🇧🇻 🇺🇦 The #Norwegian defense and aerospace company, #Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace, secured a major contract with the International Fund for #Ukraine for the delivery of advanced Unmanned Aerial Countermeasures Systems (C-UAS) to the #Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The systems, valued at 65 million euros, are designed to counter a wide range of drone threats and will be a crucial addition to Ukraine's defense capabilities.
#ukrainecounteroffensive #russiaukrainewar
🇺🇲 🇺🇦 The U.S. has announced a $200 million military aid package for #Ukraine, including munitions for Patriot air defense systems and HIMARS, as well as other support, the #Pentagon said on Aug. 14.
#usa #russiaukrainewar
🇷🇺 Maxim is a former #Russian conscript who was mobilised to fight in #Ukraine in the autumn of 2022. He managed to flee to #Armenia, and is now facing up to 10 years behind bars in #Russia
Novaya Gazeta Europe spoke to the deserter about his life, war, and escape from Russia.
https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2023/08/14/i-was-never-into-politics-en
#russianarmy #russiaukrainewar
🇷🇺 #Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin recently bragged about the relocation of 50,000 residents from slums in the first half of 2023.
He failed to mention that over 1.6 million #Russians were in line for emergency housing assistance as of last December.
https://theins.press/en/news/264248
#russia
🇷🇺 Convoy, the private military company created by the Kremlin-appointed head of #Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, is financed in part by Russia’s VTB Bank and by a company owned by businessman Arkady Rotenberg, according to a new investigation from Dossier Center. The mercenary group reportedly has received more than 300 million rubles ($4.8 million) from these sources.
#russia #ukraine
🇷🇺 Russia’s Transport Ministry has proposed lifting the requirement that transport information be provided in English, citing the “information burden” on passengers. Kazan’s Metro says it will scrap English, N. Novgorod says it won’t, and Moscow already did.
#russia
🚢 The Caspian Sea Is a Sanctions-Busting Paradise
🇷🇺 🇮🇷 Ghost voyages and dark port calls by #Russian and #Iranian vessels are enabling both countries to circumvent Western #sanctions and thrive in a shadow economy.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/14/russia-iran-caspian-sea-sanctions-busting-paradise/
#russia #iran #caspiansea
🇦🇲 🇺🇦 Ukraine’s acting ambassador to #Armenia has died while serving in the country, Kyiv’s foreign ministry confirmed Monday.
#ukraine
🇺🇦 One of Ukraine’s few home-grown investment #banks is considering making a bid for a nationalized lender should the government put the company up for sale after seizing it from a group of businessmen led by billionaire Mikhail Fridman.
#ukraine #russia #banking
🇲🇩 🇷🇺 Twenty-two #Russian diplomats flew out of the #Moldovan capital of #Chisinau on Monday, leaving behind a skeleton staff as relations between the two countries deteriorate.
#moldova #russia
🇷🇺 Russia's central bank will hold an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday to discuss the level of its key interest rate, it said on Monday, as the sharply weakening #rouble prompted calls for higher borrowing costs.
#russia #currency #economy
⚡🇬🇧🇷🇺 RAF Typhoon jets have intercepted #Russian bombers flying north of #Scotland, the UK government has said.
Typhoon fighters were launched to intercept two Russian long-range maritime patrol bombers as they transited near the Shetland Islands within NATO's northern air policing area, the government added.
#britain #unitedkingdom #nato #russia
🇨🇳 🇷🇺 China's relationship with #Russia has deepened in recent years.
Both countries share a similar aim in challenging what they see as the West's dominance in global affairs.
The dynamic between Beijing and Moscow is more nuanced than it appears on the surface, however, with neither side wanting the other to become too powerful in the relationship.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/14/how-does-china-see-russia-and-the-relationship-they-have.html
#china
🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Russia's fighter planes are malfunctioning because of overuse, handing #Ukraine a potential advantage in its air battles against the #Russian air force, an expert said.
In an article for Defense News, Michael Bohnert, an engineering expert at the Rand Corporation think tank, said that Russia's warplanes are running out of "aircraft life".
#russia #russiaukrainewar #russianarmy
🇷🇺 🇧🇻 #Russia said Monday it dispatched a MiG-29 fighter jet to "prevent a violation" of its border by a P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft of the #Norwegian air force over the #Barents Sea.
#norway #barentssea
🇷🇴 🇺🇦 #Romania aims to double the monthly transit capacity of #Ukrainian grain to its flagship Black Sea port of Constanta to 4 million tonnes in the coming months, particularly via the #Danube river, Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said.
#ukraine #blacksea #foodsecurity
🇷🇺 🇺🇦 #Russian shelling in the #Ukrainian town of Kozacha Lopan in the #Kharkiv region on Monday killed a 50-year-old man, according to officials.
#ukraine #russia #russiaukrainewar #RussianWarCrimes
🇷🇸 🇷🇺 #Serbia has refused to participate in all rounds of EU #sanctions against Putin. And Serbia has continued to pursue its own interests in the region with diminishing accountability, stirring conflicts abroad to distract from discontent at home, safe in the knowledge they will not be rebuked in the West.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/14/europe/serbia-vucic-kosovo-balkans-west-intl-cmd/index.html
#russia #russiaukrainewar #europe
🇷🇺 Russia's seaborne #oil product exports in July rose by 3.8% month on month to 10.533 million metric tons as seasonal refinery maintenance slowed down, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.
#russia #energy #oilandgas
🇺🇦 🇷🇺 The #Ukrainian military on Monday said it had pushed #Russian forces out of pockets of territory along front lines in the east and south of the country, building on a gruelling #counteroffensive launched two months ago.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230814-ukraine-says-ousted-russian-forces-near-bakhmut-south
#ukraine #ukrainecounteroffensive #russia #russiaukrainewar