Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s article in the Telegraph on Ukraine.
We are facing a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent. This is not only a question about the future of Ukraine – it is existential for Europe as a whole.
Securing a lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty for the long term is essential if we are to deter Putin from further aggression in the future.
To achieve it, Europe and the United States must continue to work closely together – and I believe the UK can play a unique role in helping to make this happen, just as we did this past week in stepping in to convene and chair the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
First, Europe must step up further to meet the demands of its own security. So I am heading to Paris with a very clear message for our European friends. We have got to show we are truly serious about our own defence and bearing our own burden. We have talked about it for too long – and president Trump is right to demand that we get on with it.
As European nations, we must increase our defence spending and take on a greater role in Nato. Non-US Nato nations have already increased defence spending by 20 per cent in the past year, but we must go further.
Russia is still waging war and Ukraine is still fighting for its freedom, which is why we must not relent in our efforts to get the kit Ukrainians need for their fighters on the front line. While the fighting continues, we must put Ukraine in the strongest possible position ahead of any talks.
The UK is ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine. This includes further support for Ukraine’s military, where the UK has already committed £3 billion a year until at least 2030. But it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary.
I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way. But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country.
The end of this war, when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again.
But second, while European nations must step up in this moment – and we will – US support will remain critical and a US security guarantee is essential for a lasting peace, because only the US can deter Putin from attacking again. So I will be meeting president Trump in the coming days and working with him and all our G7 partners to help secure the strong deal we need.
We must be clear that peace cannot come at any cost. Ukraine must be at the table in these negotiations, because anything less would accept Putin’s position that Ukraine is not a real nation.
President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have shown the most extraordinary resilience and made such great sacrifices in the defence of their nation. We cannot have another situation like Afghanistan, where the US negotiated directly with the Taliban and cut out the Afghan government. I feel sure that president Trump will want to avoid this too.
While Nato membership may take time, we should continue to support Ukraine’s irreversible path to joining the alliance.
We should also show greater strength in applying economic pressure. Putin’s economy is feeling the strain – he is worried about his energy revenues and his financial sector.
Working together, the US, Europe and all our G7 allies should seek to go further on the oil price cap, the Shadow Fleet, the sanctioning of oil giants, and going after those banks that are enabling the evasion of sanctions.
These crucial days ahead will determine the future security of our continent. As I will say in Paris, peace comes through strength. But the reverse is also true. Weakness leads to war.
This is the moment for us all to step up, and the UK will do so because it is the right thing to do for the values and freedoms we hold dear, and because it is fundamental to our own national security.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
On February 13-14, 2025, the XXII International Forum “Gas of Russia 2025” was held in Moscow, organized by the Union of Oil and Gas Industry Organizations “Russian Gas Society”. Advisor to the Rector’s Office of the State University of Management Sergey Karseka took part in it.
The Gas of Russia Forum is a specialized event that annually brings together professionals and experts in the gas industry, heads of Russian government bodies, the largest Russian and foreign oil and gas companies, representatives of industry science and higher education institutions. The main goal is a professional discussion of the most pressing issues of the development of the Russian gas industry in the context of events on the global energy market.
The key theme of the XXII Forum is the development strategy of the industry and overcoming the main challenges.
During the event, the participants discussed the following issues: – training personnel for the oil and gas industry in modern conditions; – strategy for the development of the oil and gas industry for 10 years; – improving legislation in the interests of the development of the industry; – challenges and solutions to technological problems of the industry.
Greetings to the Forum were sent by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak and Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Sergey Tsivilev.
The main moderator was the President of the Russian Gas Society, the President of the Union of Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry, and the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy, Pavel Zavalny.
At the opening of the event, State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Anastasia Bondarenko noted that by 2029, the Russian economy’s need for personnel will grow to 3.1 million people.
“At present, the task is to formulate a forecast in the structure of needs for specialists,” the deputy minister concluded.
In his speech during the session “HR Podium: Open Dialogue between Employers and Students,” Sergey Karseka outlined a wide range of topics and areas of potential cooperation between the State University of Management and oil and gas universities and enterprises.
“It is very important to train specialists, but without basic knowledge of the fundamentals of management, the efficiency of managers in the oil and gas industry will be reduced. On this path, the State University of Management offers its assistance and cooperation in solving the personnel problems facing employers,” noted Sergey Ivanovich.
Specific issues of cooperation and details of the implementation of joint projects were discussed with key representatives of the oil and gas and energy industries: Marina Voronina, Head of the Oil and Gas Academy project of the Russian Gas Society, Yulia Dunayevskaya, Head of the HR Department of Gazprom Transgaz Moscow LLC, and Violetta Kiushkina, Head of the Department of Energy Security and Infrastructure of the Russian Energy Agency of the Ministry of Energy of Russia. Of particular interest was the experience of the State University of Management in interaction with other ministries: Violetta Kiushkina invited the university experts to participate in the working events of the Ministry of Energy, noting the lack of management expertise and alternative approaches when discussing important industry issues.
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 02/17/2025
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.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Denis Manturov visited the International Defense Industry Exhibition IDEX-2025 in Abu Dhabi
February 17, 2025
Denis Manturov visited the International Defense Industry Exhibition IDEX-2025 in Abu Dhabi
February 17, 2025
The T-90MS tank with unique tactical and technical characteristics at the IDEX-2025 defense industry exhibition in Abu Dhabi
February 17, 2025
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Denis Manturov visited the International Defense Industry Exhibition IDEX-2025 in Abu Dhabi
First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Denis Manturov, who heads the Russian delegation to the UAE, visited the international conference and exhibition of the defense industry IDEX 2025 in Abu Dhabi. The Russian exposition was also visited by Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Khaled bin Mohammed Al Nahyan.
This year, the Russian exposition, the total area of which exceeds 2 thousand square meters, will feature a record number of new weapons, military and special equipment from 40 leading domestic companies. Some models are being demonstrated abroad for the first time. For example, the T-90MS tank in an updated appearance based on the experience of real combat operations, which has unique tactical and technical characteristics. Among the world premieres are also the Pantsir-SMD-E air defense missile and gun system with new guided missiles for destroying UAVs, the Kub-1-1E and Kub-2-2E loitering munitions, and the Kornet-EM ATGM with a remote control and a Bulat guided missile. The Lancet-E loitering munition and the Berezhok combat compartment are being presented in the Middle East for the first time.
“We selected the most high-tech models that have proven their performance in real combat. The Russian models presented here are different from the others shown at the exhibitions in that they can interact in a complex, successfully resist and defeat the equipment of competitors, who are also present at the exhibition, in real combat,” Denis Manturov noted.
At IDEX 2025, Russian helicopter manufacturers presented a line of helicopters for the effective work of emergency services. Among them are the latest modification of the Ka-32A11M firefighting helicopter, the Mi-38 helicopter with a high-comfort cabin, as well as the Ansat in two versions: ambulance and police.
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.
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University – NSU, together with the Gorchakov Fund, has opened the application process for an internship program for foreign specialists in the areas of “Artificial Intelligence in Medicine” and “Modern Quantum and Information Technologies in Electronics and Photonics”.
The last day to submit applications is March 20, 2024, 23:59 Moscow time.
