Ukraine
20,000 of Prigozhin’s Wagner troops died during Bakhmut assault
An investigation by Russian outlet Mediazona and BBC Russia has found that 20,000 of Wagner troops died during last year’s brutal assault on the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut and the majority were convicts recruited by Evgeny Prigozhin.
Ukraine looks to Europe to increase power imports this winter
Russia has taken out 35 GW of Ukraine’s electricity generation capability since the beginning of the war, decreasing generation from 55 GW to 20 GW. Already Ukrenergo has introduced rolling blackouts in a dozen regions.
IMF: Dollar’s "stealth erosion" in global reserves by other currencies
The US dollar's share in global reserve currencies is falling steadily, but instead of being replaced by one of the "big four" alternatives – euro, yen, and pound – central banks are buying currencies like the Chinese yuan.
The Western public want the war in Ukraine to end, but downplay Russia's role in the WWII victory, polls find
A new survey by the Institute for Global Affairs, part of the American political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, found the overwhelming majority of Western public opinion is in favour of ending the war in Ukraine through negotiations.
Putin slams the West in SPIEF speech for trying to preserve hegemony, calls for accelerated domestic development
An increasingly confident Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed the West for trying to “maintain their elusive role as hegemons,” and said the countries of the Global South are racing to “strengthen their sovereignty” in his SPIEF speech.
German, French luxury carmakers lobby EU to hold off on export restrictions to Belarus
The German and French makers of luxury cars are lobbying the EU to prevent sanctions on exports of their products to Belarus, which eventually end up in Russia.
Emergency measures in Ukraine’s energy sector cast doubt on surviving through winter
Russia has destroyed over 60% of the Ukraine's energy production capacity. One official told the FT that Ukrainians should prepare for "life in the cold and the dark" this winter.
Gazprom’s business will take at least a decade to recover from the impact of the Ukraine war
The business of Russian gas giant Gazprom will take at least a decade to recover losses incurred from Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a report commissioned by the company released on June 5.
Putin warns Russia could hit countries supplying Ukraine with weapons
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia could strike Western nations that provide Ukraine with weapons on June 5.
Greek naval exercises to close its waters to Russia’s shadow fleet tankers
Greece launched its biggest and longest naval exercise ever, in the process limiting the movement of Russia’s shadow fleet in its waters, The Bell reported on June 5.
Pakistan, Brazil pull out of Ukraine’s Swiss peace summit
Pakistan and Brazil have added their names to the leading global south countries that will skip Ukraine’s peace summit to be held in Switzerland next week.
Bulgaria’s pro-Russian president says Nato risks world war, nuclear Armageddon in Ukraine
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Rumen Radev cut ties with Bulgaria's pro-Western reformers and opposes military support for Kyiv.
LONG READ: Russia’s despair index result is the best ever, while Ukraine’s crashes
The despair index adds unemployment, inflation and poverty to compare what life is like in the bottom third of emerging societies. Currently Russia is enjoying one of its lowest levels of despair, whereas Ukraine is suffering one of its worst.
China, Saudi Arabia to stay away from Ukraine peace summit
China and Saudi Arabia have both declined to attend a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland next month, citing the absence of Russia as a key reason, various sources confirmed on Friday.
COMMENT: Russian tax hikes – important but not large enough
Russia’s recently announced change to a progressive tax system and hikes to the basic rates for income and corporate tax will reduce the budget deficit, but are unlikely to provide sufficient fiscal tightening to prevent economic overheating.
COMMENT: Better sanctions are needed to curb Russia’s flourishing war economy
The Russian economy experienced a sharp contraction of 4.4% following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering fears of a financial crisis as households rushed to withdraw cash and the ruble plummeted over 40% in value.
Putin claims Zelenskiy is not the legitimate president, hints at a nuclear strike against Europe if Kyiv allowed to hit Russia with Nato weapons
Russian President Vladimir Putin fielded addressed recent statements by Western leaders suggesting that Ukraine should be allowed to strike deep into Russian territory using Western-supplied weapons and other burning issues.
US gives Ukraine permission to hit targets in Russia, but Russia is beating Europe in the race to buy non-EU produced shells
The Biden administration has secretly given Ukraine permission to strike targets inside Russia, but limited the permission to targets near Kharkiv on the Russian border. However, Russia is beating the EU in a race to buy non-EU-made shells.
Zelenskiy launches biomethane market in Ukraine, aims to attract international investment
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inaugurated Ukraine's biomethane market, a move that could see Ukraine exporting 22 bcm of it to cover 20% of the EU’s needs.
Russia dumping the dollar for the yuan is an imperfect sanctions fix
In 2023 the yuan became the most popular currency on the Moscow Exchange, beating even the dollar, as Russia has been forced to completely remake the way it pays for international trade.