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☆ Russian mercenary boss passed money laundering checks by using a utility bill in his 81-year-old mother's name, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Yevgeny Prigozhin got past UK money laundering laws using a bill in his 81-year-old mom's name. The Wagner Group boss passed the checks that allowed him to sue a UK journalist, the FT reported. At the time he was under UK sanctions for his group's role in bloody conflicts around the world. A lawyer at Discreet Law replied by saying: "We are satisfied with the [anti-money laundering] documents," according to the FT. Discreet Law founder Roger Gherson told the FT that Discreet Law "cannot comment on confidential communications with their former clients."

☆ Hotels in St Petersburg told to offer noodle stations as part of Russia's plan to lure more Chinese tourists
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia is trying to lure more Chinese visitors to support its struggling tourism industry. They want to attract more tourists from China by encouraging hotels to provide traditional cuisine and offer things like noodle stations at breakfast. The first post-pandemic Chinese tour group is expected to arrive in St Petersburg from Guangzhou on February 25, per TASS. Chinese tourists were big pre-pandemic business for St Petersburg. In 2019, there were 957,000 Chinese visitors to the city, accounting for 9.2% of the total, according to data from its tourism development committee, cited by TASS.

☆ Netherlands orders Russian embassy to downsize, Moscow says it will respond
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Dutch government on Saturday said it would close its consulate in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and that it would limit the number of Russian diplomats allowed at the Russian embassy in The Hague. "At the same time Russia refuses to give visas to Dutch diplomats who would work at the consulate in St Petersburg or the embassy in Moscow." In Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry said it would respond to the move, RIA news agency reported. The Dutch government said it had decided to limit the number of diplomats at the Russian embassy in The Hague to match the number of those at the Dutch embassy in Moscow. "A number of diplomats shall therefore have to leave the country within two weeks," The Foreign Affairs ministry said in a statement, without giving a specific number.

☆ A year into the war, Russians in Georgia are viewed with suspicion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Bookshop owner Nikolai Kireev, who recently relocated from Russia to Georgia, is seen through a window in Tbilisi, Georgia, February 14, 2023. Kireev is one of hundreds of thousands of Russians who relocated to Georgia following the invasion in February and the announcement of a "partial mobilisation" in Russia in September. According to Georgia's interior ministry, 112,000 Russians were in the country, which has a population of 3.7 million, as of Nov. 1. While the emigrants have helped make Georgia, along with neighbouring Armenia - another popular destination for anti-war Russians - among the fastest growing economies in the world, many Georgians view them with suspicion. In the 1990s, Moscow backed separatists in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, with the regions' ethnic Georgian populations expelled.

☆ Analysis: Kremlin moves to rein in Russian mercenary boss Prigozhin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

"The position of the (Kremlin) political bloc is not to let him into politics. Prigozhin told a Russian interviewer on Friday that he had "zero" political ambitions. Markov, who described Prigozhin as extremely confrontational, said he believed Putin had told Prigozhin to halt public criticism of the top brass at a St Petersburg meeting around Jan. 14. It advised recipients to stop mentioning Prigozhin or Wagner and suggested generic phrases to describe his forces instead. After years of denials, Prigozhin stepped out of the shadows in September to admit he had founded Wagner in 2014.

☆ Russian c.bank sees record $74 bln deposit auction as budget deficit widens
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The central bank set the auction limit at 5.95 trillion roubles. "Since December, we have observed a peak liquidity surplus in the system," said Denis Popov, chief macroeconomic analyst at Promsvyazbank. Russia's structural liquidity surplus has increased to 3.38 trillion roubles as of Feb. 7, from 0.57 trillion roubles at the start of the year. "In our view, the likelihood that they turn out higher than the 29 trillion roubles that is budgeted for is quite high." Extrapolating from current dynamics until the end of the year and assuming that non-oil and gas revenue targets are achievable, Belenkaya estimated that the budget deficit could reach 6.5 trillion roubles, well above the planned 2.9 trillion roubles.

