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☆ Live updates: Russia's war in Ukraine, attack on Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Tara Subramaniam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/ReutersUkrainian air defenses destroyed 67 out of 75 "air targets" launched overnight in the latest Russian attack on Kyiv, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Monday. Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said 37 cruise missiles, 29 Shahed drones and one reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle were shot down by Kyiv’s forces. “Overnight, the Russian occupiers attacked Ukrainian military facilities and critical infrastructure objects with cruise missiles and attack drones,” Zaluzhnyi said on Telegram. “The enemy fired up to 40 Kh-101/Kh-555 air-launched cruise missiles from nine Tu-95MS strategic aircraft from the Caspian Sea. A total of 35 attack drones.”Kyiv's military administration previously estimated Ukrainian air defenses had shot down more than 40 "air targets."

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - More than half of the world's large lakes and reservoirs have shrunk since the early 1990s, chiefly because of climate change, intensifying concerns about water for agriculture, hydropower and human consumption, a study published on Thursday found. Climate scientists generally think that the world's arid areas will become drier under climate change, and wet areas will get wetter, but the study found significant water loss even in humid regions. Scientists assessed almost 2,000 large lakes using satellite measurements combined with climate and hydrological models. Scientists and campaigners have long said it is necessary to prevent global warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celisus (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. Water levels rose in a quarter of the lakes, often as a result of dam construction in remote areas such as the Inner Tibetan Plateau.

☆ The world’s largest lakes are shrinking dramatically and scientists say they have figured out why
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Lake water levels fluctuate in response to natural climate variations in rain and snowfall, but they are increasingly affected by human actions. The Caspian Sea, between Asia and Europe – the world’s largest inland body of water – has long been declining due to climate change and water use. NASA NASA The Caspian Sea is rapidly shrinking due to climate change and human activity. NASAThe researchers used satellite measurements of nearly 2,000 of the world’s largest lakes and reservoirs, which together represent 95% of Earth’s total lake water storage. The report found losses in lake water storage everywhere, including in the humid tropics and the cold Arctic.

☆ Exclusive: Oilfield firm SLB retrenches as Russia sanctions squeeze
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Liz Hampton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

While SLB wasn't in breach of sanctions, the decision has triggered a backlash from employees and human rights groups. Reuters was unable to establish why SLB implemented new restrictions on its Russian business. Earlier this year, the U.S. expanded sanctions on Russia, including some targeting its mining and metals sector. Both last year also restricted financial transactions with Russia and placed export restrictions on certain energy equipment, technology and services. "Any new Global SLB Group-wide systems/applications should not be connected to or accessible by Russia," SLB told employees in a late-March memo viewed by Reuters.

☆ Surprise drone attacks hint at how Ukraine is going after Russia's missile 'chokepoints'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

While its military struggles on the ground in Ukraine, Russia has leaned heavily on aerial attacks. It has also hit bases on the Crimean Peninsula that support the Black Sea Fleet and its missile-equipped warships. The Black Sea Fleet has been reinforced by ships from Russia's Caspian Flotilla, which arrived through a canal connecting the seas. Though the Black Sea Fleet has been able to blockade Ukrainian ports, Ukraine has scored significant victories against it. In December, Ukrainian drones blasted two air bases east of Moscow — hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border.

May 9 (Reuters) - Russia launched about 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine's capital on Tuesday, the second attack in as many days, with air defence systems shooting all of them down, officials said, after air raid alerts blared over most of the country. "As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed," Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv's city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app. Tuesday's attacks - the fifth in May - came a day after Russia launched its biggest drone swarm yet in a renewed air campaign unleashed 10 days ago after a lull since early March. "(They) try to kill as many civilians as possible - on this day," Popko said. Falling debris fell on a house in the Holosiivskyi district in the southwest of Kyiv, Kyiv's Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on his Telegram messaging channel, adding there were no casualties or much damage.

