Vladimir Putin Russia Ukraine war

2022 - 5 - 29

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Image courtesy of "Associated Press"

Ukraine fears repeat of Mariupol horrors in the Donbas (Associated Press)

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow-backed separatists pounded eastern Ukraine's industrial Donbas region Friday, claiming the capture of a railway hub as ...

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had some harsh words for the European Union, which has not agreed on a sixth round of sanctions that includes an embargo on Russian oil. On Thursday, Russian shelling of Kharkiv, a northeastern city, killed nine people, including a father and his 5-month-old baby, the president said. The figure includes people killed by shelling or in fires caused by Russian missile strikes, as well as those who died from shrapnel wounds, untreated diseases, a lack of medicine or while trapped under rubble, the mayor said. Ukrainian analysts said Russian forces have taken advantage of delays in Western arms shipments to step up their offensive there. Just south of Sievierodonetsk, volunteers hoped to evacuate 100 people from a smaller town. Authorities say 1,500 people have died in Donbas since the war began scarcely more than three months ago.

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Image courtesy of "CBC.ca"

France, Germany push Putin for resumed peace talks as Russia ... (CBC.ca)

Russian forces stepped up their assault on the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk on Saturday after claiming to have captured the nearby rail hub of Lyman, ...

A nearly three-month siege of Mariupol ended last week when Russia claimed complete control of the city. Residents who had not yet fled faced the choice of trying to do so now or staying. Ukraine's train system has ferried arms and evacuated citizens through Lyman, a key railway hub in the east. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron urged an immediate cease-fire and a withdrawal of Russian troops, according to the chancellor's spokesperson. The three leaders, who had gone weeks without speaking during the spring, agreed to stay in contact, it added. The war has caused global food shortages because Ukraine is a major exporter of grain and other commodities.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Putin defiant as Macron and Scholz call for fresh Ukraine peace talks (The Guardian)

The Russian president warned the French and German leaders it was 'dangerous' for the west to supply further weapons to Ukraine.

Despite the longstanding acrimony between Zelenskiy and Poroshenko, both appeared to put their quarrels aside to focus on the threat from Russia. Poroshenko was due to travel to a Nato parliamentary assembly meeting in Vilnius. Attention this week has been focused on the city of Sievierodonetsk, which if captured would give Russia control of the whole Luhansk region. “We have not yet been able to get them out of there, despite their losses. The call came as Russia’s assault on Ukraine’s Donbas region continues to grind on. Hopes for diplomacy have faded in recent weeks as Russia’s invasion reaches the three-month mark.

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Image courtesy of "Bloomberg"

Ukraine Latest: EU Leaders Talk to Putin; New Bid for Sanctions (Bloomberg)

President Vladimir Putin spoke with the leaders of Germany and France, who urged a cease-fire and for Moscow to free captured fighters.

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Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

Russia-Ukraine live news: Fighting 'continues' in Severodonetsk (Aljazeera.com)

Russian President Vladimir Putin tells the leaders of France and Germany that Moscow is ready to look for ways to ship grain stuck in Ukrainian ports.

Moscow generates lies: "🇺🇦 refuses from negotiations". We can negotiate, but only if 🇷🇺 renounces hypocrisy (say one thing – do another), leaves the south of the country and withdraws its troops. This is clearly a sign of weakness,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address. And what type of terror will be next?” “A barbarian can only be stopped by force.” If the West really wants 🇺🇦’s victory, maybe it is time to give us long-range MLRS? It is hard to fight when you are attacked from a 70 km distance and have nothing to fight back with. On their readiness to provide Ukraine with everything necessary to defend freedom. Terror in the food market, and on a global scale. Ukraine can bring Russia back behind the Iron Curtain, but we need effective weapons for that,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. Those who are confident in their position would definitely not make such decisions. “Every day we are bringing closer the time when our army will surpass the occupiers technologically and by firepower. “These are all our guys who played different sports. 🇺🇦 can bring 🇷🇺 back behind the Iron Curtain, but we need effective weapons for that.

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Image courtesy of "RNZ"

Ukraine war: Putin urged to hold 'direct, serious negotiations' (RNZ)

France and Germany's leaders have urged Vladimir Putin to hold direct and serious negotiations with Ukraine's president.

