Latest news with #Ukraineconflict
Russia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
EU country moves to sanction Ukrainian military officials
Hungary has filed a motion with the EU to sanction three Ukrainian officials Budapest deems responsible for forced mobilization, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has announced. Budapest took the step following an incident in which Ukrainian draft officers are alleged to have fatally beaten a Hungarian citizen. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Budapest has consistently criticized EU efforts to arm Kiev. Relations between Hungary and Ukraine have been further strained in recent weeks amid mutual espionage recriminations. Moreover, Budapest has repeatedly accused Kiev of trampling on the rights of the Hungarian ethnic minority in the country's Western Transcarpathia region. In a post on X on Wednesday, Szijjarto wrote that 'today we initiated that the EU place on its sanctions list those responsible for the death of a Hungarian man during forced conscription.' In a separate post, the minister stated that a 'brutal manhunt is unfolding on Ukraine's streets, with systemic beatings and torture targeting those unwilling to join the military.' The following day, Szijjarto claimed that 'for 10 years, the Hungarian community in Ukraine has faced systematic attacks' by the government in Kiev, and accused the EU of turning a blind eye to alleged cases of discrimination. Last Thursday, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over the incident. According to Hungarian media, 45-year-old Jozsef Sebestyen died on July 6 as a result of injuries sustained when he was beaten with iron bars by draft officers. The Ukrainian Ground Forces claimed Sebestyen had been 'legally mobilized,' but deserted and admitted himself to a hospital, where he died from a 'pulmonary embolism' with no signs of violence. Ukraine's mobilization drive has increasingly been marred by widespread violence and abuse at the hands of recruitment officials, as attested by multiple social media videos. Earlier this month, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Michael O'Flaherty, expressed concern over 'allegations of torture and death during military recruitment' in Ukraine. Russian officials have claimed that Kiev is dead set on waging war against Moscow 'until the last Ukrainian,' using its own citizens as cannon fodder.
Russia Today
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Retired US officer shared classified Ukraine intel on dating site
A retired US Army officer has admitted to leaking classified information about the Ukraine conflict to a woman he met on a foreign dating website, according to a press release by the US Justice Department last week. David Slater, 64, was working as a civilian employee for the Air Force at US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) when he is said to have conspired to transmit national defense information. The leaks occurred from February to April 2022, during the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. USSTRATCOM is responsible for overseeing the country's nuclear command and control systems. Slater held a top secret security clearance and worked in a classified space at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. He attended briefings that included intelligence classified up to top secret. Prosecutors said he later shared information from those briefings with a person who claimed to be a Ukrainian woman. The two communicated using a messaging feature on an unnamed foreign dating platform. According to court filings, the woman regularly prompted Slater to reveal sensitive details and referred to him with phrases such as 'my secret informant love' and 'my secret agent.' In one message, she asked, 'Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room??' Prosecutors said the information he disclosed included military targets, Russian military capabilities, and US and NATO planning. The identity of the woman has not been made public and it's unclear whether she was working for a foreign government. US Attorney Lesley Woods said Slater 'failed in his duty' to protect classified information. FBI Special Agent Eugene Kowel said the officer 'betrayed an oath' to safeguard national intelligence. Slater faces up to ten years in prison for the leaks, but could serve a fraction of this under a plea agreement. His sentencing is set for October 8. The case follows a similar breach in 2023 involving Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, who admitted to posting highly classified documents on Discord, including battlefield maps and intelligence assessments about the Ukraine conflict.
Al Arabiya
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Russia's Lavrov meets North Korea's Kim, praises ties as ‘invincible brotherhood'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coastal city of Wonsan on Saturday, where he described the two nations' relations as 'an invincible fighting brotherhood,' Russia's foreign ministry said. The ministry quoted Lavrov as saying that the visit represented the continuation of 'strategic dialogue' between the two sides inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea last year. In a message passed on by Lavrov, Putin said that he hoped for more direct contacts in future, TASS news agency reported. Lavrov, the ministry said, also thanked North Korea for the troops it had sent to Russia. Relations between the two countries deepened during the conflict in Ukraine. Thousands of North Korean troops were deployed during the months-long campaign to oust Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk region, while Pyongyang has also supplied Russia with munitions. Lavrov also met with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, TASS reported. Lavrov arrived in Wonsan on Friday from Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur following the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting. Home to a newly opened seaside resort, Wonsan is also known for its missile and naval facilities. Lavrov's visit is the latest high-level meeting between the two countries as they upgrade their strategic cooperation to now include a mutual defense pact. 'We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis ... Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces,' TASS quoted Lavrov as saying. It also quoted his deputy Andrei Rudenko as saying more high-level delegations would visit North Korea later this year. The South Korean intelligence service has said North Korea may be preparing to deploy more troops in July or August, after sending more than 10,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russia in the war against Ukraine. North Korea has agreed to dispatch 6,000 military engineers and builders for reconstruction in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched a mass cross-border incursion nearly a year ago. Russian news agencies said after North Korea, Lavrov was due to travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. TASS said the new Wonsan coastal resort could boost Russian tourism to North Korea, citing the resumption of direct trains from Moscow to Pyongyang and a project to build a bridge across the Tumen River forming part of the boundary between North Korea, China and Russia.
Russia Today
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Lavrov begins visit to North Korea (VIDEO)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov began his three-day visit to North Korea on Saturday, highlighting growing cooperation between the two countries amid the Ukraine conflict. Moscow and Pyongyang signed a defense pact in June 2024, after which North Korea deployed troops to help repel a large-scale Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region. During a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui in Wonsan, Lavrov praised the 'invincible brotherhood' between the two nations. 'This assessment proved true in the Kursk region, where the heroic soldiers of the Korean People's Army, alongside Russian troops, advanced the liberation of the area from Ukrainian Nazis, at the cost of blood and even their own lives,' he said. In August 2024, Ukrainian forces crossed Russia's internationally recognized border and captured the city of Sudzha, as well as dozens of border villages. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky described the offensive at the time as an attempt to gain leverage during future peace talks. The last Ukrainian troops were expelled from the area in April 2025. Sergey Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, said last month that North Korea would send 1,000 mine clearance troops and 5,000 combat engineers to rebuild infrastructure in the Kursk region.
Reuters
20-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Moscow promises to closely monitor foreign businesses that return to Russia
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 20 (Reuters) - Russia's Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, who has led the state's efforts to seize property worth 2.4 trillion roubles ($31 billion), on Friday said foreign companies that return to the country would be watched closely to ensure Russia benefited. Moscow has placed around a dozen foreign-owned assets under state management in the more than three years that Russia has been fighting in Ukraine and prosecutors have stepped up the seizure of domestic assets through the courts this year. Now, as the economy begins to slow after two years of growth fuelled by high military spending, Russian officials are trying to find the balance between insulating the economy from exposure to Western nations it considers unfriendly and the need for growth to keep funding the conflict in Ukraine. "We will closely follow the government's actions," Krasnov said. "That is, who will come... on what terms they will come." "We will definitely look at making sure that the conditions under which our (Russian) business operates are better (when Western business returns)," Krasnov said. It must be profitable for Russia's own firms, he said. Russia is prioritising domestic companies, some of whom have taken market share vacated by Western firms, such as McDonald's (MCD.N), opens new tab and Unilever (ULVR.L), opens new tab, that have left since Russia launched the conflict in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the Russian economy could not develop effectively without investment and said Moscow would create conditions to make foreign partners feel comfortable. He said Russian companies should fulfil legally binding buybacks with foreign companies, but stressed that Russia would support measures that benefit its own interests. "If someone left for political reasons, under pressure from their own political elites, their countries, then this means they are unreliable partners," Putin said. Kirill Dmitriev, chief of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, has said that U.S. companies are in talks to return to Russia, although lawyers and investors have told Reuters that sanctions must be lifted before any significant influx can take place. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the Izvestia daily on Friday that no foreign companies had yet submitted requests to return. "There are no applications for entry yet, but I feel that the situation is changing and interest in investing in Russia is growing," Siluanov said. The sparse Western presence at Russia's forum suggests otherwise, with some analysts also pointing to concerns about property rights. Two sources from Russia's energy and banking sectors said some companies may be interested in returning as there could be money to be made, but not in the current situation. Assets owned by French yoghurt maker Danone ( opens new tab and Danish brewer Carlsberg ( opens new tab are among the foreign assets taken under state control and sold to Kremlin-friendly buyers since 2022. ($1 = 78.4955 roubles)
