Page 98 - Russia

Russia's luxury hotels eye Indian hospitality firms for revival plans

Traditional management contracts and franchising agreements are among the potential collaboration models being explored

Russia announces six-month ban on gasoline exports from March 1

This time, the ban will not extend to member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and two Russian-backed breakaway regions of Georgia - South Ossetia and Abkhazia

Will hit back if foreign assets seized: Russian Minister Siluanov

According to Siluanov, other countries are drawing their own conclusions from the freezing of Russian assets

China hits back at US, EU, UK for Russia-related curbs on its firms

On Friday, the Biden admin announced new trade curbs on 93 entities from Russia, China, Turkey, UAE, Kyrgyzstan, India and South Korea for supporting Russia's war effort in Ukraine

Navalny was close to being freed from prison before his death, says ally

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin and Navalny ally Maria Pevchikh, who is based outside Russia, did not present documentary evidence for her assertion

23-year-old Indian hired as 'security helper' in Russia killed in war zone

The man, identified as Hemil Ashvinbhai Mangukiya, was killed after being struck by missiles on February 21

Moscow ally Serbia cracks down on anti-war Russians living in Balkan

When Elena Koposova signed an open letter against Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she didn't expect a backlash in her newly adopted home state of Serbia. After all, Serbia is formally seeking to join the European Union while adopting all the democratic values that go along with the membership, she thought. Now, she sees she was wrong. Two years after signing the letter, the 54-year-old Russian woman is appealing an expulsion order after she was declared a threat to the national security of Serbia and her residency permit was revoked. The beleaguered literature translator said the only reason she could think of is the anti-war petition that she had signed. I am not an activist, but I did sign an anti-war letter when the Russian aggression in Ukraine just started, she said in an interview. Even not being an activist, I couldn't just be quiet about it. So, I just put my name on the open letter where it was said that the war is a crime, and we must all unite to stop it. Koposo

Several Indians discharged from Russian army following govt's demand: MEA

Several Indians who worked as support staff to the Russian army were discharged following India's demand, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday. It said India remains committed, as a matter of "top priority", to actively pursuing with the Russian authorities all the relevant cases of Indian nationals for an early discharge from the Russian army. According to media reports, several Indians have been working as security helpers in the Russian military and they were forced to even fight with Russian soldiers in certain areas along Russia's border with Ukraine. "We have seen some inaccurate reports in the media regarding Indians with the Russian army seeking help for discharge," the MEA said in a statement. "Each and every such case brought to the attention of the Indian embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities and those brought to the attention of the Ministry have been taken up with the Russian embassy in New Delhi," it said. The MEA

Qatar plans new gas production boost due to global price collapse

The Qatari announcement comes as U.S. gas prices trade near an all-time low if adjusted to inflation after a decade of meteoric rises in output which made the U.S. one of the top oil and gas exporters

Three lessons from two years

Hard new questions for policy makers in a post-Ukraine War world

Body of Russian Oppn leader Navalny handed over to his mother, says aide

The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed over to his mother, an aide to Navalny said Saturday. Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, made the announcement on his Telegram account and thanked everyone who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny's body to his mother. Earlier Saturday, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, accused President Vladimir Putin of mocking Christianity by trying to force his mother to agree to a secret funeral after his death in a penal colony.

European leaders in Kyiv as Ukraine marks 2 yrs since Russia's invasion

Western leaders descended on Kyiv on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travelled overnight to Kyiv by train along with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. They arrived shortly after a Russian drone attack struck a residential building in the southern city of Odesa, killing at least one person. Three women also sustained severe burns in the attack Friday evening on a residential building, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said on his social media account. Rescue services are still combing rubble looking for survivors. The foreign leaders are in Ukraine to express solidarity as Ukrainian forces run low on ammunition and weaponry and Western aid hangs in the balance. More than ever we stand firmly by Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free, von der Leyen said i

US imposes sanctions on Russian shipping giant in bid to squeeze oil sales

Among other measures imposed on Russia following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the US and its allies slapped an oil-price sales cap on the country's exports

Ukraine claims it downed another Russian plane in a major blow to Moscow

Ukrainian forces downed a Russian early warning and control aircraft Friday, the air force chief said, a major win for the country as its army fights to repel persistent Russian attacks along the front line as the war enters its third year. General Mykola Oleshchuk thanked Ukraine's military intelligence for helping down the Russian A-50 aircraft on Russia's military holiday Friday. Congratulations to the occupiers on the Defender of the Fatherland day, Oleshchuk said on a sardonic note. Ukrainian media carried footage purportedly showing a massive fire that erupted when the big warplane crashed in the Krasnodar region on the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov. The Russian military didn't comment on the Ukrainian claim, but emergency officials in the Krasnodar region reported that a plane crashed in the area without identifying it. Several Russian military bloggers confirmed the plane's loss and some alleged that it was downed in a friendly fire incident. If confirmed, the plane's ..

US targets Russia with hundreds of curbs over Ukraine war, Navalny death

The United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on thousands of Russian targets in the past two years

Govt dials for 'release' of Indian support staff working for Russian Army

The comments by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal came following a report that some Indians are working as support staff to the Russian army in the conflict zone

Raisina Dialogue 2024: S Jaishankar cautions world on China's 'mind game'

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday cautioned China's mind game’ of a narrow focus solely on bilateral dynamics, saying India should not forgo its rights of harnessing

'We are aware': Govt on Indian youths wrongly drafted into Russian army

MEA said that the Indian Embassy has regularly taken up the issue with the Russian authorities and is seeking the earliest possible discharge of those trapped

Ukraine war: US to impose sanctions on over 500 targets in Russia action

The new penalties come as the US and its allies look to maintain pressure on Russia, despite doubts over whether the US Congress will approve additional security assistance for Kyiv

Russia threatened to shoot down aircraft patrolling Black Sea, says France

Russian forces threatened to shoot down French flights patrolling last month in international airspace over the Black Sea, signals of a particularly aggressive posture from Moscow as its invasion of Ukraine struggles to make headway, France's defense minister said Thursday. The minister, Sbastien Lecornu, didn't give specific details about the French flights or aircraft involved in the threatened shootdown. But he said Russia was returning to a particularly aggressive posture reminiscent of the former Soviet Union's behaviour during the Cold War. A month ago, to give you a very concrete example, a Russian air traffic control system threatened to shoot down French aircraft in the Black Sea when we were in a free international zone where we patrol," he said on RTL radio. The behaviour of Russia in 2024 bears no relation to what we saw in 2022 and, obviously, before the aggression in Ukraine, the minister said. It is explained by the fact that Russia is in difficulty on the battlefiel