Day: December 22, 2022
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North Korea Sold Arms to Russia’s Wagner Group, U.S. Says
North Korea has delivered arms to Russia’s private military group Wagner, the White House said Thursday, calling the mercenary enterprise a “rival” for power to the defense and other ministries in the Kremlin. The United States will boost sanctions against Wagner following North Korea’s sale of infantry rockets and missiles to the group last month,…
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Tatarstan Deputies Reject Kremlin Attempt to Bring Region to Heel
In a rare show of defiance toward the federal government in Moscow, regional politicians in Tatarstan on Thursday rejected a set of amendments to its constitution that would have, among other measures, demoted the republic’s leader from “president” to “head” as the Kremlin continues its attempt to rein in Russia’s regions. While at one…
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Yandex Registers New Companies to Bypass Sanctions – RTVI
Russian tech giant Yandex has registered holding companies in Armenia and the U.S. in order to bypass international sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, Russian-language TV channel RTVI reported on Thursday. Senior Yandex managers Maxim Zagrebin and Dmitry Stepanov registered Beyond ML, a company that itself owns a dozen technology startups, in Armenia…
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Russian Army Chief Says Focus Is Now on Liberation of Donetsk
Russia’s army chief said on Thursday that his troops in Ukraine were “focused on completing the liberation” of Donetsk, an eastern Ukrainian region Moscow claims to have annexed. “The situation on the frontline has stabilized and the main efforts of our troops are now focused on completing the liberation of the territory of the Donetsk People’s…
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Documentaries on Russian Opposition, Climate Change Shortlisted for Oscars
Two documentaries about prominent Russian opposition figures and a film on life in the Russian Arctic are among the titles shortlisted for the 95th Oscars released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday. Daniel Roher’s “Navalny,” which explores the events following the Kremlin critic’s nerve-agent poisoning in August 2020, was shortlisted…
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Georgia’s Ailing Ex-Leader Saakashvili Appears Gaunt in Court
Georgia’s ailing ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili on Thursday looked frail as he appeared by video link at a court that will consider deferring his sentence of abuse of office over poor health. Gaunt, hollow-cheeked, and his hands trembling, Saakashvili was connected from the hospital by video link. The footage was aired live from court by the…
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Armenia PM Blames Russian Peacekeepers for Karabakh Blockade
Armenian Prime Minister Nikolai Pashinyan accused Russian peacekeepers Thursday of failing in its mission to unblock a key road that links Armenia to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Pashinyan last week accused Armenia’s neighboring arch-nemesis Azerbaijan of blocking the Lachin corridor, Yerevan’s sole road link to the Armenian-populated separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, and cutting off residents…
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‘Empty Words’: Russian Officials Unswayed By Zelensky’s U.S. Visit
Russian officials and other prominent figures have dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s first wartime trip to the United States as an empty gesture that would not advance Russian-Ukrainian peace talks. More hawkish voices, meanwhile, called for Ukraine to be “destroyed” altogether following Zelensky’s meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and widely praised address to Congress.…
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Former Russian Space Chief Wounded in Ukraine Shelling
Russia’s former space chief Dmitry Rogozin said early that Thursday he and several others were wounded in shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Rogozin, a nationalist politician and avid backer of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said “someone leaked information” about his “working meeting in a small group” at a local hotel on Wednesday evening.…
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Zelensky Says U.S. Aid Not ‘Charity’ on Triumphant U.S. Visit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday directly appealed for long-term U.S. support on his first foreign trip since Russia’s invasion, saying aid was not “charity” and had helped keep his country “alive and kicking.” Three hundred days after Russian leader Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine with hopes of swift conquest, Zelensky enjoyed a hero’s welcome on a…