The EU is planning to impose new tariffs on Chinese EVs starting in July

The EU’s top court on Thursday fined Hungary 200 million euros ($216 million) and imposed a daily one-million-euro penalty for failing to follow the bloc’s asylum laws and illegally deporting migrants, a decision Budapest slammed as “unacceptable”.

The link contains also an version of the report in Ukrainian.

- 12-month comprehensive investigation finds Russian forces “intended to starve civilians as a method of warfare” in the battle for Mariupol.

- 450,000 civilians targeted by Russian assault on the City, cutting off all water, electricity and gas supply.

- Ukrainian civilians forced to drink from puddles, radiator batteries, and melt snow.

- Civilians exposed to plummeting -12.4°C temperatures by Russian attacks on city’s power.

- 90% of healthcare facilities and residential homes destroyed or damaged during siege.

- Russian forces indiscriminately bombed food distribution points, medical facilities, and agreed-upon humanitarian corridors.

- Attempts to provide humanitarian aid to encircled civilians denied.

- Report analyses over 1.5 billion square metres of satellite imagery, photographs, videos, official public statements, and other digital data.

- Report comprises information from the Ukrainian government and unseen photos from a Mariupol police officer present during the siege.

- Report forms part of a wider submission to the International Criminal Court.

-Report by international human rights foundation lands ahead of Global Peace Summit aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine from 15-16 June.

A new 81-page report by international human rights foundation Global Rights Compliance publishes evidence of Russian and pro-Russian forces using starvation as a method of warfare against Ukrainian civilians during their 85-day siege of Mariupol City in the South East of Ukraine, between February and May 2022.

‘The Hope Left Us’, produced by Global Rights Compliance’s Starvation Mobile Justice Team (SMJT) consisting of international lawyers, OSINT researchers, and arms and munitions experts, concludes a 12-month investigation and analysis on the battle for Mariupol.

The report finds evidence of a strategy by Russian sieging forces to deliberately attack and destroy critical civilian infrastructure, obstruct humanitarian evacuation corridors, and prevent the distribution of humanitarian aid to starving Ukrainians confined in the city.

Global Rights Compliance’s SMJT is part of the UK, EU and US-sponsored Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), which was launched in response to the need of the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) to increase capacity to investigate and prosecute atrocity crimes perpetrated since the full-scale invasion by Russian forces in February 2022.

The investigation utilised cutting-edge open-source research, analysing over 1.5 billion square metres of satellite imagery, as well as photographs, videos, official public statements, and other digital data collected between May 2022 and February 2024. Thorough damage analysis involved the creation of a bespoke algorithm cross-referencing the damage identified by online mapping data and Weapons Ordnance Munitions and Explosives specialists, as well as Ukrainian governmental military experts.

The report focusses on the 85-day siege of Mariupol revealing evidence of systematic attacks by Russian forces against critical civilian infrastructure, including energy, water, food and distribution points, and healthcare infrastructure. These attacks crippled Mariupol civilians’ access to critical resources while wilfully impeding their access to aid and simultaneously denying them access to organised evacuation routes, part of a ruthless plan to starve the city’s population into submission.

This pattern of conduct, the report states, leaves experts to conclude that the starvation of civilians in Mariupol City by Russian forces was intentionally used as a method of warfare.

Mariupol was one of the first cities to come under Russian attack in the opening weeks of the 2022 invasion, with deliberate attacks against energy infrastructure documented by the report from as early as 27 February, when Russian forces struck a major powerline blacking out half of Mariupol city.

This was immediately followed by a four-day onslaught of shelling that fully cut power and gas to over 450,000 Ukrainian residents, exposing them to winter temperatures plummeting to -12.4°C. Water pumping stations were also neutralised, cutting off access to heating and drinking water, forcing civilians to melt snow for drinking water and in some cases radiator water or street puddles to avoid dehydration.

90% of healthcare facilities indispensable to civilian’s survival were damaged or destroyed during the siege, with all 19 of the city’s hospitals impacted by end of May 2022.

Russian forces often treated full city blocks as military targets, making no effort to mitigate risk to civilian life or objects, damaging and destroying 90% of Mariupol’s residential homes in the siege. In the midst of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, Ukrainians set up ‘distribution points’ across the city for basic necessities. However, these too came under attack, with at least 22 supermarkets damaged or destroyed despite being used for distribution.

