NewzIntel.com

Category: Russian Federation

  • MIL-OSI USA: Lawler Leads Bipartisan Group Urging State Department to Enforce Military Assistance Prohibitions on Azerbaijan

    Source: US Congressman Mike Lawler (R, NY-17)

    Washington, D.C. – 3/27/2025… Today, a bipartisan coalition of representatives, led by Reps. Mike Lawler (NY-17), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), and Gabe Amo (RI-01), sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressing for the continued enforcement of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act. Section 907 pauses U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan until Baku stops its ongoing aggression against Armenia, occupation of Armenian territory, and human rights violations, including the detention and abuse of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs). While assistance remains paused at the moment, conditions in Azerbaijan and Armenia necessitate a continuation of this. 

    The letter highlights Azerbaijan’s 2023 military assault on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), which forcibly displaced 120,000 Armenians in an act that is widely recognized as ethnic cleansing. The letter also condemns Azerbaijan’s destruction of ancient Armenian Christian heritage and its deepening ties with Russia and Iran, which run counter to U.S. national security interests.

    “Amid the persistent threat of authoritarian expansionism throughout the region and across the world, it is imperative that the Trump Administration makes clear to governments that undermine U.S. interests that their actions will not be met with impunity – much less material financial support,” wrote the lawmakers. 

    The Armenian Assembly of America praised the effort, stating: “The Assembly welcomes this bipartisan initiative spearheaded by Congressman Lawler. As long as Azerbaijan continues unjustly to hold Christian Armenian hostages and evade accountability for its hostile acts against Armenians, including the violent ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, it is imperative that Section 907 remain firmly in place,” said Mariam Khaloyan, Congressional Relations Director of the Armenian Assembly of America. 

    “The ANCA welcomes this bipartisan Congressional call on Secretary Rubio to enforce Section 907 – ending U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan,” stated Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America. “In the wake of Azerbaijan’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Armenian Christians of Artsakh – amid its ongoing occupation of sovereign Armenian territory and illegal detention of Armenian hostages – we cannot ask U.S. taxpayers to subsidize this oil-rich, violent, and corrupt foreign dictatorship.  We thank Representatives Lawler, Pallone, Bilirakis, and Amo – and each of the Representatives who joined with them – for their moral clarity and strong pro-peace leadership.”

    The letter garnered 60 bipartisan signatures and specifically urges the Secretary to enforce Section 907 and refrain from using waiver authority to send aid to Azerbaijan while the government continues to engage in this malign behavior. This letter also serves as a follow-up to the leading members’ Armenian Protection Act of 2024, which aimed to prevent the Executive Branch from exercising this waiver authority.

    Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and represents New York’s 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties. He was rated the most effective freshman lawmaker in the 118th Congress, 8th overall, surpassing dozens of committee chairs.

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    A copy of the full letter can be found HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz, Frankel, Lawmakers Urge Trump Administration To Reverse Illegal Gutting Of U.S. Agency For Global Media

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz

    Lawmakers: These Actions Are Not Just Illegal And Wasteful, They Run Counter To Our Interests of Promoting Free Expression, Combating Censorship

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, and U.S. Representative Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security and Department of State, led a bicameral letter urging United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Acting CEO Victor Morales and Special Advisor Kari Lake to rescind the Trump administration’s illegal actions to dismantle the agency, terminate grants for several government-funded outlets worldwide, and place Voice of America and other federal staff on administrative leave. In addition to Schatz and Frankel, the letter was signed by Democratic members of the their respective committees including U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), as well as U.S. Representatives Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Norma Torres (D-Calif.), and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.).

    “Congress reaffirmed its commitment to your agency, its mission, and its personnel by funding the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) at $866.9 million in the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025, and expects that each of the entities will continue their unique mission of broadcasting content to audiences around the world,” the lawmakers wrote. “Your decisions to terminate the grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia (RFA) (in addition to withholding funds for the BenarNews service), Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and Open Technology Fund; place on administrative leave Voice of America (VOA), Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Technology, Services, and Innovation, and other federal staff; cancel hundreds of contracts; and pull transmissions from the air violate several provisions in the appropriations bill.”

    The lawmakers continued, “These actions are not just illegal and wasteful, they run counter to our interests. America’s authoritarian adversaries are investing billions in state-backed media, targeting the same countries USAGM entities reach. With an audience of 427 million people speaking more than 60 languages, USAGM networks are a trusted and reliable source of information in the face of state censorship, including in the People’s Republic of China, Iran, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and Afghanistan, and across Eastern Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The technology developed by the Open Technology Fund and used across grantees will leave users who are dependent on their tools to circumvent censorship stranded. Once America loses the trust of these audiences, it will be difficult to get it back.”

    “We respectfully request that you rescind the actions you have taken to date and refrain from any further downsizing or terminations, and that you ensure you are in compliance with your legal requirements, including to consult and notify Congress of any proposed changes and to meet congressional spending directives,” the lawmakers concluded.

    The full text of the letter is below and available here.

    Dear Acting CEO Morales and Ms. Lake:

    You are at the helm of an agency with a critical mission to increase freedom of expression, circumvent censorship, and deliver objective, accurate, and relevant information to hundreds of millions of people worldwide. This mission directly supports U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.

    Given its importance, we write to express our concerns with the decisions you have made in response to the March 14, 2025 Executive Order titled “Executive Order on Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.”

    Congress reaffirmed its commitment to your agency, its mission, and its personnel by funding the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) at $866.9 million in the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025, and expects that each of the entities will continue their unique mission of broadcasting content to audiences around the world. Your decisions to terminate the grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia (RFA) (in addition to withholding funds for the BenarNews service), Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and Open Technology Fund; place on administrative leave Voice of America (VOA), Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Technology, Services, and Innovation, and other federal staff; cancel hundreds of contracts; and pull transmissions from the air violate several provisions in the appropriations bill. This includes sections 7015 and 7063, and the provisions under the United States Agency for Global Media heading, of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024, as carried forward by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025.

    Additionally, the actions you have taken to significantly downsize the agency, including termination of the new building lease and closeout costs, will cost the U.S. taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars.

    These actions are not just illegal and wasteful, they run counter to our interests. America’s authoritarian adversaries are investing billions in state-backed media, targeting the same countries USAGM entities reach. With an audience of 427 million people speaking more than 60 languages, USAGM networks are a trusted and reliable source of information in the face of state censorship, including in the People’s Republic of China, Iran, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and Afghanistan, and across Eastern Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The technology developed by the Open Technology Fund and used across grantees will leave users who are dependent on their tools to circumvent censorship stranded. Once America loses the trust of these audiences, it will be difficult to get it back.

    In 2020, when then-USAGM CEO Michael Pack instituted mass firings, then-Senator Rubio led a bipartisan effort to have such actions reversed. In the letter, Senator Rubio and colleagues stated:

    “We are at a critical moment in history where malign actors including Russia, China, and Iran, are using advanced tools and technology to undermine global democratic norms, spreading disinformation, and severely restricting their own free press to hamper access to independent news for their citizens. As these and other authoritarian regimes further crack down domestically, their citizens turn to outside media as their only trustworthy source of unbiased, accurate news.”

    This is no less true today.

    We are equally troubled that these actions put staff across all of those entities, who have faithfully served the interests of the U.S. government, at risk if they are forced to return to authoritarian countries where they may be subject to harassment, persecution, or arbitrary arrest. The agency appears to have no plan in place to address these risks. Already, 1,300 VOA staff and 75 percent of RFA U.S.-based staff have been put on leave.

    We respectfully request that you rescind the actions you have taken to date and refrain from any further downsizing or terminations, and that you ensure you are in compliance with your legal requirements, including to consult and notify Congress of any proposed changes and to meet congressional spending directives. We request that you respond to this letter no later than April 4, 2025 confirming your intent to do so.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UN Human Rights Council 58: UK Statement for the High Commission on Ukraine

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    UN Human Rights Council 58: UK Statement for the High Commission on Ukraine

    UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue with the High Commission – Oral update on Ukraine. Delivered by the UK’s Human Rights Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders.

    Thank you, Mr President.

    High Commissioner, your update lays bare the toll this war has taken, bringing death, injury and lasting family separation to innocent children of Ukraine.

    It is almost impossible to read your report or listen to your update without shock or dismay: toddlers sexually assaulted, other children summarily executed by Russian troops. Over 600 dead. Thousands forcibly separated and deported to Russia.

    Children in occupied territories are also particularly vulnerable. Multiple reports lay bare the systematic indoctrination and militarisation of children in these areas. Of the 20,000 children reported to have been deported to Russia, only a handful have returned. Forced passportisation and punishment for speaking Ukrainian and studying the Ukrainian school syllabus are widely documented. A callous Russian attempt to erode Ukraine’s future by trying to reshape the identities of its youngest citizens, and wipe out Ukrainian culture, language and identity.

    The Russian state must be held fully accountable for its actions. Ukrainian children are entitled to a childhood in which their rights are safeguarded, and a future which is free from war.

    High Commissioner, your report highlights the worsening mental health of Ukraine’s children.

    What more can we do to support Ukraine with expertise from countries who have experienced similar trauma for children and young people in past conflicts?

    Updates to this page

    Published 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: McConnell Remarks On Accepting Star of Ukraine Award

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) received the Star of Ukraine Award, the U.S. Ukraine Foundation’s highest honor, on March 27, 2025. Below are the Senator’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

    “I am so humbled by this recognition. Clearly, in the selection process, Nadia and Bob McConnell didn’t mind a bit of good old-fashioned nepotism! No, no. The fact that I get to share a name with the longest-standing advocates for Ukraine in Washington is just a very fortunate coincidence. On the other hand, it is not by chance that Ukraine emerged from the Soviet Union onto the long, arduous path toward proud and sovereign democracy. It is not by accident that the Ukrainian people have repeatedly resisted Russian subversion and invasion with their flag planted firmly in the West.

    “From Nadia and Bob’s vision grew an institution that has walked hand-in-hand with our Ukrainian friends at every step of the way. I’m grateful to the entire Foundation team for the essential work you’ve done over the past three decades to help sustain and enrich the U.S.-Ukraine relationship. And I’ve been proud to share your cause.

    “I was proud to stand with freedom-loving people trapped behind the Iron Curtain, and to take up President Reagan’s promise in his message to the Captive Nations: that ‘your struggle is our struggle, your dream is our dream, and someday you, too, will be free.’ I believed then – and believe now – that when Soviet communism crumbled, the West had an interest in helping newly liberated nations like Ukraine find their way. I believed then – and now – that even as NATO fulfilled its founding purpose, the trans-Atlantic alliance would remain the essential cornerstone of the West’s defense.

    “In pursuit of a freer and more stable world, it’s been a privilege to work over the years with so many of you here tonight. But it is also an obligation. So I hope you’ll forgive me for saying things that those in this room already understand…Reiterating principles you already believe in…Acknowledging a reality you already know to be true…But which we cannot fail to impress upon others.

    “Peace is a noble goal. And few deserve it more than the people of Ukraine, who feel the absence of peace most viscerally…When they stand in the rubble of their homes, their schools, and their churches…And when they say goodbye to children or parents bound for the front, some never to return.

    “If there’s anyone who I’ll take at their word when they say they want peace, it’s the people who had peace stolen from them…The nation whose unique identity has led Kremlin totalitarians – time and time again – to starve, subjugate, and try to destroy it.

    “If the past three years of suffering have served any purpose, it has been to remind the West of a truth that Ukraine has known for generations. Peace is a noble goal. But as our friends on the front lines understand in their bones, the price of peace matters. It matters today like it mattered in 1938, when the West took an aggressor at his word and trusted that his aims were modest, that he acted in good faith, and that appeasement would yield ‘peace for our time’.

    “Will the price of peace yet again be fawning Western weakness? Will we entertain Putin’s claim on Russian speakers beyond his borders like the West acquiesced to Hitler’s claim on German speakers?

    “The past three years have shown again how easily aggressors can twist history to suit their whims and provide fig leaves for their apologists, fifth columns, and useful idiots in the West.

    “We’ve seen a neo-Soviet imperialist spin medieval fictions to erase Ukraine’s history while his troops work to erase its modern sovereignty. But real history still offers real lessons. And if we fail to heed them, we only have ourselves to blame.

    “In 1985, when I was very new to the Senate, Margaret Thatcher came to Washington and addressed a joint session of Congress. Her message was clear: ‘Wars are not caused by the build up of weapons. They are caused when an aggressor believes he can achieve his objectives at an acceptable price. The war of 1939 was not caused by an arms race. It sprang from a tyrant’s belief that other countries lacked the means and the will to resist him.’ We know the Iron Lady was right. And we saw her words ring true three years ago.

