Eastern Europe / Features
Putin worked as a stuntman in 1970s Soviet movie industry – report
Russian President Vladimir Putin is reported to have performed stunt work in Soviet war films during the 1970s, according to former colleagues and a recently resurfaced caption in a St Petersburg university exhibit.
Russia pulling ahead of Ukraine in optical fibre drone arms race edge
Ukraine’s early advantage in battlefield drone technology is eroding as Russian investment, industrial scaling, and technological innovation reshape the aerial landscape of the conflict, particularly in the deployment of fibre-optic UAVs.
Ukraine’s top general Zaluzhnyi warns war could last a decade without systemic Western support
Ukrainian former top general and current UK ambassador Valerii Zaluzhnyi has given another controversial interview accusing Nato allies of “strategic infantilism” that could drag out the fighting for another decade.
Russia central bank governor Nabiullina says economy coming back on track, but big problems remain
Russia’s Central Bank of Russia has started easing monetary policy with a 200bp rate cut to bring down the interest rate to 18% on July 25. That is welcome relief for companies that have been increasingly struggling to cope with high rates.
China is supplying Russia with new decoy drones and engines to boost Russia’s production
China is covertly supplying a new decoy drone using entirely Chinese technology as well as engines sent to Russia’s state-owned drone manufacturer Kupol that has allowed russia to boost drone strikes to 500 per day, NV reports.
PANNIER: Stakes in fight against terrorism raised as Uzbekistan discovers ISKP cell led by teenage woman
Suspect in custody allegedly radicalised at Islamic school in Turkey. Development is disturbing for authorities.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister to ask IMF for new loan, as new team focuses efforts on bring US support back on board
Ukraine’s new prime minister, Yuliia Svyrydenko, said Kyiv will probably ask for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to plug a widening budget deficit.
Ukraine’s military death tolls underestimated, Russia recruits sufficient to cover its frontline losses
Ukraine’s official military casualty figures in the war with Russia may be vastly understated. Russia’s death toll is much higher.
Greek tankers continue to transport Russian oil despite new eighteenth sanctions package, come under Ukrainian special ops attacks
Greek-owned oil tankers are likely to continue to carry Russian oil exports, despite the passage of a new eighteenth sanctions package last week that largely targets Russia’s oil exports.
Ukraine’s accession bid stalls, Zelenskiy downgrades EU diplomatic representation
Ukraine’s bid to join the EU has hit a wall, after efforts to launch the negotiations last week failed due to infighting amongst member states. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has downgraded his country's diplomatic representation.
Fleet-cannibalised Russian aviation can only look on as Central Asia carriers take over regional market segments
Moscow has even considered asking Kazakhstan to run some of its domestic flight connections.
Russian inflation moving back to target – CBR
Central Bank of Russia Governor Elvia Nabiullina’s plan is working. Last year she introduced a raft of non-monetary policy methods to squash Russian growth and force inflation down by artificially cooling the economy.
EXPLAINER: Ukraine's EU accession path
The war is not an obstacle to Ukraine's membership of the EU, and most of the EU members states have thrown their support behind getting Ukraine into the club as fast as possible.
Ukraine seeks infrastructure investment capital, a “once in a generation” opportunity
As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, Kyiv and its partners are pithing international investors to get involved the infrastructure projects. "The time is now."
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Ever in India’s shadow, Bangladesh needs to define its own energy path
As a country Bangladesh is at an energy crossroads. Following decades of natural‑gas dominance, its energy planners are charting a course towards a diversified power policy with the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant the jewel in the crown.
Russia’s June budget deficit widens sharply as military spending and oil revenues diverge
President Putin has lost his luck with oil prices and the budget deficit has widened sharply as budget revenues in June have fallen, but expenditure widened. Russia’s federal budget deficit surged to nearly RUB3.7tn ($41.4bn), or 1.7% of GDP.
Thirteen top officials and executives have died in suspicious circumstances since the start of the war in Ukraine
The death of Roman Starovoit, who killed himself only hours after being fired by Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russia’s transport minister, has spurred fresh talk of the life-threatening dangers of working for the Russian government.
Russian labour market crunch shows signs of easing as firms scale back hiring and wage growth
Russia’s chronic labour crisis is showing signs of beginning to ease, as new data show a slowdown in wage growth and hiring, particularly in the civilian and construction sectors, Kommersant reported this week.
Sofa-beds for victory: the furniture makers charting a new path on Ukraine's domestic front
Whilst enrolled on an MBA course at Kyiv Mogyla Business School in 2016, Volodymyr Patis, head of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Producers, had a “light-bulb moment".
Despite robust international support, Ukraine “running out of space” to cope with additional economic stress – IMF
The International Monetary Fund has warned that Ukraine’s ability to absorb further economic shocks is rapidly diminishing as the war with Russia enters its fourth year and reform momentum in Parliament slows, says the IMF in a staff report.