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☆ Movement of cargo vessels through Kerch Strait suspended by Russia since July 16 - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

July 18 (Reuters) - The movement of cargo vessels through the Kerch Strait has been suspended by Russian authorities since July 16 following drone attacks on the Crimean port of Sevastopol, two industry sources told Reuters. Russia's defence ministry said its forces had prevented Ukraine from attacking Sevastopol on Sunday, destroying seven aerial and two maritime drones. They stopped it on July 16, around 5 p.m. local time, when there was a (drone) attack on Sevastopol," said one source, who declined to be named. Security in the area also worsened on Monday following an overnight attack on the Crimean Bridge spanning the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kevin Liffey Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Kerch, Sevastopol, Russia's, Ukraine, Azov

☆ Russian tourists flee Crimea after attack on landmark bridge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] A train moves along the Crimean Bridge, a section of which was damaged by an alleged overnight attack, as seen from the city of Kerch, Crimea, July 17, 2023. State-run news agency RIA said a tailback of more than 5 km (3 miles) had formed as Russian tourists made for home - using the Chonhar bridge, which was briefly put out of action by a missile attack last month. Moscow blamed the attack on the Crimean bridge, the second since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine, on Kyiv. HOLIDAY CANCELLATIONS MOUNT UPKyiv says Russian tourists - more than 9 million of whom visited in 2021 - have no business holidaying on seized territory, especially while Ukraine is being bombed. The 19-km (12-mile) Crimean Bridge, a prestige project for President Vladimir Putin, is the route most Russian tourists choose to reach the peninsula, as well as a supply route for the Russian army in Ukraine.

Persons: Alexey Pavlishak, RIA, Vladimir Saldo, Elena Bazhenova, Crimea's, Ilya Umansky, Vladimir Putin, Andrew Osborn, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Kyiv, Russian Union of Travel Industry, Thomson Locations: Kerch, Crimea, Ukraine, Russia, MOSCOW, State, Moscow, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Russian, Ukraine's Kherson, Simferopol

Blood seeps from the door into a puddle on the road as an occupants of another car implores the girl to keep still. The video was verified by Reuters as having been filmed on the Crimean Bridge. The damaged car’s colour, alloy wheels and open fuel cap matched video from the scene shot in daylight, which showed the same car on the damaged bridge. "Two civilians were killed – a man and a woman driving a car on the bridge. "At about 3 o'clock in the morning, the family heard the first bang, after which the lights went out on the bridge," the relative said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Angelina, Alexei, Nataliya, Vyacheslav Gladkov, –, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean Organizations: Reuters, Russia's, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Moscow, Ukrainian, Belgorod, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Crimea, Europe, Melbourne

☆ Putin: Russian Defence Ministry preparing response to bridge attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 17 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday his defence ministry was preparing proposals for a response to an overnight attack that damaged the road bridge linking Crimea to southern Russia, for which he blamed Ukraine. At the end of a televised video meeting with national and regional officials to assess the consequences of the attack, Putin called it a cruel and senseless act, as he said the bridge "has not been used for military transportation for a long time". Russian authorities had said a couple driving over the bridge to go on holiday in Crimea had been killed, and their 14-year-old daughter had been injured. Kyiv did not officially claim responsibility, but Ukrainian media said Ukrainian security services had deployed maritime drones against the bridge. Kyiv says Russians have no business holidaying on seized territory, especially while Moscow is bombing Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Marat Khusnullin, Kevin Liffey, Sandra Maler Organizations: Thomson Locations: Crimea, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Moscow, Kyiv

☆ Russia suspends participation in Black Sea grain deal - Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - Russia has suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain export deal, the Kremlin said on Monday. The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to alleviate a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blocked by the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be exported safely. "In fact, the Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated." "As soon as the Russian part of the agreements is fulfilled, the Russian side will return to the implementation of this deal, immediately," Peskov said.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Putin, Caleb Davis, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Kremlin, United, West, Ukraine's Security Service, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian, Crimea, Ukrainian

