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Morning Headlines
AFP: A "sharp right turn" will sweep European Union elections this year, with populists, eurosceptics and conservatives projected to collectively grab nearly half of the European Parliament's seats. "There is a strong possibility of pro-Russia party representation in the upcoming legislature," the ECFR said, pointing notably to three seats that could go to Bulgarian MEPs sympathetic to the Kremlin.
Reuters: Russian missiles hit Ukraine's two largest cities, killing 18 people, injuring more than 130 and damaging homes and infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said as Moscow's war approaches its third year.
Bloomberg: Russia’s war in Ukraine is intensifying an acute deficit of workers that’s hitting businesses from metal refineries to posh Moscow restaurants and igniting a race to increase salaries that threatens the Kremlin’s ability to replenish the armed forces (archive).
Reuters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the creation of a council to "support entrepreneurship" on Tuesday aimed at bringing business leaders onside in wartime after many expressed outrage at the arrest of a prominent banker.
ISW: Western states reiterated their support for Ukraine and their commitment to the development of Ukraine’s defense industrial base at the 18th Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on January 23.
More News
Reuters: Turkey's parliament ratified Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing the biggest remaining hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delay.
Canada will donate 10 multi-engine boats to Ukraine, valued at $20 million, to assist Ukraine in maritime operations including search and rescue, troop and cargo transport, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Reuters: Germany will send six helicopters to Ukraine out of Germany's military inventory to be delivered from the second quarter of this year, its defence minister Boris Pistorius announced on Tuesday, the first delivery of its kind from Germany.
POLITICO: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Tuesday that “there’s no war in Kyiv,” describing life in Ukraine’s capital as “absolutely normal.” His controversial remarks came the same day Russia attacked the country with 41 missiles, leaving several people dead in Kyiv and Kharkiv, dozens injured, and infrastructure in ruins.
Reuters: Russia's military is carrying out probing attacks with barrages of missiles and drones in an attempt to find weaknesses in Ukraine's military as U.S. funding for security assistance is tied up in Congress, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday.
AFP: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Tuesday that 2024 will be a "critical year" for fighting disinformation from actors such as Russia, as two billion people around the world face elections.
Nasdaq, Reuters: Poland and the Baltic states are calling for import bans on Russian aluminium and liquefied natural gas for the European Union's 13th package of sanctions against Moscow over its Ukraine invasion.
US Treasury: Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. have imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on a Russian hacker over his alleged role in the 2022 attack on the health insurance provider Medibank.
Reuters: A Dutch crime watchdog on Tuesday said it had arrested three people suspected of circumventing sanctions on Russia by being part of an international smuggling network.
Novaya-Europe: A man from Vladivostok, Russia who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for rape and murder in 2022 is back at liberty again just three months after being granted early release from jail to fight in Ukraine.
AFP: Sweden's foreign minister said Tuesday that there was "no reason to negotiate" with Hungary for a ratification of its NATO bid, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited his Swedish counterpart for talks.
POLITICO: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the case for continued international support for Ukraine on Tuesday in his first public remarks since his release from a two-week hospitalization.
Reuters: Russian authorities publicly disputed the efficacy of capital controls on Tuesday, with the central bank swiftly opposing the government's proposal to extend a requirement forcing exporters to convert foreign currency revenues.
The Kyiv Independent: Russia used more North Korean missiles to attack Ukraine in the past few days, and U.S. officials believe they are "proving as accurate as Russia's home-built" weapons, the New York Times reported.
The Moscow Times: Online services at some Swedish government agencies and shops have been disrupted in a ransomware attack believed to have been carried out by a Russian hacker group, IT consultancy Tietoevry said.
Reuters: Lithuania's Defence Council has decided to initiate negotiations to buy Leopard 2 tanks from Germany, Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas told reporters on Tuesday, as the NATO member seeks to build a tank battalion.
Reuters: The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has released a Russian-language video to try to persuade Russian intelligence employees to switch sides and work as double agents for Washington.
Reuters: Italy will use its presidency of the Group of Seven major democracies to challenge growing perceptions that Russia is winning in Ukraine and that the West is tiring of the war, a source familiar with Italy's G7 plans said.
NATO signed on Tuesday a $1.2-billion contract to make tens of thousands of artillery rounds to replenish the dwindling stocks of its member countries as they supply ammunition to Ukraine to help it defeat Russia’s invasion.
The Moscow Times: Moscow plans this year to cut financing for the four Ukrainian regions it partially occupies, the Russian edition of Forbes reported Tuesday, citing budget figures.
worth mentioning
Oscar nomination for ‘20 Days in Mariupol,’ AP’s first, comes as bombs fall on filmmaker’s hometown
Who is Boris Nadezhdin, the presidential hopeful uniting pro-peace Russians?
Chad president heads to Moscow for talks with Putin
Russian regional lawmaker's mandate annulled after his open criticism of Putin
Belarus detains dozens of former political prisoners and relatives of those currently imprisoned
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