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Moscow took sharp action on Friday to curb inflation, fearing the effects of ever higher spending on the war in Ukraine and of a weakening Russian ruble. Russia’s central bank took the unexpected step of raising its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point, to 8.5 percent from 7.5 percent. It was the first large hike in more than a year, and the bank warned that further increases were likely. “It is a surprise and on its face reflects more concern at the central bank about inflation and how the economy is doing that we had appreciated,” said Robert Kahn, the head of the Geoeconomics Team at the Eurasia Group, a New York-based risk analysis firm. “It suggests that the war is proving increasingly disruptive to economic activity and pushing up inflationary pressures.”

Persons: Moscow, ”, Robert Kahn Organizations: Eurasia Group Locations: Ukraine, Russia’s, New York

A top Russian general in Ukraine has lashed out at his bosses after being fired from his command, accusing them of undermining the war effort with dishonesty and politicking, in the latest sign of turmoil within the Kremlin’s military leadership. In a four-minute recording released late Wednesday night, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov addressed his troops, accusing his superiors of inflicting a blow on his forces by removing him from his post in retaliation for voicing the truth about battlefield problems to senior leadership behind closed doors. His firing, and the unusual public airing of his grievances, reflected the disarray that has roiled Russia’s military command since a failed mutiny three weeks ago. While the 58th Combined Arms Army he commanded has been holding off a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, “we were hit in the rear by our senior commander, who treacherously and vilely decapitated our army at the most difficult and tense moment,” General Popov said — an apparent reference to Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, chief of the armed forces. Since the mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group and its boss, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, several senior officers have been detained or pushed out of their posts, according to a person close to the Russian military, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Persons: Ivan Popov, vilely, General Popov, —, Valery V, Gerasimov, Wagner, Yevgeny V Organizations: Arms Army Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia

☆ Russian diplomats berate US, NATO over Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. is pushing NATO to the "most unfavourable" confrontation with Moscow with the decisions expected from the alliance's summit in Lithuania this week, while Kyiv's allies are "losing" in Ukraine, Russian diplomats said late on Monday. The Kremlin has been angered by the expected solidarity with Ukraine at the NATO summit which starts on Tuesday, saying Kyiv's potential membership in the alliance would be a threat to Russia and Moscow will react clearly and firmly. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said the United States is preparing anti-Russian decisions at the NATO summit. Konstantin Gavrilov, a Vienna-based Russian diplomat and a senior Russian security negotiator, told the Russian RIA state news agency in an interview the West is "losing" in Ukraine. "Both the United States and NATO understand that time is not working for them.

Persons: Anatoly Antonov, Antonov, Konstantin Gavrilov, Gavrilov, Lidia Kelly, Lincoln Organizations: NATO, Diplomats, Russian Federation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Moscow, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Russian, United States, Vilnius, Lithuanian, Vienna, Bakhmut, Melbourne

☆ US to send Ukraine cluster munitions, NATO makes membership pledge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The cluster munitions "will deliver in a time frame that is relevant for the counteroffensive," a Pentagon official told reporters. Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries.Russia, Ukraine and the United States have not signed on to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons. BOTH SIDES SHOULD STOP USING CLUSTER BOMBS -HRWHuman Rights Watch has accused Russian and Ukrainian forces of using cluster munitions, which have killed civilians. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said after meeting Zelenskiy that Ukraine deserved NATO membership and that Ankara would continue working on a negotiated end to the war. "Our summit will send a clear message: NATO stands united, and Russia's aggression will not pay," Stoltenberg said at a news conference in Brussels.

