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Tag: Russian

  • Russian secret service detains U.S. ex-consulate worker in Vladivostok

    Russian secret service detains U.S. ex-consulate worker in Vladivostok

    Russian secret service FSB has arrested a former employee of the U.S. consulate in Vladivostok on espionage charges.

    The man, a Russian citizen, collected information on the course of the special military operation in Ukraine on behalf of the U.S. embassy.

    The FSB said on Monday that, using the Kremlin’s term for the Russian invasion of its neighbour.

    The man was also accused of having passed on information about mobilisation processes and about the potential for protests ahead of the Russian presidential elections.

    He is said to have given this information to the embassy’s political department in return for payment.

    The FSB said two U.S. diplomats would be interrogated in connection with the case.

    If convicted of collaborating with foreign powers to harm national security, the suspect would face up to eight years in prison.

    Read Also: New twist in Niger crisis as Russian mercenaries arrive

    The incident threatened to further strain the already tense relationship between Russia and the U.S. amid the ongoing war.

    Moscow has made similar arrests in the past, aiming to later exchange the detainees for Russian citizens held by the U.S.

    Earlier this year, the Russian intelligence service arrested U.S. correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who works for the Wall Street Journal, on espionage charges.

    Gershkovich and the newspaper denied the accusations.

    The journalist has been held in custody since the end of March.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • New twist in Niger crisis as Russian mercenaries arrive

    New twist in Niger crisis as Russian mercenaries arrive

    Wagner group in Mali with arms, ammunition

    Abdulsalami raises dialogue hopes, briefs Tinubu

    The arrival of Russian mercenary group Wagner in Mali with soldiers, arms and ammunition, has introduced a new twist into the crisis over the military coup in Niger Republic. 

    The Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, a few days after appearing in a video at a time he was believed to be in Congo, showed up in Mali, dressed in military fatigue.

    He claimed that the arrival of its team in Mali is to assist the Mali military government to dislodge terrorists and “any other interest”, according to a report monitor on Al-Jazeera.

    Mali and Burkina Faso, also ruled by military junta, have both declared their backing for the Niger coupists.

    They have faulted the sanctions slammed on Niger by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) following the military take-over.

    They pledged to join Niger in resisting any form of force that might be used against the Niger junta. 

    To give vent to their pledge, they have reportedly moved troops to Niamey as a backup to the Niger military.

    Read Also: Niger coup and cost of cross border trade paralysis

    ECOWAS has rejected the three-year transition plan hinted by Niger coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani, reaffirming the possibility of use of force should dialogue fail.

    The junta has also insisted that it would not respect ECOWAS position.

    The Wagner presence in Mali, which shares a long border with Niger is believed  to be part of giving support in Niger.

    The coup leaders had requested support from Wagner, and Prigozhin said his men were ready to provide it.

    A former Russian official claimed Wagner and the Russian state conspired to facilitate the military coup in Niger.

    “The recent coup in Niger was carried out in close cooperation with Russian special services and Private Military Company (PMC) consultants,” claimed Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk, a former press officer for Russia’s defence ministry, who uses the alias “Rybar”.

    The junta took power last month, overthrowing the government of President Mohamed Bazoum and keeping him under house arrest at the Presidential Palace in Niamey.

    But, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai joined the push-back against use of force on the junta.

    He said there is still hope for a peaceful resolution of the crisis though.

    ECOWAS Envoy to Niger Republic, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, said the situation is not likely to deteriorate.

    Gen. Abdulsalami, a former Head of State, spoke with reporters at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS.

    Also at the meeting were President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

    Gen. Abdulsalami, who had last weekend met with Bazoum and the junta leaders, said he delivered the peace terms proposed by the junta to ECOWAS.

    According to him, correspondences were being exchanged between the West African regional bloc and the Niger military rulers.

    He noted that the line of communication opened through his appointment as envoy had been very fruitful.

    Gen. Abudulsalami said: “As you are aware, the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government have made me an envoy to Niger Republic.

    “We were there over the weekend to see the military people and discussed how to find a way out of the situation.

    “That’s why I’m here, together with the President of the ECOWAS Commission, to report back to Mr. President on our discussions in Niger.

    “I must say that our visit to Niger was very fruitful. It has opened an avenue to start talking and hopefully we’ll get somewhere.”

