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Russia's parliament approved a federal budget Wednesday that increases spending by around 25% in 2024-2026 and devotes a record amount to defense. The budget was passed unanimously by the Federation Council — the upper chamber of the Russian parliament — and will be sent to President Vladimir Putin to sign it into law. Under the budget, the country’s largest, defense expenditure is expected to overtake social spending next year for the first time in modern Russian history. It comes as the Kremlin is eager to shore up support for President Vladimir Putin before a March presidential election. Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy to a war footing but could pose a problem in the long term, analysts say.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, ”, Richard Connolly Organizations: Federation Council, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Ukraine, London

☆ East Ukraine's Kharkiv builds underground schools as Russia keeps up attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Vitalii Hnidyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Workers build a heavily fortified underground school that will allow children to safely return to in-person studies, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine November 15, 2023. Schools in the region of around 2.5 million people, which borders Russia, were forced into online learning after the Kremlin's February 2022 invasion. More are planned by the end of next year, Korotovskykh said, adding that 817 educational facilities across the Kharkiv region had been damaged or ruined during Russia's invasion. Ukrainians are now bracing for another winter of likely Russian air strikes targeting critical infrastructure, which last year caused widespread blackouts across the country. Reporting by Vitalii Hnidyi; Writing by Dan Peleschuk Editing by Gareth Jones and Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy, Anton Korotovskykh, Korotovskykh, Serhiy Petrulyanis, Vitalii Hnidyi, Dan Peleschuk, Gareth Jones, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Workers, REUTERS, Rights, Schools, Russian, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kharkiv region, Rights KHARKIV, Ukraine's Kharkiv, Russia, Kharkiv

☆ Astronauts accidentally drop tool bag during ISS spacewalk
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Hafsa Khalil | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara marked their first spacewalk this month with a tool bag floating through space. The pair concluded their maintenance work outside the International Space Station (ISS) in six hours and 42 minutes, according to the space agency. Leaving this task for a future spacewalk, the pair instead conducted an assessment of how the job could be done. Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP/Getty ImagesDuring the their hours-long mission, a tool bag gave them the slip and was “lost,” NASA said, with flight controllers spotting it using the ISS’ external cameras. A 2006 spacewalk saw astronauts Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum lose a 14-inch spatula while testing a method of repairing the space shuttle.

Persons: Jasmin Moghbeli, O’Hara, Loral O'Hara, Vyacheslav Oseledko, “, EarthSky, Heide, Piers Sellers, Michael Fossum Organizations: CNN, NASA, Space, International Space Station, European Space Agency Locations: stow, Kazakhstan, AFP

☆ Sberbank CEO expects 'serious cooling' in Russian mortgage market
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Elena Fabrichnaya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Russia's biggest bank Sberbank (SBER.MM) expects a sharp cooling of the mortgage market following an expected 80% rise in mortgage lending this year, CEO German Gref said on Wednesday. Gref said the bank's mortgage issuance for the whole of 2023 was expected to reach 4.6 trillion roubles ($50.1 billion). VTB, Russia's number two bank, expects mortgage loans across the entire sector to total 7.2 trillion roubles this year, falling to between 5 and 5.5 trillion roubles in 2024. Vyacheslav Dusaleyev, head of retail business at Rosbank, gave corresponding forecasts of 7.3 trillion roubles this year and 5 trillion next year. Mortgage demand has remained buoyant in part because of the wide range of preferential offers available, according to the central bank.

Persons: Maxim, Gref, Sberbank, Vyacheslav Dusaleyev, Olga Polyakova, Elena Fabrichnaya, Mark Trevelyan, Christina Fincher Organizations: St ., Economic, REUTERS, Rights, Mortgage, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Moscow, Rosbank

☆ For 250 years, US troops could tow their cannons around the battlefield. The war in Ukraine shows they won't have that luxury in the future.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

That raises questions for the US military about whether towed guns can stay ahead of the enemy. AdvertisementAdvertisementAs the Ukraine war has proven, the effectiveness of artillery rests on more than its range or the destructive power of its shells. Rolyn KropfThe Ukraine war has featured an array of towed and self-propelled artillery in a variety of calibers and manufactured by numerous nations. Advocates of self-propelled howitzers point to their superior protection and their ability to rapidly displace after firing. However, the US Army's next-generation Extended Range Cannon Artillery will essentially be an upgraded M109A7 Paladin with a more powerful gun.

