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☆ Video appears to show smoke over Kremlin after alleged drone strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MOSCOW, May 3 (Reuters) - A video circulating on Russian social media on Wednesday appeared to show a plume of smoke over Moscow's Kremlin, after what the presidential administration said was a Ukrainian drone attack aimed at President Vladimir Putin, who has a residence in the walled complex. The video was posted in the early hours of Wednesday on a group for residents of a neighbourhood that faces the Kremlin across the Mosvka River and picked up by Russian media, including the Telegram channel of the military news outlet Zvezda. Separately, the Kremlin said that the May 9 Victory Day parade would go ahead in Moscow despite the incident, the state-run TASS news agency reported. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Suspect in killing of Russian war blogger says she was set up
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Most of all I want to die," the 26-year-old told the St Petersburg online news channel Rotonda, which posted extracts of its interview online. "The most unbearable thing is that they killed a man with my hands, and maimed dozens. Trepova did not say who had asked her to present the package - a bust of Tatarsky, with explosives concealed inside - to the blogger as he was meeting other supporters of the war. "I pray for the health of the victims and will try to organise a collection of funds to help the victims of the tragedy recover." Rotonda did not say when the interview had been given.

☆ Factbox: Kremlin drone incident: What do we know?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] A still image taken from video shows a flying object approaching the dome of the Kremlin Senate building during the alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia, in this image taken from video obtained by Reuters May 3, 2023. Ostorozhno Novosti/Handout via REUTERSMay 3 (Reuters) - Here's a look at what we know about the alleged overnight drone attack on the Kremlin, and the questions it raises. Russia called the incident a terrorist attack and an attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, for which it said it reserved the right to retaliate. "We don't attack Putin, or Moscow, we fight on our territory," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a press conference in Helsinki. The incident comes at a moment of high tension and a potential turning point in the war, as Ukraine prepares to mount a long-anticipated counter-offensive.

The Kremlin said Russia reserved the right to retaliate, and hardliners demanded swift retribution against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in comments sent to Reuters: "Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin. Another video circulating on Russian social media appeared to show a plume of smoke over the Kremlin after the purported attack. Russia marks the occasion with a huge military parade on Red Square, for which seating has already been erected. Ukraine typically declines to claim responsibility for attacks on Russia or Russian-annexed Crimea, though Kyiv officials have frequently celebrated such attacks with cryptic or mocking remarks.

☆ Russia's Shoigu: Weapons output is key to success in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Western and Ukrainian officials have for months said shortages of artillery munitions and missiles are hobbling Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now in its 15th month. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia's private Wagner militia, on Monday said his troops were being supplied with only a third of the artillery shells they needed for their assault on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Prigozhin has for months railed against a lack of ammunition supplies from Moscow, saying poor support is holding back Russia's offensive. Russia has in recent days killed and injured dozens of people in Ukraine its first large-scale missile strikes on Ukraine for weeks. Ukraine says its air defence systems intercepted the vast majority of the incoming missiles.

☆ Lukoil's net profit declines 22% to $1.3 billion in Q1
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies NK Lukoil PAO FollowMay 2 (Reuters) - Russian oil company Lukoil (LKOH.MM) posted a net profit under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) of 104.3 billion roubles ($1.3 billion) in the first quarter of 2023, down 22% from 133.4 billion roubles in the same period 2022. The RAS data does not typically take into account financials from subsidiaries. Russia's second-largest oil producer said that its revenues fell by 63% to 455.83 billion roubles in the January - March period. Lukoil, like many other Russian businesses, stopped publishing their financial results calculated under international standards, after Moscow had sent its troops into Ukraine in February 2022. ($1 = 79.9000 roubles)Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Kremlin says German involvement in Ukraine conflict is growing due to arms supplies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, May 2 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Germany's involvement in the Ukraine conflict was growing by the day, and that Berlin had no way of ensuring that weapons it had provided to Ukraine would not be used against Russian territory. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said German-supplied weapons were already being used in the Donbas region, which Russia has declared its own, a step Ukraine and the West have dismissed as illegal. Second, the weapons supplied by Germany to the Kyiv regime are already firing at Russian territory, because the Donbas is a Russian region." He said Germany's "direct and indirect involvement" in the conflict was increasing, adding: "The German chancellor should take that as his starting point." The two regions of eastern Ukraine collectively known as the Donbas have been the focus of fighting between Ukraine and Russian or Russian-backed forces since 2014.