    The former Head of State said President Tinubu would consult with his colleagues on the way forward.

    Asked if military action can be avoided, he said: “Hopefully diplomacy will see the better of this. Nobody wants to go to war; it doesn’t pay anybody.

    “But then again, our leaders have said if all fails and I don’t think all will fail, we’ll get somewhere and we’ll get out of this mess.”

    Leaders of the AU, the 55-nation bloc, froze Niger’s membership as President Bazoum and his family remained under house arrest in the capital Niamey.

    The announcement of the move was the first public communication from the AU since it met earlier this month to discuss the situation in Niger.

    The AU council called on all member states and the international community to reject the country’s “unconstitutional change of government and to refrain from any action likely to grant legitimacy to the illegal regime in Niger.”

    AU’s latest decision was contained in a communique issued yesterday.

    It reads in part: “The AU decides, in line with the relevant AU instruments, in particular the AU Constitutive Act, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, to immediately suspend the participation of the Republic of Niger from all activities of the AU and its organs and institutions until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country.

    “The AU in this regard calls upon all member states and the international community including bilateral and multilateral partners at large to reject this unconstitutional change of government and to refrain from any action likely to grant legitimacy to the illegal regime in Niger.”

    AU also backed ECOWAS in its efforts to ensure a return to democratic rule in Niger.

    “The AU commends the efforts of ECOWAS under the leadership of H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and calls on AU member states to fully implement the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS and endorsed by the PSC (Peace and Security Council) and requests the Commission, in consultation with ECOWAS, to regularly inform the Council on the progress being made on the implementation of the imposed sanctions,” the bloc added.

    The junta is ploughing ahead with its own plans, promising to restore the country to constitutional rule within three years, a pledge West African nations rejected.

    The AU has not indicated whether it would support the use of military force.

    El-Rufai stated in a tweet that war within the sub-region would be between brothers.

    “As ECOWAS beats the drums of war, I recall the 1970s rock classic by Dire Straits – ‘Brothers in Arms’, because a war within our subregion is a war between brothers,” El-Rufai tweeted.

    Read Also: Tinubu appoints Bisoye-Coker NIMC boss

    His call to avoid military action is the latest from stakeholders in the North.

    The Northern Senators Forum (NSF) had also urged President Tinubu to exhaust all diplomatic options first.

    The forum warned that deploying troops to Niger would hurt seven northern states — Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno — who share borders with the landlocked West African nation.

  • UEFA bans Rubin Kazan from European competition

    The Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA ), on Thursday said that the Russian club Rubin Kazan has been banned from European competition for one season.

    The ban is for breaching restrictions placed on the club under break-even rules known as financial fair play.

    The European soccer body said in a statement that the ban would come into effect if the clubs qualify for Europe in the next two seasons.

    “The club is excluded from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next two (2) seasons,” UEFA said.

    Read Also: UEFA set to review 53 year old away goals rule

    It said that the decision was made “due to breach of the Settlement Agreement” but did not give any further details.

    UEFA introduced its financial fair play rules in an attempt to prevent rich owners from trying to buy success by pumping unlimited funds into clubs.

    Under the rules, clubs are barred from spending more than their generated revenue.

    Clubs who break the rules generally reach so-called settlement agreements with UEFA, where they accept restrictions on transfers and squad size for a given number of seasons.

    The club did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

  • Healthcare for immigrants in 30 languages

    A pioneering program featuring cultural mediators and interpreters at Madrid’s Ramón y Cajal Hospital provides assistance to over 5,700 migrants and trains another 10,000 in TB and sex education.

    In many African countries, almost nothing related to healthcare is free.

    That’s why an offer of free medical tests and treatment upon an immigrant’s arrival in Spain can be met with skepticism.

    Recipients might wonder: will my fluids end up on the black market? Why do they need so much blood?

    When a doctor and a patient speak different languages, everything from explaining the reason for a pain to discrediting blood-trafficking rumors is a challenge.

    Salud Entre Culturas is a pioneering healthcare program that was born in 2006 within the Tropical Diseases unit of the Madrid-based Ramón y Cajal Hospital.

    Its mission is to provide healthcare to people who don’t speak Spanish, and who have limited English and French skills.

    These are mainly sub-Saharan young men, but the program is open to all nationalities. The focus is on breaking the language barrier while getting past cultural differences.

