Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Ruble rebound threatens ‘Made in Russia’ industry revival
Russian sectors, from building materials to craft beer, took advantage of the ruble’s drop to undercut better-known imported rivals and gain a bigger domestic market share. Oil companies were also helped, as they sell their product for dollars but have many expenses in rubles, helping to temper the financial pain from lower crude prices....
Russia steps up propaganda push with online “Kremlin trolls”
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Deep inside a four-story marble building in St. Petersburg, hundreds of workers tap away at computers on the front lines of an information war, say those who have been inside. Known as “Kremlin trolls,” the men and women work 12-hour shifts around the clock, flooding the Internet with propaganda aimed at...
Alleged Nazi war criminal wanted by Russia dies in Quebec
News of Katriuk’s death emerged several hours after the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said Ottawa should take the necessary steps to ensure that he be held accountable if he were found guilty of war crimes committed in collaboration with the Nazis. According to war reports, Katriuk was a member of a Ukrainian battalion of the SS, the...
Putin denies Russian troops are in Ukraine, decrees deaths secret
MOSCOW — If there was one weak spot in Russian support for the Kremlin’s aims in Ukraine this year, it was the population’s strong aversion to sending in Russian troops — something Russia denies doing, despite mounting international evidence to the contrary. […] Russia can ignore that evidence — as well as any questions citizens...
Russia classifies military casualties in peacetime
The decree published on the official government website and signed by Putin on Thursday makes it a state secret to divulge information about peacetime losses of Russian troops in “special operations.” U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said in Washington, “We see this as a misplaced effort to cover up what everyone...
TV showdown in Ukraine highlights press freedom anxieties
A moment of truth comes Thursday when the national television and radio broadcasting council meets on whether to rescind the Inter channel’s broadcasting license, following accusations of “destructive behavior” by prominent members of Parliament. Inter has faced a deluge of criticism in the legislature for its purported...
Russia says it has no access to men detained in Ukraine
Ukraine says the men are intelligence operatives working under direct orders from Moscow and says their presence is further evidence of Russia’s support for the separatist insurgency in the east. …read more Source: San Francisco...
Sweden wins 60th Eurovision Song Contest, Russia 2nd
VIENNA (AP) — Sweden won the 60th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, finishing ahead of Russia, whose contestant received some boos as the Ukraine conflict spilled over into the continent’s largest songfest. The race between Russia and Sweden went back and forth for most of the evening as jurors from 40 countries cast their ballots, along...
Latvian region has distinct identity, and allure for Russia
REZEKNE, Latvia — On a continent of fractured loyalties, a kaleidoscope of separatist passions extending from Scotland to eastern Ukraine, Piters Locs, the 70-year-old champion of an obscure and, at least officially, nonexistent language, has a particularly esoteric cause. “We are a separate people,” he said, showing visitors around the private...
Amnesty says torture of Ukraine war prisoners is rife
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Both warring sides in eastern Ukraine are perpetrating war crimes almost daily, including torturing prisoners and summarily killing them, the Amnesty International rights group said in a report Friday. Amnesty said in a statement that it has heard from former captives of both Ukrainian government and separatist forces who say...
