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☆ Ukraine is exploiting gaps in Russia's air defenses, which were designed for a different kind of war
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Analysts said Ukraine appeared to be exploiting gaps in Russian air defenses. Russia's air defenses are focused on potential attacks from NATO in the west, not the south. AdvertisementUkraine is exploiting gaps in Russia's air defenses, which were designed for a different kind of war, according to a report. The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, said that Russian air defenses in Leningrad Oblast, near St Petersburg, appeared to be poor. AdvertisementThe ISW said the attacks were stretching Russia's air defenses.

Persons: —, Russia's Organizations: Analysts, NATO, Service, Ukrainian, Reuters, Business Locations: Ukraine, US, Leningrad Oblast, St Petersburg, West, Ust, Tula, Moscow, Russia, Klintsy, Ukrainian, Crimea

☆ Ukraine says it flew a drone over Putin's woodland palace, evading its heavy defenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine launched a drone attack on a St Petersburg oil terminal on Thursday, per multiple sources. AdvertisementUkraine sent a drone flying over President Vladimir Putin's palace at Lake Valdai during an attack on a St Petersburg oil depot, a military source claimed on Friday. Set next to Lake Valdai, halfway between Moscow and St Petersburg, the vast woodland complex is considered one of Putin's favorite boltholes. The strike, Kamyshin said, showed that St Petersburg was now "within reach of Ukrainian forces," per the Kyiv Independent's translation. "We are able to produce something that flies and costs $350 per item, something that flew to St Petersburg this night," he said.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin's, Oleksandr Kamyshin, couldn't, Alina Kabayeva, Vladimir Putin, Alina Kabaeva, Sasha Mordovets, Navalny.com Kamyshin, Baza, Kamyshin, Ukraine's Organizations: RBC, Service, Kyiv Independent, St, Moscow Times, Russia's Ministry of Defence, Popular, Russian Telegram, Economic, Pentagon Locations: Ukraine, St Petersburg, Valdai, Russia, Lake, Ukrainian, Moscow, Russian, Petersburg, Baltic, Leningrad, Davos, Switzerland

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia says Kyiv attacked Moscow, St Petersburg regions, claiming Baltic oil terminal was the target
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Russia claimed that Ukraine attacked several Russian regions with drones overnight, including the northwest Leningrad region for the first time. The defense ministry said Thursday that air defense systems shot down drones over the regions of Moscow and St. Petersburg, with one official claiming Ukraine targeted a Russian oil terminal in Leningrad, the northwestern Russian region where St. Petersburg is located. The port infrastructure was not damaged and no one was injured, the official said. If accurate, however, it would mark the first time that the northern region of Leningrad, where St. Petersburg is, has been targeted by Ukraine. "The geography of UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces continues to expand," one Russian official noted.

Organizations: Ukraine, Ukrainian Armed Forces Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Leningrad, Moscow, St, Petersburg, Russian

☆ Russian Military Says Ukrainian Drones Downed Over Moscow, Leningrad Regions
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

(Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said early on Thursday that its air defence units had intercepted and destroyed one Ukrainian drone over Moscow region and a second over Leningrad region surrounding the country's second largest city, St Petersburg. A ministry statement on the Telegram messaging app said the incidents occurred at about 1.30 a.m. (2230 GMT on Wednesday). Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin had earlier said on Telegram that air defence units had downed a drone while it was on its way towards the capital. Fragments had hit the ground, but there were no damage or casualties. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Chris Reese)

Persons: Sergei Sobyanin, Chris Reese Organizations: Reuters, Russia's Defence Ministry, Moscow Locations: Moscow, Leningrad, St Petersburg

☆ Russian Prosecutors Seek to Nationalise Seized Car Dealership, Court Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has filed a lawsuit in a St Petersburg court seeking to nationalise car dealership Rolf, the court said late on Monday, just weeks after Moscow put the asset under the state's temporary management. St Petersburg's Moskovskiy District Court said it had accepted a lawsuit filed by prosecutors, which seeks the seizure of all shares in Rolf, Russia's largest car dealership, and affiliated companies as "property obtained in violation of anti-corruption legislation". Russian businessman Sergei Petrov, who owns Rolf, has long been accused by Russian authorities of illegally moving money abroad, charges he denies, and has had a warrant issued for his arrest. In December 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin placed Rolf under temporary state management, a move the Kremlin said was driven solely by "economic expediency and compliance with current legislation". The court said prosecutors had asked the court to hand over all shares, should they be seized fully, to the state.

Persons: Rolf, Sergei Petrov, Vladimir Putin, Petrov, Gleb Stolyarov, Alexander Marrow, Jason Neely Organizations: General's, Kremlin, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow, Petersburg's Moskovskiy, Rolf, Russia's, Russian, Austria

MOSCOW (AP) — A huge fire tore through a large warehouse used by Russia’s largest online retailer south of St. Petersburg on Saturday morning. The blaze covered an area of 70,000 square meters (more than 750,000 square feet), with 50,000 square meters (around 540,000 square feet) of the Wildberries warehouse collapsing, according to Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry. A video shot from a passenger jet flying nearby showed flames totally engulfing the warehouse, sending huge plumes of smoke into the sky. Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said that firefighters had been able to prevent the fire from spreading across the entire area of the warehouse complex and to an electrical substation. Russian officials, cited by state news agency TASS, said Wildberries had obtained permission to construct the warehouse, but not to operate it.

Persons: Associated Press couldn't, Wildberries Organizations: MOSCOW, Ministry, Associated Press, TASS Locations: St, Petersburg,

☆ 3 US cities made the list of the world's top 10 most expensive places to live, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco all made it into the world's top 10 most expensive cities. AdvertisementThree US cities have made it into the top 10 most expensive cities in the world in the latest Worldwide Cost of Living report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Although three US cities made the top 10, on average North American cities fell in the rankings compared to the previous year. The Russian capital finished up 105 places lower in 142nd, while St Petersburg dropped 74 places to 147th. The world's cheapest cities included Damascus, Syria; Tehran, Iran; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Chennai, India.

Persons: — Organizations: Economist Intelligence, Service, Economist Intelligence Unit, St Locations: New York, Los Angeles, Francisco, Western, . New York, Singapore, Zurich, Switzerland, San Francisco, Beijing, Moscow, St Petersburg, Damascus, Syria, Tehran, Iran, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Chennai, India

REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, no longer welcome in Western concert halls since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was named on Friday as director of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. After performing for decades on the world's biggest classical stages, Gergiev has been shunned in the West since the start of the war in February 2022. The following month he was fired as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra after the city's mayor said Gergiev had declined to "clearly and unambiguously" distance himself from the invasion. Gergiev, also a former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, has long been controversial outside Russia because of his support for President Vladimir Putin. He spoke out in favour of Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Persons: Valery Gergiev, Lisi Niesner, Gergiev, Vladimir Urin, Urin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, we're, we've, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, REUTERS, Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre, Munich, Orchestra, Bolshoi, London Symphony Orchestra, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Russian, Vienna, Austria, Ukraine, St Petersburg, West, Russia, Crimea, Palmyra, Syria, Islamic State, China

MOSCOW, Dec 1 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree putting St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport under the temporary management of a Russian company, wresting control from investors from Germany, Qatar and other Gulf states. The airport's management company has 14 co-owners. The rights of foreign shareholders will pass to two different Russian entities. Russian shareholders will retain their rights. The decree stated that airport's foreign shareholders would be able to restore their rights to stakes in the new company if they apply and conclude corporate agreements that comply with Russian laws on foreign investment.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Fraport, VTB, Ramzan Kadyrov, Taimuraz, Carlsberg's, Gleb Stolyarov, Alexander Marrow, Ilona Wissenbach, Gareth Jones, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Petersburg's Pulkovo, Qatar Investment Authority, Russian Direct Investment Fund, Baring, Baltika Breweries, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russian, Germany, Qatar, St Petersburg, Abu Dhabi, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Top Russian court bans LGBT movement as 'extremist'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Russia's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that LGBT activists should be designated as extremists, in a move that representatives of gay and transgender people fear will lead to arrests and prosecutions. A Reuters reporter in court heard it announce that it had approved a request from the justice ministry to recognise what it called "the international LGBT social movement" as extremist and to ban its activities. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters before the court decision was announced that the Kremlin was "not following" the case and had no comment on it. The Supreme Court took around five hours to issue its ruling, after opening its session at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT). More than 100 groups are already banned in Russia as "extremist".

