Moscow move to shutter Jewish Agency alarms Russian Jews
Russia’s threat to shut down a prominent Jewish organization has stoked fears among Jews planning to leave the country because of its war against Ukraine, while deepening a rift between Russia and Israel.
A Moscow court held a preliminary hearing Thursday about the Justice Ministry’s application to abolish the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency for Israel, and scheduled the next hearing for Aug. 19.
The Kremlin denies any political motive, even as Moscow attacks statements by Israeli officials opposing its invasion of Ukraine. The agency, which was founded more than 90 years ago and is affiliated with Israel’s government, helps Jewish families emigrate to Israel, including organizing travel and paying airfare.
Read the full story here.
Russia’s threat to shut down a prominent Jewish organization has stoked fears among Jews planning to leave the country because of its war against Ukraine, while deepening a rift between Russia and Israel.
A Moscow court held a preliminary hearing Thursday about the Justice Ministry’s application to abolish the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency for Israel, and scheduled the next hearing for Aug. 19.
The Kremlin denies any political motive, even as Moscow attacks statements by Israeli officials opposing its invasion of Ukraine. The agency, which was founded more than 90 years ago and is affiliated with Israel’s government, helps Jewish families emigrate to Israel, including organizing travel and paying airfare.
Read the full story here.
Analysis: Russia’s war in Ukraine finds echoes in the Balkans
A couple months after launching Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried to justify his war by pointing to the Western Balkans. In a meeting with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, Putin pointed to the legacy of the NATO intervention in the former Yugoslavia in 1999, a bombing campaign that hit targets across what was then combined Serbia and Montenegro in a bid to halt Serbia’s onslaught against ethnic Kosovar Albanians fighting for autonomy.
The brief war and subsequent peacekeeping operation led to the emergence of the independent nation of Kosovo.
The Western alliance’s actions then, Putin suggested, were no different than what his forces sought to do now in attempting to guarantee the independence of two pro-Kremlin separatist entities in the eastern Ukrainian region known as Donbas.
Read the full analysis here.
A couple months after launching Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried to justify his war by pointing to the Western Balkans. In a meeting with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, Putin pointed to the legacy of the NATO intervention in the former Yugoslavia in 1999, a bombing campaign that hit targets across what was then combined Serbia and Montenegro in a bid to halt Serbia’s onslaught against ethnic Kosovar Albanians fighting for autonomy.
The brief war and subsequent peacekeeping operation led to the emergence of the independent nation of Kosovo.
The Western alliance’s actions then, Putin suggested, were no different than what his forces sought to do now in attempting to guarantee the independence of two pro-Kremlin separatist entities in the eastern Ukrainian region known as Donbas.
Read the full analysis here.
Here is the lastest from Ukraine.
- A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odessa for the first time since Russia’s invasion under a U.N.-backed deal meant to ease the global food crisis.
- The key Black Sea port of Mykolaiv was hit over the weekend by “one of the most brutal shellings” since the war began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after dozens of Russian rockets destroyed homes, schools and infrastructure.
- Finger-pointing continues over an attack on a detention center in Russian-occupied Donetsk that killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners.
- The European Commission on Monday announced that $1 billion in financial aid for Ukraine, out of a package totaling $9 billion, will be delivered by Tuesday.
More live updates here.
- A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odessa for the first time since Russia’s invasion under a U.N.-backed deal meant to ease the global food crisis.
- The key Black Sea port of Mykolaiv was hit over the weekend by “one of the most brutal shellings” since the war began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after dozens of Russian rockets destroyed homes, schools and infrastructure.
- Finger-pointing continues over an attack on a detention center in Russian-occupied Donetsk that killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners.
- The European Commission on Monday announced that $1 billion in financial aid for Ukraine, out of a package totaling $9 billion, will be delivered by Tuesday.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Monday’s grain shipment was “the first positive signal that there is a chance to stop the spread of the food crisis in the world,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
- Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday for the first time since news broke of a possible Biden administration prisoner swap proposal to bring the WNBA player home. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that U.S. officials should not discuss potential prisoner swaps publicly.
- Canada announced a new round of sanctions on Russian officials. The measures target 43 military officials and 17 entities “that are complicit in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s senseless bloodshed,” including atrocities in Bucha, Ukraine, in March.