There are multiple, credible reports of war crimes carried out by occupying Russian forces. It all comes as Moscow claims to have captured the crucial crossroads city of Lyman - and continues its assault of Severodonesk. The industrial city has been encircled for days - with reports that Ukraine may order a strategic withdrawal of its forces. It is a stark contrast not just with the readout from the EU allies - who said the focus was on the welfare of the 2500 prisoners of war who surrendered - but with the evidence of all independent observers. To read the Kremlin's report of the call between Presidents Putin and Macron and Chancellor Scholz, Russia is engaged in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. Its actions in the southern port of Mariupol - a city that has been reduced to rubble - are all about "establishing peaceful life" and "liberation". Elsewhere in the call, the French and German leaders asked Putin to lift Russia's blockade of the Ukrainian port of Odesa, to allow for grain exports. Russia has previously said more than 900 of the fighters were moved to a reopened prison colony in Olenivka, a village in Russian-occupied Donetsk. A smaller number with serious wounds were taken to a hospital in the town of Novoazovsk, also in Donetsk.

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Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

Russia claims capture of key Ukrainian transport hub (The Washington Post)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he will not tolerate criticism of his assault on Ukraine. Russians who describe his “special military ...

Putin pledged to Scholz and Macron that if Ukraine demines areas of the sea around ports, Russia would not use the opportunity to take “offensive actions,” the German statement said. Putin said Moscow was ready to continue peace talks with Kyiv, Russia’s Tass news agency reported, citing the Kremlin press service. Scholz and Macron called on Putin to negotiate directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to end the three-month conflict. Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued to seek military support from Western allies to enable it to resist Russian military pressure in the east of the country. Russia has been trying to encircle Severodonetsk, the easternmost city still under Ukraine’s control. Something must be done for the world to get better.” Haidai said Severodonetsk remains under Ukrainian control — echoing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — as Russian forces try to encircle the city. In interviews with The Washington Post, foreign fighters from the United States and elsewhere described glaring disparities between what they expected the war to be like and what they experienced. Russian forces are making gains in eastern Ukraine, with more than 95 percent of the Luhansk region under their control, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. Severodonetsk, one of the largest Ukrainian-controlled cities in Luhansk, is now facing a direct Russian assault. The Russian state-owned news agency Tass appeared to confirm Denisova’s account. Moscow has tried to downplay these losses, but the battlefield setbacks have raised questions. Russia is also trying to encircle the eastern city of Severodonetsk, but the regional governor said Saturday that the city has not been cut off.

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Image courtesy of "Firstpost"

Russia-Ukraine conflict: Vladimir Putin warns Germany, France ... (Firstpost)

The Kremlin chief warned French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying they could further destabilise the situation in the ...

"The president of the Republic and the German chancellor asked for the release of some 2,500 defenders of Azovstal made prisoners of war by the Russian forces," the French presidency said. Macron and Scholz for their part urged Russia to lift the blockade of the Ukrainian port of Odessa to allow the export of grain, the French presidency said. "Russia is ready to help find options for the unhindered export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports," Putin told Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said.

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Image courtesy of "The Sydney Morning Herald"

Russian victories in east Ukraine damage hopes for peace (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Ukrainian presidential adviser and peace talks negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said that any agreement with Russia could not be trusted, adding the only way to ...

Mariupol became a symbol of massive destruction and human suffering, as well as of Ukrainian determination to defend the country. The war has caused global food shortages because Ukraine is a major exporter of grain and other commodities. Residents who had not yet fled faced the choice of trying to do so now or staying. Some supply routes are functioning, and evacuations of the wounded are still possible, Striuk said. Moscow says a fire sparked an ammunition blast. And residents risked exposure to shelling to get water from a half-dozen wells, he said. Luhansk Governor Serhii Haidai reported that Ukrainian fighters repelled an assault on Sievierodonetsk but Russian troops still pushed to encircle them. Ukraine’s train system has ferried arms and evacuated citizens through Lyman, a key railway hub in the east. In the call with Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said, Putin emphasised that Russia was working to “establish a peaceful life in Mariupol and other liberated cities in the Donbas.” On Saturday, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar disputed Moscow’s claim that Lyman had fallen, saying fighting there was still ongoing. “It doesn’t matter what their foreign minister says. “If Russia did succeed in taking over these areas, it would highly likely be seen by the Kremlin as a substantive political achievement and be portrayed to the Russian people as justifying the invasion,” the British Ministry of Defence said in a Saturday assessment.

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Image courtesy of "Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty"

Putin Ties Ukraine Grain Flow To Sanctions Relief; Macron And ... (Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty)

Russia's president seemingly conditioned a potential reopening of Ukraine's grain exports on a relaxation of Western sanctions imposed after Russia invaded ...