Date: June 1–29, 2025.
Foreign specialists conducting scientific and practical activities in areas corresponding to the internship programs are allowed to participate in the competition.
The organizers provide:
travel from the applicant’s place of residence to Novosibirsk and back; accommodation for the entire period of the scientific and educational event; visa support; a stipend for the duration of the program in the amount of 30,000 rubles.
Participants pay:
medical insurance; meals for the duration of the scientific and educational school.
Heads of scientific and educational directions:
Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Evgeny Nikolaevich Pavlovsky, Head of the Laboratory of Streaming Data Analytics and Machine Learning Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of NSU. Modern quantum and information technologies in electronics and photonics: Artur Grigorievich Pogosov, Head of the Department of General Physics Physics Department of NSU.
More detailed information about the program, conditions and registration form – on the InteRussia website.
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.
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The Polytechnic University became the venue and co-organizer of the All-Russian scientific and practical conference “Innovative approaches in urban development: science, education, practice”. The event was organized jointly with the Committee for Urban Development Policy of the Leningrad Region and the Research Institute for Advanced Urban Development with the support of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation, the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences (RAASN) and the Government of the Leningrad Region. This large-scale event became a platform for constructive dialogue between representatives of government bodies, the scientific community and business structures.
The conference participants were addressed with welcoming speeches by the First Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation Alexander Lomakin, Director of the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the Ministry of Construction of Russia Vladimir Kalinkin, President of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences (RAACS) Dmitry Shvidkovsky, Vice President of RAACS for Urban Development Mikhail Shubenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Leningrad Region for Construction and Housing and Utilities Evgeny Baranovsky, Special Representative of the Governor of St. Petersburg for Economic Development Anatoly Kotov and Chairman of the North-West Territorial Branch of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences (NWTO RAACS) Mikhail Mamoshin.
The first day of the conference was devoted to the discussion of a comprehensive approach to master planning. Participants, including representatives of the Russian Ministry of Construction, RAASN, and businessmen shared their experiences and analyzed the use of master plans in the Leningrad Region.
During the event, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Polytechnic University and the Leningrad Region Committee for Urban Development Policy. The signatures were put by SPbPU Rector Andrey Rudskoy and the Committee Chairman Igor Kulakov. The document is aimed at joint work, support for the project and scientific activities of students and university staff in the region’s municipalities, as well as for students to undergo educational practice at organizations in the Leningrad Region. Igor Kulakov noted that it is necessary to involve students in solving practical problems that the regional committee for urban development policy is working on.
The plenary session was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Construction of Russia, the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences (RAACS), the Committee for Urban Development Policy of the Leningrad Region (KGP LO), the Committee for Urban Development and Architecture of St. Petersburg, the Government of the Leningrad Region, the State Institution “Urban Development of Territories of the Leningrad Region”, the Research Institute of Urban Development, the Research Institute of Urban Planning of Moscow, St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Moscow Architectural Institute, National Research University Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, National Research University ITMO, RANEPA, as well as specialists from leading design organizations and architectural bureaus.
Director of the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the Ministry of Construction of Russia Vladimir Kalinkin presented a report entitled “Integration of Master Planning into Russian Legislation.”
Master planning is a new tool that urban planning specialists will have to work with, noted Yevgeny Baranovsky, Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Region Government for Construction and Housing and Public Utilities, in his speech.
Director of the Civil Engineering Institute Marina Petrochenko and Director of the Higher School of Design and Architecture ISI Margarita Perkova spoke about the trends and prospects for the development of the Urban Planning direction at SPbPU.
At the Polytechnic University, the priorities in student training are interdisciplinarity, digitalization in the industry and practical training, which is based on long-term cooperation agreements with industry government agencies and leading design bureaus and research institutes, Marina Vyacheslavovna emphasized.
Chief Architect of the Leningrad Region, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Design ISI Sergey Lutchenko presented a report “Analysis of the Use of the Master Planning Tool in the Territory of the Leningrad Region”. Director of the Research Institute for Advanced Urban Development Pavel Spirin examined urban planning documentation as a tool for strategic development of the territory.
The second day of the conference was held in an atmosphere of active exchange of experience and search for advanced solutions. Representatives of design organizations, leading universities of the country and authoritative experts discussed digitalization in urban development and architecture. Participants shared practical developments, prospects for the implementation of digital technologies and analyzed successful cases.
The audience was interested in the report by the Director of the Institute of Historical and Cultural Heritage Marina Petrochenko, in which she, together with the Deputy Chairperson of the KGIOP of St. Petersburg Alexandra Komissarova, spoke about the experience of creating digital twins and the prospects for using technologies when working with cultural heritage sites.
The topic of artificial intelligence was reflected in the report by Sergey Mityagin, Director of the Institute of Design and Urban Studies of the St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics. Acting Director of the Research Institute of Urban Development Nadezhda Zykova presented a report entitled “The system of monitoring and digitalization of the master plan as a tool for integrated development of the territory”. Professor of RANEPA Revekka Vulfovich considered the problems of interaction between cities and rural areas during the development of master plans and strategic documents for the development of rural areas. Olga Druzina presented a report entitled “Draft revision of the Code of Practice 42.13330 “Urban Development. Planning and Development of Urban and Rural Settlements”.”
Of particular interest was the panel discussion “Urban planning: science, education, practice”, moderated by Margarita Perkova, Director of the Higher School of Design and Architecture of the Institute of Civil Engineering. The speakers included Mikhail Shubenkov, Chairman of the Federal Educational and Methodological Association for the UGS “Architecture”, Ekaterina Voznyak, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, and Nina Danilina, Head of the Department of Urban Planning at Moscow State University of Civil Engineering. They shared their experience in training urban planners and their vision of the further development of higher education in urban planning. Academicians from Samara and Volgograd, Elena Akhmedova and Galina Ptichnikova, joined the discussion via videoconference.
A highlight of the conference was the project session “Development of the fore-project “Concept of block development of the Leningrad region site” from the Setl Group holding. Four teams of polytechnic students together with leading architects and urban planners of St. Petersburg developed and presented their concepts of block development of the Leningrad region site. The project was prepared jointly with the Setl Group holding. The concepts were defended before an authoritative jury. The team led by the honored architect of the Russian Federation, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences Maxim Atayants won. All participants received memorable prizes from the holding.
Setl Group has announced an open architectural competition to develop a concept for a residential quarter in the picturesque part of the village of Novosaratovka in the Vsevolozhsk district. The winner will have the opportunity to implement their project. 15 Russian architectural bureaus and workshops will offer ideas for creating a comfortable and modern environment until April 2. The selection of finalists by an expert council will last until April 10. The concepts will be defended and the winner will be announced on April 29.
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.
Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Concert in honor of the tenth anniversary of the headquarters of student teams of SPbGASU
The Day of Russian Student Teams is celebrated on February 17. It was on this day in 2004 that the All-Russian Youth Public Movement “Russian Student Teams” was founded at the All-Russian Forum of Student Teams.
The first detachment was formed in 1949 at LISI (SPbGASU). Today, the headquarters unites nine student detachments. In addition, our university has a detachment called “Lastochka”, representing the Youth Patriotic Action “Nevsky Desant”.
Polina Yurkova, a representative of the SPbGASU student teams headquarters, spoke about what 2024 will be remembered for.
As part of the international construction team project, Eliza Iskuzhina from the student construction team (SCT) “Polza” took part in the construction of the Akkuyu NPP in Turkey from February to March. Eliza joined the international student construction team “Bosphorus”. And in June she was appointed as the project commissioner.
Ekaterina Bushueva from the Polza SSO and Andrey Repin from the Pyatnitsa SSO visited Egypt as part of the mixed all-Russian unit Dune. In order to take part in the large-scale project to build the El Dabaa NPP, the guys had to go through a competitive selection. But they gained experience, got to know an interesting country, and got new impressions.
A bright event of May was the film festival of the Student Detachments of St. Petersburg “Svoy Zal”, in which the student pedagogical detachment (SPO) “Svoboda” won in several nominations with the film “Path”, dedicated to the search of young people for themselves and their place in life. The work of our students was awarded prizes for the best feature film, best camera work and best sound engineering.
From April 27 to May 1, the SAO (student archaeological team) “Lin” organized the youth volunteer project “Memory Watch. Bridgehead at Fort Krasnaya Gorka.” The fighters of the student teams were engaged in the improvement of this historical place. Three members of the SAO “Lin” distinguished themselves here: Ekaterina Dementyeva was the project manager, Polina Yurkova was responsible for the evening cultural program, and Daria Obukhova was responsible for the photos from the event.
There are two anniversaries in 2024: 65 years since the founding of the movement and 20 years of the modern history of student brigades. Our fighters took part in the All-Russian rally of Russian student brigades in Moscow on November 21–24, 2024, which was dedicated to this.
The St. Petersburg Student Team Festival was held on December 9, 2024. The Kusto construction team was honored there, it turned 10 years old. The merits of the graduate of SPbGASU, fighter and former commander of the SAO Lin Ekaterina Dementyeva were recognized with a diploma. Two medals were awarded to a fighter of the SPO Arlekino, a graduate Kira Martel, one to a graduate Egor Anikin from the SPO Svoboda, who headed the city headquarters. According to tradition, newlyweds are given champagne at the festival – it was received by Dmitry and Maria Salnikov (SSO Kusto and SPO Arlekino, respectively).
According to Polina Yurkova, the most important event of last year was the tenth anniversary of the headquarters of the student brigades of SPbGASU. A concert in honor of this date took place on December 2. The guys prepared numbers – songs, dances, comedy sketches. Veterans of the movement, family members, friends came to the concert. The fighters were congratulated by the Vice-Rector for Youth Policy Marina Malyutina.
2025 has started actively. In January and February, fighters traditionally went to the Leningrad Region to clean up areas, hold concerts, lessons and master classes. 22 students from the Nevsky Desant detachment went to the Lastochka SPbGASU, and more than 30 students participated in the action as part of combined detachments. SPbGASU students visited settlements from the Lomonosov District to the Republic of Karelia.
We wish the student teams of SPbGASU new interesting events and a successful work season!
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.
18 February, ENVI Members will consider the draft opinion on the implementation of the environmental aspects of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
The RRF is a key instrument of the EU’s response to the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with additional RePowerEU chapters introduced following Russia’s war on Ukraine and the energy crisis. Around €275 billion were committed to be spent on climate action. However, recent findings from the European Court of Auditors highlight potential overestimations of funds allocated to climate action and discrepancies between planned measures and actual implementation. The ENVI draft opinion raises questions on the contribution of RRF to the green transition and calls for further investigations. ENVI Members will discuss the role of the RRF in achieving the EU’s environmental and climate goals.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Dmitry Patrushev held a working meeting with the head of the Republic of Buryatia Alexey Tsydenov
February 17, 2025
Dmitry Patrushev held a working meeting with the head of the Republic of Buryatia Alexey Tsydenov
February 17, 2025
Head of the Republic of Buryatia Alexey Tsydenov
February 17, 2025
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Dmitry Patrushev held a working meeting with the head of the Republic of Buryatia Alexey Tsydenov
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev held a working meeting with the head of the Republic of Buryatia Alexey Tsydenov. The topic of discussion was environmental issues, in particular the preservation and restoration of Lake Baikal.
Dmitry Patrushev noted the importance of developing balanced approaches when making decisions regarding Lake Baikal and strict compliance with environmental requirements when implementing development projects in the Baikal region. At the same time, the Deputy Prime Minister drew the attention of Alexey Tsydenov to the need for the region to submit proposals on specific mechanisms for solving these problems.
The meeting also discussed the reconstruction of treatment facilities in the Republic of Buryatia and the region’s work in the context of incident No. 55. In order to complete the work within the framework of the national project “Ecology”, the Deputy Prime Minister instructed to conduct weekly monitoring of the dynamics of work at regional facilities and to visit them regularly.
From 2019 to 2024, the Republic of Buryatia participated in the implementation of five federal projects of the national project “Ecology”. As part of the new national project “Ecological Well-being”, the Republic of Buryatia plans to carry out activities to preserve the ecosystem of Lake Baikal. They are included in the federal projects “Closed-loop Economy”, “Clean Air”, “Water of Russia” and “Forest Preservation”.
Incident No. 55 “Wastewater Treatment Facilities” was created on June 15, 2024 to coordinate work on the construction and reconstruction of wastewater treatment facilities implemented within the framework of the national project “Ecology”, as well as to ensure the operation of these facilities with the achievement of the parameters of standard wastewater treatment. Currently, work is being considered at 145 facilities in 19 regions.
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.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
On February 14, 2025, a working meeting of representatives of the State University of Management and the Project Management Association “SOVNET” was held, dedicated to the registration of the new journal “Project Management Bulletin”.
In his welcoming speech, the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev congratulated those present on the registration and official launch of the joint journal, emphasized the importance of having a scientific journal in the field of project management in the academic and professional environment, and also expressed special pride that this journal was registered by the university together with the Project Management Association “SOVNET”, which unites Russian professionals in the field of project management.
Vladimir Stroyev also noted that the opening of the Vestnik Proektnogo Upravleniye journal was a logical continuation of the activities of the State University of Management not only as a leading management university, but also as a project-oriented university in Russia, which stood at the origins of the formation of a theoretical and research base for project management. In 1990, the university was one of the founders of the SOVNET Project Management Association, and it was at the State University of Management that the first project management department in Russia was created in 1996, whose teachers worked on the creation of an educational and methodological base for project management. In addition, since 2024, the State University of Management has been approved as a federal innovation platform for the implementation of the project “Interregional Educational and Methodological Center for Project-Based Learning, Project-Based Learning as a Technology of Practical Training” (Order of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation dated January 19, 2024, No. 28).
In his response, the President of the Project Management Association “SOVNET” Alexander Tovb noted the need to develop methodological, theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of project and program management, research skills not only among students and young scientists, but also among the teaching staff of higher educational institutions of the country. Alexander Tovb also expressed confidence that the joint work of SOVNET and the State University of Management will allow the journal “Project Management Bulletin” to reach a high academic and practical level, publishing the results of research work, as well as modern advanced practices in the field of project management in Russia and abroad.
Chairman of the Board of the Project Management Association “SOVNET” Alexey Polkovnikov complemented Alexander Tovba with words about the importance of opening the journal “Project Management Bulletin” as a tool for ensuring interaction between leading specialists and young scientists in the field of project, program and portfolio management, as well as prompt access for students and postgraduates to information and analytical materials in this professional field of activity.
Vice-Rector of the State University of Management Dmitry Bryukhanov reminded those present that in April 2024, the State University of Management and SOVNET signed an Agreement on the creation of a project-methodical association “Association of project-oriented organizations of science and higher education”, which currently includes over 20 organizations. It was on the basis of the State University of Management that leading national events on project management were organized and held in 2024:
— National qualifying round of the International Project Management Championship (IPMC IPMA);
— All-Russian competition “Best Project Manager (under 35 years old)”;
— “Eurasian Project School”.
By a general decision of the founders of the journal, the rector of the State University of Management, Doctor of Economics, Professor Vladimir Stroev was elected as the editor-in-chief of the Project Management Bulletin.
The working group of the Vestnik Proektnogo Upravleniye journal included representatives of both organizations. From the State University of Management: Director of the Department of Publishing Activities and Digital Educational Content Evgeny Redko; Head of the Department of Scientific Periodicals Luiza Alekseeva; Head of the Department of Project Management Irina Brikoshina; Deputy Head of the Department of Project Management Ekaterina Khalimon. From the SOVNET: Vice President Grigory Tsipes and Board Member Maria Romanova.
At the end of the meeting, the journal’s working group outlined further steps in forming the sections of the publication, requirements for publications, the review procedure, and also in filling the first issue.
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 02/17/2025
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.
Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
With the support of RN-Uvatneftegaz (part of the Rosneft oil production complex), a festival of the culture of the indigenous peoples of the North, “The Wealth of the Uvat Taiga,” was held in the regional center of Uvat.
The festival was held for the third time. Every year it attracts more and more participants and this year it was the most numerous – about 1,500 guests from all taiga settlements of the Uvatsky district visited it. The winter festival originated as a fair of folk crafts, but with the support of oil workers it acquired the format of a cultural festival.
The cultural program of the festival included national vocal and dance performances. Guests of the festival took part in master classes on making national Khanty amulets and dolls, painting plates with traditional northern ornaments with images of animal symbols of the Uvatsky district. The building of the district House of Culture housed an exhibition of paintings “Beliefs of the Khanty People”.
During the sports program, the participants competed in national sports – throwing a tynzyan on a khorey (a lasso on a pole used to drive deer), archery, jumping over sleds, pulling a stick, etc. The sports and hunting tournament, a competition for agility in overcoming an obstacle course, was especially spectacular. An entertainment and development program was organized for the young guests.
The fair stalls offered traditional crafts to the guests of the festival: fresh-frozen and smoked fish, meat, berries, pine nuts, fur and bead products. In addition, visitors could try national cuisine: northern fish soup and tea made from taiga herbs and berries.
Preservation of the national culture of the indigenous peoples of the North and their traditional way of life is one of the significant areas of Rosneft’s social policy. The Company’s enterprises implement many social projects in the regions of their operations, develop the infrastructure of northern villages, help reindeer herder families, improve the material and technical base of educational institutions, social and medical facilities in the areas of original residence of indigenous peoples.
RN-Uvatneftegaz supports representatives of the Khanty, Mansi and Evenki of the Tyumen Region. Oil workers together with the administration of the Uvatsky municipal district presented the indigenous people with equipment for traditional trades – snowmobiles, boat motors, gasoline generators of electricity, as well as motor oil from Rosneft for engines. In total, in recent years, the company has handed over more than 160 units of equipment to Khanty families.
The company also provides access to winter roads and ice crossings, which it builds for production needs, and organizes fuel supplies at the deposits closest to the camps.
In addition, with the participation of RN-Uvatneftegaz, the ethnographic cultural center “Uvas Mir Khot” has been created and is developing in the vicinity of Tyumen, which in translation from Khanty means “House of Northern People”. National ritual holidays, cultural events, concerts, interactive excursions, lessons in local history and native language, and master classes are held on the territory of the center all year round.
Reference:
RN-Uvatneftegaz, a subsidiary of Rosneft, is exploring and developing a group of fields located in the Uvatsky District of the Tyumen Region. The Uvatsky project includes 19 licensed areas with a total area of over 25 thousand km2.
Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft February 17, 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.
Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
In 2024, the Samaraneftegaz company (part of the Rosneft oil and gas production complex) received an economic effect of more than 2.7 billion rubles thanks to the implementation of a program to improve production efficiency.
Over the past year, the company’s specialists have implemented about 100 innovative solutions. For the first time in Russia, Samara oil workers tested a domestic technology for simultaneous and separate oil production using small-sized deep-well pumping equipment. Due to the reduction in bottomhole pressure during the simultaneous operation of two layers in a sidetrack, additional production at three wells of the company amounted to more than 16 thousand tons of oil, and the economic effect was over 100 million rubles.
In addition, a new Russian automated drilling control system was tested at three wells under construction, which accurately executes the set commands and controls the parameters within the permissible range. This system helps to increase the mechanical drilling speed, reduces beating, vibration and wear of the drill string elements, allowing to reduce the construction time of wells due to the increase in the trip speed. Based on the results of the pilot tests, specialists noted an increase in the mechanical drilling speed by 10% of the planned one.
Samaraneftegaz is constantly looking for innovative solutions that allow maximizing efficiency at all stages of hydrocarbon production and transportation. Since 2018, when the production efficiency improvement system was introduced, the company has saved more than 8.5 billion rubles. During this time, specialists have developed and approved more than a hundred relevant passports, 32 of which were issued in the past year alone.
Systematic work to improve production efficiency is one of the key elements of Rosneft’s development strategy. The company is carrying out large-scale work aimed at reducing operating costs, including through the introduction of advanced technological solutions.
Reference:
JSC Samaraneftegaz, a subsidiary of NK Rosneft, carries out production activities in the Samara and Orenburg regions. Cumulative oil production since the beginning of field development exceeds 1.3 billion tons of oil.
Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft February 17, 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.
