DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a 'geopolitical earthquake' that defined 2022 and has transformed the world for years to come
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

An unthinkable, nightmare scenario was now a reality — the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II had begun. The war, which is still raging on, will continue to shape the world in the year to come and likely long after. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine represented a geopolitical earthquake, scrambling the entire chessboard of global politics," Ivo Daalder, a former US ambassador to NATO, told Insider. Some experts have warned that the nuclear dangers posed by the Ukraine war after are "far worse" than the Cuban missile crisis, which occurred 60 years ago this past October. Indeed, the global dimensions of the Ukraine war could make it an era-defining fight.

☆ Rockets Kill One in Russian Region Near Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Alan Cullison | Yaroslav Trofimov | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut have been locked in a long, bloody battle with Russian forces determined to take the eastern city. KYIV, Ukraine—A rocket strike killed at least one person in Russia’s Belgorod region near Ukraine, local officials said, as Russia’s defense minister made a rare visit to the Ukrainian war zone. A rocket salvo targeting Belgorod on Sunday was intercepted by Russian air defenses, but falling debris and shrapnel killed one resident, injured eight others and caused damage to 14 buildings, the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov , said on social media. He didn’t explicitly blame Ukraine, and Kyiv didn’t acknowledge responsibility for the attack.

Bakhmut has been facing the relentless firepower of a frustrated Russian army for months. There was blood everywhere.”Vyacheslav Tarasov, a 48-year-old builder, lost his right arm after shelling in Bakhmut. Peter Rudden/CNNSurgeon Yuri Mishasty treats civilians injured in nearby Bakhmut every day. Jo Shelley/CNNAs the Russian army intensifies its campaign to take Bakhmut, the shelling comes ever nearer to Kostiantynivka, 25 kilometres (about 15 miles) to the west. Since the beginning of the month, the town has been hit almost every day, the hospital director says.

But they fear a harsh new anti-gay law passed by Russian lawmakers will leave them little choice. As the Kremlin prepared to finalize the expansion of the 2013 discriminatory anti-gay law, members of the LGBTQ community in Russia told CNN they feared the uncertain future ahead. Activists say a new legislative package that beefs up an existing anti-gay law is a threat to LGBTQ people in Russia. And it’s just reducing the space within which a non-heterosexual existence can comfortably take place in Russia,” Healey told CNN. Yulia Alyoshina, Russia's first transgender politician, said the new law was discriminatory and would make life tougher for Russia's LGBTQ community.

☆ Russia to bar foreigners from using its surrogate mothers - lawmaker
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 27 (Reuters) - Russia will soon adopt a law barring foreigners from using Russian surrogate mothers, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of parliament said on Sunday, the nation's Mother's Day. Paid surrogacy is legal in Russia, but the practice has been criticised by religious groups as commercializing the birth of children. "Everything must be done to protect children by prohibiting foreigners from using the surrogacy service," Volodin said on the Telegram messaging app. He said some 45,000 babies born by surrogate mothers have been taken abroad in the past few years. Russia denies forced deportations, saying the movement of people into Russia from Ukraine has been to protect civilians from Ukrainian soldiers.

☆ Putin's supporters call for the liquidation of Ukraine as 'genocidal rhetoric' swells
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Alexander Nemenov | Afp | Getty ImagesProminent supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin are using increasingly "genocidal rhetoric" when discussing and demonizing Ukrainians, analysts note, with some pro-war commentators cheering the concept of the "liquidation" of the modern state of Ukraine. "To be a 'Ukrainian' one does not even have to speak the Ukrainian language (which is also still being formed). "All this can be stopped only through the liquidation of Ukrainian statehood in its current form," Medvedev said. Another popular motif being used by pro-war, pro-Putin bloggers is characterizing Ukraine and Ukrainians as "evil" or "sadists" or "Satanists." "As ISW has previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin has similarly employed such genocidal language in a way that is fundamentally incompatible with calls for negotiations."