☆ Allies offer more weapons to Ukraine, but no decisions have been made on tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian military vehicles drive along a road outside of the town of Chasiv Yar on January 18, 2023 in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Western allies on Friday dampened Ukraine's hopes for a rapid shipment of battle tanks to boost its firepower for a spring offensive against Russian forces, with the United States urging Kyiv to hold off from mounting such an operation. The run-up to the Ramstein meeting had been dominated by the issue of whether Germany would agree to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, or permit other countries that have them to do so. The United States was also holding fast to its decision not to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine yet, a senior U.S. official said in Washington. Ukraine was hit especially hard this week, reporting 44 people confirmed dead and 20 unaccounted for after a Russian missile attack on an apartment block in Dnipro.

☆ Russians lay flowers at improvised memorials to commemorate Dnipro dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Russians in St Petersburg and Moscow have been laying flowers at improvised memorials to the victims of a Russian missile attack on a nine-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. On Friday evening, dozens of bunches of flowers and several cuddly toys were arranged around the base of a monument to Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko in central St Petersburg. A young man said that "one way or another, even in times like these, this shouldn't become normal". Ukraine says the building in Dnipro was hit by a Russian Kh-22 missile. Among those who paid their respects in St Petersburg were a middle-aged couple.

☆ Putin: Russian military-industrial might makes victory in Ukraine 'inevitable'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Jan 18 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia's powerful military-industrial complex was ramping up production and was one of the main reasons why his country would prevail in Ukraine. "In terms of achieving the end result and the victory that is inevitable, there are several things ... Putin said Russian arms companies manufactured about the same number of anti-aircraft missiles as the rest of the world combined, and three times more than the United States. "These are our historical territories," he said - a reference to the fact that large parts of today's Ukraine were once part of the Russian Empire. Putin was born in Leningrad in 1952 and began his foreign intelligence career in the city with the Soviet KGB.

☆ Ukraine closer to receiving modern Western battle tanks, more Patriots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Ukrainian servicemen prepare a Polish self-propelled howitzer Krab to fire toward Russian positions, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, on a frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 17, 2023. Ukraine says the tanks would give its troops the mobile firepower to drive Russian troops out in decisive battles. Germany has been the West's biggest holdout on pledging tanks but a Cabinet minister said on Tuesday the issue would be the first to be decided by new defence minister Boris Pistorius. Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Tuesday evening said Ukrainian and Russian forces exchanged fire on the eastern frontline, where neither side has advanced much in recent months. Russian forces also launched 13 air raids and 23 shelling attacks from multiple rocket launchers, it said.

☆ Analysis: Russian mercenary boss courts Putin with Ukrainian battlefield success
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Now as the founder of Russia's most powerful mercenary group, he is vying for Vladimir Putin's favour by claiming a rare battlefield win in Ukraine. Russia claimed victory on Friday after Ukraine said its forces were holding on after a 'hot' night of fighting. The defence ministry on Friday attributed victory to its airborne units, missile forces and "artillery of a grouping of Russian forces". Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the state-controlled RT channel and close to the Kremlin, thanked Prigozhin for Soledar. Despite its sometimes publicly strained ties with the Russian defence ministry, some Western military analysts suspect Wagner is closely affiliated with it.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, center, with soldiers in what they said was a salt mine in Soledar, Ukraine in this image released on Jan. 11. By contrast, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed that Soledar had fallen to Russian forces or mentioned the Wagner group’s involvement in attempts to take it. Russia has consistently denied the involvement of the Wagner Group in its official military operations. Prigozhin during the funeral of Wagner group fighter near St. Petersburg, on Christmas Eve. To date, the hawks have been far louder than the pragmatists, and a chorus of hard-right bloggers have excoriated Russia’s military performance, while television pundits have called for a tougher approach.

