
Moscow bans 15 EU media outlets as counter-restrictions
"In a countermeasure to the EU's latest restrictions on eight Russian publications and information channels approved by the EU Council as part of the so-called 16th sanctions package in February this year, the Russian side has decided to impose counter-restrictions within its territory to web resources of 15 EU member state media outlets involved in spreading disinformation," the ministry said in a statement.
"If these restrictions imposed on Russian media outlets and information channels are lifted, the Russian side will also revise its decision in respect of the European media outlets," the ministry added.

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The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Ukrainian military to boost security at training centres after Russian strikes
FILE PHOTO: Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi attends a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and newly appointed top military commanders, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 10, 2024. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY./File Photo KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's top general ordered military officials on Tuesday to prohibit troop buildups in tent encampments and to build new shelters at training centres to protect soldiers against deadly Russian air strikes. The order by Oleksandr Syrskyi comes after a spate of Russian attacks focused attention on lax discipline at military bases as Ukraine struggles to fend off a bigger and better-armed Russian military. Last month Mykhailo Drapatyi resigned as commander of Ukraine's ground forces after a Russian missile strike killed 12 soldiers and wounded scores more at a training ground. "My unconditional demand is to ensure and improve the safety of servicemen in training centres and at rear training grounds," Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "The accumulation of personnel and military equipment, the placement of servicemen in tent camps is prohibited!" As well as organising the construction of new shelters and dugouts, officials are also pursuing "additional engineering solutions", he added. In one recent attack, on May 20, a Russian missile killed six servicemen and wounded at least 10 others at a Ukrainian military shooting range. On June 22, three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and around a dozen wounded after a Russian missile struck a training ground for a mechanised brigade. Announcing his resignation on June 1, Drapatyi, the ex-ground forces commander, said he wanted to set an example for other commanders by quitting. "We will not win this war if we do not build an army where honour is not just a word but a deed," he wrote on Facebook on June 1. "Where responsibility is not punishment, but the foundation of trust." Tens of thousands of people, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022 (Reporting by Dan PeleschukEditing by Gareth Jones)


The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Italy boosts legal work visas, as union says policy falls short
ROME: Italy's hard-right government has agreed to issue 500,000 visas for non-EU workers over the next three years, but a top trade union warned Tuesday that only structural change would tackle labour shortages. The government of far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said a total of 497,550 workers would be allowed in over the 2026-2028 period, starting with around 165,000 in 2026. This is up from the 450,000 quota set by Meloni's government for 2023-2025 period -- itself a sharp increase on the 75,700 quota for 2022 and around 70,000 for 2021. Meloni, the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, has sought to reduce the number of undocumented migrants to Italy. But her government has also increased pathways for legal migration for non-EU workers to tackle labour shortages in an ageing country with a sluggish birth rate. The greatest number of visas over the next three years -- some 267,000 -- will be given for seasonal work in the agricultural and tourism sectors. Italy's main agricultural lobby, Coldiretti, welcomed the new visa plan as an 'important step forward to ensure the availability of workers in the fields, and with it, food production'. But a top official in the CGIL trade union -- Italy's oldest and largest -- said Tuesday the new quotas did not address migration dynamics and labour needs. Maria Grazia Gabrielli pointed to the number of applications that were far lower than the available quotas, with the exception of domestic work. In 2023 and 2024, only 7.5-7.8 percent of the quotas actually resulted in a residence permit, she said in a statement, pointing to their ineffectiveness. Gabrielli criticised the government's policy of prioritising applicants from countries who discourage their nationals from illegally migrating to Italy. A 2023 decree allowed preferential quotas from countries, such as those in North Africa, who help Italy fight human traffickers and conduct media campaigns warning of the dangers of crossing the Mediterranean. She called it a system 'that takes no account whatsoever of the reasons for migration dynamics and the need for a response that does not focus on punitive logic and rewards for some countries'. Italy's foreign worker policy is fraught with loopholes and possibilities for fraud, with criminal gangs exploiting the system and even foreign workers already in Italy applying for visas. The union leader said structural work was needed -- including regularising workers already in Italy -- to help employers struggling to find labour and to try to keep foreign workers out of irregular situations.


The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Kremlin slams Azerbaijan's detention of Russian journalists
MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Tuesday slammed Azerbaijan's detention of Russian journalists and urged Baku to release them, further escalating a diplomatic rift between the ex-Soviet neighbours. Moscow and Baku been been embroiled in a spat after two ethnic Azerbaijanis died over the weekend following Russian police raids targeted at the diaspora in Yekaterinburg in a decades-old criminal case. The incident sparked outcry in Baku, which has since detained three Russian journalists in a raid on the Sputnik state-run news agency and cancelled all Russian cultural events. 'We count on this highly emotional response being replaced by direct communication in which all questions will be answered,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He said Russia expected the journalists to be released 'as quickly as possible', and called the arrests 'absolutely inconsistent with the common norms and rules.' Relations between the ex-Soviet nations have been frosty since 38 people were killed in an Azerbaijan Airlines crash last December. Baku said the plane was hit by a Russian anti-aircraft missile. Azerbaijani prosecutors on Tuesday opened a criminal case into alleged torture and deliberate murder of the two who died in custody in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg after their bodies were delivered to Baku for autopsies. Russia said one person died due to a heart attack during the raid and that the other death was still under investigation. Both countries -- which rights groups say rank among the world's worst for press freedom -- summoned each other's ambassadors for dressing downs amid the row.