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James Kilner

0755GMT//Russian refinery capacity falls further; Kremlin seizes snack food producer; opposition leader arrested

FUEL SHORTAGES WORSEN: Russia's oil refining capacity has fallen 38% this year, rather than 20%, because of Ukrainian drone strikes, new estimates said. Reuters reported that Russia lost 17% of its oil refining capacity just in August. (COMMENT: Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian refineries have been one of

0657GMT//Russia to start importing fuel through the Eurasian Economic Union; Kremlin cuts budget to propaganda channels; utilities costs to rise faster than expected

IMPORTING FUEL TO EASE CRISIS: The Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union on Tuesday cancelled import duties on car fuel, diesel, jet fuel and shipping fuel to allow Russia to start buying fuel from abroad to plug shortages. (COMMENT: The Kremlin uses the Eurasian Economic Union to dodge Western sanctions. By dropping

0734GMT//Kremlin complains about Moldova election; carmaker puts staff on 4-day week; roughly 1,000 people join 'civic action' in Moscow

MOLDOVAN ELECTION: The Kremlin criticised Moldova's parliamentary election over the weekend for blocking pro-Russia supporters from voting after the pro-EU government party won a majority. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that "hundreds of thousands of Moldovans" couldn't vote in Russia because "only

0652GMT//Pro-EU party wins Moldova election despite Russian interference; Kremlin propagandist dies; Russian paralympians back in favour

MOLDOVA ELECTION: Maia Sandu's pro-EU party won a parliamentary election in Moldova despite alleged Kremlin vote-buying tactics. With 99.5% of the vote counted, media is reporting that Sandu's Action and Solidarity party has won 50.03%, compared to 24.26% for a pro-Russia bloc. (COMMENT:

0825//Drones close Danish airport; Kremlin extends petrol export ban

DRONES CLOSE DANISH AIRPORT: Drones closed an airport in Denmark for the third time this week on Thursday evening. Aalborg airport in the north of the country was closed around midnight. Some Danish and NATO officials have blamed Russia for the drone flights near the airports but Russia has denied

0734GMT//US-Russia meet at UN Gen. Assembly; Drones close Danish airports; Russian military spending drops

US-RUSSIA MEETING: Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, and Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Their meeting lasted less than an hour. According to the Russian delegation, both sides "exchanged views on resolving the Ukrainian

0745GMT//Russia to increase VAT to pay for war in Ukraine; Trump says Ukraine can win back all of its territory; Russia denies it flew drones at EU airports

VAT INCREASE TO FUND WAR IN UKRAINE: The Kremlin plans to increase VAT in Russia to 22% from 20% to fund its war in Ukraine. The VAT increase will be introduced on Jan. 1 on all goods other than "basic goods" such as bread, dairy products, meat, baby

0745GMT//Kremlin 'bribes' Moldovan voters; Russia begs UN for spare parts for planes; Putin (sort of) offers US a nuclear olive branch

TRASHING MOLDOVAN DEMOCRACY: Police in Moldova said that they have raided 250 sites across the country to stop Russia-backed sabotage plans against parliamentary elections this weekend. Maia Sandu, Moldova's president, accused Russia of sending "hundreds of millions of euros" to "subvert the country's

0715GMT//Vietnam wins revamped Soviet song contest in Moscow; Russian fighter jets breach EU air space; Kremlin tightens Telegram propaganda reach

THE KREMLIN'S EUROVISION: Vietnam on Saturday won a revamped Soviet-era Intervision song contest in Moscow, the Kremlin's answer to Eurovision. Twenty-two countries sent an entry to the contest, mainly pro-Russian allies of the Kremlin from Latin America, Africa, Central Asia, China and the Middle East. The

0635GMT//Longterm Putin ally quits the Kremlin; UK arrests Russian spies; lower interest rats expected

PUTIN ALLY QUITS KREMLIN: Dmitry Kozak, one of Vladimir Putin's closest Kremlin allies and the only one to speak out publicly against the invasion of Ukraine, has quit the Russian government. Kozak was deputy head of the Presidential Administration and is perhaps the only high-ranking Russian government official