Author: Steven Sahiounie

By: Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Since the outbreak of military operations in Ukraine, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has encouraged Russian exports to be paid for in rubles. The process of buying rubles in a big enough quantity to make a large order for wheat, for example, is difficult. US sanctions make a direct order of Russian wheat dangerous for importers. There is a wheat importer in Egypt who is willing to buy Russian wheat in rubles, but has found a way to avoid sanctions by ordering from an Indian exporter.Russia is on track to grow 76 million…

Regardless of the onset of the 2014 restrictions, many spheres of the country’s sanctions-affected economy have come a long way, advancing by leaps and bounds, the Russian President underscored Russia is not going to seal itself off from the rest of the world and it is ready to cooperate with all its partners who wish to do so, Russian President Vladimir Putin maintained. “We are not going to seal ourselves off. In today’s world, it is completely impossible to fully isolate anyone, and totally impossible [to isolate] such an enormous country like Russia. Therefore, we will work with those of…

On April 11, the video showing the Russian tank firing at close range at a group of soldiers was shared online. The footage raised a lot of questions and was used by Ukrainian propaganda. Ukrainian media immediately claimed that the Russian tank killed a group of Russian soldiers. LINK A new video from the spot leaves no doubts. The victims were Ukrainian soldiers. It is still unclear if the Russian crew hit a group of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, or the crew of Ukrainian soldiers on a captured Russian tank hit a BMP with a Russian V sign on the road, killing…

In the Luhansk direction, the trap around Severodonetsk is gradually shrinking. The control zone of LPR forces has expanded on the southern outskirts of Rubezhnoe and to the west of Borovskoye. The offensive in the Novoshtokovskoye-Horskoye direction is developing. In Popasnaya, LPR troops are slowly advancing through the streets of the town. However, the major assault was likely repelled by the AFU, and LPR forces reportedly secured the Eastern outskirts of the town. On April 12, Russian artillery units inflicted fire strikes on six strongholds of units of the 24th Ukrainian separate mechanized brigade in the area of Popasnaya. As…

The purported massacre blamed on Russian troops is as “fake” as past “chemical attacks” in Syria, the president has said Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed accusations that Russian troops are responsible for killing civilians in Kiev’s suburb of Bucha, labeling the case as fake. The president made the remarks during a joint press conference with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday. “I’ve been talking to colleagues from Western countries, often, up until now. And when they say ‘Bucha’ to me, I ask them: ‘Have you ever been to Raqqa? Have you seen how this Syrian city was completely…

Moscow said on Monday that the United States and Britain were helping Ukraine prepare fake claims about the alleged persecution of civilians in Ukraine to feed to international media in an attempt to smear Russia. Since Russian troops withdrew from towns and villages around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Ukrainian troops have been showing journalists corpses of what they say are civilians killed by Russian forces, destroyed houses and burnt-out cars. The West says the dead civilians are evidence of war crimes. Reuters reporters saw dead bodies in the town of Bucha but could not independently verify who was responsible for…

On April 10, the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky ordered to attack the territory of Russian Federation. The video above shows the commander of the AFU unit setting the task to his subordinates to attack the territory of the Russian Federation, referring to the decree of the President of Ukraine Zelensky. The commander of the unit specifies the task for his fighters to advance to the territory of the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, if possible. I report to the personnel the decree of the President of Ukraine. The approval of the decision of the General Staff of the…

The move has spurred fears of an arms buildup by “Russian ally” amid the Ukraine crisis A Chinese official confirmed on Monday that Beijing had made a delivery of military equipment to Serbia under a longstanding partnership with the Balkan nation, but the transfer has reportedly rattled nerves in the West as media outlets warned of an “arms buildup” by a “Russian ally” amid the Ukraine crisis. Six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed in Belgrade on Saturday to deliver their cargoes. The delivery was routine under a cooperation plan between the countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Monday.…

High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrel visited Ukraine on April 8. He was accompanied by the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Josep Borrell spoke about the EU’s intentions to continue supporting Ukraine, first of all, economically. He also called on European countries and the community in general to strengthen sanctions against Russia, especially to focus on the energy sector. The USA voiced support for this initiative and continued arms supplies to Ukraine. Josep Borrell visited Kyiv and stated on the social media that “this war must be won on the battlefield”. Moreover, it was…

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces fought a battle in the Tobolsky district of Kharkiv province, where Ukrainian forces surrendered and abandoned new tanks with full ammunition on the battlefield. The commander of the tank division that participated in the battle said “They had new tanks that were taken out of the warehouses with full ammunition… the Ukrainian forces surrender just because they see us, our tanks and our equipment… They don’t want to fight us .” The commander indicated that his division’s mission was limited to establish control over nearby residential gatherings and securing a passageway for…