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MOSCOW, June 8 (Reuters) - For more than 15 months Russia has been fighting a war in Ukraine that the Kremlin refused to call a war - but that is changing: President Vladimir Putin is using the word "war" more often. The Russian media was ordered not to use the word war - and has either complied or shut down. But in response to what Russia said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, Putin last week used the word "war" four times in relation to Ukraine, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. "What is more important is what is says about the future: does war mean a more serious approach and what will Russia at war look like?" Attacks far inside Russia that Moscow blamed on Ukraine have stiffened opinion within the Kremlin, emboldening hawks who propose a much tougher approach to a war in which Putin has said Russia has not got even got serious yet.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Peskov, Sergei Lavrov, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Lyndon B, Johnson, George W, Bush, Leonid Brezhnev, Abbas Gallyamov, Nikita Yuferev, Yuferev, Prigozhin, Putin's, General Augusto Pinochet, Guy Faulconbridge, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Kremlin, Nazi, Red, Motherland, U.S, Soviet, West, Russia, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Moscow, Ukraine's, Crimea, Soviet, Nazi Germany, Russia's Belgorod, Europe, U.S, Vietnam, Afghanistan, St Petersburg, RUSSIA, Chile, Pinochet

☆ Kiyv reports gains near Bakmhut, denies broad counter-offensive under way
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian officials have said little directly in response to the Russian assertions although a senior security official on Wednesday denied the broad counter-offensive had begun. Ukrainian troops, she said, had been on the offensive in the area for several days and Russian troops were on a defensive footing, aiming to hold on to their positions. The Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday Ukraine had mounted attacks near Bakhmut, but that they had been unsuccessful. Kyiv hopes its counter-offensive will be a turning point in the war but has portrayed assaults under way as localised. "When we start the counter-offensive, everyone will know about it, they will see it," Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, told Reuters.

Persons: Hanna Maliar, Maliar, Olena Harmash, Pavel Polityuk, Tom Balmforth, Timothy Organizations: Kyiv, Wednesday, Press Service, Brigade, Ukrainian Armed Forces, REUTERS, Wednesday Ukraine, Reuters, National Security, Defence Council, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Bakhmut, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Donetsk, Donetsk region, REUTERS Russia, Kyiv, Russian

☆ Russia says it thwarts big attack in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Asked to comment, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said: "We do not have such information and we do not comment on any kind of fake." Further north, near the long-contested city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces were reported to have been "moving forward" by the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi. Russia has launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Ukraine since early May, chiefly on Kyiv, with Ukraine saying it was targeting military facilities but also hitting residential areas. Russia now controls at least 18% of what is internationally recognised to be Ukrainian territory, and has claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory. Ukraine vows to eject every last Russian soldier from its territory and casts the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia.

Persons: Oleksiy Danilov, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Bakhmut, Oleksii Reznikov, Semyon Pegov, Gonzo, Staff Valery Gerasimov, William Burns, Vladimir Putin's, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, UKRAINE Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, David Ljunggren, Philippa Fletcher, Nick Macfie Organizations: Ukraine's Security, Defence Council, Reuters, Ukraine's General Staff, Strategic Communications, Ukrainian Defence, Twitter, Staff, Russian, CIA, Wall Street, UKRAINE, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, KYIV, Moscow, Ukraine's Donetsk, Bakhmut, Donetsk, South Donetsk, Ukrainian, Berkhivka, Luhansk, Russia's Belgorod, Velyka, Vuhledar, Russian, Kyiv

☆ Ukraine repels new Russian air barrage as Moscow contends with cross-border attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The governor of Russia's Belgorod region said two people had been killed and two others injured when Ukrainian forces shelled a road in the town of Maslova Pristan near the Ukrainian border. Russia said on Thursday it had repelled a second attempted incursion into the Belgorod region in just over a week by what it casts as pro-Ukrainian militants. Russia said on Thursday it had repelled an attempted incursion into the Belgorod region by what it casts as pro-Ukrainian militants. Along with the Russian Volunteer Corps founded by a far-right Russian nationalist, it says they are Russian volunteers attacking under their own steam, and not on the orders of Ukraine. Thousands of people in Ukraine have since been killed in Russian attacks, millions have fled and towns and cities have been devastated, particularly in Russian-speaking areas.

