Page 111 - Russia

US imposes new round of sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine

The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a Belgian involved in procuring electronics for the Russian military, his companies and a group of Belarusian firms and people tied to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted a network led by Belgium-based Hans De Geetere, which included nine entities and five people across Russia, Belgium, Cyprus, Sweden, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands. They are accused of being involved with procuring military-grade equipment for Russia. Also on Tuesday, the US Justice Department unsealed two indictments against Hans De Geetere and the Commerce Department added him and five firms to its entity list. US sanctions block access to US property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans. De Geetere did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment through email. State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said the US is committed to working with our allies a

Russian President Putin to visit Gulf countries for first time since 2019

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia are all members of OPEC+, the alliance between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major oil producers

Russia brings new charges against jailed opposition leader Navalny

Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed new charges by Russian prosecutors. The 47-year-old is already serving more than 30 years in prison after being found guilty of crimes including extremism charges that his supporters characterise as politically motivated. In comments passed to his associates, Navalny said he had been charged under article 214 of Russia's penal code, which covers crimes of vandalism. I don't even know whether to describe my latest news as sad, funny or absurd, he wrote in comments on social media Friday via his team. I have no idea what Article 214 is, and there's nowhere to look. You'll know before I do. He said that the charges were part of the Kremlin's desire to initiate a new criminal case against me every three months. Never before has a convict in solitary confinement for more than a year had such a rich social and political life, he joked. Navalny is one of President Vladimir Putin's most ardent opponents, best known for campaignin

Moscow gay bars raided after Russian SC labels LGBTQ+ movement 'extremist'

Russian security forces raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow on Friday night, less than 48 hours after the country's top court banned what it called the global LGBTQ+ movement as an extremist organisation. Police searched venues across the Russian capital, including a nightclub, a male sauna, and a bar that hosted LGBTQ+ parties, under the pretext of a drug raid, local media reported. Eyewitnesses told journalists that clubgoers' documents were checked and photographed by the security services. They also said that managers had been able to warn patrons before police arrived. The raids follow a decision by Russia's Supreme Court to label the country's LGBTQ+ movement as an extremist organisation. The ruling, which was made in response to a lawsuit filed by the Justice Ministry, is the latest step in a decadelong crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights under President Vladimir Putin, who has emphasised traditional family values during his 24 years in power. Activists have noted the lawsuit wa

Russian President Putin signs new decree to boost troop numbers by 170,000

It reported that as per the new decree signed by Putin, the total number of people serving in the Russian Armed Forces has been set at 2,209,130, including 1,320,000 servicemen

Russian oil turns dearer for Indian refiners after US enforces price cap

Moves by Washington to enforce the price cap strictly by opening investigations into five tankers transporting Russian oil has created concerns among refiners and traders

Henry Kissinger: Flawed genius who will be missed more in China than the US

Kissinger acknowledged India's civilisational impulse and remarkable assimilative power while retaining its identity, but he remained in thrall to China

Russia's Lavrov insists goals in Ukraine unchanged amid criticism

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday his government was not prepared to review its goals in Ukraine delivering a blunt and confrontational message to Western leaders on a rare trip to a NATO member state. We aren't seeing any signals from Kyiv or its masters about their readiness to seek any kind of political settlement, Lavrov told reporters while attending a security conference in North Macedonia. We see no reason to review our goals, he said. North Macedonia, which joined NATO in 2020, waived a flight ban on Russian officials so that Lavrov could attend the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, prompting the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to skip the meeting in protest. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a brief stop in North Macedonia's capital of Skopje before Lavrov arrived. Participants at the two-day conference accused Moscow of undermining the OSCE. The Vienna, Austria-based organisation originally created

Russia outlaws 'extremist' LGBT movement, bans all activities in country

The court ruling stated that "the international LGBT public movement and its subdivisions" were extremist, and issued a "ban on its activities on the territory of Russia"

Opec+ ministers meet to discuss additional oil output cuts for next year

The size of potential additional cuts have not been decided yet, but two delegates said they ranged from 1 million to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2024

President Zelenskyy faces manpower dilemma in Ukraine's stalled offensive

Kostenko, 40, who is also fighting in southern Ukraine, said the military is struggling after long queues at recruitment centers last year have dwindled, with volunteer fighters long at the front line