Details 2025-02-11 President Lai meets Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla of the Kingdom of Eswatini On the afternoon of February 11, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla of the Kingdom of Eswatini. In remarks, President Lai thanked Eswatini for continuing to support Taiwan’s international participation at international venues. The president stated that Taiwan and Eswatini work closely in such areas as agriculture, the economy and trade, education, and healthcare, and expressed hope that the two countries will continue to support each other on the international stage and strive together for the well-being of both peoples. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I warmly welcome our distinguished guests to the Presidential Office. Deputy Prime Minister Dladla previously visited Taiwan while serving as minister of foreign affairs. This is her first time leading a delegation here as deputy prime minister. I want to extend my sincerest welcome. Deputy Prime Minister Dladla has earned a high degree of recognition and trust from His Majesty King Mswati III. She was not only Eswatini’s first woman foreign minister, but is also the second woman to have held her current key position. She shows an active interest in people’s welfare, and has a reputation for being deeply devoted to her compatriots. I have great admiration for this. I am truly delighted to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Dladla today. I would like to take this opportunity to once again express my gratitude to His Majesty the King for leading a delegation to attend the inauguration ceremony for myself and Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao last year. This demonstrated the close diplomatic ties between our countries. I also want to thank Eswatini for continuing to support Taiwan’s international participation at international venues. I would ask that when Deputy Prime Minister Dladla returns to Eswatini, she conveys Taiwan’s greetings and gratitude to His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ntombi Tfwala. Diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Eswatini have endured for over half a century. Our two nations have continued to work closely in such areas as agriculture, the economy and trade, education, and healthcare. Our largest collaboration to date has been assisting Eswatini in the construction of a strategic oil reserve facility. We will continue to push forward with this project, and look forward to achieving even greater results in all areas. I understand that Deputy Prime Minister Dladla is very concerned about issues regarding gender equality and women’s empowerment. During her term as foreign minister, she facilitated bilateral cooperation in those areas. Now, as deputy prime minister, she is actively attending to the disadvantaged and advancing social welfare. These policies are very much in line with the priorities of my administration. I look forward to strengthening cooperation with Deputy Prime Minister Dladla for the benefit of both our societies. Taiwan and Eswatini are peace-loving nations. Faced with a constantly changing international landscape and the growing threat posed by authoritarianism, we hope that our two countries will continue to support each other on the international stage and strive together for the well-being of both our peoples. In closing, I wish Deputy Prime Minister Dladla and our distinguished guests a pleasant and successful visit. Deputy Prime Minister Dladla then delivered remarks, first greeting President Lai on behalf of the King, the Queen Mother, and the people of Eswatini, and extending gratitude for the warm reception afforded to her and her delegation, which underscores the strong bonds of friendship between our two nations. The deputy prime minister stated that, in reflecting on the fruits of our partnership, the evidence of Taiwan’s commitment to Eswatini is all around us. The strategic oil reserve project launching in April, she indicated, will redefine Eswatini’s energy security, and the Central Bank complex and electrification project stand as monuments of Taiwan’s vision for Eswatini’s progress and indicate that our partnerships are very strong. Deputy Prime Minister Dladla pointed out that education is the foundation of any nation’s progress, and that Taiwan’s contribution to Eswatini’s education sector cannot be overstated. Through Ministry of Foreign Affairs scholarship programs, she said, Eswatini has sent numerous students to Taiwan, where they’ve received world-class education in various disciplines, including engineering, business, and medicine. In turn, she said, these graduates are now contributing to the development of Eswatini. The deputy prime minister stated that Taiwan has also strengthened Eswatini’s industrial and technological sectors, with collaborations and partnerships that create new opportunities for employment and innovation, and that Taiwan’s technical and medical assistance has strengthened Eswatini’s healthcare systems and uplifted the expertise of its professionals. Deputy Prime Minister Dladla also congratulated President Lai once again on his presidency, which she stated will lead Taiwan to new heights, adding that His Majesty coming to Taiwan personally for the inauguration was a resounding declaration of Eswatini’s enduring support for Taiwan’s sovereignty, stability, and rightful place on the world stage. She emphasized that Eswatini stands with Taiwan always and unwaveringly. In conclusion, the deputy prime minister stated that Eswatini fully agrees with Taiwan that we must all safeguard our national sovereignty and protect the lives and property of our people. She said that our common enemy will always be poverty and natural disasters, but against all odds, we will stand united, and we shall remain united and be one. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Eswatini Ambassador Promise Sithembiso Msibi.
Details 2025-02-11 Presidential Office thanks US and Japan for joint leaders’ statement On February 7 (US EST), President Donald Trump of the United States and Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru of Japan issued a joint leaders’ statement reiterating “the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the international community.” In the statement, the two leaders also “encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, and opposed any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion” and “expressed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.” Presidential Office Spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) on February 8 expressed sincere gratitude on behalf of the Presidential Office to the leaders of both countries for taking concrete action to demonstrate their firm support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and for Taiwan’s international participation. Spokesperson Kuo pointed out that there is already a strong international consensus on the importance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The spokesperson emphasized that Taiwan, as a responsible member of the international community, is capable and willing to work together with the international community and will continue strengthening its self-defense capabilities as it deepens its trilateral security partnership with the US and Japan and works alongside like-minded countries to uphold the rules-based international order. The spokesperson said that Taiwan will work toward ensuring a free and open Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific region, as well as global peace, stability, and prosperity, as it continues to act as a force for good in the world.
Details 2025-02-11 President Lai’s response to Pope Francis’s 2025 World Day of Peace message President Lai Ching-te recently sent a letter to Pope Francis of the Catholic Church in response to his message marking the 58th World Day of Peace. The following is the full text of the president’s letter to the pope: Your Holiness, In your message for the 2025 World Day of Peace entitled Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace, you called for a cultural change that would bring an end to the governance of interpersonal and international relations by a logic of exploitation and oppression and herald true and lasting peace. I wholeheartedly admire and identify with your point of view. Since transitioning from a medical career to politics, I have remained true to my original intentions in the sense that, while a doctor can help only one person at a time, a public servant can simultaneously assist many people in resolving the difficulties affecting their lives. In my inaugural address in May 2024, I pledged that every day of my term, I would strive to act justly, show mercy, and be humble, which accord with the teachings of the Bible. I promised to treat the Taiwanese people as family and prove myself worthy of their trust and expectations. With an unwavering heart, I have accepted the people’s trust and taken on the solemn responsibility of leading the nation forward and building a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous new Taiwan. In this new year, the changing international landscape continues to present many grave challenges to democratic nations around the world. As the Russia-Ukraine war persists, the steady convergence of authoritarian regimes, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, threatens the rules-based international order and severely impacts peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and the world at large. Your Holiness has stated that war is a defeat for everyone. I, too, firmly believe that peace is priceless and that war has no winners. A high level of consensus has formed in the international community on upholding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwanese people also maintain an unyielding commitment to safeguarding a way of life that encompasses freedom, equality, democracy, and human rights. Taiwan will continue to spare no effort in preserving regional peace and stability and serving as a pilot for global peace. In your World Day of Peace message, you urged prosperous countries to assist poorer ones. This compassion is truly touching. Taiwan is proactively implementing values-based diplomacy and, under the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project, enhancing allies’ development through a range of initiatives. Over many years, Taiwan has accumulated abundant and unique experience of providing foreign assistance. Seeking to foster self-reliance among disadvantaged countries, we have extended genuine support to help alleviate poverty through such avenues as strengthening basic infrastructure, transferring technology, and cultivating talent. In your message, you reminded countries worldwide that assistance should not be merely an isolated act of charity and pointed to the need to devise a new global financial framework so that food crises, climate change, and other challenges could be jointly addressed. I hold this view in high regard. I therefore earnestly hope that international organizations will stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons. Taiwan is willing to shoulder its international responsibilities so that it can contribute and share its valuable experience through many global platforms. On behalf of the government and people of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I again express our interest in collaborating with the Holy See to advance world peace through concrete action. We also aspire to demonstrate Taiwanese values and the Taiwanese spirit and work together with the Holy See to uphold the core values of justice, democracy, freedom, and peace. Please accept, Your Holiness, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration, as well as my best wishes for your good health and the continued growth of the Catholic Church.
