Page 44 - Vladimir Putin

Russia arrests another senior defence min official in bribery charges

Russian authorities arrested another senior Defence Ministry official on charges of bribery, authorities said Tuesday, days after President Vladimir Putin replaced the defence minister in a Cabinet shake-up and amid expectations of further purges at the ministry. The Investigative Committee, Russia's top law enforcement body, wrote in a statement that Lt. Gen. Yury Kuznetsov, the chief of the ministry's main personnel directorate, was arrested on charges of bribery and placed in custody pending investigation and trial. Kuznetsov is accused of accepting an exceptionally large bribe, a charge punishable by up to 15 years in prison, the statement said. The official's home and other properties were searched, the Investigative Committee reported, and the authorities seized gold coins, luxury items and 100 million rubles (just over USD 1 million) in cash. Putin replaced Sergei Shoigu as defence minister Sunday in a Cabinet shakeup that comes as he begins his fifth term in office, moving

US delay in war aide allowed Putin inflict more damage: Ukraine's ex-prez

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said the long delay by the US Congress in approving military aid for his country was a colossal waste of time, allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to inflict more suffering in the 2-year-old invasion and prolonging the war. The severe lack of ammunition, which forced outgunned Ukrainian forces to surrender village after village on the front lines, also sowed concern among Ukraine's other Western allies about Kyiv's prospects in repelling the Russian invasion, Yushchenko told The Associated Press in an interview on Monday. That sent a signal to Putin to attack, ruin infrastructure, rampage all over Ukraine, said Yushchenko, a pro-European reformer who sought to distance Kyiv from Moscow during his 2005-2010 administration. And, of course, this undermines the morale of those in the world who stand with and support Ukraine, said Yushchenko, who was in Philadelphia to speak at a World Affairs Council event. The delay is not fatal to ..

Putin shuffles security team, replaces defence minister Sergei Shoigu

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed replacing Sergei Shoigu as defence minister on Sunday and appointed him as secretary of Russia's national security council. The appointment comes after Putin proposed appointing Andrei Belousov as the country's defence minister in place of Shoigu, who has served in the post for years. The reshuffle comes as Putin starts his fifth presidential term and as the war in Ukraine drags on for the third year In line with Russian law, the entire Russian Cabinet resigned on Tuesday following Putin's glittering inauguration in the Kremlin. The announcement came as thousands more civilians have fled Russia's renewed ground offensive in Ukraine's northeast that has targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar shelling, officials said Sunday. The intense battles have forced at least one Ukrainian unit to withdraw in the Kharkiv region, capitulating more land to Russian forces across less defended settlements in the so-cal

PM spoke to Putin, Zelenskyy, ensured safe passage to Indian students: EAM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said PM Modi had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ensure safe passage for Indian students from war-affected areas of Ukraine. During an interaction with editors in Mumbai, Jaishankar shared minute details of how things unfolded. Modi called Putin twice and Zelenskyy once for the safe passage of Indian students from Kharkiv and Sumy, he said. Jaishankar was responding to a query on Modi government's operation to evacuate Indian students from Ukraine after Russia invaded that country on February 24, 2022. There were two incidents. In Kharkiv city and Sumy. In Kharkiv incident, we had asked the students to come out of the city and go to a designated spot so that they could be picked up by us, Jaishankar said. Everything was set. People started moving. And then the Russians started firing on that place which we had designated (as the pickup point), because of some ...

Our army is locked in border battles amid Russia's assault: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian troops are locked in intense battles with the advancing Russian army in two border areas, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, while the death toll from a Russian apartment building collapse blamed on Ukrainian shelling rose to 15. Zelenskyy said fierce battles are taking place near the border in eastern and northeastern Ukraine as outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers try to push back a significant Russian ground offensive. Defensive battles are ongoing, fierce battles, on a large part of our border area, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Sunday. The Kremlin's forces are aiming to exploit Ukrainian weaknesses before a big batch of new military aid for Kyiv from the US and European partners arrives on the battlefield in the coming weeks and months, analysts say. That makes this period a window of opportunity for Moscow and one of the most dangerous for Kyiv in the two-year war, they say. The new Russian push in the northeastern Kharkiv region, along wi

US announces $400 million military aid package for embattled Ukraine

This package is the third slated for Kyiv after the US passed the national security supplemental last month that included $61 billion for Kyiv

Putin reappoints his PM, a technocrat who has kept low political profile

Russian President Vladimir Putin reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as the country's prime minister on Friday, a widely anticipated move to keep on a technocrat who has maintained a low political profile. Mishustin and other technocrats in the Cabinet have been credited with maintaining a relatively stable economic performance despite bruising Western sanctions for Russia's role in Ukraine. Most other Cabinet members are expected to keep their jobs, though the fate of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu appeared uncertain. In line with Russian law, Mishustin, 58, who held the job for the past four years, submitted his Cabinet's resignation on Tuesday when Putin began his fifth presidential term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration. Mishustin, the former head of Russia's tax service, steered clear of political statements and avoided media interviews during his previous tenure. The speaker of the parliament's lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, announced that Putin submitted Mishustin's candidacy