Ukraine says Russian strikes hit coal mine, private homes; four killed

Three apartment buildings, two industrial enterprises, an administrative building, and vehicles were damaged. Power lines and a gas pipeline were also targeted

Center plans to increase coking coal shipments from Russia: Report

Russian coking coal cargoes are already cheaper than Australian supplies, and some Russian suppliers are willing to lower their prices, said sources

Russian court extends detention of WSJ reporter Gershkovich until Jan end

A court in Moscow has extended the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, until Jan. 30, Russian news agencies reported. The hearing took place on Tuesday behind closed doors because authorities say details of the criminal case against the American journalist are classified. Gershkovich was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow. Russia's Federal Security Service alleged that the reporter, acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex. Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained. Russian authorities haven't detailed any evidence to support the espionage charges.

World much more than Europe: Lavrov echoes Jaishankar on global order

He quoted Jaishankar's remarks that the "world is much more than Europe" and the "world is much more than the West"

Putin signs Russia's largest national budget, bolstering military spending

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a national budget for the next three years that increases spending by around 25 per cent and reportedly devotes a record amount to defense as the the country's military operation in Ukraine drags on. The budget foresees spending in 2024 of 36.6 trillion rubles ( USD 415 billion) with an expected deficit of 1.595 trillion rubles (USD 9.5 billion). After the budget was passed by the lower house of the parliament, Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said it was developed specifically to fund the military and to mitigate the impact of international sanctions imposed after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy toward the military, but could pose a problem in the long term, analysts say. Part of the Russian budget is secret as the Kremlin tries to conceal its military plans and sidestep scrutin

Ukraine shipping more grain through Black Sea despite threat from Russia

Grain thunders into rail cars and trucks zip around a storage facility in central Ukraine, a place that growing numbers of companies turned to as they struggled to export their food to people facing hunger around the world. Now, more of the grain is getting unloaded from overcrammed silos and heading to ports on the Black Sea, set to traverse a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a UN-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war. It was tight, but we kept working we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners, facility general director Roman Andreikiv said about the end of the grain deal in July. Ukraine's new corridor, protected by the military, has now allowed him to free up warehouse space and increase activity. Growing numbers of ships are streaming toward Ukraine's Black Sea ports and heading out loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat of attack and floating .

Russia puts Facebook owner Meta's spokesman Andy Stone on a wanted list

Russia has added the spokesman of US technology company Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to a wanted list, according to an online database maintained by the country's interior ministry. Russian state agency Tass and independent news outlet Mediazona first reported that Meta communications director Andy Stone was included on the list Sunday, weeks after Russian authorities in October classified Meta as a "terrorist and extremist" organisation, opening the way for possible criminal proceedings against Russian residents using its platforms. The interior ministry's database doesn't give details of the case against Stone, stating only that he is wanted on criminal charges. Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. According to Mediazona, an independent news website that covers Russia's opposition and prison system, Stone was put on the wanted list in February 2022, but authorities made no related statements at the time and no news media reported on the matter unti

Attackers seize Israel-linked tanker off Yemen in 3rd such assault

Attackers seized a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, authorities said. While no group immediately claimed responsibility, it comes as at least two other maritime attacks in recent days have been linked to the Israel-Hamas war. The Turkish-captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals. The vessel is carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid, the ship operator, Zodiac Maritime, said. The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, the company and private intelligence firm Ambrey said. An American defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, also confirmed to The Associated Press that the attack took place. Zodiac called the seizure a suspected piracy incident. Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew onboard, Zodiac said in a statement. Zodiac described the vessel as being

Russia accuses US of meddling in domestic affairs of poll-bound Bangladesh

Bangladesh politics became the focus of a war of words between the US and Russia on Saturday as Washington accused Moscow of making "deliberate mischaracterisation" of its foreign policy relating to the upcoming elections in the South Asian nation. Bangladesh is going to the polls on January 7 next year. During a regular weekly briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas and a high-ranking representative of the local opposition discussed plans to organise mass anti-government protests in the country during the meeting. Reacting to her statement, a US State Department spokesperson in Washington said, We are aware of Zakharova's deliberate mischaracterisation of US foreign policy and Ambassador Haas's meetings. Washington's response, issued by the US embassy, came hours after the Russian embassy in Dhaka updated its website detailing Zakharova's November 22 comments in Moscow. The US offic