Hungary’s Orban Tells EU that Putin, Xi Expect Ukraine Talks by End of 2024 – El Pais

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the European Union that Russian and Chinese leaders expect Ukrainian peace talks by the end of 2024, the Spanish daily El Pais reported Wednesday, citing his confidential reports filed after visiting the countries. One of President Vladimir Putin’s closest Western partners, Orban has sparked the ire of the EU…

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Lawyer Granted Access to Kremlin Critic Kara-Murza in Prison Hospital

Jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza is in “relatively stable” condition after being transferred to a prison hospital last week, his lawyer said Wednesday. This is the first update on Kara-Murza’s condition since he was hospitalized, with his wife saying prison and hospital staff had prevented his lawyer from seeing him for six consecutive days. “Kara-Murza’s…

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Saudi Arabia Implied It Would Sell Euro Bonds if G7 Seized Frozen Russian Assets – Reports

Saudi Arabia privately warned it could sell off European debt holdings if the G7 seized nearly $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter. In what one source described as a “veiled threat,” the kingdom’s finance ministry reportedly implied it would start selling debt…

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FSB Says Thwarted Plots Targeting Army Officials, Admiral Kuznetsov Aircraft Carrier

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday that it had prevented “terrorist attacks” against high-ranking Defense Ministry officials in Moscow and on the flagship Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in northern Russia. The FSB detained a Russian citizen who was allegedly sending bombs disguised in gift packaging to three Defense Ministry division heads in the Russian…

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Russian Strikes Kill 3 in Ukraine

Russian strikes killed three people in southern Ukraine, including at the Black Sea port of Odesa, authorities said on Wednesday. Russia has carried out nightly attacks on cities across Ukraine since launching its invasion in February 2022. “The aggressor targeted port infrastructure in the Odesa region. Unfortunately, two people were killed — a security guard…

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U.S. Says It Broke Up Russian AI Bot Farm on X

The United States has disrupted a Russian disinformation campaign involving AI-powered bots used to create fake profiles on the social media platform X, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Officials seized two internet domains and searched 968 social media accounts that Russian operatives allegedly used to create an artificial intelligence “bot farm” and peddle disinformation in…

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Yulia Navalnaya Arrested in Absentia on ‘Extremism’ Charges

A Moscow court has arrested exiled opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, in absentia on charges of “participating in an extremist organization.” Navalnaya announced that she would continue Navalny’s work shortly after his death in an Arctic prison in February. Russian authorities designated Navalny’s activist network, including the disbanded Anti-Corruption…

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Russia to Release Indian Nationals Recruited for Ukraine War After Modi’s Visit – FM

Recast with Indian foreign minister’s comments. Russia has agreed to discharge Indian nationals from its military after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue with President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow this week, India’s foreign minister said Tuesday. Modi had “strongly raised the issue of early discharge of Indian nationals who have been…

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Georgia’s EU Accession Frozen, Says Brussels’ Envoy to Tbilisi

The European Union has halted Georgia’s accession talks amid strained ties over Tbilisi’s controversial “foreign influence” law, the bloc’s top diplomat in the South Caucasus country said Tuesday. “Regrettably, Georgia’s EU accession process is stopped for now — this has been decided by EU leaders during the last European Council,” said EU Ambassador to Tbilisi Pawel…

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Kremlin Says Will Follow NATO Summit Closely

A Kremlin spokesman on Tuesday said that Russia will follow closely a NATO summit about to open in Washington, attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders. Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, told journalists that Moscow would follow “with the greatest attention… the rhetoric at the talks and the decisions that…

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Russian Tycoons Earn $11.3Bln in Dividends Amid Wartime Economic Boom – Bloomberg

At least a dozen Russian oligarchs received more than 1 trillion rubles ($11.3 billion) in dividends in 2023 as the country saw a sharp wartime economic rebound, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing data compiled from publicly disclosed information. The earnings underscore how the Russian economy has adapted to the punishing Western sanctions imposed in response to the…

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WhatsApp Disrupted in Dagestan to Stop Spread of Extremism – TASS

Authorities in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan are slowing access to WhatsApp over the platform’s refusal to curb the spread of “calls to participate in extremist actions,” the state news agency TASS reported Monday, citing an unidentified source. Users in Dagestan began experiencing disruptions with access to WhatsApp on Sunday, with additional reports saying…

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Black-Market Database of Leaked Info Lists Russian Wartime Emigres – Agentstvo

A provider of stolen personal data sold on the black market has compiled a list of Russians who left the country following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the independent investigative news outlet Agentstvo reported Sunday. The database lists individuals who left for more than two months between 2022 and 2024, Agentstvo said, without indicating how many names…

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FSB Claims to Foil Ukrainian, NATO Attempt to Hijack Strategic Bomber

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday it had prevented an attempt by Ukraine to hijack a missile-carrying strategic bomber. In the process, the FSB claimed it gained intelligence to help Russia’s military strike Ukrainian territory. “The FSB has stopped another Ukrainian special services attempt to carry out an operation to hijack the Tu-22M3 long-range strategic…

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Russian Wrestlers Reject Olympics Invitation

Russian wrestlers who were given permission to participate in this summer’s Olympic Games have rejected the invitation, the Russian Wrestling Federation said Saturday. After initially barring Russian athletes from the Games over Moscow’s war on Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has moved to allow a handful of Russian athletes to take part under a neutral…

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Jailed Kremlin Critic Kara-Murza Transferred to Prison Hospital, Lawyers Denied Access

Jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza has been transferred to a prison hospital and his lawyers were denied access to their client, his wife said Friday. Kara-Murza, 42, suffers from health problems that his wife Evgenia and lawyers say are directly related to alleged attempts to poison him. Russian authorities have refused to investigate the incidents in 2015…

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