    “America was in retreat from Afghanistan. Despite Putin’s invasions of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, Europe was still in denial about the urgent requirements of collective security. And a tyrant concluded – rightly – that our deterrence was neither capable nor credible. Of course, what he failed to account for was the unshakeable resolve of Ukraine. For three years now, we’ve watched the Ukrainian military adapt and innovate faster than America and Western allies could hope to, ourselves. Under constant siege, they’ve managed – for one thing – to become world leaders in tactical drones.

    “Ukrainians have seen the future of war…and they’re mastering it. Turning our backs on such capable partners isn’t just immoral. It’s self-defeating. Today – finally – European allies are making strides toward more capable forces of their own. But after three years, America is no more credible in the commitments we make to stand with our allies or defend our own clear interests. And our own capabilities are in decline. The continuing resolution Congress passed earlier this month was only the latest missed opportunity to get serious about restoring American hard power.

    “This war is a reminder that what happens in one region has implications in another… That weakness in the face of one adversary would invite aggression from another even closer to home…That our credibility was not divisible. Allies half a world away in Asia have told us the same – that Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression matters to those who live in China’s shadow. America can’t afford to ignore these lessons. But that’s exactly what some of the President’s advisors are urging him to do.

    “When the President’s envoys trumpet the magnanimity of a thuggish autocrat, they do so under the watchful eyes of his friends in Beijing, Tehran, and Pyongyang. When his representatives in negotiations masquerade as neutral arbiters, or legitimize sham elections, or treat aggressor and victim as morally equivalent, they do so in full view of longtime partners across the globe – some who know the taste of aggression, and some who have good reason to fear its imminent arrival.

    “When American officials court the favor of an adversary at the expense of allies…When they mock our friends to impress an enemy…They reveal their embarrassing naivete.

    “Unless we change course, the outcome we’re headed for today is the one we can least afford: a headline that reads ‘Russia wins, America loses’…An illusory peace that shreds America’s credibility, leaves Ukraine under threat, weakens our alliances, and emboldens our enemies.

    “Back in 1940, FDR warned that ‘no man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it’. But of course, by then, stroking and appeasement had already invited world war. And America was already on its way to spending more than a third of its GDP on fighting and winning it.

    “War is a heck of a lot more expensive than deterrence. After military spending hit 37% of GDP during World War II, it reached 13.8% during Korea, 9.1% during Vietnam, and 6% during the Reagan buildup that sealed the Cold War. The principle behind that build-up has returned as the most popular phrase in Washington today: peace through strength. But too many of those who use it – particularly among the President’s advisors – don’t seem ready to summon the resources and national will it requires. They ought to go back to the wisdom of President Reagan’s friend, Mrs. Thatcher. The rest of her advice to Congress goes like this: ‘Our task is to see that potential aggressors, from whatever quarter, understand plainly that the capacity and the resolve of the West would deny them victory in war and that the price they would pay would be intolerable.’

    “We have a lot of work to do on this front. The ‘resolve of the West’ will require that we actually stand with the West. Instead of mocking European allies and partners, it’ll mean building a stronger trans-Atlantic alliance…And continuing the work championed by another of tonight’s worthy honorees, Jens Stoltenberg.

    “Threatening ‘intolerable costs’ will require credibility. The best way to lose credibility – with allies in Europe and with friends further afield – is to abandon Ukraine as beyond the scope of our interests.

    “Just this week, the director of the CIA told my Senate colleagues that Ukraine and its people have been underestimated, and that they would ‘fight with their bare hands if they have to, if they don’t have terms that are acceptable to an enduring peace.’

    “Imagine, then, what would be possible at the negotiating table if we had given Ukraine the tools it needed on the battlefield when they needed them most. Imagine Ukraine’s leverage today if the West had armed it to the teeth from the get-go. And consider what’s still possible if America chooses today to stand behind our friends…If we committed to helping Ukraine secure a just and enduring peace.

    “I’ll close with an observation the great historian, Bernard Lewis, attributed to a Turkish general. It goes like this: ‘The Americans are dangerous allies. You never know when they are going to turn around and stab themselves in the back.’

    “To cut off Ukraine is to stab ourselves in the back. So is the denigration of allies who have fought and died alongside us. The Americans should be dangerous allies. The kind so dangerous that enemies of democracy, sovereignty, and free commerce wouldn’t dare to doubt our commitments or our resolve.

    “We’ve got a long road ahead. But I’m proud to share it with all of you. Thank you very much.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: US’s new ‘America First’ intelligence approach downplays Russia and ignores climate change

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By David Hastings Dunn, Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham

    The recently appointed US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and other top intelligence officials appeared before the Senate intelligence committee to discuss the US intelligence services’ annual threat assessment (ATA).

    Most of the committee’s time and attention was focused on the revelation by the editor of the Atlantic magazine that he had been inadvertently added to an insecure chat group, in which top security officials discussed detailed plans for an attack on Yemen. Gabbard and her colleagues steadfastly refused to admit that this had been a security breach. It was an unhelpful distraction from the main event, a discussion of the latest ATA report.

    Produced annually, the ATA is a combined assessment by 18 US intelligence agencies, headed up by the Office for National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency, of the major threats to national security in America. The 2025 version is the first of Donald Trump’s second term and reflects Trumpism’s major shift from America’s previous security priorities in three ways.

    First, the assessment gave priority to what it identified as domestic security threats over those posed by foreign adversaries. Second, the report ignored climate change as a critical threat to US security. And third, there was an unprecedented softening of the language in relation to Russia.

    In her opening statement Gabbard identified “cartels, gangs and other transnational criminal organisations” as “what most immediately and directly threatens the United States and the wellbeing of the American people”.

    These threats are closer to home, but they hardly warrant their lead billing – particularly given the way that Trump himself has regularly invoked the threat of “world war three” ever since he started his campaign to return to the White House more than two years ago.

    But what they do indicate is an America increasingly focused on the narrow predilections of its president and his Maga supporters.

    An even more notable omission is the absence of any mention of climate change, either as an existential threat to human life as we know it or as a force multiplier to other threats such as migration, environmental disasters or famine.

    This led to a testy exchange between Gabbard and Senator Angus King, an independent senator from Maine. King asked the director of national intelligence: “Has global climate change been solved? Why is that not in this report? And who made the decision that it should not be in the report when it’s been in every one of the 11 prior reports?” Gabbard replied: “What I focused this annual threat assessment on … are the most extreme and critical direct threats to our national security.”

    This was an unconvincing response, given that the 2025 ATA specifically notes the security impact of melting sea ice in the Arctic. The report also notes increasing cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic and a growing Chinese footprint in the region.

    Russian threat relegated

    But the most notable difference in this year’s ATA concerns Russia. The Trump administration’s new approach to Moscow and the Russian leadership infuses the language and substance of this year’s intelligence report. The 2024 threat assessment led the section on Russia with the assertion that Moscow “seeks to project and defend its interests globally and to undermine the United States and the west”.

    In 2025, the headline finding about the threat from Russia is that the Kremlin’s objective is “to restore Russian strength and security in its near abroad against perceived US and western encroachment”. This, the report said, “has increased the risks of unintended escalation between Russia and Nato”.

    Gone are the references to Russia as “a resilient and capable adversary across a wide range of domains”. Instead, this year’s ATA downplays the actual threat that the Kremlin poses to America’s interests by describing Russia merely as an “enduring potential threat to US power, presence and global interests”.

    The 2025 report also assesses that Russia “has seized the upper hand in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is on a path to accrue greater leverage to press Kyiv and its western backers to negotiate an end to the war that grants Moscow concessions it seeks”. It doesn’t question why that might be the case or how it could be reversed.

    Moreover, it presents the Kremlin’s malign influence activities as aimed at countering threats. This affords them an unprecedented degree of legitimacy and implies that the west poses a threat to Russia. This, of course, has long been a favourite talking point of Vladimir Putin’s.

    Change of policy

    More than just a change in threat assessment, the 2025 ATA doubles down on a change in policy. The report takes as a given that “Russia retains momentum (in) a grinding war of attrition … (which) will lead to a gradual but steady erosion of Kyiv’s position on the battlefield, regardless of any US or allied attempts to impose new and greater costs on Moscow.”

    The inevitable conclusion is that the US should not pressure Russia to halt its illegal and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. Rather Washington’s approach to security should accommodate the Kremlin’s ever multiplying conditions for a ceasefire.

    The report’s language on China is less ambiguous. It describes Beijing as “the most comprehensive and robust military threat to US national security” and as likely to “continue to expand its coercive and subversive malign influence activities to weaken the United States internally and globally”.

    The report also notes that Beijing is critical to the alignment of all four major state actors that pose threats to the US: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

    But China, and the other state adversaries, still take second place in America’s national security thinking to accommodate the administration’s inwardly focused “America First” mindset. This is not merely an indication of the isolationist tendencies in the foreign policy approach of Trumpism. It’s a deliberate abdication of US global leadership.

    Trump and his team may believe that this will make America more secure – and the 2025 threat assessment is framed in a way that justifies such an approach. But it fails to provide any credible evidence that it might succeed.

    David Hastings Dunn has previously received funding from the ESRC, the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the Open Democracy Foundation and has previously been both a NATO and a Fulbright Fellow.

    Stefan Wolff is a past recipient of grant funding from the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, the United States Institute of Peace, the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the British Academy, the NATO Science for Peace Programme, the EU Framework Programmes 6 and 7 and Horizon 2020, as well as the EU’s Jean Monnet Programme. He is a Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Political Studies Association of the UK and a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

    – ref. US’s new ‘America First’ intelligence approach downplays Russia and ignores climate change – https://theconversation.com/uss-new-america-first-intelligence-approach-downplays-russia-and-ignores-climate-change-253154

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Video: 4th Ukraine meeting in Paris: 3 takeaways from President Ursula von der Leyen

    Source: European Commission (video statements)

    Three takeaways form the 4th Ukraine meeting in Paris:
    1) In the short term, the need to step up support for Ukraine military and financially wise.
    2) Sanctions on Russia must stay in place until a just and lasting peace is agreed upon.
    3) A long term support for Ukraine requires the Readiness 2030 plan to boost the European Defence posture.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RuihSLe0EA

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Banning face coverings, expanding facial recognition – how the UK government and police are eroding protest rights

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daragh Murray, Senior Lecturer in International Human Rights Law at Queen Mary University of London, Queen Mary University of London

    Adam Rhodes UK/Shutterstock

    It’s a dangerous time for protest rights in the UK. The government has introduced a bill that would make it a criminal offence to conceal your identity at a protest.

    The crime and policing bill establishes an offence if a person conceals their identity within a specifically designated area. That is, an area where the police believe that a protest is taking place, or is likely to take place, and that involves, or might involve, the “commission of offences” (people breaking the law).

    These powers are preemptive and vague – how is the “likelihood” of a protest or offences determined? What specific “offences” does the bill refer to? What safeguards exist? Ultimately, the bill does not appear to place any real limits on the degree of discretion extended to the police.

    The passage of this bill would have significant implications for the right to anonymity in public places. It is unparalleled among liberal democratic states, bringing UK practice into line with Russia, Hungary and China.

    Under existing public order law, police already have the power to direct people to remove face coverings. The police justify these new powers on the basis that “individuals may follow the initial direction of the police officer to remove their face covering, but … move … and redeploy the face covering shortly afterwards.”

    The bill continues the previous government’s attempts to erode the right to protest. It’s clear that the motivation for these laws is not concern for public safety, but a desire to significantly extend surveillance powers.



    Read more:
    Policing bill is now law: how your right to protest has changed

    Facial recognition

    Why is a ban on face coverings being introduced now? No significant new challenges to the policing of protest have emerged in recent decades. The difference now, however, is that facial recognition has recently become a viable policing technology.

    As our forthcoming book details, facial recognition technology has rapidly transformed police surveillance capabilities, with profound effects on human rights, the formation of suspicion and on interactions between police and citizens.

    Retrospective facial recognition (the use of facial recognition on recorded materials) is now used by every police force in the UK, and has been, in some cases, for more than a decade. This expansion occurred under the radar and without public debate. Its extent was only revealed through investigative journalism.

    Live facial recognition, which involves real-time identity checks, is also expanding. South Wales Police recently deployed this technology across Cardiff’s pedestrian areas. And London’s Metropolitan Police are planning to install the first permanent live facial recognition cameras in the capital.

    Being identified by police was once only a possibility, now it is a near certainty. The only rules currently governing the police’s use of facial recognition are developed by police forces themselves.

    London’s Met police have used live facial recognition at specific events and protests.
    Andy Soloman/Shutterstock

    In recognition of the dangers posed by such surveillance, we were recently involved in developing, with the UN, a model protocol for law enforcement. It sets out practical guidance that all states should follow when policing protest, making clear that efforts to preserve one’s anonymity should not be treated as suspicious.

