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Now that Donald Trump has won the election, he is going to have to deal with Vladimir Putin and Russia, and that isn’t going to be easy.  The Russians have no incentive to end the conflict because they are steadily gobbling up territory in eastern Ukraine.  As long as the Russians are making progress toward …

Marine scientist uncovers the story behind Andruha's escape from Russian military training programme.

Nadezhda Buyanova denied making the remarks and called the case absurd.

Ukraine has said that the toll from a Russian strike on the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky had risen to four people, identifying the dead as a mother and her three children, including a newborn.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen the next director of the CIA. Trump tapped former Texas congressman and director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe for the job. According to a statement […]

The post 'Warrior for Truth': Trump Has Chosen His Next CIA Director, Crediting Pick for 'Exposing Russian Collusion' Hoax appeared first on The Western Journal.

Sino-Russian Gas Cooperation: Power of Siberia I and II and Implications for Global LNG Supplies 27 November 2019 — 8:30AM TO 9:30AM Anonymous (not verified) 19 November 2019 Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

In a new event in the Sustainable Transitions series, the speaker will present an update of Sino-Russian gas cooperation.

To give a comprehensive account of their impact on global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, he will discuss the following points:

• Gas is scheduled to start flowing from the Power of Siberia I (POS) on 2 December 2019. But what is the background of development of POS 1 and what is its current status and prospects?
• What are the chances of exporting gas through the proposed Altai pipeline? Why is the Mongolia export route so significant? And how will it affect the Central Asian Republics and in particular Turkmenistan’s gas export to China?
• What are the implications of both POS I and Altai gas via Mongolia route in the context of global LNG supply?
• What are the prospects for multilateral pipeline gas cooperation in northeast Asia?
• What are the implications for other Arctic onshore LNG supply, in particular, for Novatek’s Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 1 and 2 to China on top of POS 1 and Altai gas?

Attendance at this event is by invitation only.

In SAS Customer Intelligence Studio,  when you add  Reply- node variable values in the Define Value dialog box, you might notice that two identically labeled data-grid variables are

War in Ukraine: Can the EU survive without Russian oil and gas? Audio NCapeling 5 May 2022

The fourth episode of our podcast mini-series examines how reliant the European Union (EU) is on Russian energy.

What would an all-out ban on Russian oil look like? Which countries would be most affected? Does this offer an opportunity for renewable energy?

Clips used: Bloomberg News

This episode was produced by Anouk Millet of Earshot Strategies on behalf of Chatham House.

Russian imperial mindset must change for real victory Expert comment NCapeling 8 December 2022

The attitude of Russia’s elite – and wider population – to the states which used to constitute the USSR needs to change in order to solve the Russia challenge.

Although the reverberations of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine clearly stretch around the globe, the strongest shocks are – and will continue to be – felt by those countries Moscow used to directly rule.

These countries struggle to shrug off a Soviet legacy as, to varying degrees – linguistically, technologically, culturally, and politically – they bear psychological and physical scars of Russia’s colonial past and its present mentality.

It does not help that these countries lack an appropriate collective descriptor. Over the years there has been ‘Newly Independent States’ – hardly appropriate after 31 years – the now-defunct ‘Commonwealth of Independent States’, the ‘post-Soviet space’ and ‘Former Soviet Union’ which both reference the past, and simply ‘Eurasia’ which is hardly appropriate for either Ukraine or Turkmenistan.

Some of these former ‘colonies’ are as badly governed and as sinister – albeit not as lethal beyond their borders – as Russia itself. Others, most notably the Baltic states, are modern, liberal, affluent societies, but Moscow’s shadow still looms.

There is a strong mindset in most of Russia’s citizens that, because that it used to rule these other countries, it either still has privileged rights over them or they are not real countries at all – but instead historical aberrations to be extinguished.

What is past is gone

As historian Timothy Snyder has noted, whatever the wrongs of Putin’s ‘history-based’ assertions about the ‘return of historic lands’, all historical claims are bunkum anyway. If the past brings validity, almost no land border on earth would be beyond dispute. It is agreements which count, and Russia signed away the other successor states in 1991.

The Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House has, for the last 31 years, always taken as a starting position that these countries are as sovereign as any other. This of course this means they can choose to be in Russia’s embrace if they wish. But none do because Russia is insufficiently attractive. Some have better relationships with Moscow than others – mainly the more autocratic ones – but no former slave goes back to their master willingly.

At the recent Chatham House conference Russia’s war: How will it shape the region’s future? (note the avoidance of a specific descriptor), the overwhelming consensus was that Russia must lose, that Ukraine must be reconstructed and planning for that must start now, and that the regional economy is convulsing.

But another key view was that, in Russia, rent seeking and buying loyalty are likely to lead to the separation of the Russian people and the regime, especially as the population ages and young men being sent to die at the front. Putin may still be popular in some places in Russia, but not in others – although popularity can rise and fall fast in Russia. However, few at the conference foresaw the disintegration of Russia any time soon.

With continued skill, determination, and more weaponry, Ukraine may well vanquish Russia on the battlefield, and this remains a necessary pre-requisite for European security. But even a Ukraine victory will not erase malign intent.

The Russian imperial itch is so deeply embedded, it must be excised not just from Russian capability but from the intention and mindset of elites and in the popular imagination. That is hard to achieve when so many believe in it as fervently as a religion – even the Russian Orthodox Church invokes a messianism in Russia’s imperial ‘rights’.

The wider region is suffering

Getting Russians to look upon their neighbours as equals requires widescale self-reassessment in a post-Putin Russia. But, for now, the wider region will surely be looking to simply neuter Russia’s destructive capacities.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukraine continues to have U.S. support against Russian aggression and is free to decide its own foreign policy during a visit to Kyiv Tuesday. 

Information Note.

A $1 million grant from the U.S. is the latest effort to support Ukraine's fight to preserve its rich past

The surge of hungry four-legged visitors to Belushya Guba is part of a larger trend

That Figure Skating Show previews the final Grand Prix stop of the season. The Russian skaters are expected to dominate, but the biggest showdown is in the women's event.

That Figure Skating Show recaps the ice dance event at Rostelecom Cup that saw Canadians Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen take their second bronze this season.

An overemphasis on calculus in high school may be harming students, writes Dickinson College professor Jeffrey Forrester.

Atlas Biomed's website is no longer active and the phone number listed is dead as well.

The prankster claims that as many as seven schools fell prey to his prank and made the hats.

[Namibian] Russian company Rosatom and South African AllWeld Nuclear and Industrial are joining forces to promote the sustainable development of nuclear energy in Africa.

While Ukraine was on high alert for air attacks on Monday, the country’s top military commander said tens of thousands of Russian troops were ready to advance on the Kursk region. "Following the order of their military leadership, they are trying to dislodge our troops and advance deep into the territory we control," Ukraine’s General Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine launched an incursion into Kursk in August, taking control of a number of towns and villages in the border region. Meanwhile, at least six people were killed in air attacks in southern Ukraine – five in Mykolaiv and one in Zaporizhzhia, where a residential building was destroyed, regional governors reported. At least a dozen people were injured in Zaporizhzhia, including five children between the ages of 4 and 17. Earlier, the Ukrainian air force put the nation on high alert for a large-scale missile attack, reporting that a large number of bombers were taking off from Russia and heading to Ukraine. "The air alert is related to the launch of cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers," the air force said on its Telegram channels. Power was cut to prevent further damage from attacks, and people were encouraged to seek shelter – including in Kyiv’s metro stations. But by 0630 GMT the missiles had not arrived. According to some Ukrainian military bloggers, the Russian bombers performed flights imitating the launch of missiles, Reuters reported. Report: Trump urges Putin not to escalate The Washington Post and Reuters reported that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and urged him not to escalate the war in Ukraine. Trump, calling from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Thursday, reminded Putin of America's sizable military presence in Europe, the Washington Post reported. Sources familiar with the call told the newspaper Trump expressed an interest in further conversations to discuss "the resolution of Ukraine's war soon." Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, did not confirm the exchange, saying in a written statement to AFP that "we do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders." The Kremlin on Monday denied that the conversation took place, and said Putin had no concrete plans to speak to Trump. "This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it's just false information," Reuters reported Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "There was no conversation." Information from Reuters and Agence France-Presse was included in this report.  