Persons: —, James Rainey, Tom, Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy, Caesar, Rainey, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, US Army, US Army Futures Command, Association of, United, Washington DC, Spc, British L119, Getty, Publishing, Cannon Artillery, US Army Yuma, US, Artillery, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, United States, Washington, Germany, Russian, British, Sicily, Kharkiv Region, Yuma, Forbes

☆ Moscow will confiscate EU assets if Brussels 'steals' frozen Russian funds, Putin ally says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Russia will confiscate assets belonging to European Union states it deems unfriendly if the bloc "steals" frozen Russian funds in a drive to fund Ukraine, a top ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Friday that the EU executive was working on a proposal to pool some of the profits derived from frozen Russian state assets to help Ukraine and its post-war reconstruction. Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the State Duma, the Russian lower house of parliament, said Moscow would retaliate in a way that would be more costly to the bloc if the EU moved against Russian assets, many of which are held in Belgium. In that case, far more assets belonging to unfriendly countries will be confiscated than our frozen funds in Europe," he said. Von der Leyen said on Friday that the value of frozen Russian sovereign assets was 211 billion euros ($223.15 billion) and recalled that the bloc had decided that Russia must pay for Ukraine's reconstruction.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Ursula von der Leyen, Vyacheslav Volodin, Putin, Von der Leyen, Volodin, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Union, European Commission, EU, State Duma, Russian Federation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Belgium, Kyiv, Europe

☆ Russia says it shot down 36 Ukrainian drones as fighting grinds on in Ukraine’s east
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A satellite image shows smoke billowing from Russian Black Sea navy headquarters after a missile strike, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Sept. 22, 2023. Russian air defense shot down over 30 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula overnight Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday. "The air defense systems in place destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula," the ministry wrote on Telegram. Local authorities in the southern Krasnodar region bordering the Black Sea said that a fire broke out at an oil refinery in the early hours of Sunday, but did not specify the cause. In Ukraine, the country's air force said Sunday it had shot down five Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia overnight.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Ursula von der Leyen Organizations: Russia's Defense, Telegram . Local, Russia, Russian, UK Ministry, European Union, State Duma, European, Russian Federation Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Sevastopol, Crimea, Crimean, Krasnodar, Moscow, Siversk, Donetsk province, British, Russia, Avdiivka, Donetsk, Kyiv, Belgium, Europe

☆ Kremlin laughs off rumors that President Putin uses body doubles
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint press statement with his Kyrgyz counterpart after talks in Bishkek on Oct. 12, 2023. Vyacheslav Oseledko | Afp | Getty ImagesThere has been long-standing speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin uses body doubles to stand in for him at public engagements for health or security reasons, but the Kremlin ridiculed the rumors Tuesday. "Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake," Peskov said, according to a Reuters translation, denying a further question on whether Putin uses any body doubles. "This belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes that a whole series of media discuss with enviable tenacity. It was during the most difficult time of the fight against terrorism," Putin said, without giving further details.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Oseledko, Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov Organizations: Kyrgyz, Afp, Getty, Kremlin, Russian Telegram, Putin, Russia's TASS Locations: Bishkek, Chechnya

☆ Civilians killed and wounded as Russian forces renew push to take towns in eastern Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

At least three civilians were killed and others wounded in Ukraine on Friday and Saturday, as Russian forces continued to shell areas across the country and pushed forward near an embattled eastern city, local Ukrainian officials reported Saturday. A man died as Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian-held town of Nikopol from their stronghold at Ukraine's largest nuclear plant, according to Ukrainian local Gov. Russian shelling over the past day also wounded one civilian in the front-line city of Avdiivka, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, acting local Gov. Avdiivka has been fiercely contested by Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent weeks as Kyiv's forces try to hold off a renewed Russian assault. Russian forces have for weeks been pressing an offensive to retake territory near Kupiansk and the nearby town of Lyman.

Persons: Serhii, Lysak, Rih, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Oleksandr Vilkul, Vilkul, Igor Konashenkov, Oleksandr Prokudin, Prokudin, Ihor Moroz, Avdiivka, Moroz, Moscow's, Oleksandr Shputu, Shputun, Oleh Syniehubov, Vyacheslav Gladkov Organizations: Gov, Russian Defense Ministry, Institute for, Kremlin, Ukrainian, Staff Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Donetsk, Russian, Nikopol, Kryvyi, Ukraine's, Kherson, Avdiivka, Ukrainian, The Washington, Kharkiv, Kupiansk, Lyman, Russia's, Belgorod

The lower house, the State Duma, on Wednesday passed the second and third readings of a bill that revokes Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. What is happening in the world today is the exclusive fault of the United States," parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Russia's testing ground in the remote northern archipelago of Novaya Zemlya in August. CNN published satellite images last month showing Russia, the United States and China have all built new facilities at their nuclear test sites in recent years. The Soviet Union last tested in 1990 and the United States in 1992.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Sergei Shoigu, Melissa Parke, Mark Trevelyan, Nick Macfie Organizations: States Arms, West, State Duma, Comprehensive, Washington, Defence, CNN, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, International, Nuclear, Soviet Union, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, United States, Russian, Ukraine, China, India, Pakistan, Korea, Washington, Novaya Zemlya, Stockholm, USA, Soviet Russia

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Putin visits 'dear friend' Xi in Beijing as Ukraine reports overnight strikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russia is revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty because of the irresponsible attitude of the United States to global security, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament said on Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 5 that he was not ready to say whether or not Russia should resume nuclear testing after calls from some Russian security experts and lawmakers to test a nuclear bomb as a warning to the West. "In the interests of ensuring the security of our country, we are withdrawing the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said ahead of a debate and parliamentary vote on revoking ratification. Volodin said that while Russia ratified the 1996 treaty in 2000, Washington failed to ratify because of its "irresponsible attitude to global security issues". "The Russian Federation will do everything to protect its citizens and to maintain global strategic parity," Volodin said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, — Organizations: Comprehensive, Russian Federation Locations: Russia, United States, Washington

"In the interests of ensuring the security of our country, we are withdrawing the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said ahead of a debate and parliamentary vote on revoking ratification. While Russia is revoking ratification, it would remain a signatory and would continue to cooperate with the test ban treaty organisation and the global monitoring system, which alerts the world to any nuclear test. Post-Soviet Russia has never carried out a nuclear test. "I hear calls to start testing nuclear weapons, to return to testing," Putin said on Oct. 5. Since the CTBT, 10 nuclear tests have taken place.

Persons: Putin, Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Guy Faulconbridge, Robert Birsel Organizations: Comprehensive, Russian Federation, U.S, Soviet Union, United Nations, Cuban Missile, U.S . Congress, Thomson Locations: Russia, United States, MOSCOW, Washington, Soviet Russia, Soviet Union, China, Ukraine, Moscow, Beijing, India, Pakistan, North Korea

☆ Palestinian President Abbas condemns violence against civilians
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Ali Sawafta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet on the sidelines of the 6th summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA), in Astana, Kazakhstan October 13, 2022. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsRAMALLAH, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned violence against civilians on Thursday in the wake of the devastating attack by Hamas gunmen on Israel and the relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israeli jets that followed. "We reject the practices of killing civilians or abusing them on both sides because they contravene morals, religion and international law," the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted Abbas as saying. Earlier, Israeli settlers in the West Bank killed two Palestinians when they opened fire on a funeral procession. A 37-year-old woman was also killed when she was shot by security forces near Ramallah, the main city in the West bank, according to Palestinian health services.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mahmoud Abbas, Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Antony Blinken, Abbas, Wafa, Blinken, Israel, Fatah, Ali Sawafta, James Mackenzie, Mark Heinrich, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Sputnik, U.S, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Thomson Locations: Asia, Astana, Kazakhstan, RAMALLAH, Israel, Gaza, Jordan, East Jerusalem, Al Aqsa, Jerusalem, Old City, Palestinian, Ramallah, West

☆ Russian parliament bosses to discuss revoking ratification of nuclear test ban treaty
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russian lawmakers attend a session of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in Moscow, Russia January 16, 2020. The Kremlin chief said Russia could look at revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as the United States had signed, but not ratified, it. On Friday, Russia's envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said Moscow would revoke its ratification of the pact, a move that Washington denounced as endangering "the global norm" against nuclear test blasts. Last month CNN said satellite images showed growing activity at nuclear test sites in Russia, China and the United States. In 2020, the Washington Post said the then-Trump administration had discussed whether to hold a nuclear test.