☆ Russia launches new attack on Ukraine on Moscow's 'sacred' day
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The attack - the fifth in May - came a day after Russia launched its biggest drone swarm yet in a renewed air campaign unleashed 10 days ago after a lull since early March. "Overnight into the 'sacred' May 9, (they) launched an attack on the territory of Ukraine," Ukraine's air force said on its Telegram messaging app. But Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he did not want to "spoil" Russia's Victory Day parade and would reveal more details later. Victory Day this year is even more emotionally charged as Russia mourns thousands of soldiers killed in the nearly 15-month war in Ukraine that shows no sign of ending. Putin has repeatedly likened the Ukraine war - which he casts as a battle against "Nazi"-inspired nationalists - to the challenge the Soviet Union faced when Hitler invaded in 1941.

Rescuers carry a covered body as they work at the site of a heavily damaged residential building hit by a Russian missile in the town of Uman on Friday. Her voice cracked as she told CNN how the strikes had shaken the small community and left her feeling terrified. Local residents told CNN that there hadn’t been a strike of this scale on the city since March last year. Burnt-out cars lie in front of a destroyed residential building in Uman. Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Global Images Ukraine/Getty ImagesAerial view of a destroyed residential building.

[1/2] Zsolt Hernadi, Executive Chairman of Hungarian oil and gas group MOL poses during an interview with Reuters in Budapest, Hungary, April 27, 2023. Hernadi said MOL was fighting to prevent a hike in oil transit fees in Ukraine and also in Croatia. The BTC pipeline transports crude oil from offshore oil fields in the Caspian Sea to the Turkish coast. He said MOL would pay Ukraine's pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta directly for the transit of Russian oil but there was still a dispute over a Ukrainian hike in fees. "There are still disputes, discussions ongoing about the transit fee, as a multi-fold increase has been flagged (by Ukraine)."

☆ A year in Azerbaijan: From the Grand Prix to the ski slopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Words Cnn Staff | Photo Illustrations Woojin Lee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

CNN —Anyone who has tuned in to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has seen a tantalizing glimpse of what the capital Baku has to offer. This year’s Grand Prix comes at the height of spring, often said to be Azerbaijan’s most beautiful season. Juan Vilata/Alamy Stock Photo Explore Azerbaijan in spring Prev NextSummers in Azerbaijan are hot, so getting out of the city is a good idea. Alexander Melnikov/Alamy Stock Photo Explore Azerbaijan in fall Prev NextWrap up, because even at its coldest Azerbaijan still has plenty to offer. You’ll learn much more at the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum in Baku.

☆ Iran Ships Ammunition to Russia by Caspian Sea to Aid Invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Dion Nissenbaum | Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Illustration: Todd Johnson/ Charlie StewartRussian ships are ferrying large quantities of Iranian artillery shells and other ammunition across the Caspian Sea to resupply troops fighting in Ukraine, Middle East officials said, posing a growing challenge for the U.S. and its allies as they try to disrupt cooperation between Moscow and Tehran. Over the past six months, cargo ships have carried more than 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition from Iran to Russia, according to the officials and documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Intelligence about the shipments has been shared with the U.S., people familiar with the matter said.

☆ Exclusive: Kazakhstan has ramped up oil exports bypassing Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Pavel MikheyevMOSCOW, April 21 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan ramped up oil exports bypassing Russia in the first quarter of 2023 as it seeks to reduce its dependency on its vast neighbour, data from industry sources and Refinitiv showed. While Kazakh oil exports through the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus are relatively small, they have risen sharply since Moscow began what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in February last year. Last year, Kazakhstan's oil exports via routes other than Russia reached 1.8 million tonnes (36,000 barrels per day), up by 638,000 tonnes from 2021. The main, and most profitable, route for oil exports from Kazakhstan remains the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which supplies the global market via a Russian Black Sea terminal. Supplies via CPC dipped 1% last year to 51.99 million tonnes, but they still represented more than 80% of total oil exports from Kazakhstan.

☆ Israel cements ties to Turkmenistan on Iran's border
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Although the countries established diplomatic relations 30 years ago, there had only been a temporary Israeli mission in Ashgabat and predominantly Muslim Turkmenistan still has no embassy in Israel. "I came to open an Israeli embassy 17 kilometres from the border with Iran, and to hold a series of meetings with the president and other officials," Cohen tweeted on Thursday. In English remarks to Israeli reporters accompanying Cohen, his Turkmen counterpart, Rashid Meredov, described the embassy inauguration as "a very shining example of our friendship". Cohen, who also met Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, called his visit "historic" and said Israel's ties with Central Asia's "energy superpower" were of strategic importance. "We intend to widen economic relations to include agriculture, water, technology and border defence," Cohen said in a video issued by Israel's Foreign Ministry.

☆ Exclusive: Russia starts fuel supplies to Iran by rail -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, April 11 (Reuters) - Russia started fuel exports to Iran by rail this year for the first time after traditional buyers shunned trade with Moscow, according to three industry sources and exports data. Russia and Iran, both under Western sanctions, are forging closer ties in order to support their economies and to undermine Western sanctions which both Moscow and Tehran cast as unjustified. Iran has been under Western sanctions for years with limited access to global markets. However the rail exports face bottlenecks along the route, the sources said. "We expect fuel supplies to Iran to rise this year, but we already see several issues with logistics due to rail congestion.

☆ UK to help Kazakh exports bypass Russia, seeks critical minerals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev shakes hands with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly during a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan March 18, 2023. Cleverly said London valued the position of Astana - which has traditionally been closely allied with Moscow - on the Ukrainian conflict. Kazakhstan has refused to support Russia's invasion or recognise its annexation of Ukrainian territories. Cleverly and Kazakh diplomats said they have signed a memorandum on critical minerals such as rare earth metals, but provided no details about it. But since the invasion Tokayev has been careful to keep his distance from Moscow and keep relations open with the West.

☆ Critical for Kazakhstan to pursue oil export options outside of Russia, investor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Kazakhstan's ability to diversify its seaborne crude oil export routes away from Russian territory is critical to the country's economy, the developer of an alternative port told CNBC. Once complete, the port could provide an alternative to Kazakhstan's main seaborne crude oil export route, which currently transports volumes across Russian territory via the 1,511-kilometer (939-mile) Caspian Pipeline Corporation's pipeline, for later shipment from the CPC terminal near Russian port Novorossiysk. Exports from the CPC terminal were intermittently disrupted in 2022, with Russia citing technical and regulatory issues. "Approximately 95% of oil is going through Russian territory, and we have seen some disturbance last year, and actually … it's quite a threat to the Kazakhstan economy, because we are depending on the oil revenues," Marabayev told CNBC on Wednesday. ExxonMobil's after-tax earnings linked to its Kazakh interests were roughly $2.5 billion in 2022.

☆ Exxon warns of Russia risks to its $2.5 billion Kazakhstan income
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HOUSTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) on Wednesday warned in a securities filing of potential risks to its Kazakhstan oil operations, which provided $2.5 billion in earnings last year. Threats to Kazakhstan oil exports have been in the spotlight since Moscow invaded Ukraine a year ago this week. Exxon and Chevron (CVX.N) are major holders in the Central Asia country's oil production and related export pipeline. Kazakhstan shares a 4,750 mile (7,644 km) border with Russia and its oil exports travel mainly through a Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) line through Russia and lands at a Russian Black Sea export terminal. Any closure of the CPC pipeline or terminal would shut in more than 1% of global oil supply and cost its producers billions of dollars in lost income.

☆ Italy to sign gas turbines contract with Azerbaijan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Italy is set to sign a new contract to sell four gas turbines to Azerbaijan, its industry minister said on Saturday ahead of his visit to the Asian country that is one of Rome's most important energy partners. The deal will involve Italy's Ansaldo Energia, a service provider for the power generation industry, and Azerenerji, the country's largest electrical power producer, minister Adolfo Urso said in a statement. The news comes after Italy last month signed a $8 billion gas production deal with Libya aimed at boosting energy supplies to Europe. Italy is working to double to 20 billion cubic meters the capacity of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which brings Azeri gas to Apulia in the southeast of the country. Rome sees a role for itself as a hub for gas supplies to northern Europe in the coming years to help offset the loss of imports from Russia.

☆ Turkey to host summit of gas buyers, sellers next month
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Turkey will hold a natural gas summit on Feb. 14-15 to bring together gas supplier countries and Europe's consumer countries in Istanbul, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Monday. "We will bring together supplier countries from the Middle East, Mediterranean, Caspian and Middle Asia with consumer countries from Europe," Donmez said. In October, Russia's President Vladimir Putin proposed setting up a gas hub in Turkey following explosions that damaged Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea. Some Western capitals were concerned that a Turkish hub including Russian gas could allow Moscow to mask exports that are sanctioned by the West over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Turkey has the infrastructure and experience in gas trade and authorities are taking steps for it to be a hub where regional benchmark prices are set, Donmez said.