☆ Azerbaijan cancels Armenia talks, says Macron cannot take part
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Aliyev said Macron had "attacked" and "insulted" Baku and should not act as a go-between. Each side accused the other of triggering the latest bout of fighting, in which Armenia said Azerbaijan had seized settlements inside its borders. "Macron ... attacked Azerbaijan and accused us in what we haven't done," Aliyev said, speaking in English at a conference with international representatives in Baku. "It is clear that under these circumstances, with this attitude, France cannot be part of the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia." A spokesperson said Azerbaijan's assertion that Yerevan was trying to disrupt peace talks "has nothing to do with reality," the Interfax news agency reported.

☆ Russian and Cuban leaders meet in Moscow, hail 'traditional friendship'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday met with his Cuban counterpart in Moscow, where the two unveiled a monument to Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and hailed the “traditional friendship” between their sanctions-hit nations. We have always supported Cuba on the international stage and we see that Cuba takes the same position towards Russia,” Putin said. Other top Russian officials struck similar tones in their meetings with Díaz-Canel, who arrived in Moscow on Saturday. Cuban state media reported that Díaz-Canel’s agenda will focus on the energy sector, very sensitive for the island as it battles shortages of food, medicines and fuel. Havana’s main regional political ally, Venezuela, has sold the island the oil Cuba needed for the past two decades.

KYIV, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Monday it had invoked wartime laws to take control of stakes in a top engine-maker and four other strategic companies from some of the country's richest men. The companies included engine maker Motor Sich, energy companies Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta, vehicle maker AvtoKrAZ and transformer maker Zaporizhtransformator. The decision was announced at a joint news conference of Danilov, Reznikov and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, an unusually high-profile panel that signalled the sensitivity of the move. The officials did not elaborate on the size of the stakes that had been taken over,Asked if other companies' shares could be taken over, Reznikov declined to comment after the news conference. At the news conference, Danilov answered: "It depends how much influence they have on the state of our country".

☆ The Ukraine war has often been a grinding artillery battle. These are the big guns being sent in to pound Russian forces.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Its array of 122 mm, 152 mm and 203 mm cannon mirrored those used by Russia's military. Denice LopezGermany and the Netherlands have already delivered 10 of the German-designed Panzerhaubitze 2000 armored self-propelled 155 mm howitzers to Ukraine. 1st Class Mikki SprenkleFrance's Caesar is a 155 mm howitzer mounted on a six-wheeled truck. Jacob BradfordThe Zusana-2 is a Slovakian wheeled 155 mm self-propelled howitzer. RCH-155The turret of the RCH 155, armed with a 155 mm gun, is unmanned and controlled from the drive module.

☆ 2 intensifying border wars show Putin is losing sway in his neighborhood while Russia struggles in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In recent weeks, border disputes in the Caucasus and Central Asia have escalated into clashes. And the Russian troops that once kept the peace between those feuding neighbors? Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesRussia's complicated history with Central Asia goes back centuries. Russian leaders, including Vladimir Putin, inherited this colonialist mindset, seeing Central Asia (and Ukraine) as part of the Russia sphere. KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty ImagesTo some extent, the deployment of Russian troops, or threat to do so, has tamped down conflicts.

☆ Ukraine plane engine builder head held on treason charges, media report
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 22 (Reuters) - A former owner of a prestigious aircraft engine builder in central Ukraine has been detained on treason charges, Ukrainian media reported on Saturday, quoting security sources. The reports quoted security sources as saying Boguslaev, a former member of parliament, was suspected of collaborating with and assisting Russian forces occupying parts of four Ukrainian regions, including Zaporizhzhia region. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe city of Zaporizhzhia remains under Ukrainian control. The reports quoted security sources as saying investigators had to break down the front door of Boguslaev's home in order to conduct a search. Prominent journalist Iryna Romaliyska, writing on Facebook and also quoting security sources, said Boguslaev was known for his pro-Russian views.

