European Union leaders on Thursday agreed to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, in a show of support in the face of Russia’s war. “A historic moment. Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU,” Michel wrote on Twitter during a summit in Brussels. “Our future is together.” Ukraine applied to…
EU leaders met Thursday to discuss Ukraine’s long-sought bid to join the bloc, even as tensions between Brussels and Moscow deepened over gas supplies and Russia closed in on key cities in the embattled Donbas region. “This is a decisive moment for the European Union… A choice must be made today that will determine the…
U.S. telecoms equipment maker Cisco will end operations in Russia and Belarus in response to the war in Ukraine, the company told Reuters on Thursday. The company had initially suspended its operations in Russia, including sales and services, in March after the Kremlin ordered troops into neighboring Ukraine. Hundreds of foreign businesses have exited Russia…
Russian authorities have launched a campaign to recruit essential workers for the “reconstruction” of eastern Ukrainian territories occupied by its forces, according to public online job postings and news reports. Since shifting the focus of its invasion eastward following a failed effort to capture Kyiv, Russia has said its main objective is to “liberate” areas…
Russia has made two interest payments on dollar-denominated debt in rubles, the country’s finance ministry said Thursday, as Moscow faces the risk of an external debt default. “Funds for the payment of coupons on external bonds of the Russian Federation maturing in 2027 and 2047 in the total amount of 12.51 billion rubles (the equivalent…
The first shipments of smartphones and game consoles under Russia’s so-called “parallel import” scheme have arrived in the country, Kommersant newspaper reported Thursday. The scheme was was designed as a way to maintain imports of consumer goods into Russia despite Western sanctions and an exodus of Western firms from the Russian market. Mobile retailer Svyaznoy…
Nike will make a complete departure from Russia in the coming months, Reuters reported Thursday, citing an emailed statement from the company. The exit comes nearly four months after the U.S. athletic-wear giant suspended its Russian operations on March 3 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. “Nike has made the decision to leave the Russian…
Before being allowed to enter Russia last month, a business owner from a European Union member state was forced to give border officials at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport the name of every Ukrainian in his cell phone contact list. “He [the border guard] searched my phone and wrote down about eight or nine Ukrainian numbers on…
Pop singer Yuri Shatunov, who was wildly popular in the 1980s and 1990s, died Thursday at the age of 48. “Last night Yuri’s heart stopped in an ambulance,” said Shatunov’s manager, Arkady Kudryashov, the state-run news agency TASS reported. Shatunov was perhaps best known as the frontman of band Laskovy Mai (‘Gentle May’), which filled…
UN experts have confirmed the full or partial destruction of 152 cultural and historic heritage sites in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country, its cultural agency said Thursday. They include museums and monuments, churches and other religious buildings, and libraries and other exceptional buildings, UNESCO said in an update of its efforts to assist Ukraine…
Russia plans to replace the badly damaged Azovstal steel plant in the captured Ukrainian port city of Mariupol with either an industrial park or a leisure zone, a Russian minister said Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said rebuilding was already underway the site, which became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after its outnumbered defenders held…
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s global ratings have sunk to 20-year lows as the Russia invasion of Ukraines enters its fourth month, according to a Pew Research Center poll published Wednesday. A median of 9% of respondents in 18 countries said they have confidence in Putin “to do the right thing regarding world affairs,” Pew said.…