☆ Russian missile attack on Ukraine kills one in 'terror on New Year's Eve'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Rescuers work at a site of a building damaged during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine on Dec. 31, 2022. Moscow's second major missile attack in three days badly damaged a hotel south of Kyiv's center and a residential building in another district. "This time, Russia's mass missile attack is deliberately targeting residential areas, not even our energy infrastructure," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter after the attack. The cruise missiles had been launched from Russian strategic bombers over the Caspian Sea hundreds of miles away and from land-based launchers, he said on Telegram. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets described the attack as "terror on New Year's Eve."

☆ Russia's Transneft receives Polish and German requests for oil
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime routes from Dec. 5, with Western nations also imposing price caps on Russian crude oil, but the Druzhba pipeline remains exempt from sanctions. And now we have received requests from Polish consumers: give us 3 million tonnes next year, and 360,000 tonnes for December, and Germany has already submitted a request for the first quarter," Transneft head Nikolay Tokarev said on Tuesday. Transneft, which handles more than 80% of total oil produced in Russia, has cranked up oil exports by a fifth this year, he added. Tokarev also said that oil supplies via the southern spur of Druzhba, which transports oil through Ukraine to Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will remain unchanged next year thanks to a ssanctions exception. Exports via the far eastern port of Kozmino are expected to total 42 million tonnes this year, exceeding usual annual capacity of 30 million tonnes, Tokarev said.

☆ Factbox: Why are oil tankers stuck in Turkish waters?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jonathan Saul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Turkey's maritime authority said on Thursday it would continue to block the passage of oil tankers that don't carry appropriate insurance letters, adding that insurance checks on ships in its waters were a "routine procedure". The logjam is creating growing unease in oil and tanker markets and comes as the G7 and European Union introduce a price cap on Russian oil. Millions of barrels of oil per day move south from Russian ports through Turkey's Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits into the Mediterranean. Ships typically have protection & indemnity (P&I) insurance, which covers third party liability claims including environmental damage and injury. Turkish authorities introduced new requirements, which came into effect at the beginning of December, in which every ship must have P&I insurance cover in place for all circumstances when sailing through Turkish waters or when calling at ports.

☆ 2,500 dead seals found on Russia’s Caspian coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

About 2,500 seals have been found dead on the Caspian Sea coast in southern Russia, officials said Sunday. Regional officials initially reported Saturday that 700 dead seals were found on the coast, but the Dagestan division of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment later raised the figure to about 2,500. Journalists and environmental workers inspect the bodies of dead seals on shore of the Caspian Sea, near Dagestan, Russia on Sunday. APZaur Gapizov, head of the Caspian Environmental Protection Center, said in a statement that the seals likely died a couple of weeks ago. The fisheries agency has said the overall number of Caspian seals is 270,000-300,000, while the Caspian Environmental Protection Center put the number at 70,000.

☆ 2,500 endangered Caspian seals mysteriously washed up dead on a Russian coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian officials announced that thousands of dead Caspian seals washed up on their shores. There have been a handful of events in the past decade where Caspian seals have died en masse. The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Republic of Dagestan wrote in a Telegram post that environmental specialists were still counting the number of dead seals but that the current count stood at 2,500. The Caspian Seals Conservation Agency has reported multiple occurrences of large numbers of dead Caspian seals washing up on the shores of Dagestan over the past decade, including as recently as May. Caspian Seals, the only marine mammal found in the Caspian Sea, is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

CNN —Russian forces unleashed a new round of missiles towards Ukraine on Monday, ramping up attacks on the central and southeastern regions of the country. “We see that strategic bombers have taken off and the first wave of missiles was already launched,” said Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Forces, adding that there may be several more assaults. Citizens sheltered in the metro in Kyiv on Monday, as Russia released another missile attack towards Ukraine. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesMost of the Russian missiles were intercepted: KyivThe Ukrainian Air Force said they had intercepted more than 60 Russian missiles on Monday, repelling further attacks on power facilities. Air defense intercepted most of the missiles.

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