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Russia's proposed tax hikes for companies and the wealthy, which may add an extra $30 billion to next year's budget revenues, will allow Moscow to further ratchet up spending, including on its war in Ukraine, without compromising fiscal stability. The finance ministry insists the tax hikes, proposed on Tuesday, are fair and target Russia's wealthiest. It says tax changes should solve national problems, reduce inequality and help develop Russia's regions. The changes will cover President Vladimir Putin's more than 11.5 trillion roubles ($128 billion) in infrastructure and social spending pledges for his new six-year term, analysts say, without requiring a...

Ukraine has launched another stunning strike against Putin's army on the peninsula, inflicting crippling damage to the Kremlin's war machine. Vladimir Putin suffered a major setback after Ukraine launched more devastating attacks in the Crimea region. Ukraine has intensified its attacks on the peninsula and its immediate surrounding regions in the last few days. On Thursday, Ukrainian maritime drones destroyed seven Russian ships in a daring and spectacular attack. Kyiv's army bosses have now followed that up with another stunning strike that inflicted crippling damage on Putin's war machine in the region. Overnight, Ukraine fired US-supplied ATACM missiles at the...

INCREDIBLE footage shows Ukraine's sea drones nip out of the way of Russian fire during an overnight blitz in occupied Crimea. Meanwhile Kyiv's forces launched missiles towards Vlad's beloved Kerch Bridge - reportedly sparking some 20 explosions and damaging two ships. Dramatic video shows the drones flying over water in Uzkaya Bay, western Crimea. Kyiv's forces dodge the Russian barrage of explosions raining down around them. The Magura V5 marine drones managed to hit two Russian high speed KS-701 Tunets [Tuna] vessels - despite the onslaught. The Tuna boats are used by Russian forces for patrolling as well as transport...

Russia’s finance ministry on Tuesday proposed introducing extra progressive income tax rates for those earning more than 2.4 million roubles ($27,100) annually, as well as raising the mineral extraction tax for fertiliser and iron ore producers. -snip- The proposed tax amendments also include an increase in taxes for fertiliser and iron ore producers. The mineral extraction tax for iron ore producers would increase by 1.15 times, for potash producers by 2.3 times and it would double for phosphorus fertiliser producers.

Russia has announced plans to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy as it scrambles for additional revenue to fund its invasion of Ukraine. -snip- “The changes are aimed at building a fair and balanced tax system,” Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said in a statement, adding that the extra funds would bolster Russia’s “economic wellbeing”. -snip- Income tax is currently 13 percent for the majority of Russians, with some higher earners paying a rate of 15 percent. The Finance Ministry said under the amendments that the 15 percent rate would apply for annual incomes between 2.4 and 5 million...

The Belgian prosecutor says the employee played a 'significant role' in a suspected Russian propaganda operation which infiltrated the European Parliament. Brussels and French police carried out a series of simultaneous raids at European Parliament offices in Brussels and Strasbourg as well as at the home of a parliamentary staffer in the Belgian neighbourhood of Schaerbeek on Wednesday morning. Dutch EU lawmaker Marcel de Graaff confirmed on social media platform X that the staffer in question was his parliamentary assistant, Guillaume Pradoura, but distanced himself from the accusations. "I have no involvement whatsoever in any so-called Russian disinformation operation. I...

A Ukrainian missile attack triggered a fire on Monday in the Russian-held northeastern city of Luhansk, the latest in a series of strikes near the city, the regional Russia-installed governor said. Leonid Pasechnik, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the strike was made with cluster munitions. "A fire has broken out as a result of the attack," Pasechnik said. Pasechnik said information on casualties was being clarified. Russia's Tass news agency, quoting emergency services, said there had been injuries. There was no official Ukrainian comment. Ukrainian media and war bloggers posted a picture of what they described as a...

Transcript available. Lots of footage, Russian sub-titled. Shows how Russia is now that the elections are over. No reading of comments from viewer. This is all narrating of Konstantin and footage illustrating. Basically a sh!t show.

After a recent summit between new partners China and Russia, General Secretary Xi Jinping and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin issued an odd one-sentence communique: “There can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be fought.”No one would disagree, even though several officials of both hypocritical governments have previously threatened their neighbors with nuclear attacks.But still, why did the two feel the need to issue such a terse statement — and why now?Rarely has the global rhetoric of mass annihilation reached such a crescendo as the present, as existential wars rage in Ukraine and Gaza.In particular,...

