Putin Denies Russia Is Blocking Ukraine’s Food
Putin has denied that Russian forces are blocking Ukraine’s food supplies.
Ukraine, one of the world’s largest producers of wheat, has been unable to export its resources due to Russian blockades, causing a crisis that has driven up prices and threatened the global food chain.
Putin, however, claimed the problems are due to mismanagement in Kyiv.
He said: “As for Ukrainian food supplies… we are blocking them? For God’s sake.
“We didnt mine the ports. Its not about us. Its about the inadequacy of the people who are in power in Kyiv.”
Eu Accused Of ‘manipulating’ Ukraine
Russia’s foreign ministry has accused Brussels of “manipulating” Ukraine after the EU Commission recommended the Kyiv be granted candidate status for joining the bloc.
“We see how for many years the Western community has been manipulating the idea of some kind of involvement of Ukraine in their integration structures,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agencies.
Ukraine, however, is getting “worse and worse,” she added.
Ukraine To Scrap Visa
Ukraine is scrapping visa-free entry for Russians and will require them to obtain visas from July 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday.
“According to a decision that is planned by the Cabinet of Ministers, Ukraine will introduce a visa regime for Russian citizens from July 1, 2022,” the Ukrainian president said.
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British Defense Ministry Refutes Putin’s Claim That Ukraine Grain Exports Not Reaching Global Poor
Assertions by Russian President Vladimir Putin that only a fraction of grain exported from Ukraine was going to poor countries are untrue, the British Defense Ministry says.
Without providing proof, Putin said on September 7 that only two of 87 ships, carrying 60,000 metric tons of products, had gone to poor countries.
The deal to allow grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, took effect last month.
Quoting UN figures, the British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin on Twitter on September 11 that around 30 percent of grains exported under the deal has been supplied to low and middle-income countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The ministry accused Russia of pursuing a deliberate misinformation strategy to deflect blame for food-insecurity issues, discredit Ukraine, and minimize opposition to its invasion.
In related news, France’s transport minister said on September 11 he would sign an agreement with Romania to increase Ukrainian grain exports to developing countries including to the Mediterranean.
“Tomorrow, I will sign an accord with Romania that will allow Ukraine to get even more grains out…toward Europe and developing countries, notably in the Mediterranean which need it for food,” Clement Beaune told LCI television, adding that the deal covered exports by land, sea, and river.
With reporting by Reuters
Assassinations Of Two Russia
MOSCOW — Reports about the assassination of two Moscow-appointed officials in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region have turned out to be ploys by Russian security authorities to foil what they claim were planned attacks.
The Russian-imposed deputy mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vitaliy Hura, and the city’s de facto deputy police chief, Serhiy Tomko, said in a televised interview with Russia’s Channel One television channel on September 12 that their “assassinations” had been staged by the Federal Security Service “to prevent real assassinations planned by the Security Service of Ukraine .”
The SBU has not commented on the matter.
Since Russia launched its ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in late February, several Russian-imposed officials in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian armed forces have been attacked, including some reports of assassinations.
Hura was reportedly shot to death on August 6. Tomko’s assassination was reported on July 8.
With reporting by Channel One
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Russia Holds Annual Victory Day Parade Commemorating End Of Wwii
While Putin repeatedly mentioned the war, which the Kremlin refers to only as a special military operation, he steered clear of any major announcements in the relatively short speech.
Putin addressed rows of troops standing before him, including those who, he said, had returned from combat in the Donbas, the industrial region in eastern Ukraine that is the focus of the fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian troops.
In a rare nod to the scale of the sacrifice, Putin acknowledged Russian losses in Ukraine.
The death of every soldier and officer is a tragedy for all of us and irreparable loss for their families, he said, adding that the state will do everything to help their loved ones, especially their children.
With overcast skies above, Putin also reiterated the toll of World War II on the Russian people and said it was the countrys national duty to keep alive the memory of those who defeated Nazism then.
