relatives of the victims about what had happened to MH17. Reporting by Bart Meijer Editing by Mark Heinrich and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ AT 2022cmc: Rare cosmic event beamed light at Earth from 8.5 billion light-years away
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But the rare cosmic event actually occurred 8.5 billion light years away from Earth, when the universe was just a third of its current age — and it has created more questions than answers. This graphic shows how a tidal disruption event might look in space. Carl Knox/OzGrav/Swinburne University of TechnologyWhen a star is torn apart by a black hole’s gravitational tidal forces, it’s known as a tidal disruption event. Observing more events like this could reveal how black holes launch such powerful jets across space, according to the researchers. “Scientists can use AT 2022cmc as a model for what to look for and find more disruptive events from distant black holes.”

☆ Restaurants in Ukraine have created 'blackout menus' to cook by candlelight during power outages. They say they're 'not scared of the dark'.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In the dark, Ukrainian restaurants serve customers by candlelight with special 'blackout menus'. Kyiv-based restaurant manager Dmytro Tkachenko told Insider: "We can adapt to anything." He's visited several restaurants during blackouts, and told Insider that the atmosphere is "completely unique." A post shared by Under Wonder (@underwonder.kyiv)Manager Dmytro Tkachenko told Insider it has designed a reduced — but still "exquisite" — array of dishes that can be prepared without electricity. He told Insider: "What you see develop in Ukraine under these harsh circumstances will be the new normal everywhere."

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