☆ Chinese hackers accessed government emails, Microsoft says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Chinese state-linked hackers have secretly accessed email accounts at around 25 organisations including government agencies in a sweeping cyberespionage campaign, Microsoft said on Wednesday. The hacking group, which Microsoft (MSFT.O) dubbed Storm-0558, forged digital authentication tokens to access webmail accounts running on the firm's Outlook service, Microsoft said in a statement on its website. White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said an intrusion in Microsoft's cloud security had "affected unclassified systems", without elaborating. "Officials immediately contacted Microsoft to find the source and vulnerability in their cloud service," he added. China's embassy in London did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Persons: Jake Sullivan, Adam Hodge, James Pearson, Ed Osmond, Emelia, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Microsoft, ABC, White House, White, National Security, Thomson Locations: United States, Western Europe, China's, London, Beijing

[1/3] Writer Milan Kundera is pictured in Prague, former Czechoslovakia, May 6, 1963. CTK Photo/Frantisek Nesvadba via REUTERSPRAGUE, July 12 (Reuters) - Czech-born writer Milan Kundera, author of the novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" who lived nearly five decades in Paris after emigrating in disillusionment from his Communist-ruled homeland, has died at the age of 94. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Kundera was "a writer and a voice that we will miss". "Milan Kundera's work is at the same time a deep, human, intimate and distant exploration," she said. Fellow Czech writer Karel Hvizdala told Czech Television he saw his friend last November and he was already in poor health.

Persons: Milan Kundera, Frantisek Nesvadba, Kundera, Petr Fiala, Petr Pavel, Pavel, Elisabeth Borne, Milan, Karel Hvizdala, Albert Camus, Daniel Day, Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Philip Kaufman, Timothy Garton Ash, Monde, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Czechoslovakia's, Jan Lopatka, Robert Muller, Elizabeth Pineau, Tassilo Hummel, Michael Kahn, Jason Hovet, Toby Chopra, Kevin Liffey, Mark Heinrich, Nick Macfie Organizations: CTK, REUTERS, Moravian, Prague Spring, Czech Television, Czechoslovak Communist, New York Times, Oxford University, Paris Mayor, Czechoslovakia's Communist, Thomson Locations: Prague, Czechoslovakia, REUTERS PRAGUE, Czech, Paris, Brno, France, Communist Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak, Europe, Central Europe, French, Western

[1/2] People walk outside the Bank of England in the City of London financial district in London, Britain May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls//File PhotoLONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Britain's economy is so far proving resilient to a surge in interest rates over the past year and a half, but it will take time for the full impact to feed through, the Bank of England said on Wednesday. "The UK economy has so far been resilient to interest rate risk, though it will take time for the full impact of higher interest rates to come through," it said. It said British banks were less exposed than households to the adverse effects of higher interest rates, especially compared with financial institutions in other countries, while the corporate sector remained "broadly resilient". "Nevertheless, higher financing costs are likely to put pressure on some smaller or highly leveraged firms," it added.

Persons: Henry Nicholls, BoE, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey, David Milliken, Huw Jones, William Schomberg, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Bank of England, REUTERS, The Bank, Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Thomson Locations: City, London, Britain, Silicon

HONG KONG, July 12 (Reuters) - China's major tech companies have shed more than $1 trillion in value -equivalent to the entire Dutch economy - since the government's regulatory crackdown on the sector began more than two years ago, according to Refinitiv data. Reuters GraphicsTechnology stocks (.HSTECH) in Hong Kong have rallied 4.1% since Monday as investors bank on an easing regulatory environment to boost earnings, but some analysts have sounded a note of caution. "Mega-cap tech companies will allocate increasingly large amounts of capital expenditure towards developing generative AI technologies and products in a hostile external environment, potentially impacting profitability," said Redmond Wong, Saxo Markets strategist in Hong Kong. Steven Leung, UOB Kay Hian sales director, said current valuations would last "until we see more supporting policies from authorities". Reporting by Donny Kwok in Hong Kong and Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tencent, Redmond Wong, Steven Leung, UOB Kay Hian, Donny Kwok, Scott Murdoch, Kevin Liffey Organizations: People's Bank of China, Tencent Holdings, HK, Alibaba, Baidu Inc, Reuters Graphics Technology, Saxo Markets, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Sydney