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Alexei Sergeyev, Alexei Navalny, Sergeyev, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Reuters, LGBT, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, St Petersburg

☆ Gay activists in Russia fear arrest as top court weighs "extremist" listing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's justice ministry asked the Supreme Court this month to recognise what it called "the international LGBT social movement" as extremist and to ban its activities. The ministry said that "various signs and manifestations of extremist orientation, including the incitement of social and religious discord" had been identified in the activities of Russia's LGBT movement, without giving examples. 'EXTREMIST' LISTING CAN FORESHADOW ARRESTSThe justice ministry publishes a list of more than 100 "extremist" groups banned in Russia. "This will all be so underground that, unfortunately, I'm sure there are many people who won't be able to get help," he said. Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Putin, Alexei Sergeyev, Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, Sergei Troshin, Sergeev, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: PETERSBURG, LGBT, Reuters, Orthodox Church, Thomson Locations: Russia, St Petersburg

☆ Putin fears the wrath of soldiers' wives, as the Kremlin tries to buy-off potential protestors, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian soldiers and their wives are becoming increasingly unhappy with long deployments without rotation. AdvertisementThe Kremlin is concerned that the disgruntled wives of conscripted soldiers unhappy with long deployments could become a significant political headache, reports say. The Kremlin believes that most wives are more concerned about the paycheck than their husbands returning from war, the outlet reported. The report comes after the wives of deployed soldiers held a rare public protest in Moscow on November 7. AdvertisementRecent requests by soldiers' wives to hold protests in Moscow and St Petersburg have been denied.

Persons: —, RkeSEZILBt — Slava, @Heroiam_Slava, doesn't, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Ella Pamfilova Organizations: Service, UK Ministry of Defense, Russian, St, Levada Locations: Russian, Moscow, The, London, St Petersburg, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Ukraine

☆ Putin says Russia's economic growth will exceed 3% in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with representatives of business, officials and other participants of the 8th Eastern Economic Forum via a video link in Vladivostok, Russia, September 12, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Nov 17 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia's economic growth was set to exceed 3% this year, slightly better than previous official forecasts. Russia's economy shrank 2.1% in 2022, as the West imposed sweeping sanctions against Russia over conflict in Ukraine. Now we confidently say: it will be over 3%," Putin told a cultural forum in St Petersburg. Last month the central bank estimated 2023 GDP growth at 2.2-2.7%.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Metzel, Putin, Vladimir Soldatkin, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Eastern Economic, Sputnik, Rights, Thomson Locations: Vladivostok, Russia, Ukraine, St Petersburg

Skochilenko, an artist and musician known as Sasha to her friends, has admitted replacing price tags in a supermarket in her native St Petersburg on March 31 2022 with small pieces of paper urging an end to the war and criticising the authorities. But Skochilenko, who has already spent over a year-and-a half in prison, denies the formal charge of knowingly spreading false information about the Russian army. Skochilenko is due to make a final statement on Thursday to a court in St Petersburg which is expected to deliver a verdict on the same day. Amnesty International has declared Skochilenko "a prisoner of conscience" - someone who is imprisoned solely because of who they are or what they believe. Reporting by Reuters Writing by Andrew Osborn Editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Alexandra, Sasha, Skochilenko, Said, Alexandra Skochilenko, Russia's, Moscow, Vladimir Putin, Yana Nepovinnova, Andrew Osborn, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Amnesty International, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Russian, St Petersburg