Persons: Evgenia, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Russia's, Vyacheslav Volodin, Washington, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, Gerry Doyle, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: State Duma, REUTERS, Putin, Kremlin, Comprehensive, Duma, Treaty Organization, Cuban Missile, United, The Soviet Union, CNN, Washington Post, Trump, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, States, MOSCOW, Russian, United States, China, Soviet, Ukraine, Washington, Egypt, Iran, Israel, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Melbourne

Putin on Thursday said Russia's nuclear doctrine did not need updating but that he was not yet ready to say whether or not Russia needed to resume nuclear tests. The Kremlin chief said that Russia should look at revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as the United States had signed it but not ratified. Just hours after Putin's words, Russia's top lawmaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the legislature's bosses would swiftly consider the need to revoke Russia's ratification for the treaty. "At the next meeting of the State Duma Council, we will definitely discuss the issue of revoking the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," Volodin said. Putin's words, followed by Volodin's, indicate that Russia is almost certain to revoke ratification of the treaty, which bans nuclear explosions by everyone, everywhere.

Persons: Vyacheslav Volodin, Maxim Shemetov, Putin, Vladimir Putin, peaker Volodin, Volodin, Volodin's, Guy Faulconbridge, Sonali Paul, Stephen Coates Organizations: Nazi, REUTERS, Soviet Union, Comprehensive, Cuban Missile Crisis, Kremlin, State Duma Council, Soviet, United Nations, United, United States Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Thomson Locations: Russia's, Nazi Germany, Red, Moscow, Russia, MOSCOW, United States, Washington, Brussels, State, Ban, Soviet Union, India, Pakistan, North Korea

☆ Belarus President Lukashenko says by arming Ukraine, US is "pushing" Russia "towards using" nuclear weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Mariya Knight | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday that by arming Ukraine, the United States is pushing Russia toward using nuclear weapons. “I am getting the impression – I say again that it is my opinion – that Americans are pushing Russians toward using the most terrifying weapon. Lukashenko added that if such a missile struck Russian territory, Moscow would have to respond. Otherwise, why do we need these (nuclear) weapons for?,” Lukashenko said. He claimed US President Joe Biden could use a Ukrainian victory on the battlefield to boost his approval rating.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, “, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky, ” Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Russia “, Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Ukraine “, Zelensky, Joe Biden, Biden Organizations: CNN, Belarusian, Russian, State Duma, Comprehensive Locations: Ukraine, United States, Russia, Brest, Moscow, State

☆ Hroza, Ukraine missile strike: No military targets in village hit by 'inhuman' Russian attack, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Vasco Cotovio Radina Gigova Svitlana Vlasova Helen Regan | Vasco Cotovio | Radina Gigova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Members of Ukraine's emergency services at the scene of a Russian missile strike in the village of Hroza, Kharkiv region, eastern Ukraine on October 5. At least 16 people were injured, including an 11-month-old baby, said Oleh Syniehubov, the head of Kharkiv region’s military administration. Ukraine's emergency services work through the night digging through the rubble in the aftermath of a Russian missile attack. Police and military experts work at the site of a Russian military strike in Hroza. The Ukrainian military has since been trying to resist advances from Moscow.

Persons: ” Sergey Bolvinov, Vasco Cotovio, CNN Bolvinov, ”, Ihor Terekhov, Terekhov, Oleh Syniehubov, Dmytro Chubenko, Chubenko, Hroza, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Zelensky, Pedro Sánchez, Olaf Scholz, Zelensky, Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy, Karine Jean, Pierre, Sofiia Gatilova Organizations: Ukraine CNN, CNN, Hroza, Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s, RBC, Spanish, White, Ukraine, Police, NATO, Ukrainian Locations: Hroza, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Kupiansk, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Dnipro, Granada, Spain, Germany, “, Kyiv, Moscow, Russia

☆ Russian missile strike on Ukraine village kills 51 during memorial to fallen soldier
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Vitalii Hnidyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It also appeared to be one of the biggest civilian death tolls in any single Russian strike. Some of them were mourners gathering in the cafe after a service for a fallen soldier from the village. [1/3]Rescuers work at a site of a Russian military strike in the village of Hroza, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 5, 2023. The missile hit during a service marking the reburial in his home village of a soldier who had died in action elsewhere. This is a terrible tragedy," Klymenko told Ukrainian television.