Persons: Washington's, Vladimir Putin, Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden, Anatoly Antonov, Antonov, Igor Ovcharruck, Clodagh, It's, Colin Kahl, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Tayyip Erdogan, Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Biden, Putin, Martin Griffiths, Griffiths, Robert Muller, Jason Hovet, Pavel Polityuk, Mike Stone, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Michelle Nichols, Grant McCool, Diane Craft, David Gregorio Our Organizations: NATO, United States, Rights, United Nations, Pentagon, Cluster Munitions, White House, Watch, U.S, Washington, TASS, REUTERS, Treaty Organization, CNN, UN, Initiative, U.N, United, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, U.S, United States, Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Zelenskiy, Ankara, Prague, Sofia, Brussels, Vilnius, Lithuanian, RUSSIA, Moscow, Odesa, United Nations, Kyiv, Washington

☆ Lukashenko Says Prigozhin Is in Russia, Not Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | Juston Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

MINSK, Belarus — The mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin is in Russia, the leader of Belarus said on Thursday, adding to the questions swirling around Mr. Prigozhin’s fate nearly two weeks after he called off his stunning armed rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership. None of Mr. Lukashenko’s claims could be verified, and Mr. Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the rebellion nearly two weeks ago. Mr. Prigozhin was “not on the territory of Belarus,” Mr. Lukashenko said, and nor were Wagner troops, who he said remained in their “permanent camps,” believed to be in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. Mr. Lukashenko also signaled that at least some of Wagner’s fighting force — which was instrumental in Russia’s capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut this spring — could stay intact. But on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko appeared less definitive about the possible presence of Wagner troops in Belarus.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Wagner, Lukashenko’s, ” Mr, ”, Vladimir V, “, Dmitri S, Mr, Putin, ’, Putin’s, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Ivan Nechepurenko Organizations: Independence, Kremlin, Russia, The New York Times, West, Mr Locations: MINSK, Belarus, Russia, Russian, St, Petersburg, Luhansk, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Belarusian, Minsk, Moscow

☆ ‘Dig, Dig, Dig’: A Russian Soldier’s Story
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Thomas Gibbons-Neff | Natalia Yermak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The Russian soldier was captured only days after arriving on the front line in eastern Ukraine. It takes into account the International Committee of the Red Cross’s guidance regarding publishing information about prisoners of war. After two months in prison, a man in a “green suit” from the Russian Ministry of Defense arrived, looking for recruits. They were just forced to dig, dig, dig, dig, and that was it. We were looking for a place to dig somewhere.”Merk said that when the Ukrainian attack began, there were nine soldiers digging alongside him.

Persons: Merk, “, Wagner, ’, ” Merk, ‘, ‘ You’re, Oleg Matsnev, Riley Mellen, Dmitriy Khavin, Anatoly Kurmanaev Organizations: New York Times, Kremlin, Times, United Nations, Storm, Committee, Russian Ministry of Defense, Defense Service Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Ukrainian, Kramatorsk, ’

“They all have incentives to play things down and make it all look normal,” said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. While Mr. Putin was able to defuse the crisis by agreeing to allow mercenary leader, Yegveny V. Prigozhin, to leave for Belarus, the brief insurrection raised questions about his authority and future. Speaking at his first international forum since the mutiny, Mr. Putin thanked the member states for their backing after the uprising, which he claimed had no popular support in Russia. “United by the deep responsibility for the fate of the motherland, Russian political circles and all of society showed a united front against the attempted armed mutiny,” Mr. Putin said. He also sought to cast the summit as a sign of international support for his invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: ”, Ian Chong, Putin, Wagner, Yegveny, Mr Organizations: National University of Singapore, “, U.S Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Wagner’s Mutiny Has Century-Old Echoes of Another Russian Debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Russian soldiers braced in their trenches in Ukraine, a charismatic military leader suddenly marched his forces on the capital. He promised to save the nation from traitors who were pushing it toward catastrophic military defeat. The rebels stopped just short of their goal, but the fallout from the mutiny contributed to pulling Russia apart soon after. The already weakened military collapsed, the government crumbled and the country descended into a devastating civil war. Mr. Putin, an amateur revisionist historian, devoted a significant part of his initial televised address during the mutiny to Russia’s downfall in World War I.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow

☆ His Glory Fading, a Russian Warlord Took One Last Stab at Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Paul Sonne | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Well before Yevgeny V. Prigozhin seized a major Russian military hub and ordered an armed march on Moscow, posing a startling and dramatic threat to President Vladimir V. Putin, the caterer-turned-mercenary-boss was losing his own personal war. Mr. Prigozhin’s private army had been sidelined. The commander he most admired in the Russian military had been removed as the top general overseeing Ukraine. Mr. Putin sided publicly with Mr. Prigozhin’s adversaries, affirming that all irregular units fighting in Ukraine would have to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense. That included Mr. Prigozhin’s private military company, Wagner.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Sergei K, Shoigu, Mr, Wagner Organizations: Ukraine, Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ Russia pulls back from brink of crisis after deal reached to end Wagner insurrection
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images Putin judges an arm wrestling match while visiting the Seliger youth educational forum in Russia's Tver region in August 2011. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ” Prigozhin, ” Wagner, ”, Dmitry Peskov, “, Prigozhin, ” Peskov, Putin, Putin Putin, Joseph Stalin, –, “ Putin, Evelyn Farkas, ’, Vladimir Putin, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Pavel Bednyakov, Peter Zwack, Beth Sanner, ” Sanner, “ He’s, … Putin, Moscow’s, Priogozhin Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Communist, McCain, Putin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, Russia’s Southern Military District, US Army, National Intelligence for Mission, State Department, European Union Locations: Moscow, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kremlin, Russia’s Belgorod, Putin Russian, Russian, Rostov, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, –, Canada, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Soviet, Kazakhstan

And they clearly had little interest in helping Mr. Putin avoid a major, embarrassing fracturing of his support. While it is not clear exactly when the United States first learned of the plot, intelligence officials conducted briefings on Wednesday with administration and defense officials. Still, American officials concluded that Mr. Prigozhin’s public statements were not controlled by Mr. Putin. But it was only in recent days that intelligence officials got the initial warnings that Mr. Prigozhin might take action. President Biden, speaking in October, talked of the dangers that Mr. Putin would pose if he felt cornered and said the United States was looking for “off ramps” for Mr. Putin.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Prigozhin’s, “, ”, Sergei K, Valery Gerasimov, Wagner ., Tatiana Stanovaya, Shoigu, Stanovaya, Gerasimov, Biden, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Wagner Group, United, CNN, United States, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Associated Press, Intelligence, Russian, Ukrainian, Mr, Ministry of Defense, Defense Ministry, Carnegie Endowment, International Locations: Rostov, Don, Russia, United States, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Moscow, Belarus, United, U.S, Russian, Bakhmut, Wagner . Russia

1 11 a.m. Friday Prigozhin questions war rationaleIn a 30-minute video released at 11 a.m. on Friday, Mr. Prigozhin challenged the wisdom of the Russia-Ukraine war. The Federal Security Service, Russia’s main intelligence agency, opened an investigation against Mr. Prigozhin for armed rebellion. 3 7:30 a.m. Saturday Wagner forces take Rostov-on-DonConcord Press ServiceDespite the defense measures, Wagner forces took Rostov-on-Don with little resistance. Around 7:30 a.m., Mr. Prigozhin posted a video from the regional military headquarters, claiming to have control of key city installations. Mr. Prigozhin was among those leaving, driving out of the city in a heavily guarded black S.U.V.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Wagner, Prigozhin, Sergei K, ”, Prigozhin’s, Saturday Wagner, Don Sea, Putin, Alexsandr G, Lukashenko, ’, Don Wagner Organizations: Wagner, Federal Security Service, Don Concord Press, Don, Saturday, Reuters, Moscow, Moscow russia belarus Elets, Volgograd UKRAINE Bakhmut Rostov, Moscow russia Elets, New York Times, Ukraine Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Rostov, Russia’s Voronezh, Moscow russia belarus, Moscow russia belarus Elets Voronezh, Volgograd UKRAINE, Don, Azov, Moscow russia, Moscow russia Elets Voronezh, Russian, Voronezh, Elets, Lipetsk, Belarus, ”

☆ As Putin’s Trusted Partner, Prigozhin Was Always Willing to Do the Dirty Work
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | Kyle Crichton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the mercenary leader who led an armed rebellion in Russia on Saturday, was never afraid of a dirty task, many say. Emerging from jail as the Soviet Union was collapsing, he began his post-criminal career selling hot dogs on street corners in St. Petersburg, Russia. Mr. Prigozhin quickly earned the trust of his benefactor, who assigned him a number of important tasks that were best handled at arm’s length from the government. From there, he raised mercenaries to fight in Syria and Libya, and, most fatefully, founded the private military group Wagner, which emerged during Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. It quickly earned a reputation for ruthless violence in pursuit of lucrative diamond and gold concessions, while building political influence for the Kremlin in countries like the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali and Sudan.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Vladimir V, Putin, Vladimir, Prigozhin, Wagner Organizations: Internet Research Agency, Kremlin, Central African Locations: Russia, Soviet Union, St . Petersburg, United States, Europe, Syria, Libya, Crimea, Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan

In the war-torn Chechnya region, Mr. Kadyrov built up a private fiefdom while professing loyalty to no official but Mr. Putin himself. A judo sparring partner from Mr. Putin’s youth became a construction billionaire and built Mr. Putin’s landmark bridge to Crimea. And then there was Mr. Prigozhin, who has said that he met Mr. Putin in 2000 as a St. Petersburg restaurateur. In Ukraine, as Mr. Prigozhin tells it, Wagner troops were only called in after Mr. Putin’s initial invasion plan failed. But Mr. Putin seemed to vacillate on his own support for Mr. Prigozhin.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Putin’s, “, ”, —, “ Putin, Tatiana Stanovaya, ” Mr, Ramzan Kadyrov, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Mr, Wagner, tycoons, Boris N, Yeltsin, Kadyrov, Prigozhin’s, K.G.B, Donald J, Trump, Weeks, ’, Putin “, Andrei Soldatov, Prigozhin “, ” Mark Galeotti, ” Neil MacFarquhar, Valerie Hopkins Organizations: Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, ., Reuters, Federal Security Service, Kremlin, Television, Defense, Defense Ministry, Center for Locations: Russia, Moscow, Russian, Rostov, Chechnya, Belarus, Russia’s, Don, Ukraine, Putin’s, Crimea, St, Petersburg, United States, Syria, Africa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut

Image Mr. Prigozhin and President Vladimir Putin at one of Mr. Prigozhin’s factories in St. Petersburg in 2010. Mr. Prigozhin accused the Russian military of attacking his forces, vowed to retaliate, on Friday. In an earlier videotaped speech, Mr. Prigozhin did not explicitly impugn Mr. Putin, instead casting him as a leader being misled by his officials. But, during the battle for Bakhmut, Mr. Prigozhin also emerged as a populist political figure, excoriating Russia’s military leadership for corruption. Others theorized that the Kremlin had orchestrated Mr. Prigozhin’s tirades against Mr. Shoigu, the defense minister, to deflect blame from Mr. Putin himself.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin, Wagner, Mr, ” Gen, Vladimir Alekseyev, ” Mr, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s, ’, “, ”, GOH, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, Adam Hodge, Vladimir Putin, —, Sergei K, Shoigu, Dmitri S, diatribes, excoriating, Prigozhin’s, Igor Girkin, Girkin, ” Julian E, Barnes, Cassandra Vinograd Organizations: Russian, ., Reuters, Russian Defense Ministry, Russia’s, Defense Ministry, Telegram, Twitter, National Security, Associated Press, Bakhmut, Kremlin Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Rostov, Don, Russia, White, St . Petersburg, St, Petersburg, Syria, Africa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Prigozhin, Russian, Ukraine’s, “

The recent crypto platform bankruptcies trapped customer assets now worth around $34 billion, according to Xclaim, which allows creditors to trade such claims. To protect themselves, institutional crypto investors are switching to exchanges that offer stronger asset protection, boosting due diligence on trading partners, and executing trades in smaller chunks, among other new risk management measures, according to executives and industry data. European crypto asset manager CoinShares ramped up its counterparty due diligence after losing 26 million pounds ($32.65 million) in the collapse of FTX. Financial regulators like the SEC say many crypto companies flout applicable rules, meaning risk management still lags the traditional financial sector. "This is inevitably risk we're all carrying in crypto - we have uncomfortable concentration risk on one large exchange called Binance," said Nickel's Crachilov.