    It explicitly prohibits the use of remote biometric technology, like facial recognition or retina scanning, to identify protesters during peaceful demonstrations – something we argue is inconsistent with police’s obligation to facilitate peaceful protest. This protocol was unanimously adopted by the 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council.

    Why the right to anonymity matters

    The right to privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are central to the health of a democratic society. This includes the ability to participate anonymously in protests.

    But these rights are not absolute. This means that they can be limited – including in the interests of public safety or the prevention of crime and disorder – if doing so can be considered “necessary in a democratic society”. Given the importance of protest to democratic life, the threshold is high.

    The purpose of protest is to disrupt. The fights for women’s right to vote, trade union recognition and racial equality are all examples where a degree of disruption and disorder has been an intrinsic part of political change. Human rights law requires that public authorities show a certain degree of tolerance in this regard.

    To this end, human rights case law recognises that, no matter how shocking or “unacceptable”, any restrictions on freedom of expression and of assembly – other than in cases of incitement to violence, hate speech, or the rejection of democratic principles – risk undermining democracy itself.

    There is strong research evidence that surveillance of protesters cultivates chilling effects, whereby individuals change their otherwise normal behaviour due to the fear of surveillance. As we explain, this generates compound human rights harms that may fundamentally undermine the ability of citizens to challenge the status quo.

    With this proposed law, the UK is moving out of line with other democratic states and closer into step with Russia and China. Without changes, this bill risks transforming protests into surveillance opportunities.

    Daragh Murray receives funding from UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, Grant Number: MR/T042133/2.

    Pete Fussey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Banning face coverings, expanding facial recognition – how the UK government and police are eroding protest rights – https://theconversation.com/banning-face-coverings-expanding-facial-recognition-how-the-uk-government-and-police-are-eroding-protest-rights-252976

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Marat Khusnullin: Monolith of the Bolshoi Theatre branch in Kaliningrad is 100% ready

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    In Sevastopol, on Cape Khrustalny, the installation of the main metal structures of the opera and ballet theater has been completed.

    In Kaliningrad, the construction of the supporting frame of the building of the Bolshoi Theatre branch on Oktyabrsky Island has been successfully completed. This stage has become the most important milestone in the implementation of the cultural and educational complex project. This was reported by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.

    “On the instructions of the President, we are implementing a large-scale project to create cultural, educational and museum complexes in four Russian cities – Vladivostok, Kemerovo, Sevastopol and Kaliningrad. These unique objects, designed by leading architects and designers of international level, are real world-class cultural centers. They will include the best theaters, museums, concert halls and creative universities. The scale of the complexes is impressive – the total area exceeds 600 thousand square meters, which allows for up to 30 thousand visitors at a time. In particular, a branch of the Bolshoi Theater is being built in Kaliningrad, which has already celebrated its 249th anniversary. At the new facility in the cluster, the construction of the load-bearing monolith of the building has been completed, the façade is 94% ready,” said Marat Khusnullin.

    The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the new theater has an original form, repeating the ballet rotation. The building is distinguished by a unique console 80 m long and 50 m high. Workers are currently working on the interior decoration of the premises and laying engineering systems.

    The building will include three functional zones – a public space, a stage complex, and utility rooms. Two auditoriums will provide a capacity of 950 and 300 seats, respectively.

    Within the framework of the project, which is being implemented as part of a large-scale cultural and educational complex, all work on the installation of reinforced concrete structures and the assembly of metal structures has been completed. The total volume of concrete laid was about 46 thousand cubic meters, and the mass of the assembled metal structures reached more than 6.2 thousand tons.

    “We have completed the largest and most extensive stage of creating the building’s load-bearing monolith. Currently, we are creating more than 10 types of life support systems for the building inside the building, the area of which is almost 36 thousand square meters. Considering that they are all laid along different routes and intersect with each other, we can confidently say that the stage of installing utility networks is no less responsible and complex. We are also continuing work on installing the upper mechanization of the large and small auditoriums. In order to maintain the planned schedules, we work seven days a week, 24/7,” said Dmitry Rzhannikov, CEO of STG-Zapad.

    The construction of a cultural and educational complex in Kaliningrad is part of a large-scale federal project to create four new cultural centers in Russia, initiated by President Vladimir Putin in 2018. The project is aimed at developing the cultural infrastructure of the regions and improving the quality of life of the population.

    In addition, as part of the construction of cultural clusters in Sevastopol, the most important stage of the construction of the opera and ballet theater was successfully completed on Mys Khrustalny – the installation of the main metal structures was completed. As part of the work, the builders completed the unwinding – removed the safety supports from the canopy and the hovering pedestrian console.

    It took specialists two years to install more than 15 thousand tons of metal. The project’s special feature is that each element of the metal structure is unique and not repeated. The technical characteristics of the hovering console are also impressive – it can withstand a load twice its own weight.

    The innovative nature of the project is supported by the use of modern bridge-building technologies – the entire building is equipped with Russian hinged supports, which ensure the stability of the roof and compensate for possible structural movements.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 03/28/2025, 14-24 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the security RU000A107PU5 (RZhD 1P-30R) were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    03/28/2025

    14:24

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on March 28, 2025, 14-24 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 109.76) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1222.98 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 27.5%) of the security RU000A107PU5 (RZhD 1P-30R) were changed.

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    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.M.M.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Alexey Overchuk spoke in a video message at the plenary session of the International Economic Forum of the CIS Member States

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk spoke at the plenary session of the International Economic Forum of the CIS Member States “New Impetus for the Development of the Greater Eurasian Partnership” held in Moscow.

    From the transcript:

    A. Overchuk: Good afternoon, dear colleagues!

    Alexey Overchuk’s speech in the format of a video address at the plenary session of the International Economic Forum of the CIS Member States “New Impetus for the Development of the Greater Eurasian Partnership”

    15 hours ago

    Thank you very much for the opportunity to share my thoughts on the development of the Greater Eurasian Partnership. The initiative to create the GEP was put forward by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin in his Address to the Federal Assembly back in 2015. Everything that has happened in the world over the past 10 years convinces us that there is no alternative to this path.

    We are witnessing a change in the world order around us. This transformation is based on a set of factors that have caused new problems and contradictions to emerge and have exacerbated old conflicts. As a rule, the underlying cause of any conflicts that humanity has faced in its history is always access to resources, including food, energy, raw materials, labor, and markets.

    Every time history brought productive forces to a new level of development, humanity had a need for new resources. As a rule, this led to conflicts related to redistribution.

    The modern transformation affects issues of food and energy security, as well as new technologies, the implementation of which requires intensive use of critical raw materials and rare earth elements. Their supply is quite limited, and therefore control over them is critically important for the implementation of a new technological turn and maintaining or acquiring leadership positions in the world.

    The solution to the objective problems of our time requires approaches based on the mutual desire to build mutually beneficial relations and cooperation between sovereign states in the interests of the common good, well-being and security of peoples.

    In this context, the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to form the Greater Eurasian Partnership is particularly relevant. It is designed to prevent the segmentation of international contacts, their disintegration into disparate blocks and structures, which reduces the overall efficiency of economic activity. The BEP will create a reliable material basis for ensuring sustainable economic growth – a seamless transport and logistics system, a self-sufficient payment architecture, a multilateral platform for innovative cooperation, a wide network of economic corridors.

    The Russian leadership calls for the formation of a contour of equal and indivisible security, mutually beneficial, equitable cooperation and prosperity on the Eurasian continent in the foreseeable future. A special role in the new Eurasian system of security and development is given to issues of the economy, social well-being, integration and mutually beneficial cooperation, solving such problems as overcoming poverty, inequality, climate, ecology, developing mechanisms to respond to the threats of a pandemic and crises in the global economy.

    The Eurasian centers of the multipolar world are based on integration projects, which, as a rule, are formed around large sovereign economies or geographic regions. In the post-Soviet space, integration is of a multi-level nature, which reflects a respectful attitude towards the readiness of individual countries to deepen bilateral and multilateral ties, as well as to participate in the creation of supranational regulatory instruments and the assumption of corresponding obligations. Here we are talking about the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the Eurasian Economic Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

    Other integration projects taking shape around major economies and geographic regions of Eurasia include China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Organization of Turkic States.

    In turn, the sovereign states of Eurasia participate in such system-forming structures as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as in BRICS and APEC, which go beyond the geography of Eurasia. It is obvious that these associations have the potential to develop into international platforms where joint decisions will be developed that affect the interests of integration entities formed around the large economies and geographic centers of Eurasia, and interaction with the countries of the global South and the Pacific Ocean basin will be carried out.

    The result of the consolidation of efforts of all participating states and integration entities will be the Greater Eurasian Partnership, which in its essence will be an integration of integrations, giving impetus to sustainable development, socio-economic progress, the development and application of new technologies, the improvement of transport and logistics connectivity, as well as the strengthening of cultural and other ties between the peoples of Eurasia.

    The implementation of this vision will require the convergence of integration projects based on the harmonization of regulatory requirements for financial markets, the conduct of fair multilateral trade and investment, the development of industrial cooperation and the formation of sustainable international value chains, the strengthening of the common contractual framework in matters of food and energy security, environmental protection, as well as the coordination of technological, information and communication, infrastructure and cultural development in Eurasia.

    The construction of the BEP must be carried out in compliance with the principles of international law, respect for interests, consideration of regional and cultural characteristics and levels of development of individual participants, as well as decision-making based on consensus. This is the spirit that we are able to maintain within the Union State, the EAEU and the CIS, so these associations can become an example for developing the mechanisms of the BEP.

    The CIS experience and its active involvement in the “integration of integrations” project are necessary for the successful development of Greater Eurasia. After all, within the Commonwealth, a solid regulatory framework and effective tools for the development of historically established trade, economic and humanitarian ties have been created. These developments can be applied throughout the Eurasian continent.

    It is important that the association is in excellent shape, as evidenced by economic indicators. According to the CIS Statistical Committee, the growth of industrial production for January-October 2024 was 4.2%, the volume of freight traffic – 7.4%, retail turnover – 7.7%. The Commonwealth’s GDP for three quarters of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 increased by 4.4%. Such successes were largely achieved thanks to the development of industrial cooperation, movement along the path of strengthening technological sovereignty based on science and innovation.

    Our trade and economic relations within the Eurasian Economic Union are built in the logic of the values and ideas underlying the Greater Eurasia project. The EAEU’s commitment to unlocking its potential as one of the economic centers of the BEP is enshrined in the Declaration on the Further Development of Economic Processes within the EAEU until 2030 and for the Period up to 2045, “The Eurasian Economic Path”, adopted following the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg on December 25, 2023. In this strategic document, the heads of state of the EAEU declared their desire to achieve by 2045 the transformation of the EAEU into a self-sufficient, harmoniously developed and attractive macro-region for all countries of the world, possessing economic, technological and intellectual leadership and maintaining a high level of well-being of the population of the member states.

    Work in this area has a positive effect on economic indicators. Thus, in 2024, the EAEU GDP increased by 4.2%. For the EU, for example, the similar indicator, according to preliminary estimates, was only 0.8%.

    The experience of the EAEU can also be a good support for building a space of well-being and prosperity in Eurasia. In particular, the elimination of non-tariff barriers in the EAEU by switching to uniform mandatory requirements for EAEU goods (uniform SPS requirements, uniform technical regulations), as well as the elimination of customs control annually for the period 2015-2023, provided a sustainable increase in the growth rate of the EAEU GDP in the amount of 14.5 billion US dollars. Mutual trade of the EAEU due to these measures was on average 24% higher.

    The EAEU has already achieved significant success in the international arena. The dialogue is being strengthened based on memorandums of cooperation. Important steps in terms of forming the BEP have already been made based on such agreements with the secretariats of the SCO and ASEAN.

    Free trade agreements have been concluded with Vietnam, Serbia and Iran. The latter has recently also become an observer state in the EAEU. The coordination of FTA agreements with a number of other countries is in the final stage. According to our estimates, entering into new FTA agreements could expand the preferential sales market for the union from the current 480 million people to almost 880 million people.

    Dialogue with China is actively developing, with which the EAEU has created a solid basis for interaction in the form of two existing non-preferential trade agreements that underlie the integration of economic processes within the union with the One Belt, One Road initiative.

    The joint search for new solutions and synchronization of the development of integration projects, as well as infrastructure initiatives, work for the benefit of regional interconnectedness, increase the weight of our economies, and form the basis on which a new architecture of global economic relations in Eurasia and beyond can be built.

    Thank you!