The lawmakers then deprived Vasyukevich and Shulga of their right to take the floor at the session. Although it occupies almost half of the entire Central Asian country, it has a population of only 250,000. "There are things to discuss with the Russian leader. RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. Thousands have been arrested and much of the opposition leadership has been jailed or forced into exile. The move will add to the widening of existing railway routes connecting East with West." Nehammer, who spoke to reporters after the 45-minute call, said Putin told him that Moscow is ready to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine but the question is complex. "There are things to discuss with the Russian leader. RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. Nehammer, who spoke to reporters after the 45-minute call, said Putin told him that Moscow is ready to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine but the question is complex. "[Johnson] said that the U.K. would work with G7 partners to push for urgent progress" on grain exports, London's readout of the Johnson-Zelenskiy call said. "It is expected that the transaction will be completed on Monday."

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Image courtesy of "The Wall Street Journal"

Russia-Ukraine War Live: Latest News (The Wall Street Journal)

Russia: President Vladimir Putin told his French and German counterparts that Moscow was open to resuming talks with Ukraine, but that the supply of Western ...

Mr. Putin, in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, “confirmed the openness of the Russian side to the resumption of dialogue,” the Kremlin said. Russian President Vladimir Putin told his German and French counterparts that Moscow was open to resuming negotiations with Ukraine, but that the West’s supply of weapons to the Kyiv government could exacerbate the crisis, the Kremlin said Saturday. The comments came a day after U.S. officials signaled that the Biden administration is likely to approve the transfer of advanced, long-range rocket systems to Ukraine that the Kyiv government says are necessary to stop Russian advances in the Donbas region in the country’s east, where fighting has been intense.

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

Live updates: Russia's war in Ukraine (CNN)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed that Ukraine will "take everything back" from Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ...

However, he acknowledged that the situation in the Donbas remains difficult, especially in the areas of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Bakhmut and Popasna. - "Tough defensive position": Constant Russian shelling is pounding Severodonetsk and fighting is raging on the outskirts of the city, according to Ukrainian reports. - Zelensky defiant: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Saturday that his country will"take everything back"from Russia. "This is an imperative," Zelensky said, "And it's just a matter of time.

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Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 95 (Aljazeera.com)

Fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk rages with Russian forces conducting assault operations. Invading forces appear close to seizing ...

- A ship entered the Ukrainian port of Mariupol for the first time since Russia completed its capture of the city to load metal and ship it east to Russia. - Putin told Macron and Scholz that Moscow was willing to discuss ways to make it possible for Ukraine to resumeshipments of grain, the Kremlin said. - Invading forces appear close to seizing all of the Luhansk region, one of the more modest war goals of the Kremlin.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 95 of the invasion (The Guardian)

Ukraine pleads for heavy weapons as Russia advances in the east, claiming to have captured strategically important Lyman.

Two rounds landed in courtyards of high-rise buildings, and one shell fell close to a kindergarten, CNN reported. Russia’s defence ministry claims to have captured the strategically important city of Lyman and several other smaller towns and encircled Sievierodonetsk, which Ukraine denies. Ukrainian officials say they urgently need advanced US-made mobile multiple launch rocket systems, which are capable of striking targets up to 300km away, to halt Russian advances in Luhansk and Donetsk.

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Image courtesy of "CNBC"

Zelenskyy says conditions in Donbas are 'indescribably difficult ... (CNBC)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the conditions in the Donbas are “indescribably difficult” as Ukrainian forces try to hold out in the face of ...

Slow, solid Russian gains in recent days point to a subtle momentum shift in the war, now in its fourth month. The group discussed stalled negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, with the Kremlin saying Kyiv was to blame for the current impasse. "The key areas of fighting on the frontline are still Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Bakhmut, Popasna and other cities where the Russian offensive is focused. "On 25 May, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, said Russia is ready to provide a humanitarian corridor for vessels carrying food through the Black Sea in return for the lifting of sanctions. And I am grateful to all those who withstood this onslaught of the occupiers," he added. Thus, in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the occupation administration ordered to stop accepting civilians in order to vacate the beds for the wounded. "The situation is very complicated. "Rudenko's request for Ukraine to de-mine follows a core tenet of modern Russian messaging strategy: introducing alternative narratives, however unconvincing, to complicate audiences' understanding. Putin "confirmed the openness of the Russian side to the resumption of dialogue," Russia said in a read-out following the 80-minute call. Air defense units destroyed Orlan-10 UAVs. [Russian] enemy has losses in other areas," they added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the situation in the Donbas region is "indescribably difficult" as Russian forces continue to target the area, and thanked Ukrainian forces for withstanding Russia's onslaught. In particular, sanitary, which necessitates the creation of additional opportunities for medical care.