☆ ASEAN chair Indonesia has little to show for Myanmar peace drive, diplomats say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Kate Lamb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JAKARTA, July 12 (Reuters) - Indonesia, working on behalf of southeast Asian nations, has little to show so far for its intense behind-the-scenes efforts to bridge gaps between factions in Myanmar's conflict, diplomatic sources say. Myanmar has been racked by violence since 2021, when the military seized power from a largely elected government and unleashed a deadly crackdown on opponents. But the junta, an opposition "shadow government" and rebel militias all refuse to compromise on their respective conditions to start even informal talks, said three sources, including two diplomats, familiar with the matter. Sasa said he could not confirm if the Bali meetings had taken place, but called for even deeper engagement with ASEAN. The sources said Indonesia had drawn inspiration from its "cocktail diplomacy" of the late 1980s, when it convinced Cambodia's four opposing factions to meet for informal talks near Jakarta.

Persons: Sasa, Bali, Cambodia's, Lina Alexandra, Retno Marsudi, Kanupriya Kapoor, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, National Unity Government, Centre, Strategic, International Studies, Indonesian, Thomson Locations: JAKARTA, Indonesia, Myanmar, Indonesia's, Bali, Jakarta

[1/7] Top ranking official attendees of the NATO summit pose for a family picture in Bucharest April 3, 2008. And officials often cite the Bucharest declaration as a reference point. The parallels with the 2008 summit, held in the colossal Parliament Palace commissioned by Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, have struck many NATO-watchers. But others argue that promising Ukraine NATO membership after the war could encourage Putin to keep the conflict going. They say the Bucharest declaration in fact prompted Putin to test Western Ukrainian militarily in both Ukraine and Georgia.

Persons: Francois Lenoir, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Dmytro Kuleba, Nicolae Ceausescu, Orysia, Zelenskiy, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Timothy Sayle, Andrew Gray, Kevin Liffey Organizations: NATO, REUTERS, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Chatham House, Russia, Ukraine NATO, University of Toronto, Thomson Locations: Bucharest, VILNIUS, Vilnius, Ukraine, Georgia, U.S, United States, France, Germany, Russia, Moscow, Soviet Union, NATO, Romanian, Russian, Eastern, Ossetia, Tbilisi, Crimea, Ukraine's

☆ Factbox: General Gerasimov, Russia's top soldier, appears for first time since Wagner mutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are some facts about Gerasimov:AS CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF* Gerasimov, now 67, is the third most powerful man in the Russian military after President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. UKRAINE* Gerasimov played key roles in Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and in Russia's game-changing military support for President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War. * In January, Putin appointed Gerasimov to lead the Ukraine campaign, and made Army General Sergei Surovikin, appointed to the role three months earlier, one of his three deputies. read more* Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the mercenary Wagner Group, fiercely criticised Gerasimov and Shoigu and staged a short-lived mutiny on June 23-24 to demand their dismissal. He graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank Command in 1977, from the Malinovsky Military Armoured Forces Academy in 1987, and from the Military Academy of the General Staff another decade later.

