Day: May 4, 2022
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ROSATOM Director General, IAEA Director General Hold Regular Working Meeting
On May 4, 2022, Istanbul hosted another working meeting between Alexey Likhachev, the ROSATOM Director General, and Rafael Mariano Grossi, the IAEA Director General. The officials reviewed the entire agenda of the Russia-IAEA working relationship. In particular, the parties discussed in detail the matter of ensuring safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine under current complicated…
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Up to 600 Dead in Mariupol Theater Airstrike — Investigation
As many as 600 people could have been killed when the Mariupol theater sheltering hundreds of civilians was shelled by Russian forces in March, a new investigation by the Associated Press (AP) reported Wednesday. The Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater was hit by a Russian air strike on March 16, killing an unknown number of…
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Russia Violates Finnish Airspace as Helsinki Mulls NATO
A Russian army helicopter violated Finland’s airspace on Wednesday, the Finnish defense ministry said, as the country mulls an increasingly likely NATO membership bid. “The aircraft type is a Mi-17 helicopter and the depth of the suspected violation is about four to five kilometers”, a ministry spokesman told AFP. This is the second Russian airspace…
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Uptick in Combat Missions Signals Changing Role for Russia’s Air Force in Ukraine
A spate of airstrikes by Russian combat jets in eastern Ukraine last week was a sign that Russia’s Air Force may be changing tack after failing to achieve aerial superiority over Ukraine, analysts told The Moscow Times. Russian pilots have largely taken a risk-averse approach to air combat in the two-month war, choosing to attack…
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Explainer: How a Ukrainian Pensioner Became a Pro-War Symbol in Russia
An elderly Ukrainian woman has become a symbol of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after the pensioner mistakenly greeted Ukrainian soldiers with a Soviet banner. Her viral popularity comes in the run-up to Russia’s May 9 holiday Victory Day, when nostalgia for the Soviet Union and its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War…
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Pro-Kremlin Spin Doctor Solovyov Boasts of Mariupol Visit
Pro-Kremlin television host Vladimir Solovyov visited the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he said in a YouTube broadcast Tuesday. Solovyov was pictured at a metallurgical plant in Mariupol alongside Denis Pushilin, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). In the photo, the state television anchor can be seen dressed in military fatigues…
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EU Targets Russian Oil, Patriarch in New Sanctions
The European Union’s executive unveiled Wednesday plans for a gradual ban on Russian oil imports as part of a raft of new sanctions to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine. The proposed measures include moves against Russia’s biggest bank and the targeting of Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. If approved, the oil…
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Ex-Belarus Leader Who Helped Dissolve Soviet Union Dies Aged 87
Stanislav Shushkevich, the first leader of independent Belarus who played a key role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union, died Wednesday at age 87. Shushkevich’s wife told journalists her husband passed away in the Belarusian capital of Minsk as a result of Covid-19 complications. He was placed in intensive care last month. “We hope…
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Belarus Launches ‘Surprise’ Military Maneuvers
Belarus, a Moscow ally that shares a border with Ukraine, launched “surprise” military maneuvers on Wednesday, to test the reactive capacity of its army, its defense ministry said. Belarus military units were testing their capacity to “go on the alert, move to predetermined zones and undertake combat training,” the ministry said in a statement. “The…
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South Ukraine Shows Signs Russia Has Come to Stay
A Russian military plane was flying in the skies over Berdyansk, a city in southern Ukraine, but no one took much notice. “Nothing to worry about,” said an older woman sitting on a bench in a small square on a sunny weekend afternoon. “It’s one of ours.” Russian forces took control of this port city…
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Russia Sees Fewer Ukrainian Refugees Than Officials Expected
Russia has spent one-tenth of its expected budget on Ukrainian refugees as some emergency accommodation sites remain empty, according to public procurement data and interviews with officials. “Official figures say more than 1 million refugees have entered Russia, but we’re not feeling it,” Yelena Rusakova, a Moscow municipal deputy who volunteers to assist refugees, told…
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Putin Targets ‘Unfriendly Countries’ in Counter Sanctions
Russian President Vladimir Putin banned Tuesday economic relations with sanctioned individuals from “unfriendly countries” on a soon to be published list. The move was a response to “unfriendly and contradictory to international law actions of the United States and foreign states and international organizations that joined it, which are aimed at illegally depriving and restricting…
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Civilians Reach Safety as Russia Renews Assault on Mariupol Plant
Russian forces launched a major assault Tuesday on the Azovstal steel plant, the last holdout of Ukrainian forces in the devastated southern port city of Mariupol, as 101 civilians who had been trapped in the site for weeks were finally brought to safety. “We are so thankful for everyone who helped us. There was a…