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Alexander Novak held a meeting on improving the investment climate in the North Caucasus Federal District

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak held a meeting at the Government Coordination Center on improving the investment climate in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that are part of the North Caucasus Federal District. The meeting was attended by Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities Irek Fayzullin, Minister of Energy Sergey Tsivilev, representatives of federal executive bodies, heads and representatives of constituent entities that are part of the North Caucasus Federal District, representatives of development institutions, investment banks, as well as PJSC Gazprom, OOO Gazprom Mezhregiongaz, PJSC Rosseti, JSC Kavkaz.RF, JSC Rosagroleasing, etc.

     

    “One of the tasks set by the President is to achieve the national goal of a sustainable, dynamic economy. A national project has been formed, the goals of which also include ensuring investment growth by 60% by 2030. Of course, the regions will play a decisive role in solving this problem: the quality of work with businesses, the effectiveness of investments and the speed of project implementation depend on them. Let me remind you that, based on the results of last year, very good results were achieved in terms of investment growth rates – plus 7.4%, in 2023 the growth was 9.8%. In total, this is almost 20% of accumulated growth,” said Alexander Novak, opening the meeting.

    The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the significant role of investment activity in the North Caucasus in achieving the national goal of investment growth. “The Federal District demonstrates historical leadership in core non-resource industries, including light industry and the agricultural sector. The infrastructure and transport and logistics potential of the district serve as the basis for reorienting the country’s foreign economic activity from the West to the South. In the North Caucasus Federal District, as in other regions of Russia, private investment plays a key role – it should become the main driver of growth. The priority task is to create favorable conditions through various formats of investor support, including risk sharing, access to long-term money and improvement of the administrative and legal environment,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

    He named three main areas of work in the North Caucasus Federal District.

    The first is the creation of institutional conditions at the local level by introducing a regional investment standard. This work needs to be expanded from the federal and regional to municipal levels. The next stage should be a systemic restart of work to improve the investment climate. To this end, on the instructions of the President, the Ministry of Economic Development, together with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, is forming a national business model.

    The second direction is related to the replication and fine-tuning of federal support instruments. The project financing factory, mechanisms of agreements on the protection and encouragement of capital investments are in demand. An important instrument for attracting investment to the regions are special economic zones and PPP mechanisms, infrastructure instruments and targeted support measures.

    The third block of work should be aimed at increasing the investment attractiveness of the subjects of the North Caucasus Federal District – solving issues related to the specifics of the regions. In this direction, it is necessary to solve the problems of increasing the activity of credit institutions, as well as trust in investors implementing projects in the Caucasus. Regions need to work more actively to bring business out of the shadows.

    Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and Minister of Energy Sergey Tsivilev reported on the achievements in the field of breakthrough investment projects in the Caucasus and on the progress of the implementation of programs for the modernization of the energy infrastructure of the North Caucasus Federal District. In order to ensure sufficient power supply capacity for the population and industry, the task was set to combat illegal cryptocurrency mining in the region.

    According to the Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin, the collection of payments for housing and utilities services in the North Caucasus Federal District remains low: in a number of regions it does not exceed 43%. He also paid special attention to the problems of accidents in heating networks, the need to update the water disposal infrastructure and compliance with the deadlines and quality of construction of infrastructure facilities in the housing and utilities sector, etc.

    Following the meeting, Alexander Novak instructed the authorities of the North Caucasus Federal District regions to actively engage in targeted work with businesses, inform entrepreneurs and SMEs about available opportunities, including new government support measures. The Agency for Strategic Initiatives, together with the Ministry of Economic Development, was instructed to introduce indicators for assessing the use of government support measures in the North Caucasus Federal District, as well as to work out the launch of new programs together with development institutions and investment banks, taking into account the existing experience of applying support measures for breakthrough investment projects.

    The Deputy Prime Minister paid special attention to the need to bring the collection rates for energy supply, gas and housing and communal services to the level of the Russian average. To this end, he instructed to implement the best available practices and tools for improving payment discipline used in the leading regions of Russia, including those subjects of the North Caucasus Federal District where the collection rate exceeds 98%. The regions should exchange information with each other on the use of such practices. Gazprom, together with regional authorities, was instructed to consolidate abandoned networks in order to minimize gas losses in them, and to monitor work to prevent emergency situations. Rosseti will have to analyze the implementation of the Rosseti North Caucasus program of measures to reduce losses in power grids, as well as analyze their investment program to determine measures to develop regional energy systems.

    At the end of the meeting, Alexander Novak invited representatives of federal and regional executive authorities, as well as representatives of development institutions, banks and businesses to take part in the Caucasus Investment Forum, which will be held in the city of Mineralnye Vody in Stavropol Krai on May 25–27. The Deputy Prime Minister called the forum an important discussion platform that helps increase the investment attractiveness of the region. “Last year, 100 agreements worth more than 106 billion rubles were signed at the forum, including 7 agreements with foreign companies. Therefore, I count on your active participation in the forum, as well as companies and partners from your regions,” said Alexander Novak.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: People with disabilities actively use remote access to financial services: Bank of Russia study

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Central Bank of Russia –

    Almost 40% of respondents use it constantly, more than half are ready to stop visiting branches of financial institutions.

    INregulator surveys people with vision or hearing loss and musculoskeletal disorders took part. Most of them noted that remote access to the account has become easier and more convenient. However, visually impaired people still find it difficult to use websites and mobile applications rich in graphic and interactive elements, since they are not always well deciphered by special adaptive programs.

    Let us recall that the Bank of Russia recommended All financial institutions should adapt and actively use their remote channels to provide financial and support services to people with disabilities, provide them with consultations with an employee, not a chatbot, and identify and take into account their special needs in advance.

    In general, such clients have begun to use bank accounts and open deposits more often, and to take out insurance more actively, including voluntary types of insurance, but still much less than other citizens. The main limitations are the complexity of the conditions and the high cost of insurance products for this category of citizens.

    The Bank of Russia plans to develop recommendations for financial institutions on installing self-service devices with touch panels, as well as improving the services of financial platforms. These and other measures will help improve accessibility for people with various forms of disabilities and are provided The main directions for increasing the availability of financial services in the Russian Federation for the period 2025–2027.

    Preview photo: Timur Malazoniia / Shutterstock / Fotodom

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: On March 28, 2025, the deposit auction of ANO “ARSG NO” will take place

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    Parameters: Date of the deposit auction 03/28/2025. Placement currency RUB. Maximum amount of funds placed (in the placement currency) 65,000,000.00 Placement term, days 122. Date of depositing funds 03/31/2025. Date of return of funds 07/31/2025. Minimum placement interest rate, % per annum 19.00 Terms of the conclusion, urgent or special (Urgent). Minimum amount of funds placed for one application (in the placement currency) 65,000,000.00 Maximum number of applications from one Participant, pcs. 1 Auction form, open or closed (Open).

    The basis of the Agreement is the General Agreement. Schedule (Moscow time). Applications in preliminary mode from 12:00 to 12:10. Applications in competitive mode from 12:10 to 12:20. Setting the cutoff percentage rate or declaring the auction invalid before 12:40.

    Additional terms

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 03/28/2025, 11:49 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the RU000A1008W7 (SeverstalB06) security were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    03/28/2025

    11:49

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on March 28, 2025, 11:49 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 96.93) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1039.61 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 7.5%) of the RU000A1008W7 (SeverstalB06) security were changed.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: The results of the VI International Arctic Forum “The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue” have been summed up

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    The 6th International Arctic Forum “The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue” was held in Murmansk on March 26–27. The organizer was the Roscongress Foundation with the support of the Russian Government.

    “The International Arctic Forum “The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue” – 2025 was attended by about 1.3 thousand participants and media representatives from 21 countries, as well as about 230 representatives of Russian and foreign businesses from more than 110 companies. The business program included 20 events with the participation of more than 150 speakers. The forum turned out to be truly international and significant. At the plenary session, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin announced a number of fundamental decisions for the socio-economic development of the Arctic. The most important task of the IAF is to discuss current problems that the Government of Russia, federal ministries and regions must jointly solve for the successful operation of enterprises, improving the standard of living of people, supporting the territories as a whole,” emphasized Deputy Prime Minister – Plenipotentiary Representative of the President in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev.

    The IAF has become a platform for international dialogue on issues such as the development of the Northern Sea Route, increasing the investment and entrepreneurial potential of the Arctic zone, as well as environmental issues, humanitarian and cultural cooperation.

    “Right now, the Arctic is becoming a territory of opportunities for the entire country. Given the revision of traditional technological chains, given participation in large-scale Arctic projects, huge prospects are opening up for enterprises across the country and creative, artistic people. The development of the Northern Sea Route as the main transport artery in the Arctic, the construction of new railway approaches to northern ports will also have a multiplier effect for the entire country. Within the framework of the upcoming major international forums, including the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Arctic theme will be taken into account and allocated to a separate block of the business program of events,” said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of Russia, Executive Secretary of the Organizing Committee for the Preparation and Holding of the International Arctic Forum “The Arctic – Territory of Dialogue”.

    One of the central topics of the forum was the discussion of state policy in the Arctic, aimed at the comprehensive development of the Far North and the growth of the well-being of the region’s residents.

    “The mechanisms of state support need to be improved for the accelerated development of the macro-region, the implementation of investment projects, and the improvement of the quality of life of people. Based on the results of the implementation of the first stage of the Arctic development strategy until 2035, proposals will be prepared to update this fundamental document,” said Minister for the Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov at a joint meeting of the State Council commissions on the development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route.

    The forum was held under the motto “Live in the North!” The event brought together representatives of federal and regional authorities, businesses and the expert community.

    “Our strategic plan is “Live in the North!” This is the motto of today’s forum. For us, this is a plan in addition to national projects. Clear, worked out with people, designed, aimed at ensuring investment growth and, of course, increasing people’s incomes and their quality of life,” noted Murmansk Region Governor Andrei Chibis during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the MAF.

    Business program

    The business program of the forum included 20 sessions divided into four thematic blocks: “The Arctic and the NSR: how to win in the competitive struggle of world routes”, “The Arctic and the NSR: a pole for attracting investments”, “The Arctic and the NSR: development of key settlements”, “International cooperation and ecology”. More than 150 speakers took part in the discussions.

    The forum included a joint meeting of the State Council commissions on the development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route, which united five State Council commissions – in the areas of “Northern Sea Route and the Arctic”, “International Cooperation and Export”, “Energy”, “Youth and Children”, and “Efficient Transport System”.

    The session “The Arctic: Bridges of Cooperation between Peoples and States” summed up the results of the VIII International Scientific and Practical Conference “The Universe of the Polar Bear: Effective Cooperation in the Arctic”.

    Also, for the first time, the MAF hosted a special session dedicated to the role of women in the development of northern regions – the “Arctic Living Room”.

    Plenary session

    The key event of the forum was the plenary session with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    “Development of the Russian North, overcoming the challenges of harsh nature, the state’s entry into new promising frontiers – these tasks inspired many generations of our ancestors: sailors and Novgorod merchants of the Middle Ages, Arctic pioneers of the 16th and 17th centuries, industrialists of the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists, polar explorers, engineers, workers of the Soviet Union, teams of companies of modern Russia, which launched large Arctic projects in the early 2000s. And today, the northern vector of development is in the foreground, it is our sovereign, historical choice. And this means that the tasks that we set and solve in the Arctic, the projects that we implement here, must be of an appropriate, historical scale, with an expectation of decades, maybe even centuries. We will do everything to strengthen Russia’s global leadership in the Arctic, and, despite all the current difficulties and complexities, we will ensure the comprehensive development of this region and create a solid foundation for future generations,” the head of state noted.

    Participants

    The forum brought together about 1.3 thousand participants and media representatives from 21 countries, including Russia (Argentina, Great Britain, Venezuela, Vietnam, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Qatar, China, UAE, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Korea, Russia, USA, Serbia, Singapore, Turkey, Finland, France, Switzerland, Japan).

    The forum was attended by Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin, Presidential Adviser and Special Representative of the President for International Cooperation in Transport Igor Levitin, Presidential Aide Alexei Dyumin, Presidential Aide Nikolai Patrushev, and Presidential Adviser Anton Kobyakov.

    The forum was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev and Deputy Prime Minister – Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Northwestern Federal District Alexander Gutsan, Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Siberian Federal District Anatoly Seryshev, Minister for the Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov and Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov.

    The forum participants included seven heads of federal services and agencies and ten heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

    The Chairman of the Committee of Senior Arctic Officials, Norwegian diplomat Morten Höglund, addressed the forum participants with a video message. In addition, the forum site was visited by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea Lee Do-hoon.

    The forum brought together about 230 representatives of Russian and foreign businesses from more than 110 companies.

    ​

    Media

    The forum was attended by 305 media representatives from Russia and nine foreign countries (Great Britain, Venezuela, Vietnam, Germany, Qatar, Serbia, Turkey, Finland, France).