Persons: Samed Bouaynaya, Coinbase, Altana, Binance, Anatoly Crachilov, Martin Lee, Nansen, Stephen Richardson, CoinShares ramped, cybersecurity, Jean, Marie Mognetti, Changpeng Zhao, Nickel's Crachilov, Wes Hansen, Hansen, Elizabeth Howcroft, Michelle Price, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Voyager, London, Coinbase, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Asset Management, Arca, Thomson

☆ New US military aid to Ukraine pushes Washington deeper in conflict - Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 14 (Reuters) - The new $325 million U.S. military aid package for Ukraine pushes Washington deeper into the "abyss" of the conflict, Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said early on Wednesday. The package, which includes munitions for air defence systems, ammunition and vehicles, comes as Ukraine is shaping its long-expected counter-offensive. "The United States is getting deeper and deeper into the abyss of the Ukrainian crisis," Antonov was quoted as saying in a post on the embassy's Telegram messaging channel. "Apparently, the strategists from the United States somehow do not understand that no amount of weapons, whatever involvement of mercenaries, will be able to turn the tide in the course of (Russia's) special military operation." Russia refers to its actions in Ukraine as a "special military operation", rather than a war.

Persons: Anatoly Antonov, Antonov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Lidia Kelly, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: European Union, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Washington, United States, Russia, Kyiv, Russian, Melbourne

☆ Russia's Sberbank launches Indian rupee accounts for individuals
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A view shows the logo of Sber (Sberbank) at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 15, 2022. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File PhotoMOSCOW, June 14 (Reuters) - Russia's dominant lender on Wednesday said individuals could now open accounts in Indian rupees, expanding the range of foreign currencies available as Moscow strives to reduce dependency on the U.S. dollar and euro. "As Sberbank has highlighted, the bank supports the trend of de-dollarisation and constantly increases the number of foreign currencies available to clients," Sberbank said in a statement. Sberbank has more than 100 million retail clients and already offers deposits in China's yuan and UAE dirhams. "Other soft currencies are still only looking for their consumers in Russia, acting as niche offers," he added.

Persons: Anton Vaganov, Sberbank, Anatoly Pechatnikov, Elena Fabrichnaya, Alexander Marrow, Louise Heavens, Sharon Singleton Organizations: St ., Economic, REUTERS, U.S ., UAE dirhams, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, MOSCOW, Moscow, yuan, UAE

☆ Russia and Saudi Arabia’s Oil Partnership Shows Strain
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Clifford Krauss | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For most of the last six years, the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia worked with each other to control the global oil market during times of war, pandemic and dizzying price gyrations. At last weekend’s meeting of OPEC Plus, the oil cartel that the two countries lead, Saudi Arabia and Russia quietly parted ways. Just two months earlier, Russia and Saudi Arabia, which together sell more than 20 percent of the oil used by the world, had agreed to cut production. But while Saudi Arabia followed through and sold less oil to other countries, Russia does not appear to have done so. Russia recently stopped disclosing information on its oil industry, but analysts estimate that Moscow has increased exports, undercutting that earlier deal.

Persons: Biden, Antony J, Blinken’s Organizations: OPEC Locations: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Moscow

☆ ‘Everything Changed’: The War Arrives on Russians’ Doorstep
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To some in the region, the assaults on Shebekino, the most sustained attack on a Russian town since the start of the war, made clear Moscow’s lack of concern for their fate. In social media posts, they used the hashtag #ShebekinoIsRussia, a cry for attention from the wider public across the country, which has largely carried on with daily life. In interviews, some in Shebekino expressed anger at how state television anchors struggled to pronounce the town’s name, even as they lauded the evacuation efforts. “It seems that in Moscow they don’t understand what we have going on here,” said Ruslan, the English teacher. Levada’s director, Denis Volkov, said it was too early to say whether the escalation of border attacks would rally Russians around the flag.

