Page 69 - Russia

Putin's slow response to Kursk attack could test patience of his supporters

A year ago this week, President Vladmir Putin strode onto a stage in the Kursk region to commemorate the 80th anniversary of one of the Soviet army's proudest moments in World War II. Addressing a rapt audience that included soldiers fresh from fighting in Ukraine, Putin called the decisive victory in the Battle of Kursk one of the great feats of our people. Now, as Russia prepares to celebrate the 81st anniversary of that 1943 battle, Kursk is again in the news but for a very different reason. On Aug. 6, Ukrainian forces made a lightning push into the region, seizing villages, taking hundreds of prisoners and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians. Russia was caught unprepared by the offensive and reportedly is drafting conscripts to repel some of Ukraine's most battle-hardened units. Putin has a history of responding slowly to various crises in his tenure, and he has so far played down the attack. But 2 1/2 years after l aunching a war in Ukraine to remove what

Putin makes surprise trip to Chechnya amid Ukraine's cross-border incursion

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday made an unscheduled trip to Chechnya, a mainly Muslim republic within the Russian Federation, his first visit in nearly 13 years, as Ukraine's stunning cross-border incursion into western Russia entered its third week. Putin was greeted by Chechnya's self-styled strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, before visiting a special forces academy bearing his own name and speaking with volunteer fighters who train there prior to being deployed in Ukraine. Putin praised the volunteers and said that as long as Russia has men like them, it will be invincible, according to reports by Russian state agencies. Kadyrov said in a post on his official Telegram channels that more than 47,000 fighters, including volunteers, have trained at the facility since Moscow began what it terms its special military operation in Ukraine. Fighters from Chechnya, whose bid for independence after the Soviet Union's collapse led to years of war with Russian government forces,

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Russia hits energy infrastructure in overnight airstrikes on Ukraine

Regional officials in the northeastern Sumy region bordering Russia said an energy facility was hit, causing blackouts for 72 settlements and more than 18,500 consumers

Putin meets Azerbaijani Prez to strengthen ties amid ongoing tensions

Russian leader Vladimir Putin held talks on Monday with his Azerbaijani counterpart as part of a two-day trip to secure Moscow's under-pressure trade routes and shore up ties in the South Caucasus. Business links were high on the agenda as Putin and President Ilham Aliyev met in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, with Aliyev announcing that USD 120 million had been earmarked to boost cargo transport between the two countries. We're talking about the possibility of transporting 15 million tons of cargo per year or more, he said, adding that the two countries crossed the USD 4 billion mark for Russia-Azerbaijan turnover last year and "neither of us think that is where things will stop, Such ties are a priority for Putin, who increasingly depends on countries such as Azerbaijan to access global markets because of sanctions imposed on Moscow over Russia's war on Ukraine, said independent political scientist Zardusht Alizade. Azerbaijan is an important transit country for Russia at a time

Avoid export of missile-related items to Russia: US cautions India Inc

Flags risk of suppliers facing Western sanctions

Ukraine hits third bridge in assault on Kursk region, claims Russia

Ukraine says it has seized over 80 settlements in an area covering more than 1,150 square km (444 square miles) of Kursk since its surprise strike on the Russian region

2 rescued, 1 missing after mass of ice hits climbing team on Pak peak

A Pakistani army helicopter rescued two Russians while one is missing after their team was hit by a pile of ice on a treacherous peak in the country's north, an official said Monday. Karrar Haidri, the secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said a rescue mission was underway to safely bring down two more climbers who were part of the five-member Russian team stranded on Gasherbrum peak in the Karakoram range after the ice formation hit their team. Unfortunately, the expedition encountered a devastating disaster. As the team ascended the mountain, an ice formation, possibly a serac, collapsed, unleashing a catastrophic event, Haidri said. He said the rescue mission was launched on Saturday after the ice hit the climbers, who were on a mission to retrieve the body of a climber lost on the same mountain in 2023. He said there was no government advisory about bad weather and the climbers faced the disaster suddenly after the mass of ice fell on them. Hundreds of climbers try to sca

Leather exporters to visit Russia from Aug 26 to tap biz opportunities

A delegation of over 20 leather sector executives will be visiting Russia this month to seek investments and tap growing export opportunities. The three-day visit will start from August 26. Council for Leather Exports Executive Director R Selvam said that at present India is exporting leather goods in the range of USD 60 million to USD 80 million, but it is low as huge opportunities are there in Russia. "We will also participate in an international fair - Euro Shoes Premier Collection in Moscow. We are taking a delegation with an aim to attract investments, technology collaboration in tannery and product manufacturing," Selvam told PTI. He said that huge export opportunities are there in areas like leather garments, goods and footwear. Though there are payment issues in Russia due to Western countries' sanctions on account of the Russia-Ukraine war, exporters who are dealing in Rupee can ship the goods. The export of leather, leather products and footwear rose from USD 44.84 mill