☆ Russia plans to mobilize 500,000 soldiers in days. If they don't deliver victory, then 'Putin will collapse,' says Ukrainian spy chief.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Ukrainian military is warning that Putin is planning to mobilize up to half a million new troops. The Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service said that they believe the mobilization will be announced on January 15. "If Russia loses this time around, then Putin will collapse," said Ukraine's deputy military intelligence chief. The new infusion of manpower will massively increase the number of soldiers Russia has deployed in occupied Ukraine. Russia's first mobilization in October of 300,000 soldiers was heavily criticized, with many mobilized soldiers being untrained, elderly, unwell, or too young to fight.

☆ Russia freezes Linde assets worth $488 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

RusKhimAlyans, the joint venture which is 50% owned by Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM), asked the Court of Arbitration of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region to freeze Linde assets worth 35 billion roubles ($488 million) as a preventative measure. In 2021, Linde and Renaissance Heavy Industries signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Gazprom and its partners for the Ust-Luga gas complex. Linde notified the customer in May and June 2022 that it had suspended work under the contract due to European Union sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. RusKhimAlyans intends to apply to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre to recover advance payment and losses worth around 972 million euros ($1 billion) and 7.6 billion roubles, according to the court filings. ($1 = 71.7830 roubles)($1 = 0.9360 euros)Reporting by Reuters Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Head of major Russian shipyard dies suddenly, no cause given
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 24 (Reuters) - A major Russian shipyard that specialises in building non-nuclear submarines said its general director had died suddenly on Saturday after 11 years in the job, but gave no details. Admiralty Shipyards, based in the western port of St Petersburg, announced the death of Alexander Buzakov in a statement. His main achievement, it said, had been preserving and strengthening the shipyard's order books for modern non-nuclear submarines, surface ships and deep water vehicles. Tass news agency said the shipyard is building improved Kilo-class diesel-powered submarines capable of launching Kalibr cruise missiles. St Petersburg is the home city of President Vladimir Putin.

LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - A St Petersburg politician has asked prosecutors to investigate Russian President Vladimir Putin for using the word "war" to describe the conflict in Ukraine, accusing the Kremlin chief of breaking his own law. Yuferev, who asked Reuters not to disclose his location, said Putin critics who publicly called the war a war have suffered harsh punishments. After publishing the open letter about Putin, Yuferev said he had received hundreds of hate messages. "War, in Russian society, is a frightening word. Everyone is brought up by grandparents who lived through World War Two, everyone remembers the saying 'Anything but war'," he said.

The Special Technology Centre did not respond to a written request for comment. Russia's Ministry of Defence did not respond to questions from Reuters about the impact of sanctions and its relationship to the Special Technology Centre. Reached by phone, Alexey Terentyev, a top scientist and major shareholder at the Special Technology Centre, said the war has forced it to focus on making drones. Those corporate records show iLogic is based at the same St Petersburg office address as the Special Technology Centre. In a brief telephone interview, Roman Agafonnikov, chief executive officer of the Special Technology Centre, said he didn't know anything about iLogic.

☆ Uralsib completes purchase of Citi's Russian consumer loan portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Russian commercial bank Uralsib said on Monday it had completed the acquisition of a portfolio of consumer loans from Citigroup Inc's (C.N) Russian unit, as the major U.S. lender reduces its exposure to Russia on the way to a full exit from the country. "The acquired portfolio includes unsecured consumer loans, which going forward will be serviced by Uralsib Bank from the moment of purchase," Uralsib said in a statement. Privately-owned Uralsib, among Russia's top 30 banks by assets, said the loan portfolio had high credit quality, giving it the opportunity to increase its client base in Moscow and St Petersburg. Citi said in October it would also sell a portfolio of credit card balances, if it secures customers' consent. Citi last year agreed to shed its retail operations in Russia as part of an overhaul led by Chief Executive Jane Fraser.

☆ Russian regional deputies urge Putin to issue decree ending mobilisation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Russian reservists recruited during the partial mobilisation of troops attend a ceremony before departing to the zone of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the Rostov region, Russia October 31, 2022. The Kremlin said at the time that no formal decree to cancel the mobilisation was needed. Courts were siding with commanders, citing the fact that Putin's September mobilisation decree still had legal force. Reuters saw similar appeals from opposition deputies in the Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pskov and Veliky Novgorod regions. He said this was because the "legal lacuna" created by the absence of the decree "opens up opportunities for legal mayhem".