May 2 (Reuters) - Tinder owner Match Group (MTCH.O) has said it will quit Russia by June 30, citing the need to protect human rights, one of many Western firms to leave since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine last year. "We are committed to protecting human rights," Match said in an annual impact report published on Monday. "Our brands are taking steps to restrict access to their services in Russia and will complete their withdrawal from the Russian market by June 30, 2023." Match shareholder Friends Fiduciary Corp said Match had set an example for others to follow in tying its decision to the human rights risks faced by the Ukrainian people. Moscow denies committing war crimes including forced deportations of children, and says the ICC decision is meaningless as Russia is not a member.

☆ Leclerc completes Baku pole hat-trick for Ferrari
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The pole, in a session twice red-flagged early on due to crashes, was Ferrari's first of the Formula One season after Red Bull had qualified fastest in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen will line up alongside on the front row with his team mate Sergio Perez third. "It feels good...It's good to be back on top," said Leclerc after whooping in delight over the team radio. There was nothing to separate him and Verstappen after the initial flying laps, with both clocking one minute 40.445 seconds but the Red Bull driver on provisional pole due to setting his time first. "We must not forget that our car is probably behind the Red Bull, so it's going to be difficult to keep the lead.

☆ Iranian president to visit Syria next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIRUT, April 28 (Reuters) - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Damascus next week, a senior regional source close to the Syrian government told Reuters on Friday. The visit will be the first by an Iranian president to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since war broke out in Syria in 2011. The senior regional source told Reuters that a warming of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as a thaw in Arab states' isolation of Syria, had paved the way for the visit. This month, regional sources revealed that Iran had secretly brought weapons and other military equipment to Syria by disguising the transfers as part of the relief effort following the devastating February earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. Reporting by Laila Bassam, Writing by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Dubai ruler appoints new second deputy - Dubai Media office
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 28 (Reuters) - Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum on Friday appointed another of his sons as a deputy ruler of the emirate, following the death of his brother and long-serving deputy ruler Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2021. Dubai now has first and second deputy rulers, the decree published by the Dubai Media Office said. The decree appointed as first deputy ruler Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, one of Sheikh Mohammed's sons who has been a deputy ruler since 2008 and is currently the United Arab Emirates' finance minister. Newly appointed to the role of second deputy ruler is Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, another of Sheikh Mohammed's sons and the chairman of the Dubai Media Council. Reporting by Yomna Ehab; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Countries rush to evacuate foreign citizens from Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday some 16,000 people had crossed from Sudan to Egypt, including 14,000 Sudanese citizens. The foreign ministry said those evacuated included not only French nationals but also Britons, Americans, Canadians, Ethiopians, Dutch, Italians and Swedes. Cyprus said it had activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism at Britain's request to let third countries use it for reception and repatriation of foreign citizens evacuated from Sudan. NETHERLANDSAbout 100 Dutch nationals have been evacuated from Sudan since Sunday, Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said. IRANIran's foreign minister said on Saturday 65 Iranian citizens had left from Port Sudan, through Jeddah, to Iran.