- Russian shelling hit a minibus carrying civilians near Dohove, Kherson, killing at least three, Ukraine’s military said Tuesday.
More live updates here.
- Monday’s grain shipment was “the first positive signal that there is a chance to stop the spread of the food crisis in the world,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
- Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday for the first time since news broke of a possible Biden administration prisoner swap proposal to bring the WNBA player home. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that U.S. officials should not discuss potential prisoner swaps publicly.
- Canada announced a new round of sanctions on Russian officials. The measures target 43 military officials and 17 entities “that are complicit in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s senseless bloodshed,” including atrocities in Bucha, Ukraine, in March.
- Russian shelling hit a minibus carrying civilians near Dohove, Kherson, killing at least three, Ukraine’s military said Tuesday.
More live updates here.
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A care center for Ukraine’s disabled deals with the trauma of occupation
BORODYANKA, Ukraine — Maryna Hanitska had no choice. She wrapped her patients’ fragile bodies in trash bags and buried them in a hastily dug mass grave in the frigid cold under threat of Russian fire. It will haunt her forever.
Hanitska, 44, is the director of Borodyanka’s psychoneurological hospital, a government-run center for men with schizophrenia, cerebral palsy, high-needs autism, and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.
For about 50 years, the facility near Kyiv has treated the complex needs of some of Ukraine’s most vulnerable. But there was no precedent for treating the trauma of Russian occupation.
Read the full story here.
BORODYANKA, Ukraine — Maryna Hanitska had no choice. She wrapped her patients’ fragile bodies in trash bags and buried them in a hastily dug mass grave in the frigid cold under threat of Russian fire. It will haunt her forever.
Hanitska, 44, is the director of Borodyanka’s psychoneurological hospital, a government-run center for men with schizophrenia, cerebral palsy, high-needs autism, and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.
For about 50 years, the facility near Kyiv has treated the complex needs of some of Ukraine’s most vulnerable. But there was no precedent for treating the trauma of Russian occupation.
Read the full story here.
Brittney Griner back in Russian court amid hopes of a prisoner swap
WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday for the first time since news broke that the Biden administration is proposing a prisoner exchange to bring her and another American prisoner, former Marine Paul Whelan, home.
The court questioned expert witnesses called by Griner’s legal team at Tuesday’s hearing.
The basketball player was escorted into a cramped court on the outskirts of Moscow by a team of masked SWAT police, underscoring how seriously Russian law enforcement views her case.
One of the experts, Dmitry Gladyshev, testified that checks for cannabis by a state expert on vape cartridges in Griner’s luggage did not meet legal requirements. The hearing adjourned until Thursday.
Read the full story here.
WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday for the first time since news broke that the Biden administration is proposing a prisoner exchange to bring her and another American prisoner, former Marine Paul Whelan, home.
The court questioned expert witnesses called by Griner’s legal team at Tuesday’s hearing.
The basketball player was escorted into a cramped court on the outskirts of Moscow by a team of masked SWAT police, underscoring how seriously Russian law enforcement views her case.
One of the experts, Dmitry Gladyshev, testified that checks for cannabis by a state expert on vape cartridges in Griner’s luggage did not meet legal requirements. The hearing adjourned until Thursday.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- A Ukrainian woman walks amid the debris of a residential building following night shelling in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 2.
- The United States and Canada announced new rounds of sanctions on Russian individuals.
- Putin’s reported romantic partner, Alina Kabaeva, was added to the Treasury Department’s list of sanctioned Russian nationals.
- Russia’s Supreme Court designated the Ukrainian Azov Regiment as a terrorist group, Russian news agency TASS reported.
- Monday’s grain shipment was “the first positive signal that there is a chance to stop the spread of the food crisis in the world,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
- Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday for the first time since news broke of a possible Biden administration prisoner swap proposal to bring the WNBA player home.
More live updates here.
- A Ukrainian woman walks amid the debris of a residential building following night shelling in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 2.
- The United States and Canada announced new rounds of sanctions on Russian individuals.
- Putin’s reported romantic partner, Alina Kabaeva, was added to the Treasury Department’s list of sanctioned Russian nationals.