    ​

    Agreements

    Nine agreements were signed at MAF-2025:

    ● PJSC Rosseti North-West, JSC Rosseti Scientific and Technical Center and the Novosibirsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering signed a strategic partnership agreement;

    ● JSC Far East and Arctic Development Corporation signed an agreement on information interaction with the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, as well as with JSC Arsenal on cooperation in the extraction and enrichment of rare metal ores in the Murmansk region within the framework of the Kulyok – Rare Earths project with a total investment volume of 10 billion rubles;

    ● The Federal Agency for Nationalities Affairs and PJSC Mining and Metallurgical Company Norilsk Nickel signed an additional cooperation agreement;

    ● a cooperation agreement was signed between the Government of the Republic of Karelia and Vodohod LLC;

    ● the Ministry of Property Relations of the Murmansk Region and the public-law company Roskadastr signed an agreement on the implementation of the pilot project “Involvement of real estate objects in economic circulation in the Murmansk Region”;

    ● the government of the Murmansk region and the Avito company signed a cooperation agreement;

    ● the government of the Murmansk region, Sberbank of Russia PJSC and the V.A. Almazov National Medical Research Center signed a cooperation agreement;

    ● The Arkhangelsk Region Government and the United Volunteer Center of the Murmansk Region signed an agreement on cooperation in the development of volunteerism and strengthening cooperation in the regions of the Arctic zone, scaling up practices to support the wives of military personnel in the Northern Fleet.

    Sports program

    The sports program included eight events. The Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Northwestern Federal District Alexander Gutsan and the Governor of the Murmansk Region Andrei Chibis took part in the ceremonial event dedicated to the 90th Festival of the North. The program of competitions, which will last until mid-April, included cross-country skiing, biathlon, speed skating and alpine skiing, bandy and others.

    For the forum participants, Arctic team building, exercise in ties, ice floating, alpine skiing and snowboarding, snow fights, as well as an introduction to traditional sports of the peoples of the North were organized.

    The forum included a presentation of the Arctic Mosaic sports, health and strength festival, which will be held annually in different regions of the Arctic zone. Under the auspices of the MAF, the IV All-Russian Arctic Games were held in Salekhard and Labytnangi, the program of which included nine sports.

    The final and largest event of the MAF-2025 sports program will be the 51st Murmansk Ski Marathon. On March 29 and 30, 2.5 thousand athletes will take to the start line of the 25 km and 50 km races at the Dolina Uyuta sports complex. The marathon participants will be Olympic winners and medalists Nikita Kryukov, Alexey Petukhov, Maxim Vylegzhanin and Alexander Bessmertnykh.

    Cultural program

    The cultural program included the opening of the Taste of the Arctic gastrofestival, where a joint team of restaurateurs and chefs from the subjects of the Russian Arctic zone presented a menu of regional cuisine. The Sami Village and the Taste the North ice bar operated on the site. There was also an Arctic crafts fair.

    The Murmansk Regional Museum of Local History offered the forum participants excursions that told about the uniqueness of the Murmansk Region. Thematic exhibitions were timed to coincide with the MAF. Among them was an exhibition of paintings dedicated to the development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route, from the collections of the Murmansk Regional Art Museum.

    There was also a ceremony of donating works of art to the Murmansk Region and the opening of the exhibition “H2O. Art about water and more…”. Seven paintings and three sculptures were donated to the Murmansk Regional Art Museum from the Siyanie Contemporary Art Center and the collections of Vladimir Nekrasov and Andrey Malakhov.

    In addition, forum participants were able to take a tour of the icebreaker Lenin, the world’s first vessel with a nuclear power plant, which provided navigation along the Northern Sea Route for about 30 years. The icebreaker has guided thousands of ships through the Arctic and traveled a total of 654,400 nautical miles. It has now become a calling card of the Murmansk Region and one of the most visited tourist sites in the Kola North.

    The Murmansk Drama Theatre hosted an “Art Cocktail”, during which the audience saw the play “Prologue to the Murmansk Region” and a concert by the Pacific Fleet ensemble.

    On March 30, a creative evening of People’s Artist of Russia Alexander Oleshko “Set the Mood” will take place.

    ​

    Project “Soul of Russia. Arctic”

    As part of the project, seven films were screened in partnership with Roskino, including the films North Pole and Village of Widows, which were dedicated to the Year of Defender of the Fatherland and the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

    Creative meetings “Inspired by the Arctic” were held, during which viewers met with the production designer of the Soyuzmultfilm studio, creator of the animated series “Umka” Anna Popova, director of the film “North Pole” Alexander Kott, scriptwriter and producer of the film “Widows’ Village” Olga Martisova.

    During the children’s program “Arctic Film Vacations” they showed “The Best Episodes of Soyuzmultfilm Series” and “Warm Animation from Soyuzmultfilm”.

    The business program included a session entitled “The Northern Creative Path: A Territory of Business Opportunities,” where the contribution of creative industries to the economic growth of the northern territories, the use of the wealth of national cultural traditions to create unique brands, and other issues were discussed.

    Expert and analytical support

    The Roscongress Foundation’s information and analytical system continued to develop the Summary service, which uses artificial intelligence to obtain brief analytical summaries of discussions with descriptions of key conclusions, problems, and solutions voiced during the discussions.

    Based on the results of the forum, an analytical report “Results of the International Arctic Forum 2025” will be prepared, which will be available in electronic form in the information and analytical system of the Roscongress Foundation roscongress.org.

    Expert and analytical support for the forum was provided by experts representing the country’s leading scientific and educational centers that conduct research on a wide range of topics on the Arctic agenda, including the Murmansk Arctic University, the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, the St. Petersburg State University of Economics, the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, the National Research University Higher School of Economics, the G.P. Luzin Institute of Economic Problems of the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Regional Economic Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, etc.

    Partners

    The co-organizer of the forum is the state corporation Rosatom, the strategic partner is PJSC Rosseti, the strategic scientific partner is the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute, the communications partner is the media holding MAER, the business program partners are VTB Bank, PJSC Novatek, MMC Norilsk Nickel, PhosAgro, and the business partner is VEB.RF.

    The information partners were the TV channel Rossiya 24, MIA Rossiya Segodnya, the TASS information agency, MIC Izvestia, the Vedomosti newspaper, the RT TV channel, the Business FM radio station, Sputnik, the Arguments and Facts newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Mir TV channel, the Komsomolskaya Pravda publishing house, Lenta.ru, Gazeta.Ru, Shkulev Media – Vokrug Sveta, the Federal Press information agency, the Expert magazine, the Regional Russia magazine, Vesti FM, the NEWS.ru portal, the GoArctic portal, the Arktik-TV TV channel, the Murmansk State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, the TV21 TV channel, the Murmansk Herald, the Vecherniy Murmansk newspaper and the Severpost information agency.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 03/28/2025, 13-38 (Moscow time) the values of the lower boundary of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for security RU000A105344 (IADOM 1P20) were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    03/28/2025

    13:38

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC), on March 28, 2025, 13-38 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor (up to 66.46) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 351.18 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 26.25%) of the security RU000A105344 (IADOM 1P20) were changed.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MEEX.K.MO/N88955

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: Europlan shares listing on Moscow Exchange marks one year

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    March 29, 2025 will mark one year since the initial public offering of shares of PJSC Leasing Company Europlan (Leas) on the Moscow Exchange stock market. The company provides legal entities and individuals with a range of services for the acquisition and operation of passenger cars, trucks, commercial vehicles, and special equipment.

    In terms of placement volume – 13.1 billion rubles – Europlan’s IPO became the largest on the Russian equity capital market in 2024.

    The free float rate is 13%.

    The company’s shares are included in the first-level quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and are included in the settlement bases Moscow Exchange Broad Market Index, Moscow Exchange IPO Index and others.

    Bonds of PJSC “LC “Europlan” are also in circulation and available to investors on the Moscow Exchange stock market. Trading in deliverables is conducted on the futures market. futures contracts on the company’s shares.

    PAO LC Europlan is a Russian motor transport leasing company, operating on the market since 1999. Europlan’s leasing partners include about 4,000 automakers and dealerships. The regional network includes 94 offices in different cities of Russia.

    Moscow Exchange is the largest Russian exchange, the only multifunctional platform in Russia for trading shares, bonds, derivatives, currencies, money market instruments and commodities. The Moscow Exchange Group includes a central depository, as well as a clearing center that performs the functions of a central counterparty in the markets, which allows Moscow Exchange to provide clients with a full cycle of trading and post-trading services.

    Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232Pr@moex.kom

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    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N88957

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 03/28/2025, 13:56 (Moscow time) the values of the upper limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the RU000A1008W7 (SeverstalB06) security were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    03/28/2025

    13:56

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on March 28, 2025, 13:56 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 98.32) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1054.12 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 9.0%) of the RU000A1008W7 (SeverstalB06) security were changed.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N88958

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: Four Federal Treasury deposit auctions will take place on 03/28/2025

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    Application selection parameters
    Date of the selection of applications 03/28/2025
    Unique identifier of the application selection 22025077
    Deposit currency rubles
    Type of funds funds of the single treasury account
    Maximum amount of funds placed in bank deposits, million monetary units 1,480,000
    Placement period, in days 4
    Date of deposit 03/28/2025
    Refund date 01.04.2025
    Interest rate for placement of funds (fixed or floating) Fix
    Minimum fixed interest rate for placement of funds, % per annum 20.05
    Basic floating interest rate for placement of funds –
    Minimum spread, % per annum –
    Terms of conclusion of a bank deposit agreement (fixed-term, replenishable or special) Urgent
    Minimum amount of funds placed for one application, million monetary units 1,000
    Maximum number of applications from one credit institution, pcs. 5
    Application selection form (open or closed) Open
    Application selection schedule (Moscow time)
    Venue for the selection of applications PAO Moscow Exchange
    Applications accepted: from 09:30 to 09:40
    Preliminary applications: from 09:30 to 09:35
    Applications in competition mode: from 09:35 to 09:40
    Formation of a consolidated register of applications: from 09:40 to 09:50
    Setting a cut-off percentage rate and/or recognizing the selection of applications as unsuccessful: from 09:40 to 10:00
    Submission of an offer to credit institutions to conclude a bank deposit agreement: from 10:00 to 10:50
    Receiving acceptance of an offer to conclude a bank deposit agreement from credit institutions: from 10:00 to 10:50
    Deposit transfer time In accordance with the requirements of paragraph 63 and paragraph 64 of the Order of the Federal Treasury dated 04/27/2023 No. 10n
    Application selection parameters
    Date of the selection of applications 03/28/2025
    Unique identifier of the application selection 22025078
    Deposit currency rubles
    Type of funds funds of the single treasury account
    Maximum amount of funds placed in bank deposits, million monetary units 100,000
    Placement period, in days 182
    Date of deposit 03/28/2025
    Refund date 09/26/2025
    Interest rate for placement of funds (fixed or floating) Flotting
    Minimum fixed interest rate for placement of funds, % per annum –
    Basic floating interest rate for placement of funds Ruonmds
    Minimum spread, % per annum 0.00
    Terms of conclusion of a bank deposit agreement (fixed-term, replenishable or special) Special
    Minimum amount of funds placed for one application, million monetary units 1,000
    Maximum number of applications from one credit institution, pcs. 5
    Application selection form (open or closed) Closed
    Application selection schedule (Moscow time)
    Venue for the selection of applications PAO Moscow Exchange
    Applications accepted: from 12:00 to 12:10
    Formation of a consolidated register of applications: from 12:10 to 12:20
    Setting a cut-off percentage rate and/or recognizing the selection of applications as unsuccessful: from 12:10 to 12:30
    Submission of an offer to credit institutions to conclude a bank deposit agreement: from 12:30 to 13:20
    Receiving acceptance of an offer to conclude a bank deposit agreement from credit institutions: from 12:30 to 13:20
    Deposit transfer time In accordance with the requirements of paragraph 63 and paragraph 64 of the Order of the Federal Treasury dated 04/27/2023 No. 10n

    RUONmDS = RUONIA – DS, where

    RUONIA – the value of the indicative weighted rate of overnight ruble loans (deposits) RUONIA, expressed in hundredths of a percent, published on the official website of the Bank of Russia on the Internet on the day preceding the day for which interest is accrued. In the absence of a publication of the RUONIA rate value on the day preceding the day for which interest is accrued, the last of the published RUONIA rate values is taken into account.

    DS – discount – a value expressed in hundredths of a percent and rounded (according to the rules of mathematical rounding) to two decimal places, calculated by multiplying the value of the Key Rate of the Bank of Russia by the value of the required reserve ratio for other liabilities of credit institutions for banks with a universal license, non-bank credit institutions (except for long-term ones) in the currency of the Russian Federation, valid on the date for which interest is accrued, and published on the official website of the Bank of Russia on the Internet.

