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Post by Admin on Apr 4, 2022 19:31:04 GMT
The U.S. government on Monday seized a 254-foot yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a first by the Biden administration under sanctions imposed after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and targeting pricey assets of Russian elites. Spain’s Civil Guard and U.S. federal agents descended on the Tango at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police going in and out of the boat. The U.S. Justice Department, which obtained a warrant from a federal judge in Washington, alleges the yacht should be forfeited for violating U.S. bank fraud, money laundering and sanctions statutes. Superyachtfan.com, a specialized website that tracks the world’s largest and most exclusive recreational boats, values the 78-meter vessel, which carries the Cook Islands flag, at $120 million. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close Putin ally who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the United States are frozen and American companies are barred from doing business with him and his entities. The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminum and oil industries in the post-Soviet era. Prosecutors allege Vekselberg bought the Tango in 2011 and has owned it since then, though they believe he has used shell companies to try to obfuscate his ownership and to avoid financial oversight.
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Post by Admin on Apr 12, 2022 19:52:06 GMT
Putin says Russia's invasion of Ukraine will achieve 'noble' aims - BBC News 4,061 views Apr 13, 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his invasion of Ukraine will achieve what he called its "noble" aims.
Speaking alongside Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko, from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Mr Putin claimed that a clash with Ukraine had become "inevitable".
Mr Putin said he had been left with no choice but to launch the invasion in a bid to protect the Russian speaking Donbas region.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Lithuania’s parliament that Russia was a threat to Europe as a whole, not just to Ukraine.
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Post by Admin on Apr 12, 2022 22:07:54 GMT
Alleged and unconfirmed claims of chemical weapons use by Russia in Ukraine has forced a scramble inside the White House to match President Joe Biden’s promise of an “in kind” response while avoiding further escalation of the conflict. The White House is urging caution, noting that the use of chemical weapons remains unverified. U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject, said they have been running scenario-planning exercises on the possible use of chemical weapons, having publicly raised the alarm that Russian President Vladimir Putin may take such a step. The officials said that military options in Ukraine aren’t on the table — echoing Biden’s repeated position of not wanting to spark World War III. The word used by multiple U.S. officials who’ve been involved in contingency planning for such an attack for at least a month is “proportional,” meaning America and its allies intend to respond in a manner befitting the potential war crime. Instead, some suggested America and its allies could impose further sanctions on Moscow or further bolster Ukraine’s defenses with advanced weaponry. Biden aides have also speculated that the use of chemical weapons may be the final impetus for European nations to stop importing Russian energy, funds for which have fueled Putin’s war machine and filled his country’s coffers. Before doing any of that, the first step is to confirm a Ukrainian military group’s charge that Russia on Monday deployed a chemical substance in Mariupol. The Azov regiment, a frontline fighting unit that has fought Russia in the Donbas since 2014 and has been tied to neo-Nazi groups and white supremacists, said Russian troops dropped a chemical weapon from a drone and poisoned at least three people, though the group said the affected soldiers are not facing disastrous health effects. If true, that’d be the first known use of chemical weapons in the war since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
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Post by Admin on Apr 27, 2022 3:44:47 GMT
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva's performances could not have been achieved with the help of any banned substances. Valieva, who turned 16 on Tuesday, failed a doping test at the Russian national championships last December but the result was only revealed on Feb. 8, a day after she had already helped the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) win the team event at the Beijing Games. The case cast a shadow on Russians' participation at the Games as they already faced increased scrutiny over separate doping sanctions that saw them compete without their flag and national anthem. "Through her work, she brought the sport to the level of a real form of art," Putin said Valieva at a televised awards ceremony at the Kremlin for medallists from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. "Such perfection cannot be achieved dishonestly with the help of additional substances, manipulations. We very well know that these additional substances are not needed in figure skating." Valieva, favourite to win Olympic gold, was cleared to compete in the women's single event in Beijing by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but stumbled to fourth place with an error-laden free skate. She became the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics during the team event. Valieva's case instigated questions over whether the minimum age for competitors in figure skating, currently 15, needs to be raised to protect minors. Putin said Russian and Belarusian Paralympians, removed from the Beijing Paralympic Games after Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, was a case of discrimination based on nationality. "The suspension of athletes from Russia and Belarus not only directly violated the fundamental principles of sport but their most basic human rights were... openly, cynically violated," Putin said at a ceremony with Olympians and Paralympians at the Kremlin.
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Post by Admin on Apr 27, 2022 17:05:56 GMT
Russia halts gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria amid war in Ukraine – BBC News 7,426 views Apr 28, 2022 Russian energy giant Gazprom says it has halted gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria over the countries' refusal to pay for supplies in roubles.
The firm said services will not be restored until payments are made in the Russian currency.
It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "unfriendly" countries to pay for gas in roubles.
Poland confirmed supplies had stopped, but Bulgaria said it was still unclear whether supplies had been halted.
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