Tag: Russian

Lukoil Chairman Ravil Maganov is the eighth Russian vitality govt to die all of the sudden this yr

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Post date September 2, 2022

Lukoil Chairman Ravil Maganov is the 8th Russian energy executive to die suddenly this year

Russian President Vladimir Putin stands next to first executive vice president of oil producer Lukoil Ravil Maganov after awarding him with the Order of Alexander Nevsky during an awards ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2019.

Mikhail Klimentyev | Kremlin | Sputnik | via Reuters

WASHINGTON – The death of Ravil Maganov, chairman of Russian oil giant Lukoil, on Thursday in a Moscow hospital appears to be the eighth time this year that a Russian energy executive has died suddenly and under unusual circumstances.

Maganov died after falling from a window at the capital’s Central Clinical Hospital, according to Russia’s state-sponsored Interfax news agency. The circumstances of Maganov’s death were confirmed by Reuters, citing two anonymous sources. The oil company and its CEO had criticized the war in Ukraine and expressed their disapproval in a March 3 statement.

But Lukoil, the company Maganov helped build, said in a press statement the 67-year-old “died after a serious illness”. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request from CNBC for official comment.

The circumstances surrounding Maganov’s sudden death have attracted international attention, in part because seven other senior Russian energy executives have died untimely since January, according to reports from Russian and international news outlets.

Below is a list of these cases in chronological order.

In late January, Leonid Shulman, a top executive at Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, was found dead in the bathroom of a cottage in the village of Leninsky. The Russian media group RBC reported on his death but gave no cause.
On February 25, another Gazprom executive, Alexander Tyulakov, was found dead in the same village as Shulman, this time in a garage. According to Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta, investigators found a note near Tyulakov’s body.
On February 28, three days after Tyulakov’s death, a Russian oil and gas billionaire living in England, Mikhail Watford, was found hanged in the garage of his country house. Investigators at the time reportedly said Watford’s death was “unexplained” but did not appear suspicious.
On April 18, a former vice president of Gazprombank, Vladislav Avayev, was found dead in his apartment in Moscow along with his wife and daughter, who also died. Authorities were treating the case as a murder-suicide, Radio Free Europe reported at the time. Gazprombank is Russia’s third largest bank and has close ties to the energy sector.
On April 19, a former deputy chairman of Novatek, Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, was found dead in a holiday home in Spain. Like Avayev in Moscow, Sergei Protosenya was found with his wife and daughter, who were also deceased. And like Avayev said, police investigating the scene believed it was a homicide-suicide, a theory that Avayev’s surviving son has publicly denied.
In May, the body of billionaire and former Lukoil manager Alexander Subbotin was discovered in the basement of a country house in the Moscow region. The room where Subbotin died was allegedly used for “Jamaican voodoo rituals,” the Russian state media company TASS reported, citing local authorities.
In July, Yury Voronov, the CEO and founder of a shipping company servicing Gazprom’s Arctic projects, was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound in a swimming pool at his home in Leninsky, the same elite St. Petersburg condominium where Shulman and Tyulakov died earlier in the year.

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Tags 8th, chairman, Die, energy, executive, Lukoil, Maganov, Ravil, Russian, Suddenly, Year

Entertainment

Vladimir Menshov, Shock Russian Oscar Winner, Dies at 81

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Post date July 26, 2021

Vladimir Menshov, a prolific Soviet actor and director whose film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980 and surprised many American critics, died on July 5 in a Moscow hospital. He was 81.

Mosfilm, the Russian film studio and production company, said the cause was complications from Covid-19.

“Moscow doesn’t believe in tears”, a soapy, melodramatic crowd puller, attracted around 90 million moviegoers in the Soviet Union even after it was broadcast on television shortly after it was released in 1980. His theme song “Alexandra”, written by Sergey Nikitin and Tatyana Nikitina, became one of the most popular film music pieces in the country.

Still, when “Moscow”, only the second film directed by Mr. Menshov, won the Oscar, many moviegoers and critics were amazed at the competition this year. It was voted ahead of François Truffaut’s “The Last Metro” and Akira Kurosawa’s “The Shadow Warrior” as well as Spanish director Jaime de Armiñán’s “The Nest” and Hungarian director Istvan Szabo’s “Confidence”.

“There was more condescending benevolence behind the Oscar for ‘Moscow’ than aesthetic discrimination,” wrote Gary Arnold of the Washington Post when reviewing the film, which was released in the United States after it won an Oscar.

The film follows three girls, who were quartered in a Moscow hotel for young women in the late 1950s, in search of male company and revisits them 20 years later. It played Vera Alentova, the director’s wife and the mother of her daughter Yuliya Menshova, a television personality. Both survive him, along with two grandchildren.

Mr. Arnold noted that Mr. Menshov’s film “revived a genre that Hollywood couldn’t sustain, reliably it seems: the chronicle of provincial girls, usually a trio pursuing careers and / or friends in the big city” – a Genre that at the time ranged from “Bühnentor” (1938) to “Valley of the Puppets” (1967).

Vincent Canby of the New York Times admitted that the film was “played properly” but wrote that after two and a half hours it “appears endless”.

“From time to time there are allusions to social satire, “wrote Mr. Canby,” but they are so mild that they could only surprise and interest an extremely prudish, unconstructed Stalinist. “

Although he found it understandable that “Moscow” was one of the most successful films in the Soviet Union, Mr. Canby concluded: “You can also believe that part of Mr. Menshov’s biography (included in the program) that reports that he was in the first three years failed. “at the Cinema Institute in Moscow and was not much more successful as an acting student at the Moscow Art Theater.”

He added sharply, “I assume we are being told these things to underscore the insignificance of these early failures which, however, appear to be summed up in his Oscar-winning actress.”

Vladimir Valentinovich Menshov was born on September 17, 1939 to a Russian family in Baku (now Azerbaijan). His father Valentin was an officer in the secret police. His mother, Antonina Aleksandrovna (Dubovskaya) Menshov, was a housewife.

As a teenager, Vladimir worked as a machine worker, miner and sailor before entering the Moscow Art Theater School. After graduating from school in 1965 and from the Gerasimov Institute for Cinematography in 1970, he worked for the Mosfilm, Lenfilm and Odessa Film studios.

He had more than 100 credits as an actor, including the hit “Night Watch” (2004) and was also a screenwriter. He made his directorial debut in 1976 with the film “Practical Joke”.

Tags Dies, Menshov, Oscar, Russian, Surprise, Vladimir, winner

Politics

U.S., Germany strike deal to permit completion of Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline

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Post date July 22, 2021

Workers during the pipe production process at the Nord Stream 2 Mukran plant on the island of Ruegen in Sassnitz, Germany.

Carsten Koall | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The United States and Germany have reached an agreement to enable the completion of the $ 11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a sensitive, long-standing point of contention between the otherwise steadfast allies.

The agreement between Washington and Berlin announced on Wednesday aims to invest more than 200 million euros in energy security in Ukraine and in sustainable energy across Europe.

“Should Russia attempt to use energy as a weapon or commit further aggressive acts against Ukraine, Germany will act at the national level and press for effective action at the European level, including sanctions, to restrict Russian export capabilities to Europe in the energy sector. “Said a senior State Department official when he called reporters on Wednesday.

The senior State Department official, who requested anonymity to openly discuss the deal, added that the US will also retain the privilege to impose sanctions if Russia uses energy as a coercive measure.

The official said the United States and Germany are “firmly committed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine and have therefore consulted closely with Kiev on the matter.

As Covid Rages, Putin Pushes Russians to Get a (Russian) Vaccine

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Post date July 1, 2021

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin urged Russians to get vaccinated against the coronavirus on Wednesday — his most extensive comments on the matter yet — as his country scrambles to contain a vicious new wave of the illness.