May 9, 1945, is forever inscribed in world history as a triumph of our united Soviet people, their unity and spiritual power, an unparalleled feat on the front lines and in the home front, he said.
Putin led a moment of silence, but not before he had issued a familiar set of grievances.
Russia gave a pre-emptive rebuff to aggression, he said. It was a forced, timely and only right decision.
No foreign leaders were present as much of the international community seeks to isolate Russia for its actions in Ukraine through political and financial sanctions.
Putin Is Waging The War On The Ukrainian People And The Foundations Of Our Societies: Foreign Secretary’s Speech In Sarajevo May 2022
At an event with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Armed Forces, Liz Truss outlined the UK’s increased support to counter Russias malign influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- From:
- Delivered on:
- 26 May 2022
Minister Podzic, Major General Masovic, ladies and gentlemen. A quarter of a century ago conflict devastated this country. Now Russias invasion of Ukraine has brought war and bloodshed back to our continent. Putin is not just waging the war on the Ukrainian people but the very foundations of our societies: freedom, sovereignty and the rule of law. This aggression must not succeed.
We must learn the lessons of history and the consequences of inaction. The West took too long to act in the 1990s. We were not bold enough to prevent terrible events such as the genocide at Srebrenica. This hesitancy only prolonged the fighting. Sarajevo suffered under siege for 1,425 days. We should have acted sooner. We said never again would we allow such suffering in Europe – Lets show that we meant it. Russias aggression cannot be appeased. It must be met with strength.
Firstly, we are working to protect the hard-won Dayton Peace Agreement. Thats why we have sanctioned 2 politicians for their unacceptable nationalist rhetoric and denial of the genocide. We will support Bosnia and Herzegovinas territorial integrity and sovereignty, and we will back High Rep Christian Schmidt.
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Putin Claims Russia Forced Into The Conflict In Ukraine
Speaking about his war on Ukraine on Friday, Putin went straight to his propaganda playbook, claiming Russia was forced into the conflict.
He called the invasion the decision of a sovereign country that has an unconditional right to defend its security.
A decision aimed at protecting our citizens, residents of the Peoples Republics of Donbas, who for eight years were subjected to genocide by the Kyiv regime and neo-Nazis who received the full protection of the West, he said.
The two areas the self-declared Donetsk Peoples Republic and Luhansk Peoples Republic fell under the control of Russia-backed separatists in 2014.
Putin Urges Russian Companies To Invest At Home
While Vladimir Putin has insisted that sanctions on Russia are not harming its economy, he has also used his speech to urge Russian businesses to invest at home.
He asked Russia’s enterprises to boost their domestic investment to help realise the country’s “gigantic potential” and defy sanctions.
A looming recession in Russia is set to be the country’s deepest contraction in at least two decades but Putin said Moscow would stick to a “responsible macroeconomic policy”.
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Data Suggests 15000 Millionaires Trying To Leave Russia
Thousands of millionaires are trying to leave Russia, data suggests according to Britain’s defence ministry.
A continued exodus of its business and oligarch community will likely exacerbate the war’s long-term damage to its economy, the Ministry of Defence said.
“Migration applications suggest that 15,000 Russian millionaires are likely already attempting to leave,” the MoD said.
On the war front, Russia is likely trying to regain momentum in attempts to surround the Sievierodonetsk pocket from the south, it said.
Ukrainian officials have said their troops were holding out against massive Russian bombardment in the eastern city, and described new progress in a counteroffensive in the south.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 17 June 2022Find out more about the UK government’s response:
Ukraine Halts Operations At Russian
Operations at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant have been “completely stopped” as a safety measure, Enerhoatom, the Ukrainian state agency in charge of the plant, announced on September 11.
It said the only operational reactor had been disconnected from the grid earlier in the morning, adding work was under way “for its cooling and transfer to a cold state.”