One attack investigated by the SMJT was on the Neptun Swimming Pool Complex, despite satellite imagery showing the clear presence of hundreds of civilians queuing at this distribution point in the days immediately prior.

An attack on the same day on the Mariupol Drama Theatre, where several hundred people were residing, seemingly ignored clear lettering – ‘ДЕТИ’ (‘children’ in Russian) – written in front of the building. The SMJT’s analysis shows that this lettering was clearly visible from the altitude range from which Russian warplanes would have dropped the involved ammunition and unavoidable to surveying flights.

Seeking to justify these attacks, Russian authorities put forward a series of claims that these areas had been overtaken by Ukrainian forces. However, analysis by Global Rights Compliance of satellite imagery and videos posted to social media notes a lack of evidence of any legitimate military targets – soldiers, checkpoints, or equipment – present.

The report also finds that, throughout Russia’s siege, efforts to alleviate the suffering of civilians were severely obstructed, with agreed-upon evacuation routes and humanitarian corridors subjected to airstrikes and shelling. It finds that contrary to statements by representatives of the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic,’ Ukrainian humanitarian aid was denied entry to the city. Where Russian aid was delivered, this was only to those supporting Russian occupation,with aid boxes branded: “We do not abandon our own”.

Evidence and analysis from ‘The Hope Left Us’ will form part of a larger dossier of starvation tactics used across Ukraine, which will be submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for further consideration.

Catriona Murdoch, Global Rights Compliance Vice President and Director of the Starvation and Humanitarian Crisis Division, said:

“The present report further captures the broader narrative of the siege through the patterned lens of attacks against objects indispensable to survival (OIS) of the civilian population – electricity, heating, drinking water, food, and medical care. It does so because – in the aggregate – the seemingly isolated attacks against OIS, when paired with associated violations and crimes related to the weaponisation of humanitarian aid, the denial of humanitarian access and humanitarian evacuations, filtration, and arrests of humanitarian actors, reveal a deliberately calculated method of warfare carried out by pro-Russian forces who intentionally employed several starvation tactics as a means to an end.

"I urge the International Criminal Court to consider these crimes and the collective punishment against innocent Ukrainian civilians, in pursuit of justice to Russian leadership, all the way up to the Kremlin.”

Yuriy Belousov, Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in Conditions of Armed Conflict, Office of the General Prosecutor, said:

“There is no crime under the Rome Statute that was not committed by the Russian military during a full-scale invasion. Every day, investigators and prosecutors document the consequences of war crimes, as well as the testimony of victims and witnesses. In this regard, Mariupol is a vivid example of the policy of destruction of the city and its population by the Russian occupiers.

“To combat such crimes, we optimize the work of the Prosecutor General’s Office and strengthen the knowledge and skills of our prosecutors and investigators with the support of international partners. We are open to strengthening our cooperation to ensure that these and other war crimes are effectively investigated, and the perpetrators brought to justice. We are grateful to everyone involved in this process, because only by coordinating joint efforts will we be able to ensure the inevitability of punishment.”

Group of Seven leaders are set to reach a political agreement to provide Ukraine with $50 billion of aid using the profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets, according to an Elysee official.

However, the technical details of a deal will need to be finalized after a G-7 leaders’ summit taking place in Italy this week — meaning that it could be a while for a final agreement to be concluded, said the French official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The French view followed comments by the US on Tuesday that leaders had all but reached a political deal. People familiar with the negotiations in both countries said the aim would be to disburse the funds by the end of the year.

G-7 participants cautioned that beyond any agreement — which is expected to be one of the main deliverables of the summit — some remaining issues on how it will work are complicated.

Officials on both sides of the Atlantic have for months been discussing how to use the profits generated by the about $280 billion in frozen Russian central bank funds, most of which lies immobilized in Europe.

The proceeds from the frozen assets are estimated to be worth between €3 billion to €5 billion annually. The EU has already agreed to provide Ukraine the profits twice a year, but the US has been urging G-7 allies to find ways to frontload the support in order to provide Kyiv with more immediate support.