    “Many do not know what hepatitis is. You talk about malaria and some think it spreads by water, or that AIDS doesn’t exist.

    Explaining dormant tuberculosis, diagnosing a chronic disease or telling them they need blood tests every six months is a hurdle,” says director Rogelio López-Vélez, MD.

    López-Vélez leads a team of five regular professionals and several assistants. Translators participate in consultations with migrants who know only certain African languages.

    In this facility, up to 30 African languages have been spoken, as well as Romanian, Russian and Arabic.

    The immigrants’ most common countries of origin include Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry, Ukraine and most recently, Syria.

    Suleiman, age 25, attended his first doctor’s appointment in Spain with two friends.

    “We were concerned about whether they would understand us and be able to come up with a diagnosis,” he says.

    “Now that we’ve been through this, we really appreciate the interpreting service. Translators are of tremendous help.

    Without them this would be extremely difficult and unreliable.” All three of them come from Guinea Conakry and say that learning Spanish is their top priority.

    The program appeared at the same time as the cayuco boat crisis, when 39,180 people landed in small “patera” boats on the coast of the Canary Islands.

    Since then, healthcare professionals have treated more than 5,700 migrants and have created specialized workshops for nearly 10,000 people, raising awareness about issues such as TB, HIV-AIDS and sex education.

    In 2017, Madrid’s Health Council made the program official, recognizing the importance of cultural mediation and interpreting services.

    Alongside López-Vélez, psychologist Anne Guionet, interpreter Bárbara Navaza and Doctor Miriam Navarro bolstered the initiative. Navarro, who no longer practices day-to-day medical care, still remembers their first steps:

    “From the very beginning, we realized the unease it caused for these people to have a heap of tests done with no one able to explain them in their own language, and all the misconceptions such a situation entailed.”

    Migrants normally come for their first medical appointments thanks to the workshops they regularly attend, organized by members of Salud Entre Culturas at NGOs, shared flats or even local bars.

    The project started with sub-Saharan Africans and progressively opened up to other nationalities. “In these meetings we run quick HIV tests and organize themed talks based on the needs of our respective organizations,” Peña says.

    The team has started analyzing the impact of these workshops. Based on data collected by Navarro, at first only 47 percent of attendees acknowledged the existence of AIDS — a figure that rose to 95 percent at the end of the workshop.

    Over the years, the project has received financing from public sources such as the National AIDS Plan and European funds, as well as from private investors and donors.

    From university and jumping the fence

    In 2008, Entre Culturas trained a group of Africans to become health and cultural mediators. This year, they were able to train four more. Serigne Fall of Senegal was part of the first group; the second one included Serge Hoys, a Cameroonian who joined in June.

    Their stories have a rather different starting point but converged in this unit. While Fall came to Spain from France, where he studied French philology, Hoys literally jumped over the fence at Melilla. They both ended up working for the organization.

    “In Cameroon, there are over 187 official dialects,” Hoys says. “Imagine what it’s like to talk to people who only speak these languages. This is not just any job; the conditions in which the sub-Saharan Africans arrive here are tough.

    Some of them have never been to a medical practice, nor have they been admitted to a hospital or had a flu shot. This is what we need to be aware of,” he stresses.

    “We’re pushing for interpreters to become part of the public health system. A doctor shouldn’t have to draw a picture for a patient.”

    Now the service’s greatest challenge is to follow up on treatments. “It’s a very unstable demographic,” López-Vélez says, “because they can only stay in foster homes in Madrid for 90 days at most…and many of them leave afterwards.

    It is important to adapt protocols.” For the time being, at least, the program has managed to remove linguistic barriers, and to convince patients that their blood is in good hands.

  • Putin inspects war games, vows to beef up army

    President Vladimir Putin on Thursday promised to strengthen the army and supply it with new generation weapons, as he traveled to watch Russia’s biggest war games since the fall of the Soviet Union.

    The Vostok-2018 (East-2018) drills taking place in eastern Siberia close to the border with China involve 300,000 Russian troops as well as joint exercises with the Chinese army.

    “This is the first time our army and fleet have undergone such a difficult and large-scale test,” Putin said in comments published on the Kremlin website.

    Read Also: Trump invites Putin to Washington

    The exercises, that involve over a thousand military aircraft as well as up to 36,000 thanks, come amid tense relations between Russia and the West that have fallen to a post-Cold War low.

    Addressing a gathering of the soldiers, Putin said Russia was a peaceful country ready for cooperation with any state interested in partnership, but that it was a soldier’s duty to be ready to defend his country and its allies.

    “Therefore we are going to further strengthen our armed forces, supply them with the latest generations of weapons and equipment, develop international military partnership,” Putin said.

  • Russian nuclear energy firm eyes Africa

    Russian nuclear giant, Rotarom is in talks with Nigeria, Zambai and South Africa   on how to develop nuclear energy.

    In a statement made available to The Nation, Zambia visited Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant (NVNPP), owned by Rosatom.

    Zambia’s Head of delegation to Russia, Patrick Matibini, said: “Power is the lifeline of the economy. Most of the power in Zambia is produced from hydro, which is dependent on the nature and the rainfall. In the last few years, unfortunately, we had very little rainfall. This has affected the amount of water in dams and the generation of the power.

    “And that’s why we are exploring different forms of energy, namely nuclear power. At the NVNPP, I was very impressed with the magnitude of the investment: the buildings, the equipment, the size of the human power, and of course, the amount of power itself – over 2400 megawatts (Mw) at the new units. In Zambia, we will go a long way in our meeting our challenges for the provision of electricity.”

    He said Zambia was building a centre where research on nuclear energy would be made.

    ‘’We (in Zambia) are planning to build a centre for the development of nuclear science and technology. The centre will provide opportunities for the development of science, agriculture, healthcare and education. We also have plans to increase our cooperation in the nuclear power industry.

    ‘’Rosatom is willing to provide maximum support to Zambian partners in large-scale projects in peaceful use of nuclear technology,” said Evgeny Pakermanov, president, Rusatom Overseas.

  • European impressed number of young voters in Russian presidential election

    The Russian presidential election had an excellent turnout, especially among young people, with many voting for the first time on March 18, Janice Atkinson, the vice president of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament, said Monday.

    On Sunday, Russia held its presidential election.

    About three-quarters of all voters backed the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin according to preliminary CEC figures.

    “What struck me was the amount of young people that were voting, and those that were voting for the first time. A lot of proudness among those people…

    “You’re going out and doing your civic duty, so I was very heartened by that. You had an excellent turnout.
    “We’d love to have that in the UK. On average we get 60 to 65 per cent at the general election,” Atkinson told reporters.

    Atkinson also praised the turnout in Crimea, which rejoined Russia in March 2014 via a referendum.

    Read Also: European powers urge U.S not to abandon Iran nuclear deal

    “It was interesting to see the turnout here. I think in the end it was about 80 per cent. Putin got a fantastic turnout in Crimea, which I think says an awful lot,” Atkinson said.

    Atkinson compared the Russian presidential election to the elections in the United Kingdom, stating that the UK should adopt electronic voting systems similar to those used by Russia to save time.

    “It all seemed to work very well – your electronic voting system. We don’t have that in the UK. We have a piece of paper and it’s ‘mark the box,’ and it takes hours and hours to count.

    “So I think the way forward is electronic systems in my country,” Atkinson said.

    Atkinson added that voter fraud could be prevented in the UK if it used Russia’s system of providing identification before casting a ballot.

    The number of ballot paper processing systems was doubled to almost 13,000 for Sunday’s election, with around 1,000 touch-screen voting systems installed.

    About one-third of voters used these electronic voting systems.

    NAN

     

  • Russian, Afreximbank to develop aviation

    The Russian Export Centre Group (REC) will collaborate with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to explore opportunities to develop Africa’s aviation industry and to support other sectors, such as mining, agro-processing, railways and the metals industry, the two institutions have announced in Cairo, Egypt.

    This followed the signing of a collaboration document during a meeting between Afreximbank President Dr. Benedict Oramah and Anna Belyaeva, Managing Director, International Business Development of the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR), a subsidiary of REC.

    Last month, REC became the latest international financial institution to join Afreximbank as a Class “C” shareholder, according to a statement from the bank.

    Oramah said the deal was in line with the bank’s strategy to promote intra-African trade and the industrialisation of the continent and would focus primarily on aviation.

    “According to a study highlighting the high sensitivity of African trade to transport costs, a 10 per cent reduction in transport costs would increase trade by 25 per cent,” noted Oramah.

    “Given the limitations of road and rail infrastructure in Africa, the aviation sector is critical to Africa’s trade, growth and development objectives. As such, improving air transport infrastructure across Africa has become a priority area our bank,” he added.

    He said the collaboration with REC would involve the organisation of business missions to Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria to meet the authorities and key stakeholders in the aviation industries to discuss their development plans and identify areas where they required funding and technical assistance.

     

  • Russian ex-spy, daughter in critical condition in UK

    Russian ex-spy, daughter in critical condition in UK

    Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in a critical condition in intensive care in hospital, British police said on Wednesday as they appealed for witnesses to come forward with any information about the case.

    Skripal, 66, and Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on Sunday on a bench outside a shopping center in the southern English city of Salisbury after being exposed to an unknown substance.

    Police said they were keen to speak to anyone who visited two venues in the city where Skripal and his daughter were thought to have been, the Zizzi pizza restaurant and the Bishop’s Mill pub.

    “The focus at this time is to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill,” said Mark Rowley, head of London’s counter-terrorism police who are in charge of the investigation.

    Police cordons remained in place in several locations in Salisbury, with new cordons added near Solstice Park in the nearby town of Amesbury.

    Our reporters,  reports that on Tuesday, UK warned that it would respond robustly if Russia was shown to be behind the mysterious illness that struck down Skripal.

    Read Also: 71 die in Russian plane crash

    The Kremlin said it was ready to cooperate if Britain asked it for help investigating the incident with Skripal.

    Calling it a “tragic situation,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin had no information about the incident.

    Asked to respond to British media speculation that Russia had poisoned Skripal, Peskov said: “It didn’t take them long.”

    Russia’s embassy in London said the incident was being used to demonise Russia and that it was seriously concerned by British media reporting of the Skripal incident.

    Russia’s foreign spy service, known as the SVR, said it had no comment to make.

    Russia’s foreign ministry, and the Russian counter-intelligence service, the FSB, did not immediately respond to questions submitted by Reuters about the case.

    Skripal was arrested in 2004 by Russia’s Federal Security Service ( FSB ) on suspicion of betraying dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence.

    He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006 after a secret trial.

    Skripal, who was shown wearing a track suit in a cage in court during the sentencing, had admitted betraying agents to MI6 in return for money, some of it paid into a Spanish bank account, Russian media said at the time.

    He was pardoned in 2010 by then-President Dmitry Medvedev as part of a swap to bring 10 Russian agents held in the U.S. back to Moscow.

    The swap, one of the biggest since the Cold War ended in 1991, took place on the tarmac of Vienna airport where a Russian and a U.S. jet parked side by side before the agents were exchanged.

    One of the Russian spies exchanged for Skripal was Anna Chapman.

    She was one of 10 who tried to blend into American society in an apparent bid to get close to power brokers and learn secrets.

    They were arrested by the FBI in 2010.

    The returning spies were greeted as heroes in Moscow. Putin, himself a former KGB officer, sang patriotic songs with them.

    NAN

  • Russia deploys hypersonic missile system to south of country

    Russia deploys hypersonic missile system to south of country

    The new Russian hypersonic aviation and missile system dubbed Kinzhal (Dagger) has been successfully tested and deployed to the south of the country, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

    “The creation of the high-precision hypersonic aviation and missile system, which has no analogues in the world, is very important.

    “Its tests have successfully been concluded. Moreover, since Dec. 1, 2017, the system has been on the mission at the airfields of the South military district,” Putin said during his annual address to the parliament.

    The unique characteristics of the high-speed carrier aircraft allow for delivering the missile within minutes, Putin continued.

    Putin said the missile, the speed of which exceeds the speed of the sound by 10 times, is able to overcome the existing and potentially-created air defence and anti-missile systems, reaching the target located up to 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) away with ordinary and nuclear warheads.

    Read Also:   Russia Olympic ban after Pyeongchang

    “The creation of the strategic missile system with the essentially new military equipment, which is the maneuvering winged unit, the tests of which have already been completed, is a true technological breakthrough,” Putin pointed out.

    He said the work to strengthen Russia’s defence capability is carried out within the framework of international agreements.

    “For my part, I will note that all work to strengthen Russia’s defense capability has been carried out within the framework of existing arms control agreements. We do not violate anything,” Putin said.

    He said it took other countries centuries to achieve what Russia has achieved over the past 30 years.
    NAN