☆ Russians who fled draft in no hurry to return from Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( David Chkhikvishvili | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Travellers walk after crossing the border with Russia at the frontier checkpoint Verkhny Lars - Zemo Larsi, Georgia September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Irakli GedenidzeTBILISI, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A month after Russia said it had ended a recruitment drive for its war in Ukraine, men who fled to neighbouring Georgia to avoid the draft say they are in no rush to return home. Of course I don't want to return to a country where police can arrest me for simply walking past them. Yet the arrival of so many relatively well-off Russians in a comparatively poor country of just 3.7 million has created tension. Samadashvili said she fears Putin could use the pretext of "protecting" Russians in Georgia as grounds for a further invasion, just as he did in Ukraine.

☆ Russian McDonald's successor solves franchise problem as more outlets join
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Vkusno & tochka ("Tasty and that's it") restaurants started opening in June. "As of Dec. 1, Razvitie Rost enterprises will continue their work in Russia under the Vkusno & tochka brand," Rosinter said in a statement. Rosinter's restaurants, at train stations and airports in Moscow and St Petersburg, continued operating without McDonald's signs, which were covered up. Reuters found some McDonald's packaging still in use after the closure. Reporting by Olga Popova, Caleb Davis and Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How Russian ally Kazakhstan is taking a stand against the Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Russian ally Kazakhstan has been subtle but firm in its opposition to the Ukraine war. Kazakhstan's official position on the war is to call for a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution, Magzhan Ilyassov, Kazakhstan's new ambassador to the UK, said in a press briefing attended by Insider. Following the invasion of Ukraine, fears have also been stoked that Russia could turn its sights to Kazakhstan next. Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesAlthough it has not outright criticized Russia for invading Ukraine, Kazakhstan has made its position clear. Ilyassov said that Russian troops were there among others from all member states and left after nearly two weeks without being involved in any action.

☆ Putin touts Russia's 'Arctic power' with launch of nuclear icebreakers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Nov 22 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday touted Russia's Arctic power at a flag-raising ceremony and dock launch for two nuclear-powered icebreakers that will ensure year-round navigation in the Western Arctic. Presiding via video link from the Kremlin at the launch ceremony in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg in northern Russia, Putin said such icebreakers were of strategic importance for the country. "Both icebreakers were laid down as part of a large serial project and are part of our large-scale, systematic work to re-equip and replenish the domestic icebreaker fleet, to strengthen Russia's status as a great Arctic power," Putin said. The Arctic is taking on greater strategic significance due to climate change, as a shrinking ice cap opens up new sea lanes. Vast oil and gas resources lie in Russia's Arctic regions, including a liquefied natural gas plant on the Yamal Peninsula.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the arms dealer who could be swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Russia wants the jailed arms dealer back in Moscow and is discussing a prisoner swap with the United States that could see him exchanged for Americans imprisoned in Russia including basketball star Brittney Griner. Reed was ultimately freed in return for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot jailed in the United States on drug trafficking charges. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. In interviews, Bout has said he attended Moscow's Military Institute of Foreign Languages, which serves as a training ground for military intelligence officers. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

☆ Ballet dancers who fled Russia reunite on California stage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Rollo Ross | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Mike BlakeCOSTA MESA, Calif., Nov 11 (Reuters) - Xander Parish is a British-born ballet dancer who was a principal dancer at the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Other international dancers based in Russia also fled, leaving behind their lives, jobs and belongings. Now, for one night, the dancers from the Mariinsky, the Bolshoi and other elite Russian companies are reuniting with a performance on Saturday in Costa Mesa, California. Although the corps de ballet will be together only for one night's performance, Parish already has plans for them to do more. "Reunited in Dance" will be performed at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa.

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