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Biden Punchbag In Moscow
A punchbag featuring the face of Joe Biden has been installed in a square in Moscow, according to a journalist from a Ukrainian news site.
A punching bag with the image of President Biden was installed in Moscow. Ordinary Russians are happy to beat the image with their hands and feet. Russia is a completely degraded society.
Us Does Not Know Whereabouts Of Missing Americans In Ukraine
Joe Biden has said he has been briefed on the Americans missing in Ukraine but that the US does not currently know their whereabouts.
On Friday, Pro-Kremlin propaganda social media channels published photographs that appear to show two former US soldiers taken prisoner of war by Russian forces.
Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, were fighting as volunteers with Ukrainian forces.
Mr Biden repeated on Friday that Americans should not be going to fight in Ukraine.
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Azerbaijani Editor Lawyer Ordered Held In Pretrial Detention
The editor in chief of a leading independent Azerbaijani news organization and a lawyer have been ordered to serve four months of pretrial detention in a case involving allegations of bribery that both deny.
A court in Baku on September 11 issued the decision in the case of Avaz Zeynalli, the chief editor of Xural TV and Elchin Sadigov, a well-known human rights lawyer.
The court action comes after Zeynalli was accused in pro-government media of accepting bribes from a top Azerbaijani businessman who is himself facing criminal charges, including embezzlement, to stop printing critical reports on that case. Sadigov, the businessmans lawyer, was alleged to have acted as the intermediary.
Both Sadigov and Zeynalli deny the charges and their lawyer said he will file an appeal.
The businessman, Rasim Mammadov, is the head of the Baku Steel Company. In February 2021, Mammadov was detained on charges, including embezzlement of some 55 million manat .
Mammadov, who is represented by Sadigov, denies the charges.
It’s not the first time Zeynalli has been accused of bribery-related charges.
In 2011, he was detained on allegations of extorting and accepting a bribe from former parliament deputy Gulyar Ahmadova.
Zeynalli pleaded not guilty at his trial in 2013, saying the case against him was connected with his work as a journalist.
He was sentenced to nine years in prison but was released a year later in 2014.
Putin Says Russia Hasn’t Even Started In Ukraine As He Dares West To Try To Defeat Russia On Battlefield
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia has barely started its military action in Ukraine and challenged Western countries supporting Kyiv to try to defeat Russia on the battlefield.
Speaking on July 7 at a meeting with leaders of the parliament, Putin accused Western allies of fueling the hostilities, charging that “the West wants to fight us until the last Ukrainian.
He called it a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but added, It looks like it’s heading in that direction, and warned that everyone should understand that Russia “by and large hasn’t started anything seriously yet.”
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Kharkiv Mayor Says Power Water Cut After New Round Of Russian Shelling
The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has lost water and electricity supplies due to renewed Russian shelling, which the mayor says is nearing the city center.
“The situation from last night has been repeated. Due to shelling, critical infrastructure facilities have been put out of action, and as a result, power has gone out in Kharkiv and the water supply was cut off,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a post on Telegram on September 12.Engineers and work crews had just restored power and water supplies after overnight shelling had disrupted them, Terekhov said, adding that information on the extent of the damage and possible casualties was still being gathered.”The shelling…is nearing the city center. Rescuers and public utilities are working to eliminate the consequences of the shelling,” he said.
The Risk Of Escalation To Full
Russia could potentially take a more aggressive next step and formally declare war on Ukraine.
British Defence Minister Ben Wallace and the adviser to the Ukrainian President, Mikhail Podolyak, have both warned Mr Putin might move towards a wartime footing.
Throughout its invasion, Russia has denied allegations its forces have committed war crimes, and it has blamed the deaths of civilians on what it calls nationalists and “neo-Nazis”, suggestions dismissed by Kyiv and the West.
But Mr Putin may want to make use of the symbolism of an anniversary marking the defeat of Nazi Germany to advocate “for more Nazism to be defeated”, according to Dr Ledwidge.