Persons: Vyacheslav Gladkov, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, David Ljunggren, Guy Faulconbridge, Tom Balmforth, Philippa Fletcher, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Kyiv, Ukrainian, Russia Legion, Renault, Russian, Russian Volunteer Corps, Chechen, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Shebekino, Belgorod, Russia's Belgorod, Russian, KYIV, Kyiv Russian, Moscow, Kyiv, Maslova Pristan, Ukrainian, Novaya Tavolzhanka, Bryansk, Kursk, Smolensk, Kaluga, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia region, Zaporizhzhia

☆ Ukraine says it downed 36 Russian missiles and drones
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, June 2 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces in Kyiv said on Friday they shot down 36 Russian missiles and drones in and around the capital overnight, with two people injured by falling debris before authorities lifted air raid alerts across most of the country. An Air Force statement said its air defences had shot down 15 cruise missiles and 21 drones. It said a wave of drones had been launched late on Thursday, followed by a volley of cruise missiles as people slept at around 0300 local time. "The occupiers are not stopping their attempts to terrorise the Ukrainian capital with strike drones and missiles," it said. A view shows an office building damaged during Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 1, 2023.

Persons: Vitali Klitschko, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, David Ljunggren, Tom Balmforth, Jacqueline Wong, Shri Navaratnam, Tom Hogue, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: An Air Force, Russian, Press, State Emergency Service of, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Handout

☆ Ukraine has 'plan B' to continue exports if grain deal collapses - minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Future of Black Sea grain deal looks uncertainUkraine's farm minister floats "Plan B"Exports could continue without Russia, he saysOfficial suggests government insurance guaranteesKYIV, June 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine would be ready to continue exporting grain across the Black Sea as part of a "plan B" without Russian backing if Moscow pulls the plug on the current grain export deal and it collapses, Ukraine's farm minister said on Friday. The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Moscow and Kyiv last July to help tackle a global food crisis aggravated by Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a leading global grain exporter. He said in an interview in Kyiv: "That's not how it works and then we will be ready for a plan B, which depends on us, depends on the U.N. "Plan B... excludes the fourth party (Russia) in this relationship," he said. He said Ukraine still hoped the current Black Sea grain initiative would work despite the current difficulties while any new option would need a new agreement or format.

Persons: Russia's, Mykola Solsky, Solsky, Pavel Polityuk, Tom Balmforth, Hugh Lawson Organizations: United, Reuters, Ukrainian, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, United Nations, Turkey, Pivdennyi, Kyiv, Ukrainian

☆ Ukrainian drone sparks fire at Russian refinery - governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

MOSCOW/KYIV, May 31 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery in southern Russia and shelling hit a Russian town close to the border for the third time in a week, damaging buildings and setting vehicles ablaze, Russian officials said on Wednesday. The Afipsky refinery is not far from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, near another refinery that has been attacked several times this month. There was no immediate information on who launched the drone but Moscow has accused Kyiv of increased attacks inside Russia in recent weeks, while Russia has repeatedly pounded Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles. Russian drone attacks killed one person and wounded four in Kyiv on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian officials. Civilian targets in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities have since the earliest days of the war been struck repeatedly by Russian drones and missiles.

Persons: Veniamin Kondratyev, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Mykhailo Podolyak, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Karine Jean, Pierre, Rafael Grossi, Grossi, David Ljunggren, Guy Faulconbridge, Max Hunder, Olena Harmash, Pavel Polityuk, Valentyn Ogirenko, Gleb Garanich, Lidia Kelly, Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland, Stephen Coates, Robert Birsel Organizations: Kyiv, Residents, Civilian, Washington, Russian, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, . Security, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, KYIV, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia's Krasnodar, Novorossiisk, Russian, Kyiv, Shebekino, Ukraine's Kharkiv, Ukraine's, Washington, United States, Zaporizhzhia

☆ Exclusive: UN tries to save Black Sea grain deal with 'mutually beneficial' proposal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

As the preparatory work starts, the U.N. wants parallel talks to be held on widening the Black Sea deal that was agreed last July to include more Ukrainian ports and other cargoes, said the source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. Ukraine and Turkey have agreed to the new proposal, intended to improve operations in the Black Sea grain export corridor, but Russia has not yet responded, the source said. The U.N. and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Moscow and Kyiv last July to help tackle a global food crisis aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a leading global grain exporter. Ukrainian officials have said that since mid-April, Russia has "unreasonably restricted" the work of the Black Sea grain deal. A senior government source told Reuters this month that Kyiv would consider allowing Russian ammonia to transit its territory for export on condition that the Black Sea grain deal is expanded to include more Ukrainian ports and a wider range of commodities.

Persons: Pavel Polityuk, Timothy Heritage, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Reuters, United Nations, Kyiv, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Moscow, Ankara, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Pivdennyi, Odesa

[1/5] A view shows an apartment building damaged during a massive Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 30, 2023. One person died and four were injured when debris from a destroyed Russian projectile hit a high-rise apartment building sparking a fire, Ukrainian officials said. Russian state-owned news agency RIA cited the defence ministry as saying more than one air base had been hit. Moscow said it invaded Ukraine to "denazify" its neighbour and protect Russian speakers. Russia said on Monday the grain deal would no longer be operational unless a U.N. agreement with Moscow to overcome obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports was fulfilled.

☆ Lindsey Graham is now a wanted man in Russia, and he said he will wear the arrest warrant like a 'badge of honor'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia issued an arrest warrant for Lindsey Graham after an edited video of him was posted online. Graham said that he would wear the arrest like a "Badge of Honor." Graham said in a statement on Monday that he would "wear the arrest warrant issued by Putin's corrupt and immoral government as a Badge of Honor." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office released an edited video from Graham's visit to Kyiv on Friday, where two clips of Graham were stitched together. The sequence of statements in the edited video, which made it appear that Graham was jubilant about Russians dying, angered Russian officials.

In what was Russia's 15th air assault on the city in May and second overnight attack in a row and of similar intensity, there were no major damages or casualties in Kyiv, officials said. The attack follows the largest drone barrage launched on Kyiv the previous night, which killed one person and injured several. In Sunday's attack, 36 drones were downed over Kyiv. In its Monday attack Russia used a combination of Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles, the city's military administration said. While Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia, a series of strikes inside the country have targeted military, energy and transport infrastructure, with Moscow blaming Kyiv for the attacks.

Summary Ukraine says Russia has stepped up air attacksOne person wounded in central district - mayorAll inbound missiles shot down - city officialsKYIV, May 29 (Reuters) - Explosions rang out across Kyiv on Monday as Russia launched its 16th air attack on the Ukrainian capital this month, hours after unleashing dozens of missiles and drones overnight. All the Russian missiles were shot down, but one person in the central Podil district was taken to hospital, authorities said. Ukraine shot down 11 cruise and ballistic missiles fired in the second of Monday's attacks on Kyiv, said Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Firefighters work at a site of a private building damaged during a massive Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine May 29, 2023. Russia has increased the frequency of air attacks as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive.

[1/10] Municipal workers remove debris of a traffic light broken by a part of a missile which landed on a street during a Russian strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 29, 2023. A Ukrainian presidential aide said on Monday any post-war settlement should include a demilitarised zone of 100-120 km (62-75 miles) inside Russia along the border with Ukraine. After months of attacks on energy facilities, Russia is now targeting military facilities and supplies to try to disrupt Ukraine's preparations for its counterattack, Kyiv says. Moscow says Ukraine has stepped up drone and sabotage attacks against targets inside Russia as it prepares for the offensive. The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said several frontier settlements were shelled simultaneously by Ukrainian forces on Monday.

☆ China declines US request for a meeting between defense chiefs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, Russia, April 16, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERSMay 29 (Reuters) - China has declined a request by the U.S. for a meeting between their defense chiefs at an annual security forum in Singapore this weekend, media reported on Monday, a new sign of strain between the powers. The Pentagon said it believed in open communication "to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict." Last week, White House spokesman John Kirby said there were discussions by the Defense Department to get talks going between Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, who was named defense minister in March. Li is a member of the Central Military Commission, China's top defense body that is commanded by President Xi Jinping.

☆ Wall Street analysts say these stocks have more room to run through the rest of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

CNBC Pro combed through top Wall Street research to find stocks to buy for the rest of 2023. Fastly "Fastly is laying the foundation for long-term success," according to Bank of America analyst Tal Liani. "We view this as a positive inflection point which should remove the negative narrative of AWS' Gen-AI market position vs. peers," Lee said. ConocoPhillips - Goldman Sachs, buy rating "Stay Buy with Conoco our top pick among the Big 3 US majors for 2H2023. … We view this as a positive inflection point which should remove the negative narrative of AWS' Gen-AI market position vs.

CNN —A Russian politician died of – as of yet – unknown causes after falling ill on a plane on Saturday, the latest in a string of mysterious deaths among Russian elites. Russia’s Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, Pyotr Kucherenko, 46, died while returning from a trip to Cuba on Saturday, according to the ministry. “Kucherenko was feeling ill while on a plane with a Russian delegation that was returning from a business trip to Cuba. Russia's Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Pyotr Kucherenko died while returning from Cuba. Mysterious deaths pile upKucherenko’s demise is not the first unexplained Russian death to spark interest.

☆ Russia-occupied nuclear plant in Ukraine cut off from power grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 22 (Reuters) - The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been cut off from its external power supply and is relying on emergency generators to cool nuclear fuel and prevent a disaster. Each side blamed the other for the power outage on Monday. A Russia-installed local official said Ukraine had disconnected a power line and Ukrainian state nuclear energy company Energoatom said the outage was caused by Russian shelling. Confirming the outage, the head of the United Nations nuclear energy watchdog said the "nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable." Energoatom said it was the seventh time power had been cut to the plant since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

☆ Ukraine says its troops advance around devastated Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, May 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Monday its troops were still advancing on the flanks of the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, although the "intensity" of their movement had decreased and Russia was bringing in more forces. Russia said on Saturday it had completely taken Bakhmut, but Ukrainian officials have said since then that Kyiv's forces still control a small part of the city. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar reiterated on Monday that Ukraine had a small foothold inside the city itself. "Through our movement on the flanks - to the north and south - we manage to destroy the enemy," she said in televised comments. Maliar later wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app that Ukrainian troops still controlled "certain private facilities and the private sector in the 'Litak' area".

Vadym Boychenko, mayor of Mariupol, at his office in the city hall of Mariupol, Ukraine, on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Russian service members work on demining the territory of Azovstal steel plant during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 22, 2022. A view shows the building of a theatre destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 10, 2022. Before Russia's invasion last February, Mariupol was affectionately known as the mighty Ukrainian city with a fierce, steel heart. A local resident reacts while speaking outside a block of flats heavily damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 18, 2022.

☆ Russia strikes Zelenskiy's hometown, woman badly wounded - Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, May 19 (Reuters) - Russia launched a new wave of overnight air strikes on Ukraine early on Friday, setting ablaze several buildings in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown and seriously wounding a 64-year-old woman, Kyiv said. Several buildings caught fire at once," the president's office said in a statement. She was hospitalised in a serious condition," the president's office said. Kyiv attributes the recent increase in the frequency of air strikes to Moscow's concerns about an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at recapturing land occupied by Russia in the south and east. Russia reports its air attacks as successful strikes on its intended targets.

☆ Exclusive: Ukraine would only allow Russian ammonia exports if it gets expanded grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The comments are the first time Kyiv has publicly laid out its stance on Russian ammonia, which Moscow wants shipped via the Black Sea under the agreement. The Ukrainian government source, who asked not to be named, told Reuters the language of the deal does not cover the transit of Russian ammonia across Ukraine. Despite Russian threats to pull out of the deal, the Black Sea deal was extended for two months on Wednesday a day before it was due to expire. MORE PORTS, MORE GOODSOnly three of Ukraine's major Black Sea ports are included in the agreement. Officials have previously said the country, which used to export steel across the Black Sea, needs to export steel products.

☆ Ukraine says Russia trying to recapture land around Bakhmut, Kyiv repels attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, May 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Friday Russian forces were trying to recapture land they had lost around the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, but that Ukrainian troops were repelling the attacks. Deputy Ukrainian Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said the Russian forces had gained some ground inside Bakhmut itself in fierce fighting but did not control the city. "The enemy is trying to regain what they have lost... but our forces are repulsing the attacks," she said in televised remarks. She said the Russian forces had made "some progress" inside Bakhmut but did not say how far forward they had advanced. The head of Russian mercenaries fighting in Bakhmut said the city was unlikely to fall in the next two days.

☆ China walks a tightrope, searching for a Ukraine peace deal that gets around defeat for its ally Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a signing ceremony after their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. "Russia is an increasingly important partner for [Chinese President] Xi Jinping. Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping leave after a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping via phone line, in Kyiv on April 26, 2023. As such, China's move to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine is not seen as an altruistic one but motivated by self-interest.

☆ Traitor next door? Fear stalks Kherson after Russian occupation ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Elizabeth Piper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Nonetheless, her garden walls in the Ukrainian city of Kherson are covered with graffiti marking her out as a Russian collaborator. Fear and suspicion stalk the streets of Kherson, a southern port that was occupied by Russian troops for over eight months before they were driven out by Ukrainian forces in November. More than 5,300 collaboration cases have been registered across the country, according to the prosecutor general's website. Cases of collaboration can point to the tough choices people have to make when trying to survive under occupation. He left the business to his workers, who had to register with the Russians and take Russian passports, and fears they could be prosecuted once the occupation ends.

☆ Ukraine tells Chinese envoy it won't accept ceding land to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, May 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine's foreign minister told a top Chinese envoy at talks in Kyiv on Wednesday that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war with Russia that involved it losing territory or freezing the conflict, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said. Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, visited Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday, and met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the ministry said in a statement. The visit is the first to Kyiv by a senior envoy from China, which has burgeoning ties with Russia, since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022. "He stressed that Ukraine did not accept any proposals involving the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict," it said. The senior Chinese official's trip to Europe is expected also to include talks in Russia, Poland, France and Germany.

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