Details 2025-02-11 President Lai meets former US Vice President Mike Pence On the afternoon of January 17, President Lai Ching-te met with former Vice President of the United States Mike Pence. In remarks, President Lai thanked former Vice President Pence for his contributions to the deepening of Taiwan-US relations, noting that he actively helped to strengthen Taiwan-US cooperation and facilitate the normalization of military sales to Taiwan, and did his utmost to deepen the Taiwan-US economic partnership. The president indicated that former Vice President Pence also spoke up for Taiwan on numerous occasions at international venues, backing Taiwan’s international participation. President Lai expressed hope for a stronger Taiwan-US partnership to maintain peace and stability throughout the world, and that the two sides can advance bilateral exchanges in such areas as the economy, trade, and industry. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I am delighted to welcome former Vice President Pence and Mrs. Karen Pence to the Presidential Office. Former Vice President Pence is not only an outstanding political leader in the US, but also a staunch supporter of Taiwan on the international stage. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I would like to take this opportunity to extend our deepest gratitude to former Vice President Pence for his contributions to the deepening of Taiwan-US relations. Thanks to former Vice President Pence’s strong backing, ties between Taiwan and the US rose to unprecedented heights during President Donald Trump’s first administration. Former Vice President Pence actively helped to strengthen Taiwan-US security cooperation and facilitate the normalization of military sales to Taiwan, helping Taiwan reinforce its self-defense capabilities. He also did his utmost to deepen the Taiwan-US economic partnership. Former Vice President Pence also paid close attention to the military threats and diplomatic isolation faced by Taiwan. He spoke up for Taiwan on numerous occasions at international venues, taking concrete action to back Taiwan’s international participation. We were truly grateful for this. As we speak, China’s political and military intimidation against Taiwan persist. China and other authoritarian regimes, such as Russia, North Korea, and Iran, are continuing to converge and present serious challenges to democracies around the globe. At this moment, free and democratic nations must come together to bolster cooperation. I believe that a stronger Taiwan-US partnership can be an even more powerful force in maintaining peace and stability throughout the world. Former Vice President Pence has previously supported the signing of a trade agreement between Taiwan and the US. Taiwan looks forward to continuing to work with the new US administration and Congress to advance bilateral exchanges in such areas as the economy, trade, and industry. This is the first time that former Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence are visiting Taiwan, and their visit is significantly meaningful for Taiwan-US exchanges. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I want to extend a warm welcome. Moving forward, I hope we will jointly realize even more fruitful achievements through Taiwan-US cooperation. Former Vice President Pence then delivered remarks, thanking President Lai for his hospitality on his and his wife’s first visit to Taiwan, saying that it is an honor to be here to reaffirm the bonds of friendship between the people of America and the people of Taiwan, which are strong and longstanding. The former vice president indicated that the American people admire the people of Taiwan and all that has been accomplished in a few short decades for Taiwan to rise to one of the world’s preeminent economic powers and free societies. He said that he is grateful for President Lai’s courageous and bold leadership of Taiwan, and grateful to be able to express the support of the overwhelming majority of the American people for this alliance. Former Vice President Pence indicated that the values shared by Taiwan and the US, including freedom, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, bind us together in a partnership that transcends geographic boundaries and cultures. He then assured President Lai that China’s increasingly aggressive posture in the Taiwan Strait and across the Indo-Pacific, for the values and interests that both sides share, is deeply concerning to the American people. Former Vice President Pence stated that America is a Pacific nation, and is committed to the status quo, adding that they recognize it is China that wants to change the status quo that America, Taiwan, and other allies in the region want to preserve, which has created an environment of extraordinary growth and prosperity. The former vice president concluded by once again thanking President Lai and his team for their gracious hospitality and conveying best wishes to him and the people of Taiwan. Former Vice President Pence then assured President Lai that just as Taiwan will never surrender its freedom, he will continue to be a voice for a strong US-Taiwan relationship in the defense and the benefit of Taiwan, the US, and the free world. Later that day, Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao hosted a banquet for former Vice President Pence and his delegation at Taipei Guest House to thank him for his longstanding friendship and staunch support for Taiwan-US ties.
Details 2025-02-11 President Lai meets delegation to 60th Inaugural Ceremonies of US president and vice president On the morning of January 16, President Lai Ching-te met with Taiwan’s delegation to the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies of the President and Vice President of the United States. In remarks, President Lai stated that democratic Taiwan stands united, working hard to deepen Taiwan-US ties together. He then entrusted the delegation with three missions: to convey best wishes from the people of Taiwan, convey our firm commitment to democracy, and help Taiwan-US relations reach a new milestone. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: The 60th Inaugural Ceremonies of the President and Vice President of the US will be held on January 20. I want to thank Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), president of the Legislative Yuan, for accepting my invitation to lead our nation’s representative delegation to the event. I also thank Legislative Yuan Members Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), Ko Ju-chun (葛如鈞), Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀), Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), Kuo Yu-ching (郭昱晴), and Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) for joining this visit to the US to attend the inauguration of President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. We have gathered together today despite differences in party affiliation because in democratic Taiwan, while parties may compete domestically, when it comes to engagement externally, they stand united and share responsibility, working hard to deepen Taiwan-US ties and strive for the best interests of the nation. We share the value of defending freedom and democracy, and we share the goal of advancing peace and prosperity. Today, we engage with the world together as those from the same country – the Republic of China (Taiwan). In this complex and volatile new international landscape, and as the nation faces difficulties and challenges, I want to stress that in Formosa, there is no hostility that cannot be let go, and no hardship that cannot be overcome. Unity is the most important, and I hope that Taiwan can stand united, because there is true strength in unity. Democratic Taiwan must stand united in engaging with the world and initiate exchanges with confidence. On that ground, I am entrusting this delegation with three key missions. First, convey best wishes from the people of Taiwan. Just last year, Taiwan and the US celebrated the 45th anniversary of the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act. And on May 20, the US sent a senior bipartisan delegation to congratulate me and Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao on our inauguration. As the leader of this cross-party delegation, Speaker Han must clearly convey the well-wishes of the people of Taiwan, congratulate President Trump and Vice President Vance on their inauguration, and wish success to the new administration and prosperity to the US. Second, clearly convey the firm commitment of the people of Taiwan to democracy. The theme of these inaugural ceremonies is “Our Enduring Democracy: A Constitutional Promise.” Taiwan and the US share the universal value of democracy and are staunch allies. I hope that the delegation can faithfully convey the firm commitment to democracy that the people of Taiwan have, which will not change even in the face of authoritarian threats. Taiwan is willing to stand side by side with the US and other members of the democratic community to defend the sustainable development of global democracy and prevent the expansion of authoritarianism. Third, help Taiwan-US relations reach a new milestone. In recent years, Taiwan-US relations have continued to grow, with the first agreement under the Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st Century Trade having formally taken effect last month. This morning, the House of Representatives also passed the US-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act. I hope that the delegation can help Taiwan-US relations reach a new milestone through these exchanges so that our relations continue to grow, our cooperation expands even more, and so that we can achieve even greater success after the new administration takes office. Four years ago, Taiwan’s representative to the US inaugural ceremonies was Vice President Hsiao, who was then our representative to the US. Everyone has a lot to learn from