    Application selection parameters
    Date of the selection of applications 03/28/2025
    Unique identifier of the application selection 22025079
    Deposit currency rubles
    Type of funds funds of the single treasury account
    Maximum amount of funds placed in bank deposits, million monetary units 500,000
    Placement period, in days 14
    Date of deposit 03/28/2025
    Refund date 04/11/2025
    Interest rate for placement of funds (fixed or floating) Flotting
    Minimum fixed interest rate for placement of funds, % per annum –
    Basic floating interest rate for placement of funds Ruonmds
    Minimum spread, % per annum 0.00
    Terms of conclusion of a bank deposit agreement (fixed-term, replenishable or special) Urgent
    Minimum amount of funds placed for one application, million monetary units 1,000
    Maximum number of applications from one credit institution, pcs. 5
    Application selection form (open or closed) Open
    Application selection schedule (Moscow time)
    Venue for the selection of applications PAO Moscow Exchange
    Applications accepted: from 16:00 to 16:10
    Preliminary applications: from 16:00 to 16:05
    Applications in competition mode: from 16:05 to 16:10
    Formation of a consolidated register of applications: from 16:10 to 16:20
    Setting a cut-off percentage rate and/or recognizing the selection of applications as unsuccessful: from 16:10 to 16:30
    Submission of an offer to credit institutions to conclude a bank deposit agreement: from 16:30 to 17:20
    Receiving acceptance of an offer to conclude a bank deposit agreement from credit institutions: from 16:30 to 17:20
    Deposit transfer time In accordance with the requirements of paragraph 63 and paragraph 64 of the Order of the Federal Treasury dated 04/27/2023 No. 10n

    RUONmDS = RUONIA – DS, where

    RUONIA – the value of the indicative weighted rate of overnight ruble loans (deposits) RUONIA, expressed in hundredths of a percent, published on the official website of the Bank of Russia on the Internet on the day preceding the day for which interest is accrued. In the absence of a publication of the RUONIA rate value on the day preceding the day for which interest is accrued, the last of the published RUONIA rate values is taken into account.

    DS – discount – a value expressed in hundredths of a percent and rounded (according to the rules of mathematical rounding) to two decimal places, calculated by multiplying the value of the Key Rate of the Bank of Russia by the value of the required reserve ratio for other liabilities of credit institutions for banks with a universal license, non-bank credit institutions (except for long-term ones) in the currency of the Russian Federation, valid on the date for which interest is accrued, and published on the official website of the Bank of Russia on the Internet.

    Application selection parameters
    Date of the selection of applications 03/28/2025
    Unique identifier of the application selection 22025080
    Deposit currency rubles
    Type of funds funds of the single treasury account
    Maximum amount of funds placed in bank deposits, million monetary units 10,000
    Placement period, in days 4
    Date of deposit 03/28/2025
    Refund date 01.04.2025
    Interest rate for placement of funds (fixed or floating) Fix
    Minimum fixed interest rate for placement of funds, % per annum 20.05
    Basic floating interest rate for placement of funds –
    Minimum spread, % per annum –
    Terms of conclusion of a bank deposit agreement (fixed-term, replenishable or special) Urgent
    Minimum amount of funds placed for one application, million monetary units 1,000
    Maximum number of applications from one credit institution, pcs. 5
    Application selection form (open or closed) Open
    Application selection schedule (Moscow time)
    Venue for the selection of applications PAO Moscow Exchange
    Applications accepted: from 18:30 to 18:40
    Preliminary applications: from 18:30 to 18:35
    Applications in competition mode: from 18:35 to 18:40
    Formation of a consolidated register of applications: from 18:40 to 18:50
    Setting a cut-off percentage rate and/or recognizing the selection of applications as unsuccessful: from 18:40 to 18:50
    Submission of an offer to credit institutions to conclude a bank deposit agreement: from 18:50 to 19:30
    Receiving acceptance of an offer to conclude a bank deposit agreement from credit institutions: from 18:50 to 19:30
    Deposit transfer time In accordance with the requirements of paragraph 63 and paragraph 64 of the Order of the Federal Treasury dated 04/27/2023 No. 10n

    Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232Pr@moex.kom

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.M.M.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: Three deposit auctions of UK FRT LLC will take place on 03/28/2025

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    Parameters: Date of the deposit auction 03/28/2025. Placement currency RUB. Maximum amount of funds placed (in the placement currency) 2,610,000,000.00 Placement term, days 31. Date of depositing funds 03/28/2025. Date of return of funds 04/28/2025. Minimum placement interest rate, % per annum 21.00 Terms of the conclusion, urgent or special (Urgent). Minimum amount of funds placed for one application (in the placement currency) 2,610,000,000.00 Maximum number of applications from one Participant, pcs. 1. Auction form, open or closed (Open).

    The basis of the Agreement is the General Agreement. Schedule (Moscow time). Applications in preliminary mode from 12:30 to 12:40. Applications in competitive mode from 12:40 to 12:45. Setting the cutoff percentage rate or declaring the auction invalid before 12:55.

    Additional terms

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    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N88945

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 03/28/2025, 10:30 (Moscow time) the values of the lower limit of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for security RU000A107936 (RZhD 1P-29R) were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    03/28/2025

    10:30

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC), on March 28, 2025, 10:30 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor (up to 94.06) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 859.11 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 21.25%) of the security RU000A107936 (RZhD 1P-29R) were changed.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N88946

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: 03/28/2025, 10:35 (Moscow time) the values of the lower boundary of the price corridor and the range of market risk assessment for the RU000A1031U3 (VEB1P-26) security were changed.

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    03/28/2025

    10:35

    In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on March 28, 2025, 10:35 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor (up to 76.5) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 749.83 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 13.75%) of the RU000A1031U3 (VEB1P-26) security were changed.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV. MOEX.K.MO/N88948

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: A Letter From Independent Director Bob Pease to Phillips 66 Shareholders

    Source: Phillips

    HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) today released the following letter from Independent Director Bob Pease to the Company’s shareholders:
    Shareholders of Phillips 66:
    I joined the Phillips 66 Board of Directors in February 2024. My appointment came as a result of an agreement between Elliott Management and Phillips 66. At the time, Elliott Management said I would bring to the Board “extensive experience in refining and energy more broadly.”
    Now Elliott wants me off the Board.
    Today I’m writing you, our shareholders, to lay out the truth about the Phillips 66 Board and why my own view of Elliott’s campaign for change at the Phillips 66 has evolved.
    I’ll start first with why I agreed to join the Phillips 66 Board in this relatively unusual manner. I’m a refinery guy first and foremost, holding numerous leadership roles, particularly in downstream businesses. When I joined the Board, Elliott’s primary demand was for Phillips 66 to improve its performance in refining. My experience was a perfect fit. Joining the Board then with Elliott’s endorsement felt like a win-win.
    I worried that joining a board with the endorsement of a well-known activist hedge fund may not be the best way to win the hearts and minds of other board members. I have been around long enough to know human nature, so I believed it would take some time to have an impact on this Board.
    I was wrong. My experience, insight and voice were immediately welcomed. In fact, I was encouraged early on to look closely at refining plans and challenge management.
    The level of debate, in-depth analysis and looking under every stone that I have seen so far on this Board is exactly what shareholders should want in the Board room.
    The Phillips 66 Board has delivered strong operational performance in refining while constantly exploring opportunities to create value across the full portfolio. Our integrated model has delivered synergies between the businesses and less volatile cash flows – it is a competitive advantage. We have set ambitious goals and are committed to maintaining best-in-class asset integrity while delivering a secure, competitive, and growing dividend; pursuing further accretive growth; and returning over 50% of our net operating cash flow to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.
    You simply don’t achieve results like this without a high functioning, deeply engaged Board.
    In my view, it was Elliott’s inconsistent engagement that has proven most peculiar. There would be long silences, followed by rapid public action. What I saw from the Board was a clear commitment to getting to the right answer but a real struggle to understand and engage with an apparently highly distracted shareholder in Elliott.
    We have only been met with a declaration that there were “no next steps” and then continued public assaults, even while Elliott refused to allow us to meet their nominees. Then came their notification that Elliott would in fact be running four nominees for election at the 2025 Annual General Meeting. With my re-nomination to the Board confirmed, that meant I would be targeted for replacement by Elliott’s nominees, just a year after they publicly supported me. I do not know why Elliott now wants me off the Board.
    The Phillips 66 Board is committed to shareholder value creation.
    We are committed to challenging management to deliver results. We are committed to acting, when necessary, but we are not a group that makes sweeping, irreversible costly change in response to short-term market fluctuations and speculative valuations.
    We will always act in the best interest of our long-term shareholders for long-term value creation.
    Sincerely,
    Bob Pease Independent Director
    About Phillips 66
    Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is a leading integrated downstream energy provider that manufactures, transports and markets products that drive the global economy. The company’s portfolio includes Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, Marketing and Specialties, and Renewable Fuels businesses. Headquartered in Houston, Phillips 66 has employees around the globe who are committed to safely and reliably providing energy and improving lives while pursuing a lower-carbon future. For more information, visit phillips66.com or follow @Phillips66Co on LinkedIn.
    Forward-Looking Statements
    This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws relating to Phillips 66’s operations, strategy and performance. Words such as “anticipated,” “committed,” “estimated,” “expected,” “planned,” “scheduled,” “targeted,” “believe,” “continue,” “intend,” “will,” “would,” “objective,” “goal,” “project,” “efforts,” “strategies” and similar expressions that convey the prospective nature of events or outcomes generally indicate forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements included in this news release are based on management’s expectations, estimates and projections as of the date they are made. These statements are not guarantees of future events or performance, and you should not unduly rely on them as they involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include: changes in governmental policies or laws that relate to our operations, including regulations that seek to limit or restrict refining, marketing and midstream operations or regulate profits, pricing, or taxation of our products or feedstocks, or other regulations that restrict feedstock imports or product exports; our ability to timely obtain or maintain permits necessary for projects; fluctuations in NGL, crude oil, refined petroleum, renewable fuels and natural gas prices, and refining, marketing and petrochemical margins; the effects of any widespread public health crisis and its negative impact on commercial activity and demand for refined petroleum or renewable fuels products; changes to worldwide government policies relating to renewable fuels and greenhouse gas emissions that adversely affect programs including the renewable fuel standards program, low carbon fuel standards and tax credits for renewable fuels; potential liability from pending or future litigation; liability for remedial actions, including removal and reclamation obligations under existing or future environmental regulations; unexpected changes in costs for constructing, modifying or operating our facilities; our ability to successfully complete, or any material delay in the completion of, any asset disposition, acquisition, shutdown or conversion that we have announced or may pursue, including receipt of any necessary regulatory approvals or permits related thereto; unexpected difficulties in manufacturing, refining or transporting our products; the level and success of drilling and production volumes around our midstream assets; risks and uncertainties with respect to the actions of actual or potential competitive suppliers and transporters of refined petroleum products, renewable fuels or specialty products; lack of, or disruptions in, adequate and reliable transportation for our products; failure to complete construction of capital projects on time or within budget; our ability to comply with governmental regulations or make capital expenditures to maintain compliance with laws; limited access to capital or significantly higher cost of capital related to illiquidity or uncertainty in the domestic or international financial markets, which may also impact our ability to repurchase shares and declare and pay dividends; potential disruption of our operations due to accidents, weather events, including as a result of climate change, acts of terrorism or cyberattacks; general domestic and international economic and political developments, including armed hostilities (such as the Russia-Ukraine war), expropriation of assets, and other diplomatic developments; international monetary conditions and exchange controls; changes in estimates or projections used to assess fair value of intangible assets, goodwill and property and equipment and/or strategic decisions with respect to our asset portfolio that cause impairment charges; investments required, or reduced demand for products, as a result of environmental rules and regulations; changes in tax, environmental and other laws and regulations (including alternative energy mandates); political and societal concerns about climate change that could result in changes to our business or increase expenditures, including litigation-related expenses; the operation, financing and distribution decisions of equity affiliates we do not control; and other economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting Phillips 66’s businesses generally as set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Phillips 66 is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
    Additional Information
    On March 26, 2025, Phillips 66 filed a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A (the “Proxy Statement”) and accompanying WHITE proxy card with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in connection with its 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “2025 Annual Meeting”) and its solicitation of proxies for Phillips 66’s director nominees and for other matters to be voted on. The Proxy Statement is in preliminary form and Phillips 66 intends to file and mail to shareholders of record entitled to vote at the 2025 Annual Meeting a definitive proxy statement and other documents, including a WHITE proxy card. Phillips 66 may also file other relevant documents with the SEC regarding its solicitation of proxies for the 2025 Annual Meeting. This communication is not a substitute for any proxy statement or other document that Phillips 66 has filed or may file with the SEC in connection with any solicitation by Phillips 66. PHILLIPS 66 SHAREHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT (AND ANY AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ACCOMPANYING WHITE PROXY CARD AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT SOLICITATION MATERIALS FILED WITH THE SEC AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Shareholders may obtain copies of the Proxy Statement, any amendments or supplements to the Proxy Statement and other documents (including the WHITE proxy card) filed by Phillips 66 with the SEC without charge from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed by Phillips 66 with the SEC also may be obtained free of charge at Phillips 66’s investor relations website at https://investor.phillips66.com or upon written request sent to Phillips 66, 2331 CityWest Boulevard, Houston, TX 77042, Attention: Investor Relations.
    Certain Information Regarding Participants
    Phillips 66, its directors, its director nominees and certain of its executive officers and employees may be deemed to be participants in connection with the solicitation of proxies from Phillips 66 shareholders in connection with the matters to be considered at the 2025 Annual Meeting. Information regarding the names of such persons and their respective interests in Phillips 66, by securities holdings or otherwise, is available in the Proxy Statement, which was filed with the SEC on March 26, 2025, and will be included in Phillips 66’s definitive proxy statement, once available, including in the sections captioned “Beneficial Ownership of Phillips 66 Securities” and “Appendix C: Supplemental Information Regarding Participants in the Solicitation.” To the extent that Phillips 66’s directors and executive officers who may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation have acquired or disposed of securities holdings since the applicable “as of” date disclosed in the Proxy Statement, such transactions have been or will be reflected on Statements of Changes in Ownership of Securities on Form 4 or Initial Statements of Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 3 filed with the SEC. These documents are or will be available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

    Source: Phillips 66

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UN Human Rights Council 58: UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue on the Human Rights Situation in Mali

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    UN Human Rights Council 58: UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue on the Human Rights Situation in Mali

    UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue on the Oral Update of the Independent Expert on the Human Rights Situation in Mali. Delivered by the UK Human Rights Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders.

    Thank You Mr Vice President.

    We thank the Independent Expert for his report. His mandate is ever more vital following the withdrawal of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). We also welcome the cooperation of the Malian authorities in facilitating the Expert’s first visit and encourage their continued collaboration.

    As we have heard, the human rights situation remains grave. Increased reports of gender-based violence, and violence against children are particularly concerning. Civic space continues to shrink, key opposition figures remain detained, and civil society organisations disbanded.

    We therefore encourage authorities to create the necessary conditions for free, fair and inclusive elections, as soon as possible.

    Mr President, the UK urges the Malian authorities to further strengthen independent accountability mechanisms, including for alleged incidents committed by military personnel and Russian proxies. These actors continue to create deep-rooted insecurity for the Malian people.

    Mr Gonzalez, as reports of human rights violations and abuses persist, international accountability processes remain vital to hold perpetrators to account.  What more could the International Criminal Court do to enhance accountability under the existing referral?

    Updates to this page

    Published 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Russia on Moldova | Security Council Stakeout | United Nations

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Dmitry Polyanskiy, the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, on the situation in Moldova.

    Referring to news reports that a politician was detained in Moldova, Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy called the situation “intolerable” and described the region as “not stable.” The Moldovan ambassador said Polyanskiy’s statements were “misleading.”

    Speaking to reporters at UN headquarters today (Mar 27), Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said his delegation had drawn the Security Council’s attention to the detention of Yevgenia Gutsul, the leader of Moldova’s Gagauzian autonomy and “a famous opposition politician, meaningful politician” according to Polyanskiy.

    “This is not the first case when the Moldovan authorities harass political opposition in this country,” said Polyanskiy. While stressing that Moscow had no intention of interfering in Moldova’s domestic affairs, he added that the Council “has a preventive function,” and urged members to act to prevent “a very bad and unstable situation.”

    Polyanskiy referenced Moldova’s recent presidential elections, which he said, “were largely contested and proceeded in a very, very controversial atmosphere.” He also cited “provocations against Transnistria” and political developments in neighboring Romania, describing the region as “not stable.”

    Responding shortly afterward, Moldovan Ambassador Gheorghe Leucă called the statement by Polyaskiy “misleading.” He also said, “The preventive detention of Yevgenia Gutsul, a member of the Shor criminal group, falls strictly within the competence of the prosecutorial authorities of the Republic of Moldova,” Leucă said.

    According to the Moldovan envoy, the charges are not related to Gutsul’s political role. “Her detention is not related to her role as the head of the Gagauzian autonomy, but rather to her involvement in a criminal organization,” he said.

    Leucă emphasized Moldova’s commitment to due process and judicial independence. “The Republic of Moldova is a state governed by the rule of law, where the rights of all individuals are fully protected,” he said. “Every accused person has their guaranteed right to a fair defense and the opportunity to prove their innocence in accordance with legal procedures.”

    “Any interference of any country in the internal affairs of the Republic of Moldova, as of any other state, are unwarranted and unacceptable,” Leucă concluded.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hdlC0BUSDs

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Threats posed by the Astravets nuclear power plant – E-000325/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The Commission shares the concerns regarding the safety of the Astravets nuclear power plan. Given the current political situation, all bilateral relations with the authorities of Russia and Belarus have been suspended.

    The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group completed a peer review of the post-Fukushima nuclear safety assessment ‘stress tests’ of the Astravets nuclear power plant in 2021 and issued safety improvement recommendations.

    The nuclear safety regulator of Belarus drew up a National Action Plan, updated in 2023[1], to implement these recommendations. The Commission continues to monitor Belarus’s progress in implementing them within the framework of relevant multilateral conventions adopted under the auspices the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but it is not currently in a position to restart contacts with the Belarus nuclear safety regulator.

    The Commission will continue to maintain contacts with the IAEA, which has the mandate to promote the implementation of international nuclear safety standards worldwide, including in Belarus.

    The Commission intends to use existing international peer review mechanisms, notably the upcoming Eighth Review Meeting of the Joint Convention[2] in March 2025 and the Convention on Nuclear Safety Review Meeting in March 2026 to probe the implementation by Belarus of its obligations under these Conventions, which are relevant for Belarus follow-up of the findings of the stress tests peer review [3].

    • [1] https://gosatomnadzor.mchs.gov.by/znaniya-dlya-kazhdogo/biblioteka/
    • [2] Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, adopted under IAEA auspices in 1997. In December 2024, the Commission, on behalf of Euratom, analysed Belarus National Report and inquired the Country on several safety aspects of spent fuel and radioactive waste management.
    • [3] The position for the upcoming Joint Convention Review Meeting is coordinated with the Member States in the Working Party on Atomic Questions of the Council.
    Last updated: 28 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA Shares SpaceX Crew-11 Assignments for Space Station Mission

    Source: NASA

    As part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission, four crew members from three space agencies will launch in the coming months to the International Space Station for a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory.
    NASA astronauts Commander Zena Cardman and Pilot Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov will join crew members aboard the space station no earlier than July 2025.
    The flight is the 11th crew rotation with SpaceX to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions to the Moon, as well as benefit people on Earth.
    Cardman previously was assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, and Fincke previously was assigned to NASA’s Boeing Starliner-1 mission. NASA decided to reassign the astronauts to Crew-11 in overall support of planned activities aboard the International Space Station. Cardman carries her experience training as a commander on Dragon spacecraft, and Fincke brings long-duration spaceflight experience to this crew complement.
    Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, Cardman will conduct her first spaceflight. The Williamsburg, Virginia, native holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a master’s in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the time of selection, she had begun pursuing a doctorate in Geosciences. Cardman’s research in geobiology and geochemical cycling focused on subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Since completing initial training, Cardman has supported real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning.
    This will be Fincke’s fourth trip to the space station, having logged 382 days in space and nine spacewalks during Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008, and STS-134 in 2011, the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour. Throughout the past decade, Fincke has applied his expertise to NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, advancing the development and testing of the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner toward operational certification. The Emsworth, Pennsylvania, native is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School and holds bachelors’ degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in both Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. He also has a master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University in California. Fincke is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.
    With 142 days in space, this will be Yui’s second trip to the space station. After his selection as a JAXA astronaut in 2009, Yui flew as a flight engineer for Expedition 44/45 and became the first Japanese astronaut to capture JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle. In addition to constructing a new experimental environment aboard Kibo, he conducted a total of 21 experiments for JAXA. In November 2016, Yui was assigned as chief of the JAXA Astronaut Group. He graduated from the School of Science and Engineering at the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1992. He later joined the Air Self-Defense Force at the Japan Defense Agency (currently Ministry of Defense). In 2008, Yui joined the Air Staff Office at the Ministry of Defense as a lieutenant colonel.
    The Crew-11 mission will be Platonov’s first spaceflight. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, Platonov earned a degree in Engineering from Krasnodar Air Force Academy in Aircraft Operations and Air Traffic Management. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in State and Municipal Management in 2016 from the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia. Assigned as a test cosmonaut in 2021, he has experience in piloting aircraft, zero gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.
    For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA’s Artemis campaign is underway at the Moon, where the agency is preparing for future human exploration of Mars.
    Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:
    https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
    -end-
    Joshua Finch / Jimi RussellHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1100joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
    Courtney Beasley / Chelsey BallarteJohnson Space Center, Houston281-483-5111courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov / chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Developing International Education: Dmitry Bryukhanov Becomes Head of the ESU Secretariat

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    On March 26, 2025, the 10th meeting of the Coordination Council of the scientific and educational consortium “Eurasian Network University” (ENU) was held in a mixed format, in which the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev and the vice-rector Dmitry Bryukhanov took part.

    The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, the State University of Management, the National Research University “MPEI”, the Moscow State Technological University “STANKIN”, the Almaty Technological University, the Kyrgyz State Technical University named after I. Razzakov, the Kyrgyz University of Economics, the University under the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Eurasian Economic Community, the Higher School of Economics, the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Moscow State Law Academy named after O.E. Kutafin and others.

    Chairman of the Coordination Council of the Eurasian Network University, Rector of the National Research University “MPEI” Nikolay Rogalev delivered a welcoming speech, familiarizing the participants with the agenda of the meeting. The main topics for discussion were issues of interaction between the Eurasian Network University and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

    Alexey Poyda, Head of the Department of Bilateral Cooperation with Near Abroad Countries, the CIS and the Union State of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Science, spoke about the key tasks of the ESU, including the training of qualified personnel and the development of educational programs for additional professional education. Particular attention was also paid to candidates from member states and observer states of the Eurasian Economic Union who are taking part in the ESU Olympiad.

    Representative of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation O.V. Prosvirina reported on the six main main directions of development of the EAEU, laid down in the declaration on the further development of economic processes within the Eurasian Economic Union. During the meeting, issues of providing the common market with key goods and resources, energy security, the formation of a common space for cooperation and collaboration in the field of technological development, as well as the training of qualified specialists in these industries were discussed.

    The issues of creating a Eurasian Rating Agency and concluding free trade agreements with other countries were also discussed.

    At the initiative of the universities participating in the ESU, a decision was made on the need to amend the regulations on the ESU Secretariat and return to the previous version of the Regulation, which provided for the division of powers between the chairman of the Coordination Council and the head of the ESU Secretariat.

    At the end of the meeting, an open vote was held, following which it was decided to: return to the original version of the Regulation on the ESU Secretariat, appoint the Vice-Rector of the State University of Management Dmitry Bryukhanov to the position of head of the ESU Secretariat, approve the list of joint programs of additional professional education for foreign specialists in Russian, approve the work plan of the ESU scientific and educational consortium for 2025, include the Kyzylorda University “Bolashak” in the ESU.

    The next meeting of the Coordination Council will be held on May 15-16 at the Volgograd State Technical University.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 03/28/2025

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: First year of Georgia’s ‘foreign agent’ law shows how autocracies are replicating Russian model − and speeding up the time frame

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Anastasiya Zavyalova, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, Rice University

    Demonstrators protest the foreign influence law in front of the Georgian Parliament building on May 28, 2024. Nicolo Vincenzo Malvestuto/Getty Images

    Autocracy is on the move worldwide and becoming more resilient.

    One of the driving forces behind this phenomenon is something scholars call “authoritarian learning,” a process by which autocratic leaders study each other and adapt tactics based on what appears to work, and how to proceed when they encounter resistance.

    Take Georgia. The ruling Georgian Dream party has steered the Caucasus nation from a path toward democracy back to autocracy – and it has done so by learning from Russia. In particular, it adopted a “foreign agent” law in May 2024 – legislation that came straight from Vladimir Putin’s playbook.

    Sold to the public as increasing transparency, the legislation has been utilized to persecute Georgia’s opposition and arrest dissidents with impunity.

    As researchers examining the structure and effects of autocratic regimes, we view Georgia’s first year of its foreign agent law as an example of how politicians are not only learning the tactics of Russian authoritarianism but improving on them in a shorter time frame.