Persons: Valery Gerasimov, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Putin, Shoigu, Gerasimov, Bashar al, Assad, Sergei Surovikin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Aemy, AS, Defence, Zvezda, Wagner Group, Kazan Higher Tank Command, Malinovsky Military Armoured Forces Academy, Military Academy of, General Staff, Leningrad Military District, Moscow Military District, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, UKRAINE, Crimea, Ukraine, Syrian, Russia, Kazan, Leningrad, Moscow

☆ No one from Wagner has visited barracks offered by Belarus, ministry adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TSEL, Belarus, July 7 (Reuters) - No one from the Russian Wagner mercenary group has yet visited a disused military camp that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has offered for Wagner's use, an adviser to the Belarus defence minister told reporters on Friday. Asked if Wagner had come to look at the site, the adviser, Leonid Kasinsky, said: "They have not come, they have not looked." [1/3]A view shows a tent camp, which, according to the Belarusian Defence Ministry, was set up for exercises at a disused military base near the village of Tsel in the Asipovichy District, Belarus July 7, 2023. Lukashenko said Belarus had offered Wagner the disused Soviet-era military quarters near Tsel, but added that "Wagner has a different vision for deployment", on which he declined to elaborate. Kasinsky said around 300 tents at the camp had been put up for an exercise, and were not connected to Wagner.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Leonid Kasinsky, Maxim Shemetov Lukashenko, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Kasinsky, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Russian Defence Ministry, Belarusian Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: TSEL, Belarus, Russian, Tsel, Asipovichy District, Russia

☆ Kremlin: "Not too many hopes" for Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, July 3 (Reuters) - Russia is pessimistic about the prospects of renewing the Black Sea grain deal because no progress has been made in implementing accompanying agreements that pertain to Russian exports, the Kremlin said on Monday. The deal, under which Russia has guaranteed the safety of grain ships heading to and from Ukrainian ports through waters it controls, is set to expire on July 18 and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing there were "not too many hopes" it would be extended. To fulfil the memorandum, Russia says several conditions must be met, including the readmission of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the Belgian-based international banking payment system, SWIFT. Asked to comment on the FT report, Peskov said: "So far we have nothing to report on the implementation of that part of the agreement that concerned the Russian side. Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey Editing by Andrew OsbornOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, SWIFT, Peskov, Rosselkhozbank, Kevin Liffey, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Kremlin, Financial Times, European Union, Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia, United Nations, EU, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Moscow, Ukrainian, Belgian, Russian

SummarySummary Companies Russia to cut oil exports 500,000 bpd in AugustRussia's Novak announces cut just after Saudis extend their cutOil prices rise 1.6% on Saudi and Russian announcementsPutin spoke to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on June 27MOSCOW, July 3 (Reuters) - Russia will cut oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, President Vladimir Putin's point man on oil said on Monday, as Moscow seeks to nudge up global oil prices in concert with Saudia Arabia. Novak's spokeswoman declined to say whether Russian oil output would decline by the same amount as its exports. It has already pledged to reduce its output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.5 million bpd from March until year-end. Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, whose crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, spoke to Putin on June 27. Sechin said some OPEC+ countries were exporting as much as 90% of their output, whereas Russia puts only half of its production onto the global market.

Persons: Russia's Novak, Putin, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Vladimir Putin's, Brent, Alexander Novak, Novak's, Mohammed bin Salman, Igor Sechin, Sechin, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Saudia, Thomson Locations: Saudi, MOSCOW, Russia, Moscow, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Russian Urals

☆ Russia says it thwarted Ukrainian plot to kill Moscow-backed head of Crimea
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 3 (Reuters) - Russia's FSB security service said on Monday it had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-backed head of Crimea, arresting an agent before he could blow up Aksyonov's car. Russian media have reported that security has been stepped up in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and that additional checks are being made on crossings from Russia's southern Krasnodar region into Crimea. Footage broadcast on state TV showed masked FSB operatives detaining a man in a tracksuit as he walked into a wooded area. The FSB did not name the man, who it said was in his mid-30s and had entered Crimea in June. Aksyonov thanked the FSB and said he was sure the individuals who ordered the assassination would be found and punished.

Persons: Sergei Aksyonov, Ukraine's, Aksyonov, Andrew Osborn, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Crimea, Ukraine, Russia, Russia's, Krasnodar, Ukrainian, Simferopol

☆ Barclays seeks to stop being corporate banker to Odey Asset Management, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 2 (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) is looking to terminate its corporate banking relationship with Odey Asset Management (OAM), the Financial Times reported on Sunday, predominantly due to sexual assault allegations against founder Crispin Odey. The British hedge fund has grappled with redemptions since the FT and Tortoise Media on June 8 jointly reported allegations by 13 women that Crispin Odey had sexually assaulted or harassed them over a 25-year period. OAM and Barclays did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside usual office hours. FT also reported earlier that the FCA had restricted the movement of cash and assets from OAM to restore order at the firm. Letters to OAM investors last week showed the manager has proposed to restructure two of its key funds as part of efforts to extract Crispin Odey from the business after the assault allegations.

Persons: Crispin Odey, Odey, AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Rishabh, Kevin Liffey, David Holmes Organizations: Barclays, Odey Asset Management, Financial Times, redemptions, Tortoise Media, Sunday Barclays, Financial, Authority, FT, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: British, Canada, Halifax, Bengaluru

☆ Germany's Scholz watching France unrest with concern
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, July 2 (Reuters) - Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday that Germany was watching the unrest in France "with concern". French President Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to Germany that was set to begin Sunday because of turmoil on French streets in the wake of the police shooting of a teenager of North African descent. Scholz, in an interview with Germany's ARD television, said that, while watching with concern, he was confident that Macron would successfully calm the situation. "I don't expect that France will become unstable, even if the images of course are very distressing," he said. Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Tom Sims Editing by David Goodman and Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Scholz, Macron, Andreas Rinke, Tom Sims, David Goodman, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Germany's ARD, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Germany, France, North

☆ Hannibal Gaddafi moved to hospital in 'critical condition' in Lebanon, Al-Hadath TV reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

CAIRO, July 2 (Reuters) - Hannibal Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been moved from a Lebanese prison to hospital in "critical condition", Dubai-based Al-Hadath TV reported on Sunday. Gaddafi went on hunger strike last month in protest at his incarceration without trial since 2015. Citing unidentified sources, Al-Hadath said he had suffered a sharp drop in his blood sugar level. Gaddafi has been charged in Lebanon with concealing information about the fate of Imam Musa al-Sadr, a Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim cleric who disappeared while on a trip to Libya in 1978. Reporting by Hatem Maher, Writing by Muhammad Al Gebaly, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Hannibal Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi, Gaddafi, Hadath, Imam Musa al, Hatem Maher, Muhammad Al Gebaly, Andrew Cawthorne, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Sunday, Thomson Locations: CAIRO, Dubai, Lebanon, Sadr, Lebanese, Libya

☆ Russia's Aeroflot resumes regular flights to Cuba, suspended since Ukraine invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 1 (Reuters) - Rossiya Airlines, part of Russia's Aeroflot (AFLT.MM) group, on Saturday resumed scheduled flights to Cuba, which had been suspended since Western countries shut Russia out of their airspace in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The first flight of what will begin as a twice-weekly service took off for the Cuban resort of Varadero from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Saturday, Aeroflot said. Russian airlines suspended flights to Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic on Feb. 28 last year, four days after the invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation". The deputy prime minister for tourism, sport, culture and communications, Dmitry Chernyshenko, announced in May that regular flights to Cuba skirting the airspace of "unfriendly" countries would resume by July. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dmitry Chernyshenko, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Rossiya Airlines, Aeroflot, Saturday, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Cuba, Russia, Ukraine, Cuban, Varadero, Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Mexico, Dominican Republic

☆ Russia's Lavrov says Moscow is in contact with U.S. about embassies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 28 (Reuters) - White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has been in touch with Moscow to discuss the respective Russian and U.S. embassies, and the two sides are in talks on the subject, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. On Wednesday, in the text of an interview with Russian television published by Russia's foreign ministry, Lavrov hinted at some of these. Despite the deep freeze in relations, there have been some signs that contact is being maintained. Ambassador Lynne Tracy had spoken to Russian representatives and given "signals" that the United States was not involved in the weekend mutiny by Wagner mercenaries, and hoped that Russia's nuclear arsenal would be kept safe. Lavrov also quoted Tracy as saying the mutiny was Russia's internal affair.

Persons: Jake Sullivan, Sergei Lavrov, Moscow's, Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Putin, Lavrov, counterbalances, Brittney Griner, Viktor Bout, Lynne Tracy, Wagner, Tracy, Kevin Liffey, Alison Williams, Gareth Jones Organizations: White House, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: Moscow, U.S, Russia, Crimea, Ukraine, American, United States

☆ Russian court slaps additional $47 mln fine on Google owner Alphabet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 27 (Reuters) - A Russian court has fined Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), the company behind Google, over 4 billion roubles ($47 million) for failing to pay an earlier fine, Russia's anti-monopoly watchdog said on Tuesday. The previous fine of over 2 billion roubles was for blocking some YouTube channels. ($1 = 85.0250 roubles)Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kevin Liffey Organizations: Inc, Google, YouTube, Reuters, Thomson

☆ After Wagner mutiny, jailed Kremlin critic Navalny asks who is the real extremist?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In tweets posted by his aides, Navalny said he had been allowed no radio or conversations in his penal colony since June 1. "Instead the prosecutor came in and we continued the trial in which I stand accused of forming an organization to overthrow President (Vladimir) Putin by violent means," Navalny said. He blamed Putin squarely for the mutiny by the Wagner mercenary force that was allowed to recruit hardened convicts in exchange for promises of pardon and that the president allowed to become powerful. Navalny is serving 11-1/2 years for fraud and contempt of court on charges that he says were trumped up to silence him. He is now on trial on charges including creation of an extremist organisation and making public appeals to commit extremist activity.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Navalny, Read, Alexey Navalny, Wagner, Vladimir, Putin, Vladimir Putin's, Sergei, Shoigu, Kevin Liffey, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Court, ACF, Corruption, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia

☆ Prigozhin to be investigated after being paid $2 billion in a year - Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the finances of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's catering firm would be investigated after his mutiny, saying Wagner and its founder had received almost $2 billion from Russia in the past year. He said it had received 86 billion roubles ($1 billion) from the defence ministry between May 2022 and May 2023. In addition, Prigozhin's Concord catering company made 80 billion roubles from state contracts to supply food to the Russian army, Putin said. Prigozhin, whom Putin did not mention by name, could not be reached for immediate comment on Putin's remarks. He said on Monday that he had not been trying to overthrow the Russian state and that he remained a patriot who was trying to settle scores with the defence ministry.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Putin, Prigozhin, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Belarus, Kremlin, Concord, Ukraine, Russian

☆ Russia's mutiny case against Prigozhin remains open - Russian media
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - A Russian criminal case against mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin for mutiny remains open and is still being investigated, the Kommersant newspaper and Russia's three main news agencies reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources. Under a deal mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko that defused the crisis late on Saturday, the Kremlin said a criminal case against Prigozhin would be dropped and he would move to Belarus. However, Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday that the criminal case remained open and that the Federal Security Service (FSB) was continuing its investigation as part of the case. Russia's three main news agencies - TASS, RIA and Interfax - also reported that the criminal case against Prigozhin remained open and that the investigation was continuing. "The criminal case against Prigozhin has not stopped," TASS cited a source close to the prosecutor's office as saying.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Gareth Jones Organizations: Kommersant, Wagner Group, Kremlin, Russia's Kommersant, Federal Security Service, TASS, RIA, Rostov, Defence Ministry, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Rostov, Moscow, Russian, Belarus, Ukraine

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