Putin, seeking continuity, proposes Mishustin remain as Russia's PM

As dictated by law, the government resigned just before Putin, Russia's paramount leader for nearly a quarter of a century, was sworn in for another six-year term on Tuesday

Putin's next target after Ukraine may be Nato's Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia

With the addition this year of Sweden and last spring of Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Baltic Sea has been dubbed a 'Nato lake' by some analysts

Russian govt rubbishes US allegations implicating India in Pannun case

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenship

Russia launches wide aerial attack on energy facilities in Ukraine

Russia launched aerial attacks on energy facilities throughout Ukraine early Wednesday, targeting seven regions with more than 50 missiles as well as drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The attacks also damaged the railway station and tracks in the city of Kherson, across the Dnieper River from Russian-held territory, and injured two people in Brovary, adjacent to the capital Kyiv, officials said. Russia consistently targets Ukraine's energy infrastructure. There was a major aerial attack on energy facilities on April 27 and another a week earlier. In a social media post, Zelenskyy noted that Wednesday's attacks occurred on the day that Ukraine observes the end of European fighting in World War II. Massive missile attack by Nazi Putin on the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in the Second World War, Zelensky said.The whole world should clearly understand who is who; The whole world has no right to give Nazism another chance. National electrical grid operator Ukren

Belarus launches nuclear drills after Russia announces them amid tensions

Belarus on Tuesday launched drills involving missiles and warplanes capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, which close ally Russia has deployed there amid tensions with the West over Ukraine. The Belarusian maneuvers began a day after Russia announced plans to hold similar drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons in what it cast as a response to statements by Western officials signalling possibly deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine. It was the first time such an exercise had been publicly announced by Moscow. Belarus' Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin said a unit of Iskander short-range missiles and a squadron of Su-25 fighter jets will take part in the drills. The maneuvers, held jointly with Russia, began as Russian President Vladimir Putin was inaugurated to a fifth term on Tuesday, vowing to ensure Russia's security. Last year, Russia moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus, which also borders Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Latvia and

Putin starts new six-year term as Russian Prez with challenge to West

Leading opposition figures are in prison or exile, and his best known critic, Alexei Navalny, died suddenly in an Arctic penal colony in February

Putin begins his 5th term today: Key events during his 24 years in power

Significant dates in Vladimir Putin's 24 years in power in Russia: Dec 31, 1999 - In a surprise address to the nation, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and makes Putin, the prime minister he appointed four months earlier, the acting president. May 7, 2000 - After winning election with about 53% of the vote, Putin is inaugurated for his first four-year term. May 11, 2000 - Tax police raid the offices of NTV, a popular independent broadcaster noted for critical coverage of the Kremlin. It is the first salvo in moves against prominent independent media that have characterized the Putin era. Aug 12, 2000 - The submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea with 118 people aboard, setting off the first widespread criticism of Putin, who stayed on vacation early in the crisis and waited five days before accepting Western offers of help. Oct 23, 2002 - Militants from Russia's region of Chechnya take about 850 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Three days later, Russia

Putin starts new term as President, faces little opposition to Ukraine war

As Putin prepares to be sworn in on Tuesday for another six years as president, the invasion has become part of everyday life for many Russians

Russia to practice tactical nuclear weapon scenario in its military drills

The ministry said the exercise was ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would test the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat missions

Putin begins new term, enters into era of extraordinary power in Russia

Just a few months short of a quarter-century as Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday will put his hand on a copy of the constitution and begin another six-year term as president wielding extraordinary power. Since becoming acting president on the last day of 1999, Putin has shaped Russia into a monolith crushing political opposition, running independent-minded journalists out of the country and promoting an increasing devotion to prudish traditional values that pushes many in society into the margins. His influence is so dominant that other officials could only stand submissively on the sidelines as he launched a war in Ukraine despite expectations the invasion would bring international opprobrium and harsh economic sanctions, as well as cost Russia dearly in the blood of its soldiers. With that level of power, what Putin will do with his next term is a daunting question at home and abroad. The war in Ukraine, where Russia is making incremental though consistent battlefield

Here's how Western sanctions are strangling Russia's Arctic gas ambitions

Russia has long sought to increase its share of the global LNG market, but the war and the subsequent sharp drop in overland exports to Europe have reinforced the importance of these ambitions

Putin's critic warns Kremlin will seize more assets to punish foes

Russia has become increasingly aggressive in seizing assets from local tycoons since the start of the Ukraine war

Russia's Putin plans to meet Xi in China days after his new term begins

Putin last month said he was planning to visit China in May, though he didn't specify the exact dates