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☆ Xi snubbed Putin after their summit, calling a meeting of Central Asian countries as part of an audacious power play
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's President Xi Jinping has made a power move timed with his visit to Russia. He set up a new meeting of Central Asian countries the week, muscling in on Russia's backyard. Xi invited the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to the first China-Central Asia summit Wednesday, the AFP news agency reported. Analysts say that China has secured significant leverage over Russia in return for its diplomatic and economic support, and that in calling the meeting of Central Asian nations it is seeking to exploit that advantage. China in recent years has increased its economic and security ties with Central Asian nations, which have abundant mineral resources and lie on ancient trade routes between east and west.

☆ Russia says it may take over Toyota plant in St Petersburg -TASS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) - Japanese car maker Toyota's (7203.T) St Petersburg plant may be transferred to the Russian state entity NAMI, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said on Thursday, according to the state-run TASS news agency. "The transfer of Toyota's Russian asets to NAMI is being considered," Manturov was quoted as saying on the sidelines of a business congress. A spokesperson for Toyota said on Friday it was considering what to do regarding the plant, after having already decided last year to end vehicle production in Russia after suspending production in St Petersburg last March. "While it's true that we're considering various options, nothing has been decided at this point," the spokesperson said. Toyota said in September it had decided to stop vehicle production in Russia due to the interruption in supplies of key materials and parts.

☆ Wagner’s convicts tell of horrors of Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

They are identified as pardoned former convicts, returned from the front in Ukraine after joining Wagner from prison. Four of the men said they were personally recruited by Yevgeny Prigozhin as he toured Russia’s prison system to bolster his private army. I wish all real men would join Wagner.”The war in Ukraine is straining Russia’s military capacity. One of the convict recruits told Reuters he travelled to a Wagner training camp in the Russian-controlled part of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region. According to the United States, by mid-February Wagner had suffered more than 30,000 casualties in Ukraine, including 9,000 dead, almost all of them convicts.

☆ Russian internet speeds drop on hardware shortage, research finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Alexander Marrow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The country's largest telecoms operators, including MTS (MTSS.MM) and Megafon disputed the research, saying they had noted increased speeds in February, both in Moscow and beyond. It also said a fall in mobile internet traffic in Moscow had contributed to a rise in speeds there. MTS said it had noted increased traffic and mobile internet speeds in the regions, recording no decrease. "MTS is constantly working to expand network capacity, and telecoms operators and regulators are engaged in dialogue aimed at removing administrative barriers and stimulating the industry's development," it said. Rival Megafon said the median mobile internet speed on its network in regions excluding Moscow was 14% higher in February year-on-year, and up 18.5% in the capital.

☆ Russia's St Petersburg suspends, then restarts flights due to 'unknown object'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Russia's Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg temporarily and briefly suspended all flights on Tuesday morning before restarting them amid unconfirmed Russian media reports of an unidentified object such as a drone in the area. The RIA Novosti news agency had earlier reported, citing a source in the city's emergency services, that an unidentified object had been spotted, prompting the initial closure. There was no official comment on what caused the disruption or on how the alleged unknown object was investigated. Data from the FlightRadar24 website showed a number of flights headed for St Petersburg turning back to their destinations early on Tuesday, while the airspace closure also affected flights en route to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which requires planes to fly over St. Petersburg. By 1200 local time, flights had resumed flying towards St. Petersburg, the FlightRadar24 website showed, and aircraft had recommenced landing and taking-off at the airport.

☆ Brawling with elite, Russian mercenary boss wishes politician shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"During the 1941-45 war, which is now being repeated, Stalin simply shot people like you. I think we're going to return to those times soon," he told Sverdlovsk governor Yevgeny Kuivashev, according to his press service. Earlier this week, he accused various regional governors of refusing to bury Wagner fighters with military honours, labelling them as lawless, corrupt bureaucrats. From eastern Ukraine, Prigozhin replied that he had stopped being a businessman a year ago and was now devoting his life to leading his fighters. "There is a ceiling (of growth) and mechanisms in place," said the source, who declined to provide more details.

☆ 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."

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ Banksy's 'Valentine's day mascara' mural freezer removed by council
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Hannah Mckay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Valentine?s day mascara @banksy/via REUTERSMARGATE, England, Feb 14 (Reuters) - British street artist Banksy confirmed a new mural showing a 1950s housewife with a swollen eye apparently pushing a man into an abandoned chest freezer was his work early on Valentine's Day, just hours before the appliance was removed. The artwork, which Banksy titled 'Valentine's day mascara' on his website, appeared in the seaside town of Margate, east England, on Sunday night. Artist Pete Brown was painting the scene when the genuine freezer -- which formed an integral part of the mural -- was removed on Tuesday morning. "The fridge freezer is now in storage and will be returned once it has been made safe to the public," the council said. "I always thought maybe someone might put a mural on the wall, but I was never expecting a Banksy," he said.

☆ 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.

☆ Pope Benedict's funeral draws thousands to the Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Rhoda Kwan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Thousands gathered at the Vatican on Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a stalwart of conservative values who shocked the Catholic church when he resigned a decade ago. Mourners dressed in black poured into St. Peter's Square ahead of the Mass, which began at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. EST). The event was presided over by Pope Francis, with a living pontiff leading the farewell to his predecessor for an event that is unprecedented in modern times. As fog shrouded the top of St Peter's Basilica, the ceremony began with a prayer by Francis for the late pope emeritus, and readings were made in Spanish, English and Latin. Francis placed his hand on Benedict's cypress coffin as it was being carried into St Peter's Basilica, before placing his hand on his chest and bowing to the late pope.

☆ 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.

☆ Faithful pay respects to former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/8] Faithful pay homage to former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, January 2, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, Jan 2 (Reuters) - A steady stream of people filed into St. Peter's Basilica on Monday to pay their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI, whose body will lie in state in front of the main altar until his funeral later this week. Benedict died on Saturday at the age of 95 in the secluded Vatican monastery where he had lived since his shock resignation in 2013. His funeral will be held on Thursday in St Peter's Square and be presided over by Pope Francis. There were no signs of the huge crowds who came to pay their respects to Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, following his death in 2005.

☆ Former Pope Benedict was first pontiff to resign in 600 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

[1/3] Pope Benedict XVI blesses a baby as he rides around St Peter's Square to hold his last general audience at the Vatican February 27, 2013. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Dec 31 - Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarised between conservatives and progressives. Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, had good relations with his successor, Pope Francis, but his continued presence inside the Vatican after he stepped down in 2013 further polarised the Church ideologically. Although he said he would remain "hidden from the world", Benedict did not live up to that promise and in retirement sometimes caused controversy and confusion through his writings. Ganswein's role as a middleman between Benedict and the cardinal was unclear, with many believing he had misled Benedict, the cardinal, or both.

☆ 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.

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