Russia

3Mar

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

China Asked Russia Not to Invade Ukraine During the Winter Games

China allegedly asked Russia not to invade Ukraine during the Winter Games, which took place in Beijing. That reports The New York Times. China denies. Senior Chinese government officials are said to have asked senior Russian government officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The New York Times reported this, citing sources within the Biden administration and a European source. The sources quoted a Western intelligence report. A source familiar with the case confirmed to Reuters news agency that China had indeed requested this but declined to provide details. The source did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the case. According to The New York Times, a government official familiar with the information said...

Russian Opposition Leader Navalny from Prison: Putin is Not Russia-Let Us Fight the War

2Mar

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Russia

Russian Opposition Leader Navalny from Prison: Putin is Not Russia-Let Us Fight the War

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny calls on Russians from prison via Twitter to protest en masse against the invasion of Ukraine. "Putin is not Russia. If there's one thing Russia can be proud of right now, it's the 6,824 people imprisoned for taking the streets against the war." Navalny calls on Russians, not only in Russia and Belarus but also elsewhere in the world, to protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine every weekday in the main city squares and at Russian embassies and to do so every weekend at 14 hours to do. "Let's not become a nation of scared silent people. Or cowards pretending not to notice the aggressive war against Ukraine started by our clearly insane czar," Navalny said. "Putin is not Russia. If there's one thing we can be proud of in Russia, it...

Ukrainians Strike Back: Russian Military Airport Hit by Missile Strike

25Feb

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Russia, Ukraine

Ukrainians Strike Back: Russian Military Airport Hit by Missile Strike

The Russian army may be moving very quickly through Ukraine, but the Ukrainians are also hitting back: they bombed a military airport on Russian territory on Friday morning. The Russian airbase in Millerovo is located about 16 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, near the economically important city of Rostov-on-Don. On Friday morning, Ukrainian missiles hit the airbase. At least, that is apparent from unverified images on social media. According to Georgiy Tuka, a former Ukrainian army officer and now head of his own militia, these are Tuchka-U missiles. At least 137 Ukrainians and 800 Russian soldiers have so far been killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine Denounces Revival Soviet Union by Moscow

22Feb

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Russia, Ukraine

Ukraine Denounces Revival Soviet Union by Moscow

By recognizing two pro-Russian republics in eastern Ukraine, the Russian government has "taken another step towards the revival of the Soviet Union," said Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. The government in Kyiv calls for tough sanctions against Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a speech Monday that he would recognize the two separatist regions in the Donbas region and send peacekeepers there. According to Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, Moscow has had military personnel in the area for some time, and the Kremlin is now trying to legalize that presence. Several western countries have announced sanctions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has indicated that his country remains prepared to consult on the heated conflict.

Ukraine Tensions: United States and Russia Agree to Vladimir Putin-Joe Biden Summit

21Feb

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Russia, Ukraine, US

Ukraine Tensions: United States and Russia Agree to Vladimir Putin-Joe Biden Summit

The United States and Russia have "in principle" agreed to a summit between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. French President Emmanuel Macron proposed the summit after calling Putin for a second time in one day on Sunday. French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin held another hour of telephone conversations late Sunday evening about the situation in Ukraine. It was their second meeting of the day, and the French government reports after the two leaders also spoke for nearly two hours earlier Sunday in an effort to prevent armed conflict in Ukraine. Just before the first meeting with Putin, Macron had also spent half an hour on the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodimir Zelensky and discussed possible ways to ef...

NATO Boss: Reason for Cautious Optimism About Russia

15Feb

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Russia

NATO Boss: Reason for Cautious Optimism About Russia

NATO sees "reason for cautious optimism" about a peaceful way out of the heated conflict with Russia. The Western alliance sees favourable signals from Moscow, though Russian military pressure on Ukraine has not yet eased, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said. Russia announced the departure of some of its troops in the border region on Tuesday morning. They would have completed their exercises and returned to their army camps elsewhere in the country. A day earlier, the Kremlin made it clear that it still wants to look for a diplomatic solution.

Putin Says Kremlin has Nothing to Do With Mali Mercenaries

8Feb

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Russia

Putin Says Kremlin has Nothing to Do With Mali Mercenaries

President Vladimir Putin has stressed that his government has nothing to do with the Russian mercenary company Private Military Group, better known as the Wagner Group. These mercenaries are mainly active in Africa, where they protect companies or extraction areas for minerals and participate in the struggle, such as in Mali, Libya, and the Central African Republic. After a conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Moscow, Putin said that countries themselves approach mercenaries, conclude contracts, and Wagner pursues commercial goals. "Those countries can decide for themselves who takes care of their security, isn't that also NATO's logic?" Putin wondered aloud. European countries have recently complained about Wagner's activities in Mali, where France, in pa...

Navalny Files Complaint about Detention Conditions for the Fourth Time

24Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Russia

Navalny Files Complaint about Detention Conditions for the Fourth Time

Russian opponent Alexei Navalny has filed a new complaint about the circumstances of his detention in a Russian penal camp. According to documents from a court in the Vladimir region east of Moscow, it is already the fourth time this year that the Kremlin critic has lodged such a complaint. The Russian state news agency Tass reported that the case would be heard on December 9. According to Tass, Navalny wants to achieve that he no longer counts as a prisoner capable of committing "crimes of a terrorist and extremist-oriented nature". The opposition leader was arrested at an airport in Moksou in January on his return from Germany, where he was being treated after an attack with the nerve agent novichok. A court sentenced him to years in prison for allegedly violating the terms of...

Kremlin Promises Gas will Continue to Flow to EU as Usual

12Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Europe, News, Russia

Kremlin Promises Gas will Continue to Flow to EU as Usual

Russia continues to pump gas to Europe and adhere to the quantities laid down in contracts. Therefore, Russia is and remains a reliable supplier, a government spokesperson emphasized. He said that after the leader of neighbouring Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko, threatened to close gas pipelines. Belarus is located between Russia and the European Union. An estimated one-fifth of the gas used in Europe this year was Russian and was funnelled west via Belarus. The spokesman said Lukashenko did not pre-align his threats with the Kremlin's views.

18Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Russia

Russia Closes Its Own NATO Mission

Russia closes its own NATO mission. According to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, if the alliance wants to contact the Russian government, it can do so via the Russian embassy in Brussels. The activities of the Russian NATO mission will be shut down next month. Lavrov also announced moves against NATO's military mission in Moscow. According to news agency TASS, employees will lose their accreditation on November 1.