- Russia’s Supreme Court designated the Ukrainian Azov Regiment as a terrorist group, Russian news agency TASS reported.
- Monday’s grain shipment was “the first positive signal that there is a chance to stop the spread of the food crisis in the world,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
- Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday for the first time since news broke of a possible Biden administration prisoner swap proposal to bring the WNBA player home.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The Razoni cargo ship, carrying more than 26,000 metric tons of corn, has arrived in Turkish waters and will head to Lebanon after Wednesday’s inspection under the U.N.-brokered agreement with Moscow.
- The Senate will vote Wednesday to approve Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced.
- The southern city of Mykolaiv came under renewed shelling overnight, according to its mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych.
- The war, now in its sixth month, has left more than 3.5 million Ukrainian homeless, as it destroyed 140,000 houses, apartments and residential buildings, the country’s defense ministry said.
More live updates here.
- The Razoni cargo ship, carrying more than 26,000 metric tons of corn, has arrived in Turkish waters and will head to Lebanon after Wednesday’s inspection under the U.N.-brokered agreement with Moscow.
- The Senate will vote Wednesday to approve Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced.
- The southern city of Mykolaiv came under renewed shelling overnight, according to its mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych.
- The war, now in its sixth month, has left more than 3.5 million Ukrainian homeless, as it destroyed 140,000 houses, apartments and residential buildings, the country’s defense ministry said.
More live updates here.
Former Ukraine prison detainees doubt Russia’s deadly blast story
Even before the deadly blast that killed at least 53 Ukrainian soldiers on Friday, the Olenivka prison in the country’s separatist-controlled eastern Donetsk province was known to human rights groups as a lawless place where pro-Russian forces hold civilians flagged as potential enemy “collaborators” and military prisoners of war.
Located just a few miles from the war’s front line, it has served as a detention facility for several thousand people brought from Mariupol after Russia captured that southern Ukrainian port city in May following a brutal and protracted siege. Among them were hundreds of soldiers who fought back from the city’s last stronghold, the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant, before finally surrendering.
Read the full story here.
Even before the deadly blast that killed at least 53 Ukrainian soldiers on Friday, the Olenivka prison in the country’s separatist-controlled eastern Donetsk province was known to human rights groups as a lawless place where pro-Russian forces hold civilians flagged as potential enemy “collaborators” and military prisoners of war.
Located just a few miles from the war’s front line, it has served as a detention facility for several thousand people brought from Mariupol after Russia captured that southern Ukrainian port city in May following a brutal and protracted siege. Among them were hundreds of soldiers who fought back from the city’s last stronghold, the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant, before finally surrendering.
Read the full story here.
U.S. imposes sanctions on Putin’s reported girlfriend
The United States imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reported romantic partner Tuesday, part of the latest raft of penalties targeting Kremlin-linked officials and entities in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Alina Kabaeva, 39, was among 13 Russian nationals added to the Treasury Department’s sanctions list. A former star gymnast with two Olympic gold medals, Kabaeva has become better-known in recent years as the 69-year-old Russian leader’s rumored girlfriend.
The U.S. announcement Tuesday cited Kabaeva’s “close relationship to Putin,” though it did not point to a romantic tie specifically. But the U.S. government holds that Kabaeva is the mother of at least three of Putin’s children, the Wall Street Journal reported, and had previously prepared a sanctions package against her before making a last-minute decision in late April to hold off to avoid hurting prospects for a negotiated peace in Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
The United States imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reported romantic partner Tuesday, part of the latest raft of penalties targeting Kremlin-linked officials and entities in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Alina Kabaeva, 39, was among 13 Russian nationals added to the Treasury Department’s sanctions list. A former star gymnast with two Olympic gold medals, Kabaeva has become better-known in recent years as the 69-year-old Russian leader’s rumored girlfriend.
The U.S. announcement Tuesday cited Kabaeva’s “close relationship to Putin,” though it did not point to a romantic tie specifically. But the U.S. government holds that Kabaeva is the mother of at least three of Putin’s children, the Wall Street Journal reported, and had previously prepared a sanctions package against her before making a last-minute decision in late April to hold off to avoid hurting prospects for a negotiated peace in Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- Off the Turkish coast, officials inspected the first ship carrying grain out of Ukraine’s port city of Odessa in a deal to ease the global food crisis.
- Ukraine’s ombudsman is trying to contact his Russian counterpart to visit the Olenivka prison, under separatist control in eastern Ukraine.
- The head of the United Nations’ nuclear agency warned that Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant — the largest nuclear power facility in Europe — is “completely out of control” in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday.
- Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, accused Russian forces of using the Zaporizhzhia plant “as the equivalent of a nuclear shield.”
More live updates here.
- Off the Turkish coast, officials inspected the first ship carrying grain out of Ukraine’s port city of Odessa in a deal to ease the global food crisis.
- Ukraine’s ombudsman is trying to contact his Russian counterpart to visit the Olenivka prison, under separatist control in eastern Ukraine.
- The head of the United Nations’ nuclear agency warned that Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant — the largest nuclear power facility in Europe — is “completely out of control” in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday.
- Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, accused Russian forces of using the Zaporizhzhia plant “as the equivalent of a nuclear shield.”
More live updates here.
U.S. Senate votes to approve NATO membership for Sweden and Finland
The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to admit Sweden and Finland into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, endorsing an expansion of the alliance that supporters believe would send a message condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 95-1 vote made the United States the 23rd of NATO’s 30 members to ratify the proposed addition, which leaders in Helsinki and Stockholm began to contemplate this spring in response to Russia’s aggressive cross-border campaign.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the vote “a signal to Russia: they cannot intimidate America or Europe.”
The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, which still must be finalized by several other member nations, would boost the alliance’s military assets, especially since the two countries’ considerable arsenals of artillery, war planes and naval weapons are already compatible with NATO systems.
Read the full story here.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to admit Sweden and Finland into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, endorsing an expansion of the alliance that supporters believe would send a message condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 95-1 vote made the United States the 23rd of NATO’s 30 members to ratify the proposed addition, which leaders in Helsinki and Stockholm began to contemplate this spring in response to Russia’s aggressive cross-border campaign.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the vote “a signal to Russia: they cannot intimidate America or Europe.”
The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, which still must be finalized by several other member nations, would boost the alliance’s military assets, especially since the two countries’ considerable arsenals of artillery, war planes and naval weapons are already compatible with NATO systems.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Olympian Griner will return to court in Moscow, with a verdict expected soon even as U.S. officials call for a prisoner exchange. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to accept a deal to free Griner and former security consultant Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year prison term in Russia.
- The United Nations will probe the attack at a detention facility held by pro-Russian separatists, which killed at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war captured during Russia’s siege of Mariupol.
- Russian troops who captured the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine are jeopardizing nuclear safety, the head of the U.N. atomic energy watchdog says.
- Amnesty International said Ukrainian forces at times endangered civilians with bases and weapons in residential areas, including schools and hospitals.
More live updates here.
- Olympian Griner will return to court in Moscow, with a verdict expected soon even as U.S. officials call for a prisoner exchange. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to accept a deal to free Griner and former security consultant Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year prison term in Russia.
- The United Nations will probe the attack at a detention facility held by pro-Russian separatists, which killed at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war captured during Russia’s siege of Mariupol.
- Russian troops who captured the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine are jeopardizing nuclear safety, the head of the U.N. atomic energy watchdog says.
- Amnesty International said Ukrainian forces at times endangered civilians with bases and weapons in residential areas, including schools and hospitals.
More live updates here.
Russia’s vow to annex occupied Ukraine sparks divisions, pleas for aid
Russia’s vow to annex pockets of occupied Ukraine has presented the United States and its partners with a pressing dilemma, as trepidation grows in Washington and Kyiv over whether the West is positioned to avert a pivotal shift in the war.
“Time is on Putin’s side,” said Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), referring to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Waltz in late July was part of a congressional delegation that toured the war-ravaged cities of Irpin and Bucha, and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. Waltz noted that in occupied areas, Moscow is already installing government offices, replacing the Ukrainian hryvnia with the Russian ruble as currency, handing out Russian passports and flooding the airwaves with pro-Kremlin media.
“The more time [Putin] gets to put his people in place,” Waltz said.
Read the full story here.
Russia’s vow to annex pockets of occupied Ukraine has presented the United States and its partners with a pressing dilemma, as trepidation grows in Washington and Kyiv over whether the West is positioned to avert a pivotal shift in the war.
“Time is on Putin’s side,” said Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), referring to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Waltz in late July was part of a congressional delegation that toured the war-ravaged cities of Irpin and Bucha, and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. Waltz noted that in occupied areas, Moscow is already installing government offices, replacing the Ukrainian hryvnia with the Russian ruble as currency, handing out Russian passports and flooding the airwaves with pro-Kremlin media.
“The more time [Putin] gets to put his people in place,” Waltz said.
Read the full story here.
Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years in Russian prison on drug charges
A Russian judge on Thursday handed down a harsh nine-year prison sentence for WNBA star Brittney Griner, rejecting the player’s plea for leniency and her apology for “an honest mistake” in bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil into the country in February.
The sentence — close to the maximum possible — is likely to fuel anger among the athlete’s supporters and fans in the United States, who see her as a political pawn being held hostage by Russia. It will add to pressure on the Biden administration to reach a deal with Moscow on a prisoner exchange deal to bring her home.
Griner’s fate is now in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will make the final decision on any prisoner swap. She also was fined 1 million rubles ($16,590).
Griner pleaded guilty last month to carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil into the country.
Read the full story here.
A Russian judge on Thursday handed down a harsh nine-year prison sentence for WNBA star Brittney Griner, rejecting the player’s plea for leniency and her apology for “an honest mistake” in bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil into the country in February.
The sentence — close to the maximum possible — is likely to fuel anger among the athlete’s supporters and fans in the United States, who see her as a political pawn being held hostage by Russia. It will add to pressure on the Biden administration to reach a deal with Moscow on a prisoner exchange deal to bring her home.
Griner’s fate is now in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will make the final decision on any prisoner swap. She also was fined 1 million rubles ($16,590).
Griner pleaded guilty last month to carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil into the country.
Read the full story here.
Russia to launch spy satellite for Iran but use it first over Ukraine
A new satellite that Russia is preparing to launch on Iran’s behalf next week will greatly enhance Tehran’s ability to spy on military targets across the Middle East — but first, Moscow intends to use the spacecraft to assist its own war effort in Ukraine, according to Western security officials familiar with the matter.
Russia’s Roscosmos space agency announced an Aug. 9 launch date for the satellite, dubbed “Khayyam” after a 12th-century Persian mathematician, in fulfillment of a deal negotiated with Iran over nearly four years.
Russia, which has struggled to achieve its military objectives in its five-month-old assault on Ukraine, has told Tehran that it plans to use the satellite for several months, or longer, to enhance its surveillance of military targets in that conflict, the two officials said on the condition of anonymity, citing sensitivities surrounding intelligence collection.
Read the full story here.
A new satellite that Russia is preparing to launch on Iran’s behalf next week will greatly enhance Tehran’s ability to spy on military targets across the Middle East — but first, Moscow intends to use the spacecraft to assist its own war effort in Ukraine, according to Western security officials familiar with the matter.
Russia’s Roscosmos space agency announced an Aug. 9 launch date for the satellite, dubbed “Khayyam” after a 12th-century Persian mathematician, in fulfillment of a deal negotiated with Iran over nearly four years.
Russia, which has struggled to achieve its military objectives in its five-month-old assault on Ukraine, has told Tehran that it plans to use the satellite for several months, or longer, to enhance its surveillance of military targets in that conflict, the two officials said on the condition of anonymity, citing sensitivities surrounding intelligence collection.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- A Russian court found WNBA star Brittney Griner guilty on drug charges Thursday, handing her eight years on one count and a year and a half on another, before taking into account time served. Griner’s defense team said that they will “certainly file an appeal.”
- A new U.S. intelligence finding says Russia may plant fabricated evidence at the site of the attack that killed Ukrainian prisoners who were captured in Mariupol.
- Ships loaded with grain await approval to leave Ukrainian ports.
- The safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is at risk, the head of the U.N. atomic energy watchdog warned as he appealed for access to inspect Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia facility that was captured by Russian forces.
More live updates here.
- A Russian court found WNBA star Brittney Griner guilty on drug charges Thursday, handing her eight years on one count and a year and a half on another, before taking into account time served. Griner’s defense team said that they will “certainly file an appeal.”
- A new U.S. intelligence finding says Russia may plant fabricated evidence at the site of the attack that killed Ukrainian prisoners who were captured in Mariupol.
- Ships loaded with grain await approval to leave Ukrainian ports.
- The safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is at risk, the head of the U.N. atomic energy watchdog warned as he appealed for access to inspect Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia facility that was captured by Russian forces.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The deal to lift a Russian blockade on millions of tons of Ukrainian grain is moving ahead. A Panama-flagged vessel left Odessa with corn for Ireland, a Malta-flagged ship departed the port of Chornomorsk for Britain, and a Turkey-flagged vessel will also export corn from Chornomorsk, according to the Turkish government.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Russian resort city of Sochi on Friday, their second meeting in weeks. A Russian proposal intercepted ahead of the meeting — and shared with The Post by Ukrainian intelligence — indicates Russia hopes Turkey will agree to new channels to help avoid restrictions on its banking, energy and industrial sectors.
- Russia’s war in Ukraine has damaged or destroyed nearly 200 temples and prayer houses of different denominations, along with hundreds of educational institutions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a nightly address.
- The deal to lift a Russian blockade on millions of tons of Ukrainian grain is moving ahead. A Panama-flagged vessel left Odessa with corn for Ireland, a Malta-flagged ship departed the port of Chornomorsk for Britain, and a Turkey-flagged vessel will also export corn from Chornomorsk, according to the Turkish government.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Russian resort city of Sochi on Friday, their second meeting in weeks. A Russian proposal intercepted ahead of the meeting — and shared with The Post by Ukrainian intelligence — indicates Russia hopes Turkey will agree to new channels to help avoid restrictions on its banking, energy and industrial sectors.
- Russia’s war in Ukraine has damaged or destroyed nearly 200 temples and prayer houses of different denominations, along with hundreds of educational institutions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a nightly address.
Russia turns to Turkey, other trading partners to blunt sanctions’ impact
Russia is turning to Turkey and other potential new trading partners as it tries to circumvent Western sanctions that are starting to bite even deeper into its economy following its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Sochi on Friday, and the meeting — the leaders’ second in just over two weeks — is setting off alarms that the Kremlin could strengthen economic ties with a NATO nation that has not joined in imposing sanctions on Moscow.
A Russian proposal intercepted ahead of the meeting indicates Russia hopes Turkey will agree to new channels to help it avoid those restrictions on its banking, energy and industrial sectors.
Read the full story here.
Russia is turning to Turkey and other potential new trading partners as it tries to circumvent Western sanctions that are starting to bite even deeper into its economy following its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Sochi on Friday, and the meeting — the leaders’ second in just over two weeks — is setting off alarms that the Kremlin could strengthen economic ties with a NATO nation that has not joined in imposing sanctions on Moscow.
A Russian proposal intercepted ahead of the meeting indicates Russia hopes Turkey will agree to new channels to help it avoid those restrictions on its banking, energy and industrial sectors.
Read the full story here.
Russia warns ‘megaphone’ diplomacy could sink hopes of Griner prisoner swap
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that his country was ready to discuss a possible prisoner exchange deal with the United States involving basketball star Brittney Griner but warned “loud statements” and public diplomacy from the United States could sink hopes of any deal.
“We are ready to discuss the issue,” Lavrov told reporters Friday. He said that the appropriate channels would be via a dialogue mechanism established by Washington and Moscow after President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Geneva in 2021.
Lavrov also accused Secretary of State Antony Blinken of being uninterested in meeting with him to discuss the matter on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit taking place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Read the full story here.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that his country was ready to discuss a possible prisoner exchange deal with the United States involving basketball star Brittney Griner but warned “loud statements” and public diplomacy from the United States could sink hopes of any deal.
“We are ready to discuss the issue,” Lavrov told reporters Friday. He said that the appropriate channels would be via a dialogue mechanism established by Washington and Moscow after President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Geneva in 2021.
Lavrov also accused Secretary of State Antony Blinken of being uninterested in meeting with him to discuss the matter on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit taking place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Read the full story here.