Speaking at his annual televised call-in show, Mr. Putin spent the opening half-hour trying to convince Russians to get one of the country’s four domestically produced shots. It was the latest instance of a marked change in tone about the pandemic from Russian officials, who for months did little to push a vaccine-wary public to get immunized but are now starting to make vaccination mandatory for some groups.

“It’s dangerous, dangerous to your life,” Mr. Putin said of Covid-19. “The vaccine is not dangerous.”

Only 23 million Russians, or about 15 percent of the population, have received at least one vaccine dose, Mr. Putin said. Polls this year by the independent Levada Center showed that some 60 percent of Russians did not want to be vaccinated. Analysts attribute Russians’ hesitancy to a widespread distrust of the authorities combined with a drumbeat of state television reports that described the coronavirus as either mostly defeated or not very dangerous to begin with.

Mr. Putin revealed that he himself had received the Sputnik V vaccine this year — the Kremlin had previously refused to specify which shot he had been given — and that he had experienced a brief fever after the second dose. But his message remained muddled, as he questioned the safety of Covid-19 vaccines in general.

“Thank God we haven’t had tragic situations after vaccinations like after the use of AstraZeneca or Pfizer,” Mr. Putin said.

Mr. Putin spoke just as his handling of the pandemic — long touted by the Kremlin as superior to the approach taken in the West — threatened to turn into a major debacle. While Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is widely seen as safe and effective, most Russians have been avoiding it and other available, domestically produced shots. As a result, the country is suffering through a harrowing new wave of the pandemic, with the delta variant of the coronavirus spreading fast.

Russia’s biggest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, have been reporting more than 100 deaths per day recently, setting records; nationwide, the number of reported new cases per day has doubled to more than 20,000 in recent weeks, with 669 deaths reported on Wednesday. The official toll is likely to be a significant undercount.

Regional officials in Moscow and elsewhere have resisted lockdowns. But, almost certainly with Mr. Putin’s blessing, they have made vaccination mandatory for large groups of people in their regions, such as service workers. That has prompted an outcry from many Kremlin critics and supporters alike.

“I don’t support mandatory vaccination, and continue to have this point of view,” Mr. Putin said, putting the responsibility for such orders on regional officials.

Updated

June 30, 2021, 9:29 p.m. ET

The renewed surge of the coronavirus could derail the Kremlin’s message of competence in comparison to Western dysfunction just as parliamentary elections approach in September. Mr. Putin’s most vocal opponents have already been jailed, exiled or barred from running, but obvious election fraud or a poor showing by his governing United Russia party could still weaken the president’s domestic authority.

Mr. Putin’s annual call-in show, first broadcast in 2001, has turned into a bedrock of how he has communicated with Russians during two decades of rule. More than a million questions were submitted ahead of time by phone, text message and smartphone app, state news media reported. They covered things like the cost of airline tickets, problems with building regulations, illegal logging and high food prices.

The lengthy session affords the president a chance to show that he is in charge, in command of the details of a plethora of issues and concerned about the welfare of regular Russians. It also allows him to blame problems on lower-level officials, while casting himself as the savior of the common citizen.

But it has also underlined the weakness of the top-down system of governance over which Mr. Putin presides. To solve even the most minor issues, it seems, Mr. Putin himself sometimes needs to get involved.

For instance, after a sheep breeder in the Caucasus republic of Ingushetia told Mr. Putin that he had been having trouble finding a plot of land to rent, the president pledged to speak to the region’s governor.

“Sheep breeding is very important,” Mr. Putin said. “People who do this deserve support.”

Mr. Putin spent much of the show focused on domestic issues. He shot down online rumors of new fees for farmers, pledging that “no one is planning a tax on livestock.” A woman’s smartphone video from a grocery store showed the high cost of carrots and other staples. Mr. Putin pledged to address the matter, noting that it was a global problem and that “the vegetable harvest is soon, and I hope this will have an impact on prices.”

But Mr. Putin was at his most animated when he was asked about geopolitics. Responding to a question about Ukraine, he repeated his oft-stated contention that Russians and Ukrainians were “one people” and that the country had turned into a puppet of the United States. He rejected another viewer’s idea that last week’s incident surrounding a British warship approaching Crimea could have touched off World War III.

But he warned that any attempt by the West to build up a military presence in Ukraine, Russia’s biggest western neighbor, would pose an existential threat.

“This creates significant problems for us in the security sphere,” Mr. Putin said. “This touches the existential interests of the Russian Federation and the Russian people.”

Some of the questions during the nearly four-hour show came as live phone or video calls, while others were prerecorded videos. Mr. Putin at times appeared confused as to whether or not a question was being asked in real time, talking back at some of the recorded videos. After some technical difficulties about two hours in, the hosts said that the show was coming under a denial-of-service cyberattack.

“Everyone talks about Russian hackers,” one of the hosts quipped.

Oleg Matsnev contributed reporting.

Tags Covid, Pushes, Putin, Rages, Russian, Russians, Vaccine

Entertainment

The Ballet Star and the Russian Magnate: A Feud Roils the Dance World

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Post date June 21, 2021

She is a renowned ballerina known for dazzling technique and charismatic portrayals in title roles like “Giselle.” He is a Russian magnate and impresario with a reputation for brashness and ambition.

Natalia Osipova, a star at the Royal Ballet in London, and Vladimir Kekhman, the artistic director of the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, were once close collaborators.

But a conflict over Osipova’s schedule in recent days has strained their relationship and escalated into an extraordinary public feud.

It all began when it became clear that Osipova would be unable to dance in “La Bayadère” this week at the Mikhailovsky. Instead of relying on the usual diplomatic language of cast change announcements, in which absent stars tend to be described in vague terms as “indisposed,” Kekhman posted a blistering 328-word statement on the theater’s website attacking Osipova, saying she had feigned illness and accusing her of “lying.”

He wrote bluntly that she had “lied to two theaters, you and me personally,” and added that she had shown “disrespect toward the audience.”

“She has the skills of a con artist,” Kekhman later elaborated in an interview.

Osipova, 35, has not publicly addressed the matter, but her employer, the Royal Ballet, has stood by her.

“Natalia would have been thrilled to perform, and we are sorry for any disappointment or confusion caused for audiences at the Mikhailovsky,” Kevin O’Hare, director of the Royal Ballet, said in a statement. He blamed a busy schedule at the Royal Ballet and travel restrictions related to the pandemic for her inability to go to St. Petersburg.

The dispute, which has left the dance world agog, provides a glimpse into the intense competition among arts executives for the loyalty, and time, of star performers. Theaters often fight behind the scenes to secure commitments from dancers juggling demanding international careers. But rarely do those arguments spill into public view.

“I’ve never seen a public statement quite as blunt, or as angry, as this one,” said Judith Mackrell, an author and former dance critic for The Guardian in London, referring to Kekhman’s remarks. “When there are spats of this kind, they’re usually settled behind the scenes or are veiled in more evasive comment.”

Kekhman, who made his fortune as a fruit importer and has sometimes been called Russia’s “Banana King,” helped shape Osipova’s career, persuading her to quit the renowned Bolshoi Ballet in 2011 and join the lesser-known Mikhailovsky, a defection that stunned the dance world. Osipova left for the Royal Ballet two years later. But she has continued to appear in St. Petersburg.

During the pandemic, when London was still limiting large gatherings, Osipova returned to the Mikhailovsky for performances of “Cinderella” and “Giselle,” among other engagements. She was set to return to the Mikhailovsky this month for “La Bayadère,” and for “Romeo and Juliette” and “Don Quixote” in July. She also kept a busy schedule at the Royal Ballet, which reopened in May for the first time in nearly six months.

On June 10, Osipova danced in Balanchine’s “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” at the Royal Opera House for an audience that included Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, who were photographed chatting with Osipova and the other dancers at a post-performance reception.

After the performance, according to Kekhman, Osipova’s fiancé, Jason Kittelberger, who is also a dancer, sent a message to the Mikhailovsky saying that Osipova had fallen ill with Covid-like symptoms and was in the hospital.

The next day, Osipova did not board a flight to St. Petersburg, as the Mikhailovsky had arranged, in preparation for her starring role as Nikiya in “La Bayadère.”

Unable to reach her, Kekhman later posted the statement on the Mikhailovsky’s website attacking her credibility, and saying that her performances this month and next month at the theater would be canceled.

In an interview, Kekhman went further, saying he would ban Osipova permanently from the theater.

“She will never perform here,” he said. “She doesn’t deserve this stage.”

Osipova declined to comment. “She is not prepared to make any comments at this stage,” said an assistant, Vera Ugarova.

On Sunday, after Kekhman’s excoriating statement was issued, she abruptly withdrew from a matinee performance of “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” at the Royal Ballet, citing an injury.

“She is recuperating and will return to full performance soon,” said Vicky Kington, a spokeswoman for the Royal Ballet.

Osipova’s fans rushed to her defense. On a Facebook fan page, which describes Osipova as a “raven-haired beauty boasting the energy of an atomic power plant,” her admirers expressed disappointment that they would not be able to see her perform in St. Petersburg. They said they were outraged by Kekhman’s handling of the situation.

“Kekhman’s statement is disgusting and deceitful,” Maxim Lichagin, an Osipova fan who works in the printing industry in Moscow, said in an interview. “I believe Natalia.”

Tags Ballet, Dance, Feud, Magnate, Roils, Russian, Star, world

Politics

Biden unable to succeed in settlement with Turkey’s Erdogan over Russian S-400

Post author By
Post date June 18, 2021

Russian S-400 missile battalions participate in tactical training to counter attacks of potential sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

Vitaly Nevar | TASS via Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration was unable to work out a resolution with Turkey following Ankara’s defiant purchase of a Russian weapons system, which the NATO alliance views as a security risk.

National security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday on a call that President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the 2017 multibillion-dollar weapons deal with Russia this week at NATO’s headquarters.

In December, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Turkey, a NATO member, for buying the S-400 missile system in a confrontation not typically seen within the alliance.

“On the S-400, they discussed it. There was not a resolution of the issue. There was a commitment to continue the dialogue on the S-400,” Sullivan said, adding the Biden administration would have more to say on the matter after Washington and Ankara hold additional talks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and US President Joe Biden (R) hold a meeting at the NATO summit at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels, on June 14, 2021.

Murat Cetinmuhurdar | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

During a NATO news conference, Erdogan said he had not changed his position on the S-400 despite having a “sincere” meeting with Biden.

Biden also said the meeting with Erdogan was productive, adding he was confident the U.S. will “make real progress with Turkey.”

Erdogan said Thursday that he told Biden to “not expect Turkey to take a different step on the F-35 and S-400 issues,” according to a report from Turkey’s state media.

“We must monitor developments closely. We will be following up on all our rights,” he said. “In the next period, our foreign ministers, defense ministers and defense industry chairs will be moving this process forward by meeting with their counterparts,” Erdogan added.

In multiple efforts to deter Turkey from buying Russia’s S-400 missile system, the State Department offered in 2013 and 2017 to sell the country Raytheon’s Patriot missile system. Ankara passed on the Patriot both times because the U.S. declined to provide a transfer of the system’s sensitive missile technology.

A F-35 fighter jet is seen as Turkey takes delivery of its first F-35 fighter jet with a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin in Forth Worth, Texas, United States on June 21, 2018.

Atilgan Ozdil | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act any foreign government working with the Russian defense sector will find itself in the crosshairs of U.S. economic sanctions.

Despite warnings from the United States and other NATO allies, Turkey accepted the first of four S-400 missile batteries from the Kremlin in July 2019.

A week later, the U.S. cut Turkey, a financial and manufacturing partner, from the F-35 program.

Due to Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program, U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin offered the jets originally slated to join Ankara’s arsenal to other customers.

Correction: Erdogan said Thursday that he told Biden to “not expect Turkey to take a different step on the F-35 and S-400 issues,” according to a report from Turkey’s state media. An earlier version misstated the day.