    Bouncing from Europe to Russia

    Georgia’s current ruling party came to power after then-President Mikheil Saakashvili enacted a major series of reforms in the 2000s. Saakashvili, who was jailed in 2021 under highly contested charges, inherited a Georgia seen as a failing and corrupt state tethered to Russia.

    The reform-minded politicians of Saakashvili’s government set the country on a pro-Western path. But after Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008, a socially conservative coalition under the banner Georgian Dream won the parliamentary elections in 2012.

    Georgian Dream was buoyed by the fortune of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, a Russian citizen until 2011. The party capitalized on the public’s fatigue after a decade of Saakashvili’s necessary but intense reforms. The new coalition married a promise for continuing the pro-Western reforms, but with a more traditional, conservative approach to social issues.

    This appeal to traditional Georgian values won support in rural communities and carried the coalition to an absolute majority in Parliament in 2016. Since then, Georgian Dream has adopted pro-Russian rhetoric, accusing a “global war party” of running the West. Increasing attacks on the European Union, in particular, have been a part of a broader strategy to bring Georgia back into Russia’s orbit.

    The Georgian Dream progression in power has mirrored that of Putin in Russia. In 2012, Putin signed a “foreign agents” law that originally targeted NGOs receiving foreign funding and alleged to be engaged in political activity.

    The Kremlin equated this law to the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, in the United States, and justified it as a means to increase transparency around foreign involvement in Russia’s internal affairs.

    Unlike FARA, however, Russia’s version of the law neither required establishing a connection between foreign funding and political activity nor provided a clear definition of political activity.

    This vagueness allowed for a wide range of NGOs deemed undesirable by the Kremlin to be labeled as “foreign agents.” The result was the suppression of NGO activities through financial, administrative and legal burdens that led to their liquidation or departure from the country.

    Over the years, this law has reduced Russian civil society’s ability to independently voice and address issues that its population faces.

    Yearlong slide into autocracy

    Georgian Dream passed a very similar foreign agent law on May 28, 2024, after overcoming a presidential veto. It forced NGOs receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register with the Ministry of Justice as “serving the interests of a foreign power.”

    Activists opposing the law have been physically assaulted, and the law has been utilized against what the ruling party has described as “LGBT propaganda.”

    The law fits a wider political landscape in which the ruling party has moved to restrict freedom of the press, prosecuted political opponents and postponed Georgia’s European Union candidate status despite the overwhelming majority of Georgians being pro-EU.

    Protestors take part in a pro-European rally in Warsaw, Poland, on April 30, 2024.
    Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    Improving on Russian authoritarians

    Three critical factors played a role in allowing for the foreign agent law in Russia to expand its reach: the power imbalance between the Russian government and NGOs, limited action by international authorities, and delayed media attention to the issue.

    At the time the law was passed, civil society inside Russia itself was split. Some foresaw the dangers of the law and engaged in collective action to oppose it, while others chose to wait and see.

    As it happened, the law and the accompanying repressive apparatus spread to a broader range of targets. In 2015, Putin signed a law that designated an “undesirable” status to foreign organizations “on national security grounds”; in 2017, an amendment expanded the targets of the law from NGOs to mass media outlets; and at the end of 2019, the law allowed the classification of individuals and unregistered public associations – that is, groups of individuals – as mass media acting as foreign agents. By July 2022, the foreign funding criterion was excluded and a status of a foreign agent could be designated to anyone whom the Russian authorities deemed to be “under foreign influence.”

    Russia’s experience highlights the process of early stages of authoritarian consolidation, when state power quashes independent sources of power, and political groups and citizens either rally around the government or go silent. The foreign agent law in Russia was passed only after the protests that accompanied the 2012 elections, which returned Putin to the presidency for the third term.

    In Georgia, the ruling government borrowed from Russia’s lead – after backing down from its first attempt to pass a foreign agent law in the face of massive protests, it pushed it through before the elections.

    The law was then used to raid NGOs sympathetic to the opposition days before the October 2024 parliamentary election. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said before the elections that in the event of Georgian Dream’s victory, it would look to outlaw the pro-Western opposition, naming them “criminal political forces.”

    In the wake of President Donald Trump’s suspension of USAID assistance in February 2025, Georgian Dream has seized the opportunity to expand its war on civil society, echoing Russian, Chinese and American far-right conspiracy rhetoric that foreign-funded NGOs were fomenting revolution. To combat such phantoms, Georgian Dream has passed new legislation that criminalizes assembly and protest.

    A springboard for repression

    The foreign agent law has been a springboard for repressive activities in both Russia and Georgia, but while it took Russia a decade to effectively use the law to crush any opposition, Georgian Dream is working on an expedited timetable.

    Although the EU has suspended direct assistance and closed off visa-free travel for Georgian officials as a result of the law, Trump’s turn toward pro-Russian policies has made it more difficult to obtain Western consensus in dislodging the Georgian government from its authoritarian drift.

    Georgia’s experience, following the Russian playbook, illustrates how authoritarians are learning from each other, utilizing the rule of law itself against democracy.

    Christopher A. Hartwell has received funding from the Institute for Humane Studies and the Swiss National Science Foundation.

    Anastasiya Zavyalova does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. First year of Georgia’s ‘foreign agent’ law shows how autocracies are replicating Russian model − and speeding up the time frame – https://theconversation.com/first-year-of-georgias-foreign-agent-law-shows-how-autocracies-are-replicating-russian-model-and-speeding-up-the-time-frame-250878

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Myanmar’s civil war: How shifting US-Russia ties could tip balance and hand China a greater role

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Tharaphi Than, Associate Professor of World Cultures and Languages, Northern Illinois University

    Myanmar’s civil war involves a range of different ethnic groups fighting the military. Thierry Falise/LightRocket via Getty Images

    While the United States talked military assistance and minerals with Ukraine, Russia did the same with one of its few remaining allies: Myanmar.

    On March 4, 2025, the commander in chief and leader of Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing, visited Russia. It was his fourth official visit since a coup in 2021 saw the military seize power.

    That coup ended a decade-long power-sharing arrangement between the army and the democratically elected government in Myanmar, sparking peaceful protests that soon developed into a nationwide armed resistance known as the Spring Revolution and an ensuing government crackdown.

    The resulting civil war – now into its fourth year – has seen 6,000-plus people killed, 29,000 arrested and more than 3.3 million displaced, according to estimates from the human rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The conflict pits the country’s military, which has had a stranglehold on Myanmar’s politics for much of the past six decades, against a broad-based opposition that includes ethnic minority groups like the Karen National Union, Kachin Independence Army, Arakan Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, People’s Defense Force and Bamar People’s Liberation Army.

    With seemingly no immediate end to the fighting in sight, all sides are becoming increasingly reliant on foreign suppliers of weapons and fuel.

    And this prompts an important question: Could the shifting policies and alignments of global powers – notably China, Russia and the U.S. – tip the balance of Myanmar’s civil war?

    Russia: Myanmar’s ‘forever friend’

    Throughout the civil war, Myanmar’s generals have turned to Russia for support. Both nations are heavily sanctioned and seen as “pariah states,” so it is, in many ways, a convenient alignment.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Myanmar Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing on March 4, 2025, in Moscow, Russia.
    Getty Images

    In his latest visit to Moscow, Min Aung Hlaing granted Russia rights to extract minerals in Myanmar’s conflict zones and build an oil refinery and a port in the coastal city Dawei.

    Russia has exported oil to Myanmar for many decades. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been using the Southeast Asian country as a route to transport oil to China in an attempt to mitigate the impact of Western sanctions on energy exports. Myanmar has also agreed to supply skilled workers to Russia in a deal to alleviate the country’s labor shortages.

    This mutual arrangement also extends to defense and security matters. Myanmar and Russia engage in joint naval exercises, and Moscow is a top supplier of weapons to Myanmar’s generals and trains personnel for the military government.

    But any diplomatic benefit from having Russia as a sponsor has been blunted due to Moscow’s loss of international support over the war in Ukraine. Should that change, as the new U.S. administration seems keen on, then it could benefit Myanmar’s military by giving the generals a stronger ally on the international stage.

    As such, warming relations between Russia and the U.S. could be to the detriment of Myanmar’s myriad opposition groups. Already, the Trump administration’s policies mean that the resistance can no longer rely on the same level of support from Washington, and it’s no guarantee that European Union countries – already facing the prospect of withdrawn U.S. support for Ukraine – would step in to fill the gap.

    US pivots away from Myanmar

    Washington has nominally supported the Spring Revolution.

    The U.S. provides shelter to Myanmar dissidents, including exiled leaders of the National Unity Government, or NUG, and has pushed for sanctions against the army.

    But that support has been largely symbolic. The U.S. still has not officially recognized the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar – a decision that prevents Washington from releasing US$1 billion held at the Federal Reserve to the democratic representatives. That money could be used both to bolster the resistance and deliver much-needed aid to the country’s people.

    U.S. foreign policy as it evolves under the Trump administration is having further ripples in Myanmar.

    The Trump White House has gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development, the department tasked with funding Myanmar through 2023’s Burma Act, which authorized sanctions on the military, support for those opposing the junta and assistance for Myanmar’s people.

    Services such as Voice of America and Radio Free Asia have been suspended amid the recent U.S. cutbacks. As a result, people in Myanmar have more-limited access to reliable information and, more importantly, fewer media to represent and amplify their voices.

    Whether the U.S. chooses to continue to support the opposition or engage with the military government and endorse Myanmar elections expected for later this year could have wide implications for the future of democracy in the country.

    U.S. President Barack Obama encouraged Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to take part in elections.
    Soe Than Win/AFP via Getty Images

    Myanmar has witnessed such a U.S. reversal before.

    For a long period, Washington supported the opposition’s boycott of elections that guaranteed the power to the military. But in 2009, the U.S. administration under Barack Obama sent a message to the National League for Democracy (NLD), which at the time was under the leadership of now-imprisoned Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, that Washington would recognize the military’s elections as part of a policy of “pragmatic engagement” with the then-ruling junta.

    It forced the recalcitrant NLD to cooperate by entering the 2012 by-elections – the first time it had taken part in elections since 1990.

    Although the NLD won a sweeping victory – and went on to win the 2015 national vote – it meant giving legitimacy to a system rigged in favor of the military, with a quarter of parliamentary seats reserved for officers. Given that 75% approval was needed for any constitutional reform, it meant that the NLD could form a government but could only make decisions with the consent of the still-powerful generals.

    The political situation now is different from 2012. The yearslong resistance has weakened the military significantly. And even if the NUG, which consists of member of the NLD and other political parties, does feel compelled to participate in elections, the various other resistance groups and ethnic armies will likely choose otherwise. Regional autonomy has become a reality as a result of the decentralized nature of the resistance movement; elections will not satisfy the various demands for autonomy.

    Chinese push for stability

    The U.S. administration’s reduction in aid and, potentially, support for Myanmar’s opposition could lead the way to China taking a greater role in shaping the course of the civil war.

    Beijing, like Washington, had traditionally had a close relationship with the opposition NLD. President Xi Jinping visited Myanmar in 2020 and signed a series of infrastructure deals as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

    After the 2021 coup, China initially drew back from supporting Myanmar. But Beijing has since attempted to revive stalled or canceled bilateral projects while supporting reconciliation efforts and positioning itself as a neutral mediator.

    China’s main concern is spillover from the war. For that reason, Beijing became concerned when an alliance of armed ethnic groups launched a major anti-military push in October 2023, fearing the spread of instability across the China-Myanmar border.

    Since the civil war broke out, Chinese investments in Myanmar have stalled. Meanwhile, lawlessness inside Myanmar has led to the growth of mostly Chinese-run online scam centers – victims of which include Chinese citizens who have been kidnapped, trafficked and forced to work as scammers.

    What China wants most is a stable Myanmar. Yet its chosen strategy to try to bring this about – forcing warring parties to sign ceasefire agreements – hasn’t worked so far.

    This could change. The reduction of U.S. aid in Myanmar places an additional burden on ethnic resistance groups – they now have to shoulder more of the burden of providing for the people while fighting for autonomy. As such, resistance groups might be under greater urgency to accept China’s role as a mediator. And with that changed calculus, the imperative to find a negotiated solution may increase.

    But a rushed ceasefire born of necessity does not equate to a lasting solution. As such, the shifting geopolitics of Russia, the U.S. and China may impact Myanmar’s civil war – but it will do little to encourage democracy in the country, nor put it on a path to lasting peace.

    Tharaphi Than does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Myanmar’s civil war: How shifting US-Russia ties could tip balance and hand China a greater role – https://theconversation.com/myanmars-civil-war-how-shifting-us-russia-ties-could-tip-balance-and-hand-china-a-greater-role-251782

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –