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Morning Headlines
Ukrainska Pravda: A Russian attack damaged a high-rise residential building in Odesa on the night of 2-3 September, injuring 17 people, including three children.
Reuters: Russia will close Germany's Goethe-Institut cultural centres, Russian newswires quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Thursday, after Germany blamed Russia for a drone incident at the Leipzig/Halle Airport.
The Insider: “Shielded his comrades with his body”: How Russian propaganda turned a pedophile fugitive into a war hero. Vlasenkov fled to the front to escape police supervision and debt, but was later glorified by the Kremlin.
More News
RSF: Most generative artificial intelligence chatbots give users access to content from Russian state media outlets sanctioned by the European Union, according to a recent investigation by Reporters Without Borders.
Politico: The fire at a Polish drone factory supplying weapons to Ukraine was "deliberate arson," and Russia is likely behind the attack, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a cabinet meeting Wednesday.
Reuters: Norway has seized a Russian ship in the Arctic to enforce a $4.22 billion compensation claim won by Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz over Moscow's seizure of its assets when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, officials said late on Wednesday.
Euractiv: The EU is to move quickly on new restrictions on Russian tourist visas after reports that a Leipzig/Halle airport drone bomb attack suspect entered Europe on Schengen travel documents issued in Italy.
Reuters: European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Wednesday to increase pressure on Russia, including with new sanctions, after an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany that she said showed Moscow's growing "recklessness".
TVP World: German authorities have identified two suspects in connection with an attempted attack by an explosives-laden drone at Leipzig airport, a day after Berlin blamed Russia for the operation, local media reported on Wednesday.
Euronews: Belgium has forcefully pushed back against a new attempt to tap into the Russian Central Bank's immobilised assets to provide additional support to Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent: Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee would not commit to including Ireland's alumina plant, whose products reportedly ended up in Russian weapons in Ukraine, in an upcoming EU sanctions list.
The Insider: The German-Chinese machine tool manufacturer Priminer continued supplying equipment to Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including to companies in Russia’s defense industry, according to a report by Die Zeit.
BBC Sport: The International Equestrian Federation has lifted its ban on Russian athletes and officials after four and a half years.
Reuters: Russia and India, the second-largest importer of Russian oil, have built a functioning payments infrastructure using roubles and rupees, which now account for 96% of bilateral trade, a senior Russian banker said on Wednesday.
Reuters: China's Sinopec Corp is extending its Russian oil buying binge as it locks in higher refining margins, squeezing supplies for smaller independent refiners that face dwindling Iranian shipments due to the U.S. naval blockade.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine's General Staff on Sept. 2 said that Ukrainian forces successfully struck a series of Russian military targets overnight, and confirmed two Russian aircraft losses from previous strikes.
Reuters: Ukraine has urged the International Civil Aviation Organization to ask its members to fully ban operations in Russian airspace, a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned it was "becoming completely unsafe".
RFE/RL: Iran remains the Houthis' main foreign backer, but Russia and China are increasingly drawing scrutiny in Washington over their ties to the Yemeni militant group.
NV: Beyond the white sand beaches, turquoise waters and luxury resorts of the Maldives lies a web of companies helping Russia evade sanctions, WSJ reported.
FIS: Athletes from Russia and Belarus can continue to compete with approved neutral status this season but no symbols of national identity, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation said Wednesday.
Reuters: Britain fined Citibank £4.7 million ($6.35 million) on Wednesday under its Russia sanctions regime, saying that a variety of failings and errors at the U.S. bank's London branch had led to funds being made available to sanctioned individuals.
Kyiv Post: Ukraine’s SBU and HUR say they prevented an FSB-planned attack against a Russian opposition leader visiting Ukraine. The development comes as the Russian Volunteer Corps says it has lost contact with deputy commander Kaplunov, whose disappearance remains officially unconfirmed.
The Kyiv Independent: At least 13 people have been injured after Russian drones struck central Kyiv on the morning of Sept. 2, damaging a university, a residential building, and a medical facility, authorities reported. The strikes come amid the seventh consecutive day of almost uninterrupted Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
worth mentioning
Russia charges children's hospice chief with spreading false war information
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