The last few weeks have arguably been a period of change for the war in Ukraine, both on and off the battlefield. In Moscow, long serving Defence Minister Shoigu has been removed from that post, while a number of Russian Generals and senior figures have been arrested or otherwise removed. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Russia has escalated the previously quiet Kharkiv front, edging slightly closer to Ukraine's second city. In this episode, I want to unpack some of the current political and economic context and ask what may be next for a Russia war effort that is now 'under new management'

The UK Ministry of Defence released a warning regarding the potential of anymore arrests coming soonVLADIMIR Putin is set to cause a sweeping storm within Russia by arresting dozens of military top brass, say sources close to the Kremlin. The despot is believed to be looking to pin his own failures to defeat Ukraine on a number of men as he looks to unleash his brutal Federal Security Service (FSB) agents to hunt them down. Five military officers have already been detained in recent weeks under Putin's watch. But sources close to the Kremlin and the Defense Ministry have sensationally...

Vladimir Solovyov, media personality and ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, recently suggested that Moscow launch a missile strike at the torch of the Statue of Liberty in New York City. Amid Moscow's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Putin launched in February 2022, Solovyov has been a source of Russian propaganda. He has talked about Russia expanding its war, claiming that the country owns Ukraine and even parts of Europe like Poland and Finland.

A PARANOID and sickly Vladimir Putin is kept under surveillance by four doctors at all times, claim shocking leaked documents. The tyrant has been plagued with rumours over his dwindling health for the past year with new bombshell revelations alleging he has 111 security guards on duty at his palace. A secret document has lifted the lid on Putin's biggest concerns - with his health and security seemingly at the forefront for the brutal despot. Putin's nonstop safety blanket has been revealed, according to Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, who have close ties to law enforcement in the country. The stunning...

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared tired and rundown during a recent press conference during which he said he was open to negotiating a ceasefire with Ukraine. Putin was joined on Friday by his closest ally in Europe, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, for a press conference in which the pair discussed the ongoing war against Kyiv, domestic nuclear drills and their continued cooperation. The Russian President who is turning 72 in October, looked worn down during the event, although no report of ill health has emerged in recent weeks. The health condition of Putin has been the subject of speculation and...

In mid-2022, Gazprom restricted gas flows to Europe in what was seen as a move by Putin to get both leverage against Kyiv's allies ahead of the winter season and retaliate against Western sanctions and support of Ukraine. But the EU managed to find alternative long-term sources of gas imports and free itself from most Russian piped-gas imports ... Gazprom's revenue fell by 41 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2023, while sales profits dropped 71 percent and gas production by 25 percent... The report said the company's upstream gas-production base is now isolated because infrastructure connecting its main...

PUTIN’S newest and only remaining missile cruiser in the Black Sea was destroyed by Ukraine forces in a huge blow to his naval forces. The “Zyklon” was destroyed alongside the 266-M minesweeper, Kovrovets, in a devastating strike at the weekend. The Zyklon is the 26th to be sunk by Ukraine and was blown up by US-supplied ATACMS missiles killing six people and injuring 11, sources said. It comes after Russia retreated its naval headquarters from the occupied Crimean Peninsula to Krasnodor. The Zyklon, which was launched into service in July last year, was a Karakut-class missile ship armed with various...

Vladimir Putin looked off-colour at a conference with Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko today as the pair met to discuss the war in Ukraine. The Russian president, 71, posed for cameras to shake hands with his counterpart in Minsk but appeared frail as he talked through developments in the conflict across the southern border. -snips- Putin appeared at a press conference after the meeting looking tired and rundown as Ukraine claimed minor successes in pushing back his shock advances in the Kharkiv region. Much speculation has been made around the health of Putin, who was sworn in for his fifth term...

A Russian army general who was blamed for a costly HIMARS strike on troops in occupied Ukraine last year has been removed from his post, according to pro-war Russian Telegram channels. Lieutenant General Sukhrab Akhmedov was dismissed as commander of the Russian 20th Combined Arms Army (CAA), per reports from prominent Russian milbloggers. The formation is currently engaged in Russia's grinding offensive towards the eastern city of Lyman on the Donetsk front. -snip- Akhmedov has been involved in multiple battlefield setbacks since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, including the 20th CAA's recent inability to make significant progress on...

Ten separate locations across Crimea were reportedly hit, including a key radar and air defence facility. Ukraine staged a massive missile attack on Putin-occupied Crimea overnight, striking a key radar and air defence facility of the Russian army ‘where high-ranking officers were present’. Explosions were reportedly heard at ten separate locations around the peninsula amid long-range ATACMS attacks in one of the heaviest bombardments of the war. Russia also claimed to have destroyed attacking marine drones off the Crimean coast. Ambulances were reported rushing to Semidvorye, near Alushta where at least six ATACMS ballistic missiles reportedly hit a key communications...

The leader of Russia's Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said early on Thursday he had met President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin and offered to send more fighters to help Moscow in its more than two-year-old conflict in Ukraine. Kadyrov, who has led his South Caucasus region as a Kremlin loyalist since 2007, posted a photo of himself with Putin and said he had discussed the region's economic problems and prospects and invited the president to visit. He said tens of thousands of "well trained and equipped fighters from the reserves" were prepared to fight for Russia in Ukraine if such...