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Image courtesy of "The Indian Express"

Russia Ukraine War News Live Updates: Russia pummels eastern ... (The Indian Express)

The Russian Defense Ministry said Lyman, the second small city to fall this week, had been “completely liberated” by a joint force of Russian soldiers and ...

Meanwhile, some 50 homes in the village of Demydiv remain partially submerged months after a dam was destroyed and the area flooded to stop Russian troops from advancing on Ukraine capital Kyiv, regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said. The Ukrainian military blew up a dam on the river Irpin in February, sending water surging into the village and thousands of acres around it, flooding houses and fields, but preventing Russian tanks from reaching the capital city. The Russian Defense Ministry said Lyman, the second small city to fall this week, had been “completely liberated” by a joint force of Russian soldiers and Kremlin-backed separatists, who have waged war for eight years in the industrial Donbas region bordering Russia. Ukraine’s train system has ferried arms and evacuated citizens through Lyman, a key railway hub in the east.

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Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

Live Updates: Ukraine Strikes Back in South, as Russia Pounds Key ... (The New York Times)

As Russia seeks to capture the last Ukrainian controlled city in the eastern Luhansk region, Ukraine announced a counteroffensive around a southern port ...

Thermobaric weapons are not banned, and they are not addressed in the Geneva Conventions, a series of international agreements that govern warfare. Such explosives, also called fuel-air bombs or vacuum bombs, scatter a flammable mist or powder that is then ignited and burns in the air. The Russian weapon carries a box of rockets atop a tanklike tracked vehicle. Better use of artillery and a deliberately slower tempo of operations has helped Russia advance in the region, according to analysts. Russian and Ukrainian forces have been locked in increasingly heavy street fighting in the area of Sievierodonetsk, a major railway hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. And Ukraine’s Army said on April 5 that it had fired Heatwave thermobaric rockets from a captured system back at Russian troops, intending to burn them with their own weapon, in fighting near Izium. He said that the shells landed in a residential area near a kindergarten. According to Ukrainian and British officials, Russia has been using one of its most fearsome conventional weapons, a rocket artillery system nicknamed the Heatwave, in a systematic fashion. Russian forces have been active in the region since 2014 in support of separatists. The Ukrainian military said on Sunday that hospitals in Crimea had been ordered by Moscow to stop treating civilians to attend to the needs of wounded soldiers. Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 and has been a key staging ground for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine had been asking for the systems, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain agreeing on Friday that they should be supplied.

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Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

Putin says Russia 'ready' to allow Ukraine grain exports (Aljazeera.com)

Kyiv has been unable to export grain supplies due to Russia's invasion, which has sent global food prices soaring.

As Ukraine’s Western backers were considering whether to send more arms supplies to Kyiv, Putin also told Macron and Scholz the continuing arms supplies were “dangerous”, warning “of the risks of further destabilisation of the situation and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis,” the Kremlin said. “Putin said that Russia is willing to allow the passage of those ships, roughly around 300 of them, from the main port in Odesa in Ukraine. That is something up for discussion, but of course, that is something that has to be done through the Russian military,” Jabbari said. “Russia is ready to help find options for the unhindered export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports,” Putin told Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said.

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Image courtesy of "Republic World"

Russia-Ukraine war LIVE: Zelenskyy says situation in Donbass is ... (Republic World)

The Russian war has now escalated to day 95 with colossal damage to life and property in Ukraine. Noting the devastation, a branch of Ukraine's Orthodox ...

The head of the civil-military administration in the embattled Ukrainian, Oleksandr Striuk, on Saturday said that Ukrainian forces were in a "tough defensive position" in Severodonetsk as the fighting escalated. As concerns mount due to the rising food crisis amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Russia is open to talking about options to allow Ukraine to resume grain supplies from seaports in a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as the Kremlin suggests. Nearly a third of the world's wheat is produced in Russia and Ukraine, which is also a big producer of fertilizer and a large exporter of corn and sunflower oil. As concerns mount due to the rising food crisis amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Russia is open to talking about options to allow Ukraine to resume grain supplies from seaports in a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as the Kremlin suggests. There are no active actions in Belarus near the border in the region next to Kyiv, as Chairman of Kyiv OVA, Oleksiy Kuleba suggests. Nearly a third of the world's wheat is produced in Russia and Ukraine, which is also a big producer of fertilizer and a large exporter of corn and sunflower oil. The report suggested that Berlin has delivered only two weapon packages in the given period despite Ukraine's repeated calls for arms supply to help deter Russian aggression. Calling for more weapons supply, the embattled President added that the victory "very much depends on the partners." However, the United States has already declined Russia’s offer to reopen Ukrainian ports in exchange for lifting sanctions, stating that they have heard false promises from the Russian Federation before. In a video message, he said that every day, they strive to improve their defence and every day, they get closer to the point where their army outweighs the occupiers both technologically and militarily. In addition, the Russia-appointed health authorities also ramped up blood donations for wounded Russian soldiers. In addition, the Russia-appointed health authorities also ramped up blood donations for wounded Russian soldiers.

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Image courtesy of "Times of India"

Russia Ukraine war LIVE updates: Russian troops storm ... (Times of India)

Russian and Ukrainian troops engaged in close-quarter combat in an eastern Ukraine city Sunday as Moscow's soldiers, supported by intense shelling, a.

Russian forces engaged in an all-out battle in eastern Ukraine have captured the strategic town of Lyman and surrounded a key industrial centre, Moscow has claimed. The Kremlin said earlier this month Ukraine was showing no willingness to continue peace talks, while officials in Kyiv blamed Russia for the lack of progress. Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday, saying the arms would bolster forces fighting Russia's invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday to discuss the evolving situation in Ukraine and the global food security. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, continues to scale up its operations in Poland to provide aid to refugees from Ukraine who have settled across the country. Slow, solid Russian gains in recent days in eastern Ukraine's Donbas, comprising the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, point to a subtle momentum shift in the war, now in its fourth month.

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Image courtesy of "Financial Times"

Ukraine says forces holding out against Russian assault on key ... (Financial Times)

Kremlin is concentrating on capturing Sievierodonetsk as part of its focus on the battle in the east.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Ukraine war is Putin's death warrant, says wife of jailed politician (The Guardian)

Vladimir Kara-Murza's wife Evgenia says Russian president will fall over war in Ukraine.

And I brought him back to the US. He recovered and then he went back to Russia. Everything – speaking and being on stage, speaking to journalists – is very new to me. Kara-Murza said that since the war started Russia had switched from being an authoritarian regime to a totalitarian one. “Thanks to an amazing independent investigation by Bellingcat and Insider, we now know the names and the faces of those people from the FSB, who had followed him before the poisoning. “He was targeted by an FSB team that tried to kill him twice in 2015 and 2017. On the basis of the charges laid so far Vladimir is now facing up to 10 years.”

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Image courtesy of "Newsweek"

Putin Signed 'Own Death Warrant' With Ukraine War—Wife of Jailed ... (Newsweek)

Evgenia Kara-Murza, whose husband Vladimir was arrested in Moscow in April, said he may have reason to fear for his life.

"And there are no more media outlets in Russia that can talk about it." "That is important to say it out loud... She could not immediately be reached for further comment.

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Image courtesy of "NDTV"

Russia Tightens Grip As "Street-By-Street" Fighting Rages In ... (NDTV)

The battle for control of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas raged on Sunday as Russian forces tightened their grip around the key cities of ...

"Evacuation is very unsafe, it's isolated cases when we manage to get people out. He also called for the lifting of sanctions to allow "an increase in the supply of Russian fertilisers and agricultural products" to the global market. But on Saturday, he told Macron and Scholz that Russia was "ready" to look for ways to allow more wheat onto the global market. Lyman lies on the road to Kramatorsk and Severodonetsk, which is "now surrounded," according to a police official in Lugansk province cited by Russian state media. Meanwhile, on the eastern bank of the Donets river, Russian forces "carried out assault operations in the area of the city of Severodonetsk," according to the Ukrainian general staff. The two European leaders also "insisted on an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops" in an 80-minute phone call with the Russian leader on Saturday, the German chancellor's office said.

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Image courtesy of "Reuters"

Ukrainian defenders hold out in Donbas city under heavy fire (Reuters)

Ukrainian forces endured heavy artillery barrages on Sunday as they held off Russian attempts to capture Sievierodonetsk, the largest city Kyiv still ...

Ukraine and Western countries say Russia's claims are a false pretext for a war of aggression. The journalist heard what appeared to be outgoing artillery fire and Russian aircraft dropping a bomb close to the town. "I do not believe that we can restore all of our territory by military means. Dozens of buildings have been destroyed in the past few days. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington said the Russians had still not managed to encircle the city and the Ukrainian defenders have inflicted "fearful casualties" on them. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

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