Complex issues that will need to be ironed out include figuring out how to structure any loans to Ukraine, how risks are shared among allies and ensuring that the assets remain frozen for years.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters during a gaggle aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that discussions were continuing and making good progress.

“What we are working toward is a framework that is not generic — that is quite specific, in terms of what it would entail,” he said. “But of course, the core operational details of anything that is agreed in Italy will then have to be worked through and the leaders would give direction to the experts to work that through on a defined time frame,” Sullivan added.

[Edit typo.]

Original article behind paywall

An inquiry by the Financial Times (FT) on June 12 highlighted that four children who were forcibly taken from Ukraine and transported to Russia during the outset of the conflict were potentially listed for adoption on a Russian government-associated website, usynovite.ru.

Official statements reveal that since the commencement of Russia’s intensified aggression against Ukraine, over 19,500 children have been kidnapped by Russian forces, with fewer than 400 managing to return home. This information is corroborated by the Ukrainian administration’s database.

Through utilizing facial recognition software, public data, and testimonies from families of the missing youths, the investigation by the FT managed to locate four Ukrainian kids on the adoption portal usynowite.ru. These children, ranging from ages eight to 15, were taken from Ukrainian orphanages.

Modifications were observed in the children’s identity presentations, with one of them having a reinvented Russian name and altered age, and another bearing a Russified variant of their original name. The listings did not disclose their Ukrainian origins.

The genuine identities of these children have been confirmed by the Ukrainian Child Rights Protection (CPRC), a state agency, as reported by the FT.

While the relatives of these children have opted not to make public statements out of concern that it may hinder opportunities for the children’s repatriation, the incidents of kidnapping and the operation of the adoption site have become items of concern.

Reports, including one from the Guardian dated Feb. 4, advise that Ukrainian minors forcibly moved to Russia are being subjected to deliberate indoctrination by Russian officials.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) initiated arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova given their alleged roles in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian territories.

Massive Attack has canceled a show in Georgia scheduled for July 28, saying the decision was made “in protest of the Georgian government’s attack on basic human rights.” The British band says that playing at the state-owned Black Sea Arena stage “could be seen as an endorsement of their violent crackdowns against peaceful protests and civil society.”

Hours before the band’s statement, the Black Sea Arena announced the cancellation of the show, but the management generally cited “unforeseen circumstances” as the reason.

However, against the backdrop of the current political crisis and the campaign of repression in recent months amid the infamous foreign agents law, the band says: “Beatings, arrests, threats, and violence against peaceful activists, and opponents, along with laws smearing civil society and denying LGBTI rights, go against everything we stand for.”

The band expresses solidarity with the peaceful protesters in Georgia, stressing “their struggle needs to be under the international spotlight.” “We will return and perform with you in freedom,” the statement concludes.

In late April, the Shame Movement, a local CSO, wrote to Massive Attack, expressing its excitement for the band’s upcoming show in Georgia, but urging them to acknowledge the “serious and alarming political context” in which their event would take place. In its letter, the Shame movement cited the Georgian government’s massive attack on civil society, independent media, socially vulnerable groups, the LGBTQIA+ community, women, ethnic, religious and other minorities, and informed the band of the domestic political situation, including various anti-democratic laws pushed by the GD government and repression against citizens.

“Your upcoming performance at the Black Sea Arena – a venue constructed by Ivanishvili and now funded by the state – risks being manipulated as part of the Georgian Dream’s pre-election tactics to divert public attention from pressing issues and obscure these critical concerns during the electoral period,” the Shame movement’s letter to Massive Attack read, adding: “Knowing that Massive Attack champions justice, freedom of expression, civil activism, and LGBTQ+ rights, we ask you to familiarise yourselves with the alarming political climate in Georgia.”

Today, when Massive Attack’s decision was made public and quickly went viral, some GD MPs blamed the Shame movement for misleading the band, resulting in their decision to cancel the show.

“[The shame movement] bullied and depressed these people [Massive Attack] so much that they forgot everything… that an art is an art…” said GD MP Irakli Kadagishvili.

“While the Georgian government created an opportunity for the concert of Massive Attack, Salome Zurabishvili and her followers took it away from you,” said Deputy Speaker of Parliament, GD MP Nino Tsilosani.