☆ Turkey's Erdogan to meet Swedish PM Kristersson to discuss extraditions, NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERSISTANBUL, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he will meet Sweden's new prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, to discuss Stockholm's bid to join NATO as well as the extradition of people Ankara considers terrorists. Sweden and fellow Nordic country Finland launched their bids to join NATO in May in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but they ran into objections from Turkey. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterErdogan said Kristersson, who took office on Monday, sided with the fight againt terrorism, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported. Erdogan has said Turkey's parliament would not approve the Nordic countries' NATO bids if they do not extradite the people Ankara has requested. Sweden has taken "concrete action" to address Turkey's concerns over its NATO membership bid, Stockholm told Ankara in a letter dated Oct. 6 and seen by Reuters.

☆ Explainer: Why drones pose a different challenge for Ukraine than missiles
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Peter Graff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Both are types of aircraft that fly to a target and explode when they get there, but they pose different threats. Missiles, each costing hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, fly fast, are hard to shoot down and carry a huge explosive payload. Germany sent the first of four IRIS-T air defence systems to Ukraine last week. DRONESUnmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, can be used for surveillance or as a platform to fire munitions at the ground. Russia has already used hundreds of them against Ukraine in just the past few weeks, and is believed to have acquired as many as 2,000 from Iran.

The U.S. Air Force dispatched two F-16 fighter jets to intercept a pair of Russian bombers that flew close to Alaska on Monday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement. Air Defense Identification Zones are areas of airspace that require all aircraft to be identified, located and have their flight plan controlled "in the interest of national security," according to the Federal Aviation Administration. NORAD, a combined air defense organization of the United States and Canada, said the Russian activity was "not seen as a threat nor is the activity seen as provocative." The appearance of Russian bombers and their interception by U.S. fighter jets does come at a fraught time in the relationship between the two countries, however. He noted that his deputy, Pyotr Tolstoy, had previously proposed holding a referendum in Alaska, RBC reported.

☆ 'We want respect': Putin's authority tested in Central Asia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Olzhas Auyezov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"We want respect. Respect," said Emomali Rakhmon, Tajikistan's president since 1994, complaining that Moscow's attitude had not improved since the Soviet era. The conflict prompted Japarov to skip an informal meeting of ex-Soviet leaders in Moscow on Putin's birthday, Oct. 7. Kazakh state television showed a selection of street interviews in which respondents said the war in Ukraine cast doubt on whether any post-Soviet unity still existed. Its report also highlighted what it called provocative behaviour by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, widely regarded as Putin's proxy, who interrupted one of Tokayev's speeches.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"For the moment, Putin is hanging in there," said Anthony Brenton, a former British ambassador to Russia. In power since 1999, Putin has weathered numerous domestic crises and wars, and more than once faced down large street protests before effectively outlawing any real opposition. The Kremlin says Putin is backed by an overwhelming majority of Russians and won a landslide re-election victory in 2018. said Weiss, who has had various policy roles on the U.S. National Security Council and has written a book about Putin. A senior European official said Putin would have to demonstratively lose the war to be unseated.

☆ 2 Russian soldiers turned their guns on fellow recruits, killing 11 and injuring 15 at a training base, say reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian authorities said that 11 people were killed and 15 injured in a shooting at a military training site. The incident took place during a firearms training class for volunteer soldiers. News reports state that 11 people were killed and 15 injured during a firearms training class involving volunteer soldiers. Governor of Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov said, "A terrible event happened on our territory, on the territory of one of the military units. The training camp incident came as the Russian president indicated the mobilization of 300,000 soldiers was a success on Friday.