North Korea troops have begun fighting alongside Russians, a U.S. State Department spokesman said during a briefing on Tuesday. "Over 10,000 DPRK (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces," spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters. A day earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops were facing 50,000 troops, including 11,000 North Korean troops deployed by Russia to its Kursk region, although Moscow will neither confirm nor deny their involvement. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke Tuesday with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov “to discuss battlefield dynamics and provide an update on U.S. security assistance” for the Eastern European country, according to Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder. Ryder said, "the secretary reaffirmed President [Joe] Biden's commitment to surge security assistance to Ukraine." The Pentagon also clarified the amount of money that remains available for Ukraine's military assistance. There is about $7.1 billion left in the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which includes $4.3 billion approved by Congress in April, plus $2.8 billion that became available after recalculations. Additionally, there is about $2.2 billion available under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative program. Ryder again underscored that the U.S. would rush aid to Ukraine and use all available funds. Ryder said the two defense leaders also talked about the implications of the thousands of North Korean troops now assessed to be mostly in western Kursk Oblast. Airstrike kills mother, children A Russia airstrike on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s hometown killed a mother and her three children and left 14 people wounded, officials said Tuesday. Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said rescue and recovery operations were complete after the residential building in Kryvyi Rig was hit a day earlier. The office of the prosecutor general said a 32-year-old woman and children who were 10 years, 2 years and 2 months old were killed. In Russia’s Belgorod region, a Ukrainian drone attack started a fire at an oil depot, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov posted on the Telegram messaging app. He said a tank caught fire and 10 fire crews responded in the Starkooskolsky District near the Ukrainian border. The Russian defense ministry also said 13 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight, all in regions bordering Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 46 Russian drones overnight. In addition, Ukrainian’s military was “holding back a fairly large grouping of Russian troops – 50,000 of the occupier’s army personnel,” in the Kursk region, Zelenskyy said in his address to the nation Monday. “Our forces' strikes on Russian arsenals have reduced the amount of artillery used by the occupier, and this is noticeable at the front. That is why we need decisions from our partners – America, Britain, Germany – on long-range capabilities,” Zelenskyy said. “This is vital. The further our missiles and drones can hit, the less real combat capability Russia will have.” North Korea defense pact The forces in Kursk include 11,000 North Korean troops deployed by Russia to Kursk, Zelenskyy has said, although Moscow will neither confirm nor deny their involvement. State media in North Korea reported that country ratified a defense agreement with Russia on Tuesday, formalizing months of deepening security ties. The deal "was ratified as a decree" of leader Kim Jong Un, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Tuesday. The notice comes after Russian lawmakers voted unanimously last week to ratify the deal, which President Vladimir Putin later signed. "The treaty will take effect from the day when both sides exchanged the ratification instruments," KCNA said. Putin and Kim signed the strategic pact in June, during Putin’s visit to North Korea. Material from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse was used in this report.

Russia started mass supplying its military with Zicron missiles to attempt to boost its nuclear forces.

Russian warship armed with hypersonic missiles trains in English Channel, state media reports

Watch Video | Listen to the Audio

HARI SREENIVASAN: In the day’s other news: Attorney General Jeff Sessions insisted he never lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign. At a hearing today, he bridled at Democratic Senator Al Franken’s accusation that he’d — quote — “moved the goalposts” on the nature of his discussions.

SEN. AL FRANKEN, D-Minn.: First it was, I didn’t have communications with Russians, which wasn’t true. Then it was, I never met with any Russians to discuss any political campaign, which may or may not be true.

Now it’s, I didn’t discuss interference in the campaign.