“Right now, fighting with a peacetime army at 70 per cent manning levels, not counting casualties, corruption, endemic rot, etc, which is considerable,” he said.
” So the generals will have told Putin, if they dare, that they’re fighting with one arm behind their back need to get on a wartime footing.”
Full mobilisation would “allow the floodgates of soldiers to open”, Dr Ledwidge said, bringing both reservists and new conscripts into the war effort.
Yet military observers warn that it would take months, or even years, to recruit and train the conscripts.
Mr Putin would also “have to go back on the entire narrative” of a special military campaign, according to Mr Cancian.
“I find it unlikely not impossible but unlikely,” he said.
It would be a worst-case scenario, experts say.
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West Trying To Isolate Wrong States Says Putin
Putin accuses the US of pretending not to notice that there are other strong countries in the world.
The Russian president, speaking to the forum in St Petersburg, says the West still thinks in 20th-century terms, accusing the US and European powers of treating other nations like colonies.
Putin says they the US is trying to isolate the “wrong” states.
A Purposeful Fog Of War
Now, almost every day, they are shelling settlements. They have amassed large troops. They are using vehicles and other heavy machinery. They are torturing people, children, women, elderly people. It does not stop. We have seen no end to it.
Mr. Putins speech culminates by describing an entirely false Ukrainian military assault on the countrys separatist-held east. In reality, in advance of his speech, Russia-backed forces shelled territory along the line of control between Ukrainian and separatist forces.
This is likely aimed at muddying the Russian publics understanding. If both sides accuse one another of unwarranted aggression, then who can say which is true?
But his depiction may be intended to justify even greater action than the order he issued after his speech for a Russian peacekeeping operation in separatist-held territories.
Western governments have repeatedly claimed that their intelligence shows that Mr. Putin is planning to stage a supposed attack on Russia-backed forces to justify a fuller invasion, perhaps even a siege of Kyiv. Many of Russias forces are massed on Ukraines northern and southern borders, far from the separatist-held east.
The picture that Mr. Putin paints at the end of his speech, of a vast Ukrainian campaign of terror abetted by hostile Western governments bent on attacking Russia, seems to leave that option open.
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Ben Wallace: West Must Stop Ukraine Having Gun Put To Its Head
The West must protect Ukraine from having a gun put to its head by Moscow in peace talks, Britain warned on Thursday, as the leaders of France, Germany and Italy visited the war-torn country for the first time since Russia invaded.
Emmanuel Macron has claimed that France will be a mediating power in future negotiations but there are fears in Ukraine that the three visiting leaders will pressure Kyiv to agree to a quick and unjust peace deal to protect their economies.
We stand with the Ukrainians without ambiguity. Ukraine must resist and win, the French president said in an attempt to draw a line under criticism he has faced for warning Moscow could not be humiliated in defeat.
Speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, Ben Wallace said it was for Ukraine to choose the manner and level of its negotiations and it was vital that it did so from a position of strength.
Read the full story here
Russians Voting In First Regional Local Elections Since Invasion Of Ukraine
Russians are voting in regional and local elections in a scattering of locations across the country, choosing governors or legislators in the first vote to be held since the Ukraine invasion nearly seven months ago.
The balloting on September 11 is not expected to yield major political shifts on either the national or local level, and the war in Ukraine featured only in isolated cases in pre-election campaigns. Rather, local issues such as public transit investments or environmental concerns, or decrepit housing stock, topped the list of campaign issues in many places holding votes.
In all, 15 regions — scattered from the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad to Buryatia, in southern Siberia — will choose new governors or top executives for their regions. Voters in six regions were also choosing new members of local legislatures.
In Moscow, voters were allowed to cast ballots as early as September 9 to choose members of 125 district councils: local legislative councils that mostly decide on extremely local issues such as new playground equipment, trash removal, or other quality-of-life concerns.
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