her. I have specially invited everyone here to converse so that you can draw from Vice President Hsiao’s experience and ensure an even smoother visit. Washington, DC was also hit by a rare blizzard recently, and the weather has been very cold, so make sure to stay warm. I am sending everyone off with hand warmers and thermoses so that you can bring some warmth from Taiwan with you on your journey. And I ask that Speaker Han exercise his wisdom to help generate some warmth between the ruling and opposition parties through cooperation, which they can then bring back to Taiwan. Let us unite to give our all for diplomacy so that we can unite to give our all for Taiwan. I wish the delegation a smooth and safe trip, and hope your missions can be carried out successfully. Speaker Han then delivered remarks, stating that it was an honor to be invited by President Lai to organize a delegation to represent our nation at the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies of the President and Vice President of the US in Washington, DC, and express the Republic of China’s sincere and cordial best wishes. The Legislative Yuan’s president has assumed this important task numerous times in the past, he said, not only to represent the government of the Republic of China, but also to take on the mission of conveying the voices of 23 million people. He went on to say that he is honored to take up the baton, lead eight legislators to the US to attend this celebration that will attract global attention, and express sincere best wishes to newly elected President Trump, Vice President Vance, and the new administration’s team. As enjoined by President Lai, he hopes the delegation’s trip will help open a new chapter in Taiwan-US exchanges. Speaker Han stated that the US is the most free and democratic country in the world. He noted that in 1776 in the US Declaration of Independence, founding father Thomas Jefferson propounded the concept of “unalienable rights,” and emphasized that the people have a right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness, democratic ideas that have long been rooted in the people’s hearts. Today, he said, democracy is also embedded in the DNA of Taiwan’s 23 million people, and this hard-won democratic achievement is a result of the concerted efforts of our pioneering predecessors, thinkers, and activists over the past 100 years. Speaker Han stated that during this visit, the Legislative Yuan delegation hopes to convey the voice of Taiwan as a democratic country. Taiwan’s security, he said, is like the four legs of a table: The first leg is defending the Republic of China, the second is defending freedom and democracy, the third is maintaining Taiwan-US relations, and the fourth is maintaining cross-strait peace. The delegation will travel to the US amidst severe cold weather to show that we value our relationship with the US, and our citizens have great hopes and expectations. Speaker Han stated that this will be a cross-party delegation of eight legislators, all of whom have a strong sense of mission. He hopes that all democratic nations will acknowledge Taiwan’s importance, and pay attention to Taiwan’s 23 million people. The delegation, he said, will do its utmost to convey the goodwill and warmth that the people of Taiwan give to each and every one of our good friends.
Details 2025-02-14 President Lai holds press conference following high-level national security meeting On the morning of February 14, President Lai Ching-te convened the first high-level national security meeting of the year, following which he held a press conference. In remarks, President Lai announced that in this new year, the government will prioritize special budget allocations to ensure that Taiwan’s defense budget exceeds 3 percent of GDP. He stated that the government will also continue to reform national defense, reform our legal framework for national security, and advance our economic and trade strategy of being rooted in Taiwan while expanding globally. The president also proposed clear-cut national strategies for Taiwan-US relations, semiconductor industry development, and cross-strait relations. President Lai indicated that he instructed the national security and administrative teams to take swift action and deliver results, working within a stable strategic framework and according to the various policies and approaches outlined. He also instructed them to keep a close watch on changes in the international situation, seize opportunities whenever they arise, and address the concerns and hope of the citizens with concrete actions. He expressed hope that as long as citizens remain steadfast in their convictions, are willing to work hand in hand, stand firm amidst uncertainty, and look for ways to win within changing circumstances, Taiwan is certain to prevail in the test of time yet again. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: First, I would like to convey my condolences for the tragic incident which occurred at the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store in Taichung, which resulted in numerous casualties. I have instructed Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) to lead the relevant central government agencies in assisting Taichung’s municipal government with actively resolving various issues regarding the incident. It is my hope that these issues can be resolved efficiently. Earlier today, I convened this year’s first high-level national security meeting. I will now report on the discussions from the meeting to all citizens. 2025 is a year full of challenges, but also a year full of hope. In today’s global landscape, the democratic world faces common threats posed by the convergence of authoritarian regimes, while dumping and unfair competition from China undermine the global economic order. A new United States administration was formed at the beginning of the year, adopting all-new strategies and policies to address challenges both domestic and from overseas. Every nation worldwide, including ours, is facing a new phase of changes and challenges. In face of such changes, ensuring national security, ensuring Taiwan’s indispensability in global supply chains, and ensuring that our nation continues to make progress amidst challenges are our top priorities this year. They are also why we convened a high-level national security meeting today. At the meeting, the national security team, the administrative team led by Premier Cho, and I held an in-depth discussion based on the overall state of affairs at home and abroad and the strategies the teams had prepared in response. We summed up the following points as an overall strategy for the next stage of advancing national security and development. First, for overall national security, so that we can ensure the freedom, democracy, and human rights of the Taiwanese people, as well as the progress and development of the nation as we face various threats from authoritarian regimes, Taiwan must resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, strengthen self-sufficiency in national defense, and consolidate national defense. Taiwan must enhance economic resilience, maintain economic autonomy, and stand firm with other democracies as we deepen our strategic partnerships with like-minded countries. As I have said, “As authoritarianism consolidates, democratic nations must come closer in solidarity!” And so, in this new year, we will focus on the following three priorities: First, to demonstrate our resolve for national defense, we will continue to reform national defense, implement whole-of-society defense resilience, and prioritize special budget allocations to ensure that our defense budget exceeds 3 percent of GDP. Second, to counter the threats to our national security from China’s united front tactics, attempts at infiltration, and cognitive warfare, we will continue with the reform of our legal framework for national security and expand the national security framework to boost societal resilience and foster unity within. Third, to seize opportunities in the restructuring of global supply chains and realignment of the economic order, we will continue advancing our economic and trade strategy of being rooted in Taiwan while expanding globally, strengthening protections for high-tech, and collaborating with our friends and allies to build supply chains for global democracies. Everyone shares concern regarding Taiwan-US relations, semiconductor industry development, and cross-strait relations. For these issues, I am proposing clear-cut national strategies. First, I will touch on Taiwan-US relations. Taiwan and the US have shared ideals and values, and are staunch partners within the democratic, free community. We are very grateful to President Donald Trump’s administration for their continued support for Taiwan after taking office. We are especially grateful for the US and Japan’s joint leaders’ statement reiterating “the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the international community,” as well as their high level of concern regarding China’s threat to regional security. In fact, the Democratic Progressive Party government has worked very closely with President Trump ever since his first term in office, and has remained an international partner. The procurement of numerous key advanced arms, freedom of navigation critical for security and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and many assisted breakthroughs in international diplomacy were made possible during this time. Positioned in the first island chain and on the democratic world’s frontline countering authoritarianism, Taiwan is willing and will continue to work with the US at all levels as we pursue regional stability and prosperity, helping realize our vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Although changes in policy may occur these next few years, the mutual trust and close cooperation between Taiwan and Washington will steadfastly endure. On that, our