Persons: Shebekino, ”, Ruslan, Denis Volkov, “ Organizations: Levada Locations: Moscow, Kremlin, Shebekino

☆ Car Bombing in Russian-Occupied Ukraine Shows Reach of War
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Thomas Gibbons-Neff | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A car bomb killed at least one person on Friday night in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian and Russian officials, highlighting the war’s reach far beyond the front lines as Ukrainian partisans aim to undermine their occupiers. The blast occurred in Mykhailivka, a town in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. Vladimir Rogov, a Russian occupation official in the Zaporizhzhia region, confirmed the attack in a Telegram post, saying the bomb killed a “local businessman” named Sergei Didovoduk and injured two others. The attack comes as Ukrainian forces are preparing for a highly anticipated counteroffensive that analysts believe will take place in southern Ukraine. Kyiv’s troops will probably aim to sever the land routes that connect Russia to Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, according to analysts and Western officials.

Persons: ”, Ivan Fedorov, Vladimir Rogov, Sergei Didovoduk Organizations: Kremlin, Western Locations: Ukraine, Mykhailivka, Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian, Russian, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia, Russia, Crimea, Moscow

☆ As Kyiv Reckons With Deaths by a Shelter, Russia Evacuates Border Towns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Thomas Gibbons-Neff | Natalia Yermak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If scenes of flight and destruction are relatively novel for Russians, such bombardment have become painfully familiar for many Ukrainians. For the residents of the eastern Kyiv district near the clinic, living in a cluster of Soviet-style apartment blocks amid small shops, going to the children’s clinic shelter had been part of a weekslong routine, as Russia launched drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at the capital for much of May. 3 clinic to take shelter in its basement early Thursday morning. As they huddled, knocked and waited for entry, Ukrainian air defenses, bolstered by Western-supplied weapons such as the Patriot missile, only partially intercepted a Russian ballistic missile, knocking it off course but not destroying its warhead, the police officer said. The explosion shattered windows in nearby buildings and blasted doors off their hinges in the clinic, creating a crater roughly 13 feet wide.

Persons: ”, Sukhomlyn, “, ” Anatoly Kurmanaev, Michael Schwirtz Organizations: Patriot Locations: Kyiv, Russia, Russian

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, yet again with a missile attack in the early hours of Thursday, killing three people, including a mother and child who were not able to get into a shelter, officials said. Ukraine’s general staff headquarters said Kyiv had been attacked by a volley of 10 Iskander ballistic missiles, all of which were shot down. “For 15 months, Russian aggression and terror have been destroying not just buildings, but fundamental human rights — the fundamental rights of our children,” he said. Officials in Kyiv said that some Children’s Day events scheduled for Thursday had been canceled. Andrew E. Kramer and Nicole Tung reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Victoria Kim from Seoul.

Persons: Kyiv’s, Vitali Klitschko, Ukraine’s, Klitschko, ”, Volodymyr Zelensky, Andrew E, Kramer, Nicole Tung, Victoria Kim, Marc Santora, Juston Jones Organizations: Police Locations: KYIV, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Seoul, New York

☆ State treason trial of Russian physicist begins in St. Petersburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 1 (Reuters) - The criminal trial of a prominent Russian physicist accused of state treason opened in St Petersburg on Thursday amid tight secrecy and concerns over the health of the elderly defendant. The case, marked as "top secret", is closed to the media and public, the St Petersburg court has said. Maslov was a professor and researcher at the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, one of Russia's top scientific centres. Soon afterwards, Maslov was sent to Lefortovo prison in Moscow, a former KGB interrogation site, before being transferred to St. Petersburg to stand trial. Russia's parliament voted in April to increase the maximum penalty for treason to life imprisonment from 20 years.

Persons: Anatoly Maslov, Maslov, Lucy Papachristou, Gareth Jones Organizations: Kremlin, Reuters, Khristianovich, of Theoretical, Mechanics, Thomson Locations: Russian, St Petersburg, Siberian, Novosibirsk, Petersburg, Maslov, Moscow, St, hypersonics, China

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