- Hackers working for the Chinese government gained access to more than 20,000 VPN appliances sold by Fortinet using a critical vulnerability that the company failed to disclose for two weeks after fixing it, Netherlands government officials said.

- The Netherlands officials first reported in February that Chinese state hackers had exploited CVE-2022-42475 to install an advanced and stealthy backdoor tracked as CoatHanger on Fortigate appliances inside the Dutch Ministry of Defense.

- Chinese state hackers have used the critical vulnerability to infect more than 20,000 FortiGate VPN appliances sold by Fortinet. Targets include dozens of Western government agencies, international organizations, and companies within the defense industry.--

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-42475, is a heap-based buffer overflow that allows hackers to remotely execute malicious code. It carries a severity rating of 9.8 out of 10. A maker of network security software, Fortinet silently fixed the vulnerability on November 28, 2022, but failed to mention the threat until December 12 of that year, when the company said it became aware of an “instance where this vulnerability was exploited in the wild.” On January 11, 2023—more than six weeks after the vulnerability was fixed—Fortinet warned a threat actor was exploiting it to infect government and government-related organizations with advanced custom-made malware.

Enter CoatHanger

The Netherlands officials first reported in February that Chinese state hackers had exploited CVE-2022-42475 to install an advanced and stealthy backdoor tracked as CoatHanger on Fortigate appliances inside the Dutch Ministry of Defense. Once installed, the never-before-seen malware, specifically designed for the underlying FortiOS operating system, was able to permanently reside on devices even when rebooted or receiving a firmware update. CoatHanger could also escape traditional detection measures, the officials warned. The damage resulting from the breach was limited, however, because infections were contained inside a segment reserved for non-classified uses.

On Monday, officials with the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) and the General Intelligence and Security Service in the Netherlands said that to date, Chinese state hackers have used the critical vulnerability to infect more than 20,000 FortiGate VPN appliances sold by Fortinet. Targets include dozens of Western government agencies, international organizations, and companies within the defense industry.

"Since then, the MIVD has conducted further investigation and has shown that the Chinese cyber espionage campaign appears to be much more extensive than previously known,” Netherlands officials with the National Cyber Security Center wrote. “The NCSC therefore calls for extra attention to this campaign and the abuse of vulnerabilities in edge devices.”

Monday’s report said that exploitation of the vulnerability started two months before Fortinet first disclosed it and that 14,000 servers were backdoored during this zero-day period. The officials warned that the Chinese threat group likely still has access to many victims because CoatHanger is so hard to detect and remove.

Netherlands government officials wrote in Monday’s report:

Since the publication in February, the MIVD has continued to investigate the broader Chinese cyber espionage campaign. This revealed that the state actor gained access to at least 20,000 FortiGate systems worldwide within a few months in both 2022 and 2023 through the vulnerability with the identifier CVE-2022-42475 . Furthermore, research shows that the state actor behind this campaign was already aware of this vulnerability in FortiGate systems at least two months before Fortinet announced the vulnerability. During this so-called 'zero-day' period, the actor alone infected 14,000 devices. Targets include dozens of (Western) governments, international organizations and a large number of companies within the defense industry.

The state actor installed malware at relevant targets at a later date. This gave the state actor permanent access to the systems. Even if a victim installs security updates from FortiGate, the state actor continues to have this access.

It is not known how many victims actually have malware installed. The Dutch intelligence services and the NCSC consider it likely that the state actor could potentially expand its access to hundreds of victims worldwide and carry out additional actions such as stealing data.

Even with the technical report on the COATHANGER malware, infections from the actor are difficult to identify and remove. The NCSC and the Dutch intelligence services therefore state that it is likely that the state actor still has access to systems of a significant number of victims.

Fortinet’s failure to timely disclose is particularly acute given the severity of the vulnerability. Disclosures are crucial because they help users prioritize the installation of patches. When a new version fixes minor bugs, many organizations often wait to install it. When it fixes a vulnerability with a 9.8 severity rating, they’re much more likely to expedite the update process. Given the vulnerability was being exploited even before Fortinet fixed it, the disclosure likely wouldn't have prevented all of the infections, but it stands to reason it could have stopped some.