☆ Two earthquakes strike Kepulauan Batu, Indonesia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 23 (Reuters) - Two earthquakes measuring nearly magnitude 6 struck Kepulauan Batu, Indonesia, in the morning hours on Sunday, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC). The first earthquake, pegged by the EMSC at a magnitude 6.1 struck Kepulauan Batu early Sunday, followed by another 5.8 magnitude quake just hours later. The first earthquake was at a depth of 43 km (26.72 miles) while the second was at 40 km (24.85 miles), EMSC said. Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ British PM Sunak chairs emergency meeting on Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chaired a meeting of the government's emergency response committee on Saturday to discuss the situation in Sudan, with defence minister Ben Wallace among those attending. The army said the United States, Britain, France and China would evacuate diplomats and other nationals from Khartoum "in the coming hours". "We recognise that the situation is extremely concerning for British nationals trapped by the fighting in Sudan," a government spokesperson said when asked about the comments. "We are doing everything possible to support British nationals and diplomatic staff in Khartoum, and the Ministry of Defence is working with the Foreign Office to prepare for a number of contingencies." On Saturday, Britain's Foreign Office updated its travel advice for Sudan to warn that "in the event of a ceasefire, any decision to move must be taken at individual risk".

☆ Daughter of U.S. citizen jailed by Iran says she has lost confidence in US efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, April 22 (Reuters) - The daughter of an environmentalist imprisoned by Iran said on Saturday she had lost confidence in U.S. President Joe Biden's efforts to free her father. Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American who also holds British citizenship, has served five years of a 10-year sentence after being convicted of spying. In July his lawyer was quoted as saying he had been granted bail, but his daughter said he was now back in jail. The United States has urged Iran to release Tahbaz and two other citizens, Emad Shargi and Siamak Namazi, who are all imprisoned on espionage charges that Washington says are baseless. Namazi, an oil executive, was jailed for 10 years in 2016 on charges of spying and cooperating with the U.S. government.

☆ Value of Russian exports falls 35% in Q1 as oil price cap bites -c.bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) - The value of Russia's exports fell 35% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, due in part to a Western price cap on some Russian oil products, Russia's central bank said on Thursday. "The cost of oil exports decreased both due to lower prices and because of the embargo and price ceiling by a host of countries on Russian oil and oil products," the central bank said in a report. "The discount for Russian oil to Brent crude has widened, including because of the price ceiling." It added, however, that a drop in oil exports to the European Union had been offset by an increase in sales to Asian countries seeking oil at a discounted price. As the price of Russian oil has dropped below the Western price cap, large volumes are now not subject to any restrictions, the bank said.

☆ Russia's Bolshoi ballet drops 'Nureyev' after 'LGBT propaganda' law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A general view shows the empty hall of the Bolshoi Theatre prior to the launch of its project to stream iconic ballet performances online making them available worldwide, in Moscow, Russia March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File PhotoMOSCOW, April 19 (Reuters) - Moscow's Bolshoi theatre has dropped a contemporary ballet about the legendary Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev from its repertoire following the expansion of a ban on "LGBT propaganda". A law passed in November not only widened an existing prohibition on material considered to promote an LGBT lifestyle but also restricts the "demonstration" of LGBT behaviour. Serebrennikov, one of Russia's leading film, theatre and television directors and stage designers, made his frustration clear. "This criminal 'law' was passed specifically against this show and against several books... Well, OK..." he wrote on his Telegram channel, adding three rainbows - an LGBT symbol.

☆ Kremlin critic Yashin defiant after losing appeal against long jail term
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Yashin's appeal was turned down two days after his fellow Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years on charges of treason and also, like Yashin, "knowingly spreading false information". "The sentence handed down to me is staggering: eight-and-a-half years in prison for a 20-minute speech on the Internet. After Yashin was convicted in December, President Vladimir Putin was asked about the case during a news conference, and asked who Yashin was. In court, Yashin predicted that Russia would one day be a very different place. "I will become one of those who will build a new, free and happy Russia on the ruins of Putinism."

☆ Russia's Navalny faces new charges after prison 'provocation' - lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, April 18 (Reuters) - Russia's leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, faces the prospect of new criminal charges after in effect being forced to break the rules of the maximum security penal colony where he is being held, one of his lawyers said on Tuesday. He had then been told he would be charged with thwarting prison authorities, which carries a maximum sentence of five years, Kobzev said. The penitentiary service, which has in the past denied allegations of mistreatment, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Navalny first came to prominence by drawing attention to the wealth of senior officials in a series of widely watched videos. For a time he was able to channel public dissatisfaction with Vladimir Putin, Russia's unchallenged leader for the last 23 years.

☆ Factbox: Who is Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 17 (Reuters) - Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza was convicted of treason by a Moscow court on Monday and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Kara-Murza, 41, is a historian, journalist and opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports and studied in England at Cambridge University. He was a close associate of Boris Nemtsov, a leading opposition figure who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015, and continued to speak out against President Vladimir Putin despite the mounting risks. Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza suddenly fell ill in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services, on both occasions falling into a coma before eventually recovering. Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022, hours after CNN broadcast an interview in which he said Russia was being run by a "regime of murderers".

☆ U.S. envoy pays first visit to WSJ reporter Gershkovich in Moscow prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A man walks out of the pre-trial detention centre Lefortovo, where U.S. journalist for the Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich is being held on espionage charges, in Moscow, Russia April 6, 2023. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said on Monday she had made a first visit in jail to Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter accused by Moscow of spying, and had found him to be holding up well. Gershkovich, a respected journalist who was hired by the Wall Street Journal shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine last year, was arrested last month in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. It is the first time since 1986 that an American reporter has been held for alleged espionage in Russia. The United States last week designated Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained", in effect saying that the spy charges were bogus and the case was political.

☆ Factbox: Kara-Murza becomes latest Putin opponent to get long jail term
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovApril 17 (Reuters) - Sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison on charges including treason, Vladimir Kara-Murza joined a growing list of Russians who have received long jail terms after speaking out against President Vladimir Putin or the invasion of Ukraine. The 25-year term he received was the harshest of its kind since Russia invaded its neighbour last February. ILYA YASHINOpposition politician Yashin was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in December 2022 on charges of spreading "false information" about the army. ALEXEI GORINOVGorinov, a Moscow district councillor, was jailed for seven years in July 2022 on charges of spreading false information about the armed forces. ALEXEI MOSKALYOVMoskalyov was investigated by police after his daughter Masha, then 12, drew an anti-war picture at school in 2022.

☆ Russia's Prigozhin says no sign Ukraine quitting Bakhmut, more support needed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Ukrainian service member from 28th mechanised brigade fires his machine gun at the frontline, amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine in the region of Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 5, 2023. But Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has accused the military top brass of ineffectiveness bordering on treason in recent months, said this was still some way off. Prigozhin made clear that he was not yet satisfied with the support he was receiving from Russia's mainstream forces, including those attacking adjacent areas of the front. "The first question is to make sure that our flanks are well protected (that's with a big exclamation mark)," he said. Tensions with Moscow had appeared to subside after his representative was pointedly refused access to the headquarters of Russia's Ukraine campaign a month ago.

☆ Putin berates US and EU ambassadors at Kremlin ceremony
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday told the new U.S. and EU ambassadors in blunt language that their countries were responsible for a dramatic deterioration in relations since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine last year. The ambassadors were among 17 who formally presented their diplomatic credentials to Putin at a televised ceremony in the Kremlin. Putin told new U.S. ambassador Lynne Tracy that U.S. support for a revolution in Ukraine in 2014 had led to the current situation where Russia and Ukraine were in conflict. Putin took a similar line with the new EU ambassador, Roland Galharague, who took up his position in September, telling him that "the European Union initiated a geopolitical confrontation with Russia". Russia says it was forced to intervene in Ukraine to stem Western interference that was becoming a threat to its security.

☆ Putin berates US and EU envoys, top official says US aid fuelling Ukraine war's 'hot phase'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The ambassadors were among 17 who presented their diplomatic credentials to Putin at a televised ceremony in the Kremlin. Putin told new U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy that U.S. support for a revolution in Ukraine in 2014 had led to the current situation where Russia and Ukraine were in conflict. Putin took a similar line with the new EU ambassador, Roland Galharague, telling him "the European Union initiated a geopolitical confrontation with Russia". In his opening remarks, Putin said Russia was open to constructive partnership with every country and would not isolate itself.

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