☆ In wartime Russia, soaring prices bite as election looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

When she goes through the snow to the shops, she inspects the prices to search for bargains. Prices for disposable nappies and baby food have at least doubled, she said. While many families across the world are grappling with price rises, the peculiarities of Russia's wartime economy have spurred high inflation for millions of Russian voters ahead of the 2024 election. Putin is expected to run in next year's election, a move that would keep him in power until least 2030. Igor Lipits, a Russian economist, said official Russian data on levels of poverty were poor - as was the overall picture for the Russian economy - despite often rosy announcements aimed at pleasing the Kremlin leadership.

Persons: Sergei, Stepanova, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Igor Lipits, Lipits, Lyudmila, Guy Faulconbridge, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: West, Reuters, U.S, stoke, Monetary Fund, Central Bank, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: SREDNEURALSK, Russia, Ukraine, Stepanova, Sredneuralsk, Lake Iset, Yekaterinburg, Moscow, United States, Russian, St Petersburg

☆ Russian Artist Who Used Supermarket Price Tags to Criticise Ukraine War Faces Verdict
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Andrew Osborn(Reuters) - A Russian artist who replaced supermarket price tags with messages calling for an end to Moscow's war in Ukraine is expected to learn her fate in court on Thursday with a state prosecutor asking for her to be jailed for eight years. But Skochilenko, who has already spent over a year-and-a half in prison, denies the formal charge of knowingly spreading false information about the Russian army. Skochilenko is due to make a final statement on Thursday to a court in St Petersburg which is expected to deliver a verdict on the same day. Amnesty International has declared Skochilenko "a prisoner of conscience" - someone who is imprisoned solely because of who they are or what they believe. One of her lawyers, Yana Nepovinnova, told the court on Monday that her client should be acquitted.

Persons: Andrew Osborn, Alexandra Skochilenko, Russia's, Moscow, Vladimir Putin, Sasha, Skochilenko, Yana Nepovinnova, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Amnesty International, Reuters Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia, St Petersburg

Authorities have detained nearly 20,000 people for anti-war activity and opened over 800 criminal cases against anti-war dissidents, according to the OVD-Info rights group. Skochilenko replaced price tags in a supermarket in her native St Petersburg on March 31 2022 with five small pieces of paper urging an end to the war. "Even you, your honour (the judge), even you, the state prosecutor, you also don’t want people to die prematurely, for young soldiers to lie in the fields, for civilians to die." Copies of the imitation price tags produced by Skochilenko are on display on a website maintained by her supporters. Another alleges Russia was sending conscripts to fight in Ukraine, which Russia has also denied.

Persons: Alexandra, Sasha, Skochilenko, Alexandra Skochilenko, Moscow's, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Gladyshev, Putin, Andrew Osborn, Mark Trevelyan, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Authorities, Moscow, Wednesday, Amnesty, NATO, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Russian, St Petersburg, Mariupol, Moscow

☆ Lawyers Seek Release of Russian Artist Who Staged Anti-War Price Tag Protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

Critics say it is part of a crackdown on anyone who speaks out against Moscow's "special military operation". Authorities have detained nearly 20,000 people for anti-war activity and opened over 800 criminal cases against anti-war dissidents, according to the OVD-Info rights group. The justice ministry has designated the rights group a "foreign agent" and its website is blocked in Russia. Copies of the imitation price tags produced by Skochilenko are on display on a website maintained by her supporters. Another alleges Russia was sending conscripts to fight in Ukraine, which Russia has also denied.