citizens can rest assured. In accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances, the US announced a total of 48 military sales to Taiwan over the past eight years amounting to US$26.265 billion. During President Trump’s first term, 22 sales were announced totaling US$18.763 billion. This greatly supported Taiwan’s defensive capabilities. On the foundation of our close cooperation with the past eight years’ two US administrations, Taiwan will continue to demonstrate our determination for self-defense, accelerate the bolstering of our national defense, and keep enhancing the depth and breadth of Taiwan-US security cooperation, along with all manner of institutional cooperation. In terms of bilateral economic cooperation, Taiwan has always been one of the US’s most reliable trade partners, as well as one of the most important cooperative partners of US companies in the global semiconductor industry. In the past few years, Taiwan has greatly increased both direct and indirect investment in the US. By 2024, investment surpassed US$100 billion, creating nearly 400,000 job opportunities. In 2023 and 2024, investment in the US accounted for over 40 percent of Taiwan’s overall foreign investment, far surpassing our investment in China. In fact, in 2023 and 2024, Taiwanese investment in China fell to 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively. The US is now Taiwan’s biggest investment target. Our government is now launching relevant plans in accordance with national development needs and the need to establish secure supply systems, and the Executive Yuan is taking comprehensive inventory of opportunities for Taiwan-US economic and trade cooperation. Moving forward, close bilateral cooperation will allow us to expand US investment and procurement, facilitating balanced trade. Our government will also strengthen guidance and support for Taiwanese enterprises on increasing US investment, and promote the global expansion and growth of Taiwan’s industries. We will also boost Taiwan-US cooperation in tech development and manufacturing for AI and advanced semiconductors, and work together to maintain order in the semiconductor market, shaping a new era for our strategic economic partnership. Second, the development of our semiconductor industry. I want to emphasize that Taiwan, as one of the world’s most capable semiconductor manufacturing nations, is both willing and able to address new situations. With respect to President Trump’s concerns about our semiconductor industry, the government will act prudently, strengthen communications between Taiwan and the US, and promote greater mutual understanding. We will pay attention to the challenges arising from the situation and assist businesses in navigating them. In addition, we will introduce an initiative on semiconductor supply chain partnerships for global democracies. We are willing to collaborate with the US and our other democratic partners to develop more resilient and diversified semiconductor supply chains. Leveraging our strengths in cutting-edge semiconductors, we will form a global alliance for the AI chip industry and establish democratic supply chains for industries connected to high-end chips. Through international cooperation, we will open up an entirely new era of growth in the semiconductor industry. As we face the various new policies of the Trump administration, we will continue to uphold a spirit of mutual benefit, and we will continue to communicate and negotiate closely with the US government. This will help the new administration’s team to better understand how Taiwan is an indispensable partner in the process of rebuilding American manufacturing and consolidating its leadership in high-tech, and that Taiwan-US cooperation will benefit us both. Third, cross-strait relations. Regarding the regional and cross-strait situation, Taiwan-US relations, US-China relations, and interactions among Taiwan, the US, and China are a focus of global attention. As a member of the international democratic community and a responsible member of the region, Taiwan hopes to see Taiwan-US relations continue to strengthen and, alongside US-China relations, form a virtuous cycle rather than a zero-sum game where one side’s gain is another side’s loss. In facing China, Taiwan will always be a responsible actor. We will neither yield nor provoke. We will remain resilient and composed, maintaining our consistent position on cross-strait relations: Our determination to safeguard our national sovereignty and protect our free and democratic way of life remains unchanged. Our efforts to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, as well as our willingness to work alongside China in the pursuit of peace and mutual prosperity across the strait, remain unchanged. Our commitment to promoting healthy and orderly exchanges across the strait, choosing dialogue over confrontation, and advancing well-being for the peoples on both sides of the strait, under the principles of parity and dignity, remains unchanged. Regarding the matters I reported to the public today, I have instructed our national security and administrative teams to take swift action and deliver results, working within a stable strategic framework and according to the various policies and approaches I just outlined. I have also instructed them to keep a close watch on changes in the international situation, seize opportunities whenever they arise, and address the concerns and hope of the citizens with concrete actions. My fellow citizens, over the past several years, Taiwan has weathered a global pandemic and faced global challenges, both political and economic, arising from the US-China trade war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Through it all, Taiwan has persevered; we have continued to develop our economy, bolster our national strength, and raise our international profile while garnering more support – all unprecedented achievements. This is all because Taiwan’s fate has never been decided by the external environment, but by the unity of the Taiwanese people and the resolve to never give up. A one-of-a-kind global situation is creating new strategic opportunities for our one-of-a-kind Taiwanese people, bringing new hope. Taiwan’s foundation is solid; its strength is great. So as long as everyone remains steadfast in their convictions, is willing to work hand in hand, stands firm amidst uncertainty, and looks for ways to win within changing circumstances, Taiwan is certain to prevail in the test of our time yet again, for I am confident that there are no difficulties that Taiwan cannot overcome. Thank you.
G7 foreign ministers and the EU gave a joint statement on the margins of the Munich Security Conference on 15 February 2025.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy with G7 foreign ministers and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas at the Munich Security Conference.
Joint statement:
The G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union, met on the margins of the Munich Security Conference for the first time under Canada’s 2025 Presidency.
The G7 members discussed Russia’s devastating war in Ukraine. They underscored their commitment to work together to help to achieve a durable peace and a strong and prosperous Ukraine and reaffirmed the need to develop robust security guarantees to ensure the war will not begin again.
The G7 members welcomed their discussion today with Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. They recalled the G7’s important contribution towards ending the war in Ukraine, including through measures pursuant to the G7 Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine, by supporting Ukraine financially through the use of extraordinary revenues stemming from Russian Sovereign Assets, by imposing further cost on Russia, if they do not negotiate in good faith, through caps on oil and gas prices, and by making sanctions against Russia more effective. Any new, additional sanctions after February should be linked to whether the Russian Federation enters into real, good-faith efforts to bring an enduring end to the war against Ukraine that provides Ukraine with long-term security and stability as a sovereign, independent country. The G7 members reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its freedom, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
The G7 members discussed the provision to Russia of dual-use assistance by China and of military assistance by DPRK and Iran. They condemned all such support.
The G7 members discussed political, security and humanitarian issues in the Middle East, including in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, and their commitment to advancing regional peace and stability. They underscored the importance of a durable, Israeli-Palestinian peace. They reaffirmed their support for the full implementation of the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas, including for the release of all hostages and the expansion of humanitarian aid in Gaza. The G7 members stand behind the ongoing efforts of Egypt, Qatar and the United States in continuing to work towards a permanent ceasefire. They reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and the need to ensure that Hamas neither reconstitutes militarily nor participates in governance. They recognized Israel’s inherent right to self-defence, consistent with international law.
The G7 members welcomed the outcomes of the International Conference on Syria, hosted by France on February 13, 2025. They reiterated their shared commitment to the people of Syria and their support for an inclusive political transition process, in the spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 2254. They welcomed, as well, positive developments in Lebanon, including the recent election of President Joseph Aoun, the designation of Nawaf Salam as Prime Minister, and the formation of a new government. The G7 members reaffirmed their commitