Page 73 - Cisc News Today

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that gives people living in parts of Ukraine under Moscow's control a path to Russian citizenship, but means those who decline or who do not legalise their status could be deported.

Russian Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, who was sanctioned by the West and dubbed the "Butcher of Mariupol" for his role in the Ukraine war, has been removed as deputy defence minister, according to a military blogger and a leading news website.

Russia's foreign ministry on Friday criticised a nuclear agreement between the United States and South Korea, saying it would destabilise the region and the wider world, and warned of a potential arms race as a result.

The Kremlin on Friday played down the idea that Russia might be preparing to carry out a nuclear weapons test, saying all nuclear states were abiding by a moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons.

Russia this week took control of the Russian assets of Finland's Fortum and Germany's Uniper , which both operate power plants in Russia, and warned it could seize more.

Russia's private Wagner militia, which is leading the assault on Bakhmut in Ukraine and has been active in Africa, could soon cease to exist, founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in video remarks to a blogger that were released on Friday.

Hungarian oil group MOL expects to be able to choose between Russian or non-Russian crude for its refineries by 2026, its Chairman and Chief Executive Zsolt Hernadi told Reuters, by implementing substantial investments.

The U.S. Trade Representative's office added Belarus to an intellectual property rights watch list over a new law allowing the unauthorized use of copyrighted works from countries sanctioning Belarus for its support of Russia's war in Ukraine.

A U.S. Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified military documents has a history of making violent threats, used his government computer to research mass shootings, and tried to destroy evidence of his crimes, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Russian forces pounded the city of Bakhmut, the months-old focal point of their attempts to capture the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas, and the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary force said Ukrainian troops were pouring in ahead of an "inevitable" counter-offensive.