Persons: Andrew Osborn, Alexandra Skochilenko, Sasha, Moscow's, Vladimir Putin, Skochilenko, Alexander Gladyshev, Putin, Mark Trevelyan, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Authorities, Moscow, Wednesday, Amnesty, NATO, Reuters Locations: Russian, Ukraine, St Petersburg, Russia, Mariupol, Moscow

☆ Russian Artist Who Staged Anti-War Supermarket Protest Faces Eight Years in Jail
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - State prosecutors in St Petersburg on Wednesday asked a judge to jail a female artist for eight years after she staged a protest against Russia's war in Ukraine by replacing supermarket price tags with calls to stop the conflict. Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, carried out the protest on March 31 last year, replacing price tags with pieces of paper urging an end to the war. She was detained in April 2022 after a shopper complained about her action, which included displaying information about civilians allegedly killed in Russian shelling - something Moscow denied at the time - where supermarket prices would usually be. Skochilenko, who smiled from a courtroom cage on Wednesday, is being tried on the charge of spreading fake information about the Russian army, which is punishable by up to 10 years in jail. She denies her guilt and says her protest was purely a peaceful one.

Persons: Alexandra Skochilenko, Andrew Osborn, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Reuters, Wednesday Locations: St Petersburg, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Russian artist who staged anti-war supermarket protest faces eight years in jail
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, carried out the protest on March 31 last year, replacing price tags with pieces of paper urging an end to the war. She was detained in April 2022 after a shopper complained about her action, which included displaying information about civilians allegedly killed in Russian shelling - something Moscow denied at the time - where supermarket prices would usually be. Skochilenko, who smiled from a courtroom cage on Wednesday, is being tried on the charge of spreading fake information about the Russian army, which is punishable by up to 10 years in jail. She denies her guilt and says her protest was purely a peaceful one. Reporting by Andrew Osborn Editing by Guy FaulconbridgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Alexandra, Sasha, Skochilenko, Alexandra Skochilenko, Andrew Osborn, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Wednesday, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Saint ., St Petersburg, Moscow

Two other Baltic telecoms cables were damaged on the same night of Oct. 7 along the route that the ship was travelling, according to shipping data reviewed by Reuters. NewNew Shipping, the owner and operator of the NewNew Polar Bear, has previously declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. TRAIL OF DAMAGEIn total, three Baltic telecoms cables and one pipeline were damaged in the space of less than nine hours. Data from shipping intelligence firm MarineTraffic, reviewed by Reuters, showed that the NewNew Polar Bear passed over a Swedish-Estonian telecoms cable at 1513 GMT, then over the Russian cable at around 2020 GMT, the Balticconnector at 2220 GMT and a Finland-Estonia telecoms line at 2349 GMT. Finnish police announced on Oct. 24 that they had found a ship's anchor near the broken gas pipeline.

Persons: Anton Vaganov, Rostelecom, Vladimir Putin, Gasgrid, Mark Trevelyan, Nerijus Adomaitis, Anne Kauranen, Terje Solsvik, Bill Berkrot, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Rostelecom, St ., Economic, REUTERS, Reuters, NewNew Shipping, Kremlin, Communications Ministry, St, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Baltic, Beijing, Ukraine, China, Swedish, Estonian, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, London

☆ Anti-Semitic riot in Russia's Dagestan leaves some local Jews shaken
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] A view of gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in the ancient city of Derbent on the Caspian Sea coast in the Caucasus region of Dagestan, Russia, November 2, 2023. With row after row of gravestones engraved with the Star of David or portraits and pictures of the dead, Derbent's Jewish cemetery gives an indication of how large this coastal city's Jewish population once was. One of a string of enclaves of so-called Mountain Jews that pepper both Russia's Caucasus and neighbouring Azerbaijan, Derbent's Jews still speak a dialect of Persian that evokes their hometown's rich history. Today there are barely 2,000 Jews still living in Dagestan, once home to 10 times that." Alexander Fedotov, who was visiting Derbent's Jewish cemetery with Zoya Solomonova, said he thought the airport riot had been planned by someone intent on spoiling ties between Russia and Israel.