Persons: Zelenskiy, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy, Serhiy Bolvinov, Oleksandr Mukhovatyi, Mukhovatyi, Ihor Klymenko, Klymenko, Rustem Umerov, Olena Harmash, Yuliia, Timothy Heritage, Andrew Heavens, Ron Popeski David Gregorio, Rod Nickel Organizations: Suspilne, Regional, Political Community, REUTERS, Prosecutors, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Spain HROZA, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Hroza, Kharkiv, Spain, Moscow, Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, Russia

☆ 'Loyalty alone is not enough': Kremlin reveals the qualities Russia's Vladimir Putin values the most
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via a video link in Saint Petersburg on October 10, 2022. "But for Vladimir Putin, loyalty alone is not enough. Russia's president Vladimir Putin (R) and his spokesman Dmitry Peskov (L) attend the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting at the Congress Hall in Bishkek on December 9, 2022. Contributor | Getty ImagesDuring Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, as it calls its invasion, questions have been raised about the strategy and competency of Russia's military leadership. FILE - Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin, around his factory which produces school meals, outside St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday, Sept. 20, 2010.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Gavriil Grigorov, Putin, Andrei Kondrashov, it's, Dmitry Peskov, Vyacheslav Oseledko, —, Sergey Lavrov, Sergei Shoigu, Sergei Lavrov, Nikolay Patrushev, Mikhail Mishustin, Sergei Sobyanin, There's, Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Patrushev, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Sergei Medvedev, Dmitry, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Alexander Ermochenko, Sergey Shoigu, Shoigu, Prigozhin, Wagner, Kirill Shamiev, Prigozhin Prigozhin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Alexei Druzhinin Organizations: Afp, Getty, CNBC, Economic, Kremlin, Security, Moscow, SVR, Russian Security Council, Ukraine, West ., Kyiv, Russian, Luhansk People's, Reuters, Wagner Group, European Council, Foreign Relations Locations: Saint Petersburg, Bishkek, Russian, Yerevan, Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Luhansk, Luhansk People's Republic, Crimea, Moscow, Belarus, Prigozhin, St . Petersburg

CNN —A Russian missile strike killed at least 51 people in a village near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk on Thursday, officials say, in what would be one of the deadliest attacks against civilians since the conflict began. Moscow’s forces targeted a cafe and a shop in Hroza, in the Kharkiv region, soon after midday local time (5 a.m. Hroza is located about 40 kilometers from the frontlines of the war near Kupiansk, the city in Kharkiv that Russian forces seized early on in the war before losing it a year ago. The Ukrainian military has since been trying to resist advances from Moscow. The UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine said images arriving from the scene of the attack “are absolutely horrifying,” accusing Russian forces of carrying out a war crime.

Persons: Ihor Klymenko, Dmytro Chubenko, Oleh Synehubov, Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy, Klymenko, ”, “, Rustem Umerov, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Zelensky, Europe’s, Denys Shmyhal, ” Shmyhal, ” Denise Brown Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian, Ukrainian Defense, NATO, “, Ukranian, Russian Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Kupiansk, Hroza, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Hrova, Ukraine, Pervomaiske, Moscow, Russia, Kyiv, Granada, Spain, “ Russia

☆ Putin marks anniversary of annexation of Ukrainian regions as drones attack overnight
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed a year ago "made their choice — to be with their Fatherland." A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Putin did not participate. Serhii Borzov said that air defenses shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but that a "powerful fire" broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility. Russia's Defense Ministry said Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. Drone strikes and shelling in the Russian border regions are a regular occurrence.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Josep Borrell, Borrell, Malashko, Serhii Borzov, Vyacheslav Gladkov Organizations: Senezh, Russia's, Commission, Russia's Defense, Ukraine, EU Foreign Affairs, Security, Gov, Romania's Ministry of National Defense, Romanian Army, NATO, Belgorod Gov, Local Locations: Russia, Solnechnogorsk, Moscow region, Moscow, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Red Square, Ukraine, EU, Odesa, Russian, Ukraine's, Matviivka, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Ukrainian, Kalynivka, Romania, Galati, Tulcea, Belgorod, Russia's Bryansk, Pogar

☆ Russia's Putin signs decree on autumn military conscription
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a concert dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of Soviet and Russian poet Rasul Gamzatov at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, September 28, 2023. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 29 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine autumn conscription campaign, calling up 130,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the government website showed on Friday. All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service between the ages of 18 and 27, or equivalent training while in higher education. Putin's move comes as Russia's armed forces press on with their "special military operation" in Ukraine, now in its 20th month. The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia - an aim Kremlin officials say is an unrealistic pipedream.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Rasul Gamzatov, Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Putin's, Maxim Rodionov, Gareth Jones Organizations: Sputnik, Thomson Locations: Russian, Moscow, Russia, Ukraine

In short, Russia’s children are being prepared for war. Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said recently that there are now about 10,000 so-called “military-patriotic” clubs in Russian schools and colleges, and a quarter-of-a-million people take part in their work. There are mandatory classes on military-patriotic values; updated history books accentuate Russian military triumphs. President Putin has personally led the campaign to inject patriotism into Russia’s schools. That message - hammered home by the president and state media - is now being taken into Russia’s schools.

Persons: Sergei Kravtsov, Vladimir Putin, ’, ”, ” Putin, Ukraine “, Putin, “, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Uliana Shumelova, schooler, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Daria, Vladimir, Ukraine –, Buryatia, She’d, It’s Organizations: CNN, Education, Security, Defense, Education Ministry, Novosti, RIA Novosti, Russia, Kremlin, Educational, Ministry of Defense, Air Defense, United, ”, Northern Military District, Military Sports Games, Defense Ministry, Armed Forces Russian Federation Locations: Pacific, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian, Russia, Crimea, Ukrainian, stoke, Belgorod, Krasnodar, Vologda, Sakhalin, Russia’s Far, Yeysk, Azov, Astrakhan, United Russia, Vladivostok, Voronezh, Ussuriysk, Buryatia, Chita trumpeted, Orenburg, Polish, Perm, State

According to Maiboroda, Mykytas used Tatarov for difficult tasks, including bribe payments on behalf of Ukrbud Development. "He knew about law enforcement and warned us to be careful about saying almost anything on the phone," Maiboroda told Reuters. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said experts would need to study the material to verify it. "The main thing is that a person is honest," Zelenskiy told reporters several days after Tatarov's appointment. Zelenskiy told Ukrainian television network ICTV in October 2021 that the offshore arrangement was to protect his TV production business from political pressure by the Yanukovych government.

Persons: Oleh Maiboroda, Maiboroda, Oleh Tatarov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Tatarov, Maiboroda's, Ukraine's, Zelenskiy, Kyiv pollsters, Oleksii Reznikov, Reznikov, Daria Kaleniuk, Nicola Mirto, Mirto, Viktor Yanukovych, Yanukovich's, Maxym Mykytas, Mykytas, Maiborada, NABU, Yanukovych, –, General Iryna Venediktova, Artem Sytnyk, Sytnyk, didn't, Oleksiy Symonenko, Symonenko, Andriy Yermak, Yermak, Denys, Dmytro Shtanko, Liudmyla, Sergey Shefir, Shefir, Vyacheslav Shapovalov, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Zheleznyak, Zelensky, Ihor, Kolomoisky, Semen Kryvonos, Kaleniuk, ”, Stephen Grey, Dan Peleschuk, Janet McBride Organizations: Reuters, Ukrbud, Prosecutors, Ukraine's, European Union, International Monetary Fund, Kyiv, Kyiv Independent, Tatarov, Ministry, Interior Ministry, Virgin Islands, ICTV, National Agency for, Ministry of Defence, Kiel Institute, NATO, Thomson Locations: VIENNA, KYIV, Vienna, Ukraine, Tatarov, Russia, Europe, European, Kyiv, Italian, Ukrainian, Soviet Ukraine, Zelenskiy's, Switzerland, Spain, Soviet, United States, Irpin

"Unless Zelenskiy gets rid of Tatarov, he won't be seen as serious in purging the country of corruption," she told Reuters. "He knew about law enforcement and warned us to be careful about saying almost anything on the phone," Maiboroda told Reuters. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said experts would need to study the material to verify it. "The main thing is that a person is honest," Zelenskiy told reporters several days after Tatarov's appointment. Zelenskiy told Ukrainian television network ICTV in October 2021 that the offshore arrangement was to protect his TV production business from political pressure by the Yanukovych government.

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