JEFF SESSIONS, Attorney General: Well, let me just say without hesitation, that I conducted no improper discussions with the Russians at any time regarding the campaign or any other item facing this country.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Sessions has recused himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling.

President Trump had new criticism today for former FBI Director James Comey over the Hillary Clinton e-mail probe. He complained again that Comey decided to clear Clinton before she was even interviewed. That’s based on newly released draft statements by Comey from May of 2016. FBI officials say it was already clear that no charges were warranted.

On another issue, the president faced fallout over the death of Army Sergeant La David Johnson in Niger this month. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson says she was with Mrs. Johnson when the president called. The Florida Democrat told The Washington Post that Mr. Trump said — quote — “He knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway.”

The sergeant’s mother confirmed it, but the president denied it, and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders went after Wilson.

SARAH SANDERS, White House Press Secretary: This is a president who loves our country very much, who has the greatest level of respect for men and women in uniform and wanted to call and offer condolences to the family, and I think to try to create something from that, that the congresswoman is doing, is, frankly, appalling and disgusting.

HARI SREENIVASAN: The Post also reported on another incident today. It quoted the father of a soldier killed in Afghanistan as saying the president offered $25,000 from his personal account, but never followed through.

We will get more detail on all of this after the news summary.

The death toll in Northern California’s wildfires rose to 42 today. Officials in Sonoma County found the remains of the latest victim, as they searched hundreds of burned homes. Meanwhile, fire crews made new gains overnight with the help of cooler weather and low winds.

A two-time Olympic medalist says the former team doctor for U.S. women’s gymnastics sexually abused her for years. McKayla Maroney is the highest profile athlete to come forward in the scandal. In a statement today, she said Dr. Larry Nassar began molesting her when she was just 13. He’s awaiting sentencing on a child pornography charge, but has denied any sexual abuse.

More questions tonight about drug pricing. A new study finds the costs of injectable cancer drugs, approved since 1996, rose an average of 25 percent over eight years. That’s far higher than the rate of inflation. The study was based at Emory University and published in “The Journal of Clinical Oncology.”

And on Wall Street, health insurers and IBM fueled a surge in stocks today. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 160 points, more than half-a-percent, to close above 23000 for the first time. The Nasdaq rose just a fraction, and the S&P 500 was up two points.

The post News Wrap: Sessions insists he didn’t lie about Russian contacts to Senate appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

Transport Canada quietly changed air cargo importation rules for 55 mostly European countries in September, throwing the system into chaos — all in response to an alleged Russian plot to place firebombs on planes destined for North America.

Nov 19, 2020

Simon Saradzhyan writes that Russia’s decision not to employ leverage to stop the conflict in its early stages made a lasting impression on its allies.

Jun 10, 2021

The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”

Apr 12, 2024

The share of Russians who would like to leave Russia for permanent residence in another country has reached a record low, according to the results of a national poll conducted by Russia’s Levada Center on March 21-27, 2024.  Of the countries Russians were eager to relocate to, the U.S. topped the list (11%), followed by Germany (8%) and Italy and Turkey (6% each). China ranked 10-11 along with Canada.That seven out of the top 11 countries Russians would like to relocate to are members of the collective West, with 46% interested in moving to these countries, also shows the limits of the Kremlin’s efforts to instill anti-Western sentiments in the Russian public.

Jun 2, 2023

A spate of high-level diplomatic gatherings demonstrates that the Russian leadership remains keen to implement a strategy of expansion, rather than merely sustainment, of its relations with the rising Africa.

Ulmart�s stunning growth continues unabated as sales for the first six months of 2014 were up 31% in a year-on-year comparison. Sequential quarterly growth increased by 47%.

Ulmart - The Future of eCommerce

Russia is launching mass drone strikes on Ukraine. A 14-year-old girl was one of the latest victims.

The Russian Government has disclosed that both Luxembourg and Malta have agreed to change their double tax agreement with Russia to increase withholding tax rates on cross-border dividends and interest income.