Fortinet officials have never explained why they didn’t disclose the critical vulnerability when it was fixed. They have also declined to disclose what the company policy is for the disclosure of security vulnerabilities. Company representatives didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment for this post.

Even more voter movement charts.

Bonus: "Do you think Germany's economic situation is good or bad?"

not even asking about personal economic conditions, just the overall state there's a massive fucking difference in perception.

According to a report by the Financial Times (paywalled link), members of the Bucharest Nine (B9) group are considering excluding Hungary from their talks in the future.

The B9 group was founded in 2015 by all NATO and EU member states that were part of the Soviet bloc prior to 1991, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Although the organization does not have a formal institutional structure, it functions as an important forum where members' government officials coordinate their security policy ideas. This has becone increasingly important after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In recent B9 meetings, Hungary has consistently vetoed decisions about supporting Ukraine and speeding up the process of its potential accession to NATO. In addition, the Orbán government has regularly been blocking and obstructing support for Ukraine's war effort in the EU as well. At the B9 meeting in Riga, which started on Tuesday, the Hungarian side again vetoed a draft resolution, which incidentally has the support of the other eight member states.

A source told the FT that discussions within the group have been “tough,” and noted concerns over the feasibility of future meetings if Hungary continues to lack cooperative behaviour. A diplomat speaking to the Financial Times was quoted as saying that “We are likely meeting in this formation for the last time.”

However, no decision has been made public. The Lithuanian president's office told the paper that "it's important to keep Hungary in, for the unity of NATO and the EU".

[Edit typo.]

An Italian subsidiary of French luxury giant LVMH that makes Dior-branded handbags was placed under court administration on Monday, after a probe alleged it had sub-contracted work to Chinese-owned firms that mistreated workers.

This is the third such decision this year by the Milan court in charge of pre-emptive measures, which in April named a commissioner to run a company owned by Giorgio Armani due to accusations the fashion group was "culpably failing" to adequately oversee its suppliers. Armani Group said at the time it had always sought to "minimise abuses in the supply chain."

The court said in a copy of Monday's decision which was seen by Reuters that prosecutors alleged that the violation of rules was not a one-off among fashion companies with manufacturing capacity in Italy, but systematic due to the need to pursue higher profits.

"It's not something sporadic that concerns single production lots, but a generalised and consolidated manufacturing method," the document said.

The luxury industry's supply chain has come under increased scrutiny by consumers and investors in recent years. To reduce reputation risks fashion labels have curbed the number of sub-contractors and internalised production, in a blow to Italy's leather goods industry, which is mostly based in Tuscany and comprises many firms founded by Chinese immigrants.

Italy is home to thousands of small manufacturers that cover 50% to 55% of the global luxury goods production, consultancy Bain calculated.

The Milan court ordered Manufactures Dior SRL, fully owned by Christian Dior Italia SRL, be placed under judicial administration for one year, the document seen by Reuters showed.

The company will continue to operate during the period.

The Dior investigation focused on four suppliers employing 32 staff who worked in the surroundings of Milan, two of whom were immigrants in the country illegally while another seven worked without the required documentation.

Between March and April, Italian police carried out inspections at the suppliers, named Pelletteria Elisabetta Yang SRL, New Leather Italy SRLS, AZ Operations SRLS, Albertario Milano SRL, the document said.

Pelletteria Elisabetta Yang and Albertario Milano were direct suppliers of Manufactures Dior SRL, the document said.

The staff lived and worked "in hygiene and health conditions that are below the minimum required by an ethical approach," it added.

Representatives for LVMH had no immediate comment. Shares in LVMH extended earlier losses on news of the court's decision to hit a session low. They closed down 2.2%.

Delphine Arnault, whose family controls a 42% stake in LVMH, is chair and CEO of Dior, LVMH's second largest fashion label. She is the eldest child of Bernard Arnault, who runs the LVMH empire and is among the world's wealthiest people.

'24 HOURS A DAY'

In the 34-page ruling, the judges said the workers were made to sleep in the workplace in order to have "manpower available 24 hours a day".

Data mapping electricity consumption showed "seamless day-night production cycles, including during the holidays."