☆ Gunmen kill 11 at Russian army base in new blow to Moscow's Ukraine campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Russian citizens drafted during the partial mobilization begin their military trainings after a military call-up for the Russia-Ukraine war in Rostov, Russia on October 04, 2022. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesGunmen shot dead 11 people at a Russian military training ground, the defense ministry said, in the latest blow to President Vladimir Putin's forces since the invasion of Ukraine. The attack took place a week after a blast damaged a bridge in Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. The Russian ministry had said the attackers were from a nation in the Commonwealth of Independent States, which groups nine ex-Soviet republics, including Tajikistan. Russian forces have repeatedly tried to seize Bakhmut, which sits on a main road leading to the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

☆ No civilians killed in attack at Russian military base - local governor
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 16 (Reuters) - No civilians were killed in the attack at a military base in Russia's Belgorod region, but many soldiers were killed or wounded, the governor of Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov said early on Sunday. "A terrible event happened on our territory, on the territory of one of the military units," Gladkov said in a video post on the Telegram messaging app. "Many soldiers were killed and wounded ... There are no residents of the Belgorod region among the wounded and killed." The state RIA news agency cited the defence ministry as saying that 11 people were killed and 15 others were wounded.

☆ Two volunteer soldiers fire on troops at Russian military firing range, killing 11 and wounding 15 others
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Gunmen shot dead 11 people at a Russian military training ground, the defence ministry said, in the latest blow to President Vladimir Putin’s forces since the invasion of Ukraine. “A terrible event happened on our territory, on the territory of one of the military units,” the governor of Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov said early on Sunday. There are no residents of the Belgorod region among the wounded and killed,’ Gladkov said in a video post on the Telegram messaging app. The Russian ministry had said the attackers were from a nation in the Commonwealth of Independent States, which groups nine ex-Soviet republics, including Tajikistan. Russian forces have repeatedly tried to seize Bakhmut, which sits on a main road leading to the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

☆ Trains suspended in parts of Russia's Belgorod region after defences shoot down missile -governor
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Train operations were suspended early on Friday near Novyi Oskol, a town in Russia's Belgorod region that borders Ukraine, after remains of a missile fell near the railway, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app that anti-craft defences shot down missiles near Novyi Oskol, a town of about 18,000 people which lies about 90 kilometres (56 miles) north of the border with Ukraine. Trains are temporarily suspended," Gladkov said, adding that there were no casualties. On Thursday, Gladkov accused Ukraine of shelling an apartment block in the city of Belgorod, the administrative centre of the Belgorod region. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Kharkiv bomb shelter: the only home baby Zhenia has known
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Vitalii Hnidiy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KHARKIV, Ukraine, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Wide-eyed and gripping a stuffed blue rabbit, six-month-old Zhenia settles into his pram before being walked along a Kharkiv factory forecourt - a treat to be savoured for someone who has lived in a bomb shelter since he was born. Pushing the buggy is his mother, 39-year-old Olha Shevchenko. 1/4 Olha Shevchenko, 39, and her husband Evgen look for their things in their house, damaged by the Russian military strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues in Kharkiv October 12, 2022. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy Read More"I knew this bomb shelter because when I was a little girl I saw it with my grandpa. With renewed shelling of Kharkiv making it increasingly dangerous for them to be outside, the family have worked hard to make the shelter as liveable as possible.

☆ Putin courts Erdogan with plan to pump more Russian gas via Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan 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. At a meeting in Kazakhstan, Putin said Turkey offered the most reliable route to deliver gas to the European Union, and the proposed platform would allow prices to be set without politics. Turkey has, however, rejected Russia's move to annex four Ukrainian regions as a "grave violation" of international law. Erdogan told Putin: "We are determined to strengthen and continue the grain exports ... and the transfer of Russian grain and fertiliser to less developed countries via Turkey." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week signalled increasing receptiveness to talks after Moscow suffered a series of military defeats.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan 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. Putin told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey could act as a gas hub, having already suggested on Wednesday that Russia could reroute supplies intended for the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea, which were damaged last month. Concerns over winter supplies were heightened as workers at EDF's Bugey nuclear plant in eastern France resumed a strike over wages on Thursday, the latest in a series of stoppages to hit the French industry. Norway has become an increasingly important source of gas for the EU and Britain after Russia curtailed supplies. At a meeting in Kazakhstan, President Putin said that increased cooperation on supplies with Turkey , which is not a member of the EU, could also help to regulate prices.

Search resuls for: "Vyacheslav"

25 mentions found