Kremlin cronies face more sanctions while furious Putin fires eight generals: ‘Clusterf**k’ invasion not going well’ March 15, 2022 More family members of Russian oligarchs can expect to be targeted with sanctions, a UK official said this afternoon. The official, asked about the potential to sanction family members of Russian elites, said: “Yes, there is actually quite a wide range, out of the 370, who are family members. “There is a number of members, [...]
Angry activists storm villa of Putin’s youngest daughter, plant Ukrainian flag and plan to house refugees March 14, 2022 French activists in the city of Biarritz, in the south of the country, have taken over the luxury villa of the daughter of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, Catherine Tikhonova. The mansion, locally known as the Alta Mira villa, was seized by local activists on Sunday evening and will be made available for a number of [...]
Isolated Kremlin in overdrive as Russia pounds Kyiv while Putin arrests own security chiefs and begs China for new weapons March 14, 2022 Russia’s military forces have kept up their punishing campaign to capture Ukraine’s capital with fighting and artillery fire in Kyiv’s suburbs. It comes after an air strike on a military base near the Polish border brought the war close to Nato’s doorstep overnight. It raised the possibility that the alliance could be drawn into the [...]
Russian economy to lose nearly third of its value March 14, 2022 Russia’s economy will be plunged into turmoil this year as a result of the country being frozen out of the global economy in retaliation to Moscow invading Ukraine. The country’s output will tumble around 30 per cent this year, far worse than the amount it lost during the financial crisis, according to forecasts by the [...]
Oligarchs’ London mansions are ‘gold bricks to launder money’ says Sadiq Khan as Mayor labels UK refugee response ’embarrassing’ March 14, 2022 London Mayor Sadiq Khan described properties owned by Russian oligarchs in London as “gold bricks used to launder money”. Repeating his call for some to be used to house refugees from Ukraine, he said it would be a form of “poetic justice”. He told Times Radio: “I, for some time, with others, have been complaining [...]
Chaos at the Kremlin: Isolated Putin detains senior FSB security chiefs while third Russian general is killed in Ukraine March 13, 2022 Two senior officers in the Russian security service, the FSB, have been put under house arrest by President Vladimir Putin, according to a report this weekend. Andrei Soldatov, of the investigative website Agentura, reported that Sergei Beseda, the head of the Fifth Service – the FSB’s foreign intelligence branch – and his deputy have been [...]
Putin’s girlfriend Alina and their four children go into hiding in luxury chalet in Switzerland March 11, 2022 The long-term girlfriend of Russian president Vladimir Putin - Alina Kabaeva - has reportedly gone into hiding in Switzerland, together with the couple's four young children.
Russia’s ‘most favoured nation’ trade status to be revoked by US and EU today March 11, 2022 US President Joe Biden is expected to announce today that, along with the European Union and the Group of Seven countries, the US will move to revoke “most favoured nation” trade status for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. That is according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of [...]
Boris Johnson to ask Brits to open their homes to some of the 2.2m Ukrainians fleeing Russian invasion March 11, 2022 The British public will be asked by the government to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the fighting in their country amid continuing criticism of its response to the refugee crisis. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will set out on Monday details of a new “sponsored” humanitarian route to allow Ukrainians without family links to [...]
Ukraine war backfires as Russia’s economy is expected to take dramatic 10 per cent hit this year March 10, 2022 Analysts this morning revised their economic forecast for Russia in light of international sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine. Experts at the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) said they expect economic activity to be severely disrupted with both domestic demand and the external sector taking a hit. “While the full impact of international sanctions and [...]