Tags agreement, Biden, Erdogan, Reach, Russian, S400, Turkeys, unable

Business

Sanctions on Russian Debt Are Known as a ‘First Salvo’ That Sends a Message

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Post date April 16, 2021

Sanctions on Russian Debt Are Called a ‘First Salvo’ That Sends a Message

Biden’s administration on Thursday prevented American banks from buying newly issued Russian government bonds, signaling the use of a key weapon in Washington’s intensified conflict with Moscow and threatening Russia’s access to international finance.

The debt limit was part of new measures against Russia, primarily including sanctions against dozens of companies and individuals, as well as the expulsion of 10 diplomats from the Russian embassy in Washington. The moves are aimed at taking advantage of the weak Russian economy to pressure Moscow to ease its campaign to disrupt US political life and threaten Ukraine. The restrictions on debt purchases that apply to bonds issued by the Russian government after June 14 could increase the cost of borrowing in the Russian economy and limit investment and economic growth.

This threat remains tiny for the time being. According to the Russian Central Bank, Russian public debt held outside the country is around $ 41 billion – a relative amount in the world economy. By comparison, the US Treasury Department spent a total of US $ 274 billion in national debt in the first three months of this year alone.

The Russian government sells most of its debt domestically and finances much of its operations by selling energy. According to Oxford Economics in London, American investors hold only 7 percent of Russia’s ruble-denominated national debt.

As a symbolic step, experts say, the measures outlined by the Biden government signal its willingness to take a step-by-step approach that could lead to tougher measures, such as tightening Russia’s access to capital markets if Moscow does not moderate its activities.

“This step may not and should not be considered the final step in the process,” said Adnan Mazarei, a former International Monetary Fund official and now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “The day of arbitrary sanctions policy may be over. It will be a process that is much more subject to calibration. “

By marginally threatening Russia’s access to global markets, the Biden administration appears to be implementing a strategy similar to the United States’ strategy of isolating Iran. Successive American governments have attempted to pressure Iran to forego nuclear capacity development and to withdraw from supporting the Middle East insurgents by curtailing their links to the global financial system.

In business today

Updated

April 15, 2021, 6:56 p.m. ET

But Russia would be a far more difficult isolating power.

The United States and its allies in Europe are generally aligned in their objectives with Iran, although European business interests seek access to the potentially huge Iranian market. In contrast, Russia is an important supplier of energy to all of Western Europe. Russia is on the doorstep of the region and allows the European heads of state and government – especially Germany – to reject major conflicts.

Restricting Russia’s access to international bond markets amounts to “nibbling on the edges,” said Simon Miles, a Russia expert at Duke University. A major hit would threaten the Russian natural gas market in Western Europe.

Previous sanctions have denied Russia access to certain types of food and technology. The latest package targets Russia’s basic economic health as a pressure point.

“The signs are that the Biden government wants to make it hurt a little more,” said James Nixey, director of the Russia-Eurasia program at Chatham House, a research facility in London. “This is just a first volley.”

The United States ultimately separated Iran from the global financial system, which Washington could do since the American dollar is the world’s reserve currency, the medium of exchange for transactions around the world. Every bank around the world doing business for Iran risked being cut off from the international payments network and denied access to dollars.

Russia has very limited borrowing from abroad as it has greatly reduced its deficits following the sanctions imposed following the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

“We have seen a period of austerity and austerity since that sanctions shock,” said Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, a trade association that represents international banks. “You have prepared.”

Thursday’s Russian Debt Ordinance only applies to American financial institutions, but it could prompt multinational corporations outside the U.S. to recalculate the risks of transactions with the Russian government.

“It’ll get you noticed if you want,” said Mr. Nixey. “Every company that plays a significant role in Russia listens to this very, very carefully, wondering if it’s a good idea, if it’s a good idea in terms of reputation or political risk, if it’s theirs Business of the same volume as it is supposed to continue. “

Andrew E. Kramer contributed to reporting from Moscow.

Tags Called, Debt, Message, Russian, Salvo, Sanctions, Sends

Health

Germany well being minister requires lockdown, considers Russian vaccine

Post author By
Post date April 11, 2021

Coronavirus anniversary: Europe's slow vaccine rollout

On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, a health care worker will take care of a Covid 19 patient in the intensive care unit of the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart. Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Germany would face tough lockdown measures until the end of March if the authorities do not contain a rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

LONDON – Germany got one step closer to the nationwide lockdown on Friday when Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to standardize the restrictions across the various states.

“The Infection Protection Act is being changed to give the state the necessary power,” said a government spokesman in Berlin on Friday.

The law update is expected to be approved by lawmakers next week, and a lockdown could be imposed shortly thereafter.

Earlier on Friday, German health officials said they were concerned about the rising coronavirus infections in the country and said a nationwide lockdown was needed to end the ongoing third wave.

Germany has faced high rates of Covid infection since last October, and despite an improvement in February, the number of new cases has increased since the end of March.

“Many citizens recognize the need to break this wave with additional measures, and the majority are in favor of stricter rules. A lockdown is needed to break the current wave,” said German Health Minister Jens Spahn at a press conference on Friday.

This third wave of the coronavirus is putting pressure on the country’s health system at a time when regional and federal governments are arguing over what to do.

“The number of intensive care patients is increasing far too quickly. Doctors and nurses have been under constant stress for months and rightly sound the alarm,” said Spahn.

“We have to break the third wave as quickly as possible. That means: reduce contacts and reduce mobility. This is the only way to prevent further increases.”

The country reported over 30,000 new Covid cases on Wednesday and around 26,000 on Thursday.

German officials disagreed on the right approach to dealing with emerging cases, while citizens were frustrated with the different regimes between different regions.

Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told CNBC earlier this week: “If we could come to similar measures in all locations, this would help a lot and make it more understandable.”

The German health authorities are pushing for an increase in vaccinations in the country, which has already paid off. On Thursday, the daily vaccination count approached 720,000 compared to around 317,000 a week ago, according to the Ministry of Health.

“I think we’re going to a situation where by the end of this month it will be 4 to 5 million doses a week,” Scholz told CNBC.

Sputnik V.

At the press conference on Friday, the Minister of Health confirmed that, according to Reuters, contract negotiations are currently taking place for the purchase of the Sputnik V vaccine developed in Russia. Spahn added that there is still a question mark over whether these vaccines would be available in the coming months.

The European Medicines Agency started evaluating the Russian shot in early March and will decide whether to recommend it for use in the 27 EU member states. Although the regulator is using an urgent method to verify the effectiveness of Sputnik V, it is unclear when final approval could come.

German authorities previously announced they would consider using the Russian vaccine if the EMA concluded that the shot was effective in preventing the Covid-19 virus.

Tags calls, considers, Germany, health, Lockdown, Minister, Russian, Vaccine

Politics

U.S. involved about Russian troop actions close to Ukraine, discussing with NATO

Post author By
Post date April 9, 2021

U.S. concerned about Russian troop movements near Ukraine, discussing with NATO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits positions of armed forces near the front with Russian-backed separatists during his working tour in the Donbass region of Ukraine on April 8, 2021.

Press service of the Ukrainian President | Handout | via Reuters

WASHINGTON – The Biden government announced Thursday that it had held talks with NATO allies about escalating tensions in Ukraine as Russia increased its military presence near the country’s border.

“Russia now has more troops on the border with Ukraine than ever since 2014, with five Ukrainian soldiers killed this week alone,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said during a briefing, describing the matter as “deeply worrying”.

“The United States is increasingly concerned about the recent escalating Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, including Russian troop movements on the Ukrainian border,” she said, adding that the Biden administration is working with NATO allies about heightened tensions and ceasefire violations have advised.

Psaki’s comments follow a controversial phone call between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which she called for Moscow to reduce its troop levels in the region near eastern Ukraine.

“The Chancellor called for this structure to be resolved in order to de-escalate the situation,” wrote the federal government in a reading of the appeal between the two leaders.

In recent weeks, Russia has increased its military presence along the Ukrainian border, raising concerns in the West about a burgeoning military conflict between the two neighboring countries. The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that it will conduct more than 4,000 military exercises this month to review the readiness of its armed forces.

“Russia’s armed forces are located on Russian territory in the places it deems necessary and appropriate, and they will remain there as long as our military leadership and our Commander-in-Chief deem it appropriate,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked was how long Russian forces would stay near Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Continue reading: The West is waiting for Putin’s next move as tensions between Russia and Ukraine mount

Last month, the Ukrainian government said four of its soldiers were killed by Russian shelling in Donbass. Moscow has denied that it has armed forces in eastern Ukraine. Kiev is fighting against Russian-backed separatists in a conflict that, according to the United Nations, has killed at least 13,000 people since 2014.

The Kremlin has said it is concerned about mounting tensions in eastern Ukraine and fears that the Kiev armed forces will attempt to resume conflict.

“It is not very clear what the Russians are doing there. We want to understand better, and this uncertainty obviously does not contribute to a more stable and safer situation,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.

“As I said, the full intentions are not 100% clear and we would like to understand more about what the Russians are doing there and what they are up to there, but it is not beneficial, this build-up and a fairly rapid build-up is not conducive to more stability” added Kirby.

The build-up of Russian troops has led to repeated calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to speed up his nation’s admission to the NATO alliance. Speaking to Zelenskiy last week, President Joe Biden expressed US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty “in the face of ongoing Russian aggression”.

When asked about Ukraine’s possible accession to the alliance, the Pentagon, State Department and White House reiterated that all eligible countries should meet NATO standard for membership.

“We are committed to ensuring that prospective countries wishing to join NATO meet the organization’s standard for membership,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said when asked about Ukraine’s status.

“To this end, we continue to urge the Ukrainian government to carry out the deep, comprehensive and timely reforms necessary to build a more stable, democratic, prosperous and free country,” he added.

Tags Concerned, discussing, movements, NATO, Russian, Troop, Ukraine

Politics

After Russian Cyberattack, In search of Solutions and Debating Retaliation

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Post date February 24, 2021

After Russian Cyberattack, Looking for Answers and Debating Retaliation

Testimony at the hearing included Sudhakar Ramakrishna, the new CEO of SolarWinds, who took over weeks after the breach was discovered and has since withdrawn from the intruder. He informed the Senate Committee that the Code had been removed from the company’s products. However, this is of little use to government agencies and companies that have already been breached, as the hackers can roam free once they are on their target computer networks.

Mr Ramakrishna also said that SolarWinds is still unclear how the Russian hackers got into the software they developed and embedded themselves there as early as fall 2019. When asked about the possibility of JetBrains making software tools, which will speed development and testing, Mr. Ramakrishna said there is still no evidence. The New York Times reported in January that an investigation was underway against JetBrains, but the company’s officers, some of whom are Russian, said there was no evidence.

Mr Smith, who has called for a “Geneva Digital Convention” that would create standards that preclude some types of attack, estimated that “at least a thousand very skilled, capable engineers” were involved in the hacking.

“This was an act of ruthlessness in my opinion,” he said, as it infected thousands of systems that the Russians had no interest in giving them access to only a few. “It was done in a very indiscriminate way.”

Mr Warner, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, the senior Republican on the committee, and others repeatedly stated that Amazon – which runs the CIA’s network cloud services and seeks other major federal contracts – was the only company that refused to join Sending senior executives to explain his role in hacking. Amazon has not publicly said anything about what it knew about the command and control operation performed by its servers in the United States.

This is a critical problem as the hackers seem to have understood that American intelligence agencies are prohibited from investigating network activity in the United States. By initiating the attack within American borders, they took advantage of domestic privacy to avoid being detected.

Several senators said they were concerned that once such a technique was known, it would be widely used by others. “The basic question is how we missed that and what are still missing.” Mr Rubio said.

Tags Answers, Cyberattack, Debating, Retaliation, Russian

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