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Bloomberg: Finland’s government will close its one remaining crossing point with Russia if its neighbor continues with a hybrid operation to push asylum seekers across the demarcation, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reportedly killed Ukrainian collaborator Oleksandr Slisarenko, previously installed by Russia as a deputy head of occupation authorities in Kharkiv Oblast, New Voice reported.

Reuters: Russia has succeeded in selling almost all of its oil well above a Western-imposed price cap of $60 per barrel, a Russian government official said on Thursday.

Bloomberg: Ukraine risks being pushed into peace negotiations with Russia involuntarily as allies fail to supply it with the weapons and ammunition it needs to win the war, according a top Baltic diplomat.

Reuters: Three major Greek shipping firms have stopped transporting Russian oil in recent weeks in order to avoid U.S. sanctions now being imposed on some shipping firms carrying Russian oil.

The Moscow Times: The Kremlin said Thursday that it "regretted" Armenia's decision to skip a summit of a Moscow-led security alliance, amid a souring of relations between the two ex-Soviet allies.

Bloomberg: Russian firms based in the United Arab Emirates are coming under greater scrutiny from local banks as the Gulf state faces increased US pressure to tackle sanctions evasion and ramps up efforts to get off a global organization’s watch list.

AFP: Russia was throwing "waves" of soldiers towards the embattled Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, suffering massive losses in their attempt to capture strategically important territory on the eastern front lines, Ukrainian soldiers say.

POLITICO: Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders is typically defined by his dislike of Islam and the European Union. But out of the main contenders in the Dutch parliamentary election, he was also the most Russia-friendly, a fact swiftly underscored by Russian media in the wake of his shock win.

AP News: The European Union’s border agency said Thursday that it will send dozens of officers and equipment as reinforcements to Finland to help police its borders amid suspicion that Russia is behind an influx of migrants arriving to the country.

Bloomberg: The EU promised to shut down the flow of Putin’s propaganda after Russia invaded Ukraine, slapping sanctions on state-backed media RT and Sputnik days after the attack. Nearly two years into the war, the Kremlin appears to have the last laugh. RT.com may be inaccessible in the EU, but a series of less popular mirror sites provides the same content, aimed at undermining the bloc’s support of Ukraine.

Reuters: Ukraine said on Thursday it wanted its export routes via Poland to be unblocked before it holds talks with Warsaw and the European Commission aimed at ending protests by Polish truckers which are reducing Ukrainian exports.

Meduza: Governor of Russian border region declares state of emergency in anticipation of migrant crisis as Finland announces closure of all but one crossing.

Reuters: Ukraine's national seed bank, one of the world's largest, has been successfully moved from the frontline eastern city of Kharkiv to a safer location, Crop Trust, a non profit organisation said on Thursday.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for Russia to be held to account for its illegal invasion of Ukraine during a virtual meeting of G20 leaders.

France 24: A spate of thefts of rare Russian classics worth millions of euros from libraries across Eastern Europe has left a trail that points all the way to auctions in Russia.

The Guardian: Ukraine has not reached a stalemate in its war with Russia because the west can help Kyiv by “dropping five more queens on the board”, according to an influential historian of eastern Europe.

Euronews: Doppelganger – that’s the name of a vast disinformation campaign orchestrated by Russia to undermine Ukraine by spreading false narratives. But it has now moved onto a new target: the Israel-Hamas war.

BBC News: A key political ally of Putin has adopted a child seized from a Ukrainian children's home, according to documents uncovered by BBC's Panorama. Sergey Mironov, the 70-year-old leader of a Russian political party, is named on the adoption record of a two-year-old girl who was taken in 2022 by a woman he is now married to. Records show the girl's identity was changed in Russia.

worth mentioning

Cannibal released from Russian prison to fight in Ukraine

Russia's Gazprom plans investment cut as exports drop

NYT: The certainties of a Putin election meet the uncertainties of war

Belarusian citizens now required to get permission before leaving country to take up permanent residence abroad

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