Persons: Kazbek Basayev, Zoya Solomonova, Vladimir Putin, David, Derbent's, Derbent, Shneor Segal, Alexander Fedotov, Eduard Ilgiyaev, I've, I'm, Andrew Osborn, Felix Light, Daniel Wallis Organizations: REUTERS, West, Star, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Derbent, Caucasus, Dagestan, Russia, St Petersburg, Makhachkala, Tel Aviv, Gaza, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Israel, Moscow, Chechnya, Azerbaijan

☆ Russians struggle to keep alive memory of Stalin's victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

She was expelled to Uglich (about 740km from St Petersburg). "He was shot in Moscow, but as we all live in St. Petersburg, we have made this memorial plaque here. Yet for many Russians, Stalin's name still evokes the savage repression that culminated in the Great Terror of 1936-1938. The Big House is the nickname of the St Petersburg headquarters of Stalin's NKVD secret police, which later became that of the Soviet KGB and now the Russian FSB. It was to help people like Gerchikova that the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial International was founded as the Soviet Union collapsed - to document Soviet political repression and help to rehabilitate its victims.

Persons: Anton Vaganov, Joseph Stalin's, Natalia Anafonova, Stalin, Vladimir Putin, Zinaida Gerchikova, I've, Gerchikova, Sergei Gorshvo, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, PETERSBURG, Big, St, Soviet KGB, Thomson Locations: Levashovo, Saint Petersburg, Russia, dribs, Soviet, Petersburg's, St Petersburg, Moscow, St . Petersburg, Russian, Soviet Union, Nazi, Ukraine, Sverdlovsk region

☆ Russian court grants unspecified 'interim measures' as Baltika sues Carlsberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Barrels are seen at the museum of the Baltika brewery in St. Petersburg, October 12, 2014. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A court in St Petersburg has imposed unspecified "interim measures" against Carlsberg (CARLb.CO) in favour of Baltika Breweries, court filings showed, after the Danish brewer stopped licensing its brands in Russia this month. The court filings provided no information other than that interim measures had been granted in a lawsuit filed on Oct. 17 by Baltika against Carlsberg. In another lawsuit filed on Sept. 25, before Carlsberg terminated the licence agreements, Baltika had asked a Russian court to prohibit Carlsberg from initiating legal proceedings in Denmark, citing the risk that Carlsberg could seek to remove Baltika's right to use certain trademarks. The court did not grant interim measures, but a hearing in that case is scheduled for Nov. 15.

Persons: Alexander Demianchuk, Vladimir Putin, Baltika, Alexander Marrow, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Carlsberg, Baltika Breweries, Carlsberg Group, Baltika, Reuters, Thomson Locations: St . Petersburg, St Petersburg, Danish, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Denmark

But Russia's Accounts Chamber, which oversees budget execution, warned on Monday there were risks the Urals price would fall below $60 in 2024-2026. Russia's forecast sees economic growth of 2.3% in 2024, well above estimates of 1.1% from the International Monetary Fund and 0.5%-1.5% from the Bank of Russia. CHANGING TUNEAt Russia's flagship economic forum in St Petersburg in June, Siluanov said increasing expenditure was difficult, as budget spending had already increased by 1-1/2 times from 2019 to 2022. Now, even as the government outlines plans for spending to jump to 36.7 trillion roubles in 2024, he is more relaxed. Renaissance Capital's Donets and Melaschenko said Russia could create temporary taxes, permanently increase rates of VAT, or adjust Russia's budget rule to permit more spending of energy revenues.

Persons: Evgenia, Anton Tabakh, Vladimir Putin, Anton Siluanov, Denis Popov, Yevgeny Suvorov, Suvorov, Sofya Donets, Andrei Melaschenko, Dmitry Polevoy, Siluanov, Melaschenko, Alexei Sazanov, Sazanov, Konstantin Sonin, It's, Sumanta Sen, Mark Trevelyan, Alexander Marrow, Catherine Evans Organizations: U.S ., Russian, REUTERS, Washington, Finance, International Monetary Fund, Bank of Russia, Capital, Reuters Graphics Russia, University of Chicago, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, West, St Petersburg

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