Russian court rejects appeal of jailed US staff sergeant Gordon Black

A panel of judges in the Primorsky Krai Court considered Black's appeal of the verdict from a Vladivostok district court but left it unchanged, the court said in statement in a social media post

Russia files complaint to Germany over Nord Stream sabotage investigation

"We have raised the issue of Germany and other affected countries fulfilling their obligations under the UN anti-terrorist conventions," Tyapkin said

Military incursion in Russia's Kursk aims to create buffer zone: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday the daring military incursion into Russia's Kursk region aims to create a buffer zone. It was the first time the president had clearly stated the aim of the operation, which was launched on August 6. Previously, he had said the operation aimed to protect communities in the bordering Sumy region from constant shelling. Zelenskyy said it is now our primary task in defensive operations overall: to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions. This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor's territory our operation in the Kursk region.

Death of the tank: Is this the end of dominance of the battlefield bully?

Russia's vaunted military, especially its mechanised forces, lie battered and scattered while social media networks are filled with videos of charred carcasses and deadly attacks on Russian tanks

Chechen prez invites Musk to Russia after he's seen driving armed truck

Chechnya President Ramzan Kadyrov invited Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Russia on Saturday after being filmed behind the wheel of one of the company's Cybertrucks mounted with a machine gun. In a clip posted on Kadyrov's Telegram channel, the self-styled strongman was seen taking the stainless steel-clad Cybertruck for a leisurely drive before standing astride the machine gun mounted in the truck bed, draped with belts of ammunition. In a gushing post, Kadyrov, who rules over Chechnya, a republic within the Russian Federation, described the vehicle as undoubtedly one of the best cars in the world. I literally fell in love. He also said he would donate the vehicle to Russian forces fighting in the invasion of Ukraine. It's not for nothing that they call this a cyberbeast, he said. I'm sure that this beast will bring plenty of benefits to our troops. Kadyrov, who was sanctioned by the US after being linked to numerous human rights violations, said he received the truck from Musk, although t

7.0 magnitude quake hits off far east coast of Russia, no reports of damage

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 struck in the Pacific off the far eastern coast of Russia near a major naval base early Sunday, but there were no early reports of damage or injuries. The quake prompted a tsunami warning that was later lifted. The earthquake occurred 18 miles (29 kilometres) below the surface and its epicenter was about 63 miles (102 kilometers) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the US Geological Survey said. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is a port city of more than 181,000 people surrounded by volcanoes and sits across a bay from an important Russian submarine base. The US National Weather Service's Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu initially warned that hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts within 300 miles (480 kilometres) of the earthquake epicentre, but later announced the threat had ended. The centre said minor sea level fluctuations could occur in some coastal areas near the earthquake site for several hours.

UAE joins BRICS partners for launch of Centre for Industrial Competences

The centre will promote partnerships within the framework of the New Industrial Revolution (NIR) to identify interests, challenges, and opportunities in the rapidly evolving industrial landscape

India-Russia standoff on Sakhalin-1 dividends as ONGC pushes for equity oil

Rosneft PJSC and the Russian Federation have insisted on paying dividends rather than providing equity oil to ONGC Videsh, despite India's desire for the latter

Russia refuses to open criminal probe into Navalny's death, says widow

Russian authorities have refused to open a criminal investigation into the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in an Arctic penal colony, his widow Yulia said Thursday. Navalny, the fiercest political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in February in the remote northern prison colony while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he had condemned as politically motivated. Authorities said he became ill after a walk but have otherwise given no details on Navalny's death. Russian officials only said that Navalny died of natural causes shortly after taking a walk and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death. In a video published Thursday on social media, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, said she received a letter from Russian investigators detailing the cause of her husband's death. In the video, Navalnaya said she was told Navalny died from a combination of a dozen different diseases". Investigators told her Nava

Ukraine has taken full control of Russia's Sudzha town, claims Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that his country's troops had taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha, which would be the largest population centre to fall under Ukraine's purview since the start of its cross-border incursion more than a week ago. Although it only had a prewar population of around 5,000 people, Sudzha is the administrative centre for the border area of Russia's Kursk region and is larger than any of the other small towns or settlements that Ukrainian forces have reportedly taken since the incursion began Aug 6. Sudzha holds a measuring station for Russian natural gas that flows through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe and accounts for about 3% of Europe's imports. There was no immediate indication of any disruption to the gas flow through the town. Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian military command office was being set up in Sudzha, which suggests Ukraine might plan to remain in the Kursk region long-term or just signal Moscow that it might ...

Russian military beefs up border defences after Ukrainian incursion

Putin's defence minister, Andrei Belousov, said the general staff had prepared a series of measures to defend Russia's border regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod