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Morning Headlines
AP News: The foreign ministers of Russia and North Korea met Thursday in Pyongyang for talks expected to focus on how to boost their military ties, days after the United States accused the North of sending fresh shipments of munitions to Russia to support its war efforts in Ukraine.
The Guardian: A Russian-American journalist working for Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty has been detained in Russia and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, according to her employer and a journalist watchdog group.
The Insider: Satellite images of the aftermath of a Ukrainian strike by U.S. ATACMS missiles on an airfield in Russia-controlled Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia, have been made public. The images show five to seven areas with traces of open burning. Apparently, those used to be Russian helicopters.
ISW: Russian sources expressed pronounced concern about ongoing Ukrainian activity on the east bank of Kherson Oblast and framed these activities as part of a potential larger Ukrainian operation.
Reuters: Russia could miss its 2024 revenue target and be forced to hike business taxes if the rouble proves stronger than expected in the budget and optimistic economic assumptions fall short, analysts warned, as Moscow spends more on its war in Ukraine.
More News
NBC News: President Joe Biden will deliver a prime-time foreign policy speech to the country on Thursday night. The Oval Office address is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and will address the administration's response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Reuters: The images of EU member state Hungary's prime minister shaking hands with Putin were "very, very unpleasant" and defied logic given Budapest's past history with Moscow, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday.
RFE/RL: The number of Russians convicted under the country’s terrorist act has increased eightfold this year, according to the Telegram channel We Can Explain, which cited researchers who studied statistics from the Supreme Court.
Carnegie Endowment: The Sarmat (intercontinental ballistic missile) has been hailed as a game changer, but its development has been so rushed and plagued by delays that Moscow likely doesn’t know its exact capabilities.
Reuters: The United States took a series of steps on Wednesday to signal that Iran's missile program will remain restricted after the expiration of U.N. Security Council sanctions and to curb Iran's drone transfers to Russia.
The Guardian: Russia’s central bank has halted the circulation of a new 1,000 ruble note after Orthodox priests complained that the image of a church dome lacked a cross – even though it does not have one in real life.
Reuters: French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his country's support for Ukraine during a phone call on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The conversation comes amid speculation that Israel's war with Hamas may impact Western powers' support for Ukraine as it fights Russia.
The Moscow Times: Russian courts have convicted a record number of soldiers on charges of sexual violence, murder and other felonies in the first half of 2023, the independent news website Mediazona reported, citing Supreme Court data.
Reuters: The German government on Wednesday proposed steps to speed up the integration of tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees into its labour market, calling on companies to loosen their German language requirements and offer extra training.
The Guardian: Finland has had increased online espionage attempts from Russia since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, security services have said. Supo, the Finnish security and intelligence service, said the country faced various threats from Russia, including cyberattacks and disinformation.
Reuters: Russian attacks overnight and on Wednesday killed at least 10 civilians in Ukraine, while senior Ukrainian military officials said their troops had made some headway in counteroffensive operations in the southern theatre.
The Kyiv Independent: The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) hit a Russian military camp near the Khalino airbase in Russia's Kursk Oblast overnight with at least 18 drone strikes, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing its source within SBU.
Reuters: Rare footage was shown on Wednesday of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing accompanied by officers carrying the so-called nuclear briefcase which can be used to order a nuclear strike.
The Moscow Times: Russian forces have scaled back their offensive on the frontline city of Avdiivka, the Ukrainian military said Wednesday as analysts documented heavy Russian losses in its major push for the Donetsk region stronghold.
Reuters: G7 countries will this week discuss four plans to ban Russian diamonds from G7 markets from Jan. 1, from light-touch self-regulation to strict import measures, laying bare differences that explain why a ban has been so difficult to agree for more than a year, documents showed.
AP News: The lower house of Russia’s parliament on Wednesday gave its final approval to a bill revoking the ratification of a global nuclear test ban treaty, a move Moscow described as putting it on par with the United States.
Bloomberg: A steady stream of ships is hauling grain and metals from Ukraine a month after the first inbound vessel sailed through its new shipping corridor in the Black Sea in defiance of Russian threats.
worth mentioning
Germany builds up LNG import terminals as it seeks to end reliance on Russian gas
Qatar supplies gas to Europe, vying with US to replace Russia supply
Ukrainian court sentences ex-police officers over 2014 Maidan shootings
Kadyrov has made himself indispensable to the Kremlin as the brutal force that ensures Chechnya’s stability
Patriarch Kirill says Russia’s nuclear weapons created ‘by divine providence’ to keep country ‘free and independent’
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