In addition, safety devices had been removed from the machinery to allow them to operate faster, according to the document.

This allowed contractors to rein in costs and charge Dior as little as 53 euros to supply a handbag, the document said, citing as an example a Dior model coded PO312YKY, which the fashion house then retailed in shops at 2,600 euros.

The Dior unit did not adopt "appropriate measures to check the actual working conditions or the technical capabilities of the contracting companies," failing to carry out periodic audits of its suppliers over the years, it added.

The owners of the contracting and subcontracting companies are under investigation by Milan prosecutors for exploiting workers and employing people off the books, while Dior itself faces no criminal probe.

The Armani investigation also unveiled that suppliers of the Italian brand included Chinese-owned manufacturers in Italy that violated worker protection laws.

Finland said that a Russian military aircraft violated its airspace on Monday in the first such move since the Nordic country joined the NATO alliance last year.

The plane flew in Finland’s airspace for about 2 minutes on Monday morning, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The incident happened in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, with the aircraft reaching as deep as 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) into Finland’s territory.

“We take the suspected territorial violation seriously and have immediately launched an investigation,” Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said. NATO Fortified

NATO controls much of the Baltic Sea after northern enlargement

The latest such incident happened in August 2022, when two Russian fighter jets flew into Finnish airspace. The Nordic nation joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in April 2023, just over a year after its neighbor Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine.

Finland guards more than 1,300 kilometers of border against Russia — a stretch that now makes up about a half of NATO’s Eastern flank.

European Elections

Local Elections

The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, has said a failed arson attack that took place in Prague last week was "very likely" organised and financed by Russia.

Speaking after a meeting of the Czech National Security Council, Mr Fiala said the failed attack was evidently part of a "hybrid" campaign of sabotage being run by Moscow against European countries.

Police said a foreign citizen was arrested on Saturday in connection with the incident and was being held in custody on terrorism charges.

He was described as "a Spanish-speaking man originally from South America" and had apparently been in the country for five days.

The prime minister said the attempt to set to fire to buses at a depot in Prague was likely connected to a spate of arson attacks in Europe that he said appeared to be orchestrated by Moscow.

These, he said, included May's arson attack in Warsaw, and a similar attack in a branch of Ikea in Lithuania, which authorities believe were carried out by Russian intelligence agents or their proxies.

“The connection [to Russia] is not only possible, but highly probable,” Mr Fiala told reporters. "The attack was probably organised and financed from Russia."

The BBC has approached the Russian foreign ministry for comment on Mr Fiala's allegations.

Police beefed up patrols across the Czech capital last Friday after claims of a heightened risk to security.

They released CCTV footage apparently showing a dark-haired man paying for items in a shop or petrol station. They said the man was possibly dangerous and should not be approached, but gave no further information.

Police president Martin Vondrasek said the man had been apprehended the following day.

“On Friday we asked the public for assistance. On Saturday morning the suspect was arrested. On Sunday afternoon a criminal prosecution was launched, and today [Monday] a court ordered he be remanded in custody,” Mr Vondrasek told journalists at a news briefing.

The man - described as a 26-year-old of South American origin - is accused of trying to set fire to buses at a public transport depot in Prague’s Klicov district in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Local media initially reported that he had spilt petrol over several buses at the depot, but failed to set them on fire.

However, a spokeswoman for Prague's public transport authority was quoted by news outlet Novinky.cz as saying the man had set several buses alight, and the fires were subsequently extinguished by depot workers. The fires caused an estimated 200,000 Czech crowns (£6,864; $8,738) of damage, she said.

He now faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted under terrorism legislation - 30 if given an exemplary sentence.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Czech government has become one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters, providing military assistance including artillery, tanks and ammunition.

However the mutual antipathy predates the February 2022 invasion.

The government in Prague says Russia’s GRU intelligence service was behind the 2014 explosions at a Czech arms dump that left two people dead.

The Czech Republic was the second country - after the US - to be placed on Russia’s list of "unfriendly nations" after a series of diplomatic expulsions that followed an investigation into the explosions.

Moscow denies any involvement in the incident.

As someone who is in the process of immigrating to the EU (will be allowed to vote next cycle), can I get a layman's summary of the parties and what they stand for? Thanks!

Archived link

- The Kremlin threatens to deport Africans unless they sign up

- Officials have adopted tactics first used by Wagner group

- There are 35,000-37,000 African students currently in Russia, according to Yevgeny Primakov head of Rossotrudnichestvo, an organization devoted to spreading knowledge about Russia abroad.

- “Every year we sign up about 6,500 students from Africa to study in Russia for free”, he said on Thursday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.--

The Kremlin has forced thousands of migrants and foreign students to fight alongside Russian troops in its war against Ukraine, adding extra manpower for its offensive in the Kharkiv region, according to assessments from European officials.

Using tactics first deployed by the Wagner mercenary group, Russian officials have with increasing frequency been threatening not to extend the visas of African students and young workers unless they agree to join the military, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Moscow has also been enlisting convicts from its prisons while some Africans in Russia on work visas have been detained and forced to decide between deportation or fighting, one European official said. Some of those people had been able to bribe officials to stay in the country and still avoid military service, said the official, who like other people cited spoke on condition of anonymity.

Russia’s practice of sending migrants and students into battle under duress dates back to earlier in the war, another European official said. Those troops suffer especially high casualty rates because they are increasingly deployed in risky offensive maneuvers to protect more highly trained units, the official added. A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

According to reports citing Ukrainian intelligence, Russia has engaged in a global recruitment drive to enlist foreign mercenaries in at least 21 countries, including several nations in Africa. Army recruitment campaigns offer lucrative signing bonuses and salaries for those who’ll join up as contract soldiers. Recruiters have also targeted migrants and students who previously looked for employment in Russia, and in some cases have lured others over with promises of lucrative work before forcing them to train and deploy to the front.

Russia’s ability to mobilize far greater numbers of troops could become a significant factor in the war as President Vladimir Putin seeks to capitalize on a shift in momentum this year.

For now though, his forces have been grinding forward only slowly in northeastern Ukraine and suffering heavy losses, despite a shortage of troops and ammunition on the Ukrainian side.

The Russian military lost more than 1,200 people a day during May, according to the UK Ministry of Defence, its highest casualty rate of the war. Since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has seen some 500,000 personnel killed or wounded, the UK estimates. Bloomberg is unable to independently verify these figures.

At a meeting with foreign media in St. Petersburg late Wednesday, Putin appeared to imply that about 10,000 Russian troops a month are being killed or wounded and that Ukrainian losses are five times higher.

While the Kremlin has failed to achieve a breakthrough on the battlefield, it has stepped up a bombing campaign against Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Western officials say those attacks appear designed to make the city uninhabitable.

As he seeks to maintain public support in Russia, Putin has so far resisted a full-scale mobilization and Russia says it has been able to make up a significant share of its losses — in terms of numbers if not the standard of the troops — through a voluntary recruitment drive that has attracted tens of thousands of people.

The government in Kathmandu said earlier this year that it is aware of about 400 young Nepali men who have been recruited by Russia but many more have likely signed up without the government knowing. India’s decision to stop recruiting Nepalese Gurkhas for its army, ending a 200-year-old tradition, may have encouraged Nepalis to look for work in Russia and elsewhere.

A senior Ukrainian official said they have seen an uptick in the number of foreign fighters among the prisoners Ukraine has captured on the battlefield. Africans and Nepalis have been particularly common, they said.

Some of Ukraine’s allies have been considering sharing what they know with the affected countries, another European official said.

Group of Seven nations, who will hold a leaders’ summit in Italy next week, have been trying to persuade countries from the so-called Global South to offer more support to Ukraine. But many of those nations have instead remained neutral, while their populations have been a focus for Moscow’s disinformation efforts.

Reuters reported last year that the mercenary group Wagner had recruited several African citizens as part of a drive to enlist convicts from Russian prisons for its forces in Ukraine. The news agency traced the story of three men from Tanzania, Zambia and the Ivory Coast.

There are 35,000-37,000 African students currently in Russia, according to Yevgeny Primakov head of Rossotrudnichestvo, an organization devoted to spreading knowledge about Russia abroad.

“Every year we sign up about 6,500 students from Africa to study in Russia for free”, he said on Thursday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.