Russia

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American imprisoned in Russia sentenced to new 15-year jail term for espionage

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian-born U.S. citizen already imprisoned in Russia on a bribery conviction has been handed a second 15-year jail term for espionage, Russian news agencies reported Tuesday.

https://apnews.com/article/gene-spector-espionage-bribery-russia-88be3fdd23b1f53a48bf3821604c26ea?

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?? Russia's bitcoin workaround

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Russian companies are using bitcoin to evade Western sanctions thanks to a new law, the country's finance minister said in a television interview. Why it matters: That could be a complication for President-elect Trump, who's both a crypto convert and an advocate for U.S. dollar dominance, Axios' Dan Primack writes. Russia's economy has been hampered by difficulties in making and receiving international payments, even with countries like China that don't use the U.S. dollar as their reserve currency. The Kremlin created an experimental legal framework for cryptocurrency miners last month, including a provision letting some entities use crypto for international trade.

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Future of Russian gas looking bleak as Ukraine turns off taps and Europe eyes ending all imports

Russia’s contract for the transit of its gas across Ukraine expired on December 31 last year and Kyiv refused to consider a new deal. Ukraine’s decision was supported by the European Commission, even though the lost imports are equivalent to 5% of European demand.

https://alaskabeacon.com/2025/01/15/future-of-russian-gas-looking-bleak-as-ukraine-turns-off-taps-and-europe-eyes-ending-all-imports/?

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Baltic nations count final hours before ending electricity ties to Russia Nearly 3 1/2 decades after leaving the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this weekend will flip a switch to end electricity-grid connections to neighboring Russia and Belarus and turn to their European Union allies. Read more.

Why this matters: On Saturday, all remaining transmission lines between the nations and Russia, Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad will be switched off one by one. The severing of electricity ties to oil- and gas-rich Russia is steeped in geopolitical and symbolic significance. Work toward it sped up after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine three years ago, battering Moscow’s EU relations.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Ukraine wants partner countries to join in postwar development worth billions   An EU fund to help troops move quickly is too small and poorly managed, auditors say

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Russian court jails prominent election monitoring activist for 5 years

A court in Moscow on Wednesday convicted one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group on charges of organizing the work of an “undesirable” organization and sentenced him to five years in prison.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-moscow-election-golos-melkonyants-trial-crackdown-8d00777f066ebcc58bb54452e23c828b?

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Russia outlaws Amnesty International in latest crackdown on dissent and activists

The Russian authorities on Monday outlawed Amnesty International as an “undesirable organization,” a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-amnesty-international-3e6c3d50042b2b27cdd5f20eebafe70c?

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A statue of Stalin is unveiled in the Moscow subway as Russia tries to revive the dictator’s legacy

MOSCOW (AP) — A monument to Josef Stalin has been unveiled at one of Moscow’s busiest subway stations, the latest attempt by Russian authorities to revive the legacy of the brutal Soviet dictator.

https://apnews.com/article/stalin-statue-russia-ussr-putin-moscow-metro-7a5a425f9b1c6a7120b6345b5d150de3?

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Russia’s transportation minister found dead in what officials say was an apparent suicide

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian’s transport minister was found dead from a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, investigators said Monday — news that broke hours after the Kremlin announced he had been dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-starovoyt-minister-suicide-kursk-59babee35c7c1bae79c5becd51f52066?

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Putin says Russia’s hypersonic missile has entered service and will be deployed in Belarus

President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia has started production of its newest hypersonic missiles and reaffirmed its plans to deploy them to ally Belarus later this year. Read More.

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Russia restricts calls via WhatsApp and Telegram, the latest step to control the internet

Russian authorities announced Wednesday they were “partially” restricting calls in messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet. Read More.

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Putin says Russian air defenses were to blame for Azerbaijani jet’s crash last year, killing 38

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia’s air defense were to blame for downing an Azerbaijani jetliner in December that killed 38 people, his first public admission of responsibility for the crash in an effort to ease tensions between the neighbors.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-azerbaijan-putin-jet-crash-3b0003943af6c21e7166d91f224272fb?

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Russia's population is getting smaller and older. Putin sees that as a national security threat

Russia has grappled with a shrinking and aging population for decades, with President Vladimir Putin viewing it as a threat to national security. Yet despite efforts like cash incentives and family-friendly policies, the number of deaths now outpaces births. Desperate to reverse the trend, Russian authorities are also rolling out a wave of restrictive laws, such as banning "child-free propaganda" and limiting access to abortions. Read more.

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As Russia’s Africa Corps fights in Mali, witnesses describe atrocities

A new Russian military unit that replaced the Wagner mercenary group is carrying out abuses including rapes and beheadings as it teams up with Mali's military to hunt down extremists, dozens of civilians who fled the fighting have told The Associated Press. Read more.

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Putin news conference

Russian President Vladimir Putin held his end-of-year news conference today, signaling that there would be no compromise on Ukraine. He emphasized that Russia is ready and willing "to finish the conflict by peaceful means," but also claimed that Russian troops are "advancing across the whole of the front line." Putin went on to list multiple towns and villages that he said his troops were close to capturing. Meanwhile, EU leaders announced a multi-billion-dollar funding plan to support Ukraine's economy and military over the next two years. The deal, struck early today, provides a crucial lifeline to the country, which was rapidly running out of money. ps:Why should he compromise? There's absolutely no pressure from big bad USA!!

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Nuclear Meltdown

Making sense of the Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was the worst nuclear accident in history. During a late-night safety test on April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in present-day Ukraine, a combination of design flaws and operator errors triggered a massive power surge, leading to a pair of explosions that released radioactive material across large parts of the Northern Hemisphere.   The Soviet government initially downplayed the incident, waiting 36 hours to evacuate the nearby city of Pripyat, home to 50,000 people. An exclusion zone spanning 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the reactor was eventually established, displacing more than 300,000 people, while over 500,000 "liquidators" worked to decontaminate the site. A steel and concrete sarcophagus was then built in about seven months to contain the damaged reactor.   Chernobyl undermined trust in Soviet leadership and contributed to the USSR's eventual collapse five years later. Its legacy includes not just environmental damage, but lasting physical and psychological harm for those affected and lasting uneasiness over nuclear power. ... Read our full explainer on Chernobyl here.   Also, check out ...  > Unpack the chemistry behind the catastrophe at Chernobyl. (Watch) > The "Elephant's Foot" in Chernobyl is part of the largest documented mass of corium. (Read) > See eerie footage of the abandoned city of Pripyat a year after the event. (Watch) > Attempts to suppress information about Chernobyl led to conspiracy theories. (Read)

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Russia’s Lukoil plans sale of international assets in response to planned US sanctions

Russian oil company Lukoil plans to sell its international assets to U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group, Lukoil said Thursday, as it rushes to divest its global portfolio in the face of impending U.S. sanctions.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-us-sanctions-oil-lukoil-c1afab3da36641d051eba6735f467243?

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A deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence service is shot and wounded in Moscow

MOSCOW (AP) — A deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency was shot and wounded in Moscow on Friday in an attack that follows a series of assassinations of senior military officers that Russia has blamed on Ukraine.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-military-intelligence-officer-shot-moscow-82f1878b3ad7236b1d29279b522c2a2c?

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Russia opens criminal investigation against Telegram app founder Pavel Durov

MOSCOW (AP) — Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, said Tuesday that the Russian government had opened a criminal investigation against him on charges of “aiding terrorism.”

https://apnews.com/article/russia-telegram-pavel-durov-investigation-charges-586adc8d94ca70d55b552f169bb8095e?

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🛢️ Russia wins economic war

Data: Financial Modeling Prep, Trading Economics. Chart: Axios Visuals Russia is emerging as the clearest economic winner from the war with Iran, Axios Markets' Emily Peck writes. Why it matters: Higher oil prices are good for countries that export oil. You can see it in the data. The price of Russian crude oil has skyrocketed since the war began, surpassing the international oil benchmark this week (charted above) despite heavy Western sanctions. Other winners include major oil exporters insulated from Gulf instability: Norway and Canada in the developed world, and Nigeria and Colombia among emerging markets. A projectile approaches what the Pentagon described as an Iranian naval vessel near the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. Photo: CENTCOM ⚡ Pictured above: The U.S. military destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying naval vessels yesterday amid concerns that Iran is preparing to deploy mines in the Strait of Hormuz, Axios' Barak Ravid writes. A senior U.S. official told Axios the strike on the inactive ships was a preemptive measure resulting from intelligence about Iran's operational plans. President Trump threatened Iran in a Truth Social post with "military consequences" at a level "never seen before" if the regime places mines in the Strait. "If, on the other hand, they remove what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction! Additionally, we are using the same Technology and Missile capabilities deployed against Drug Traffickers to permanently eliminate any boat or ship attempting to mine the Hormuz Strait. They will be dealt with quickly and violently. BEWARE!" Keep reading. ps:I have a thought about maybe the real reason of this war on Iran? Could it be to help Russia gain new monies to keep there war with Ukraine going?? Because for a moment it looked like they were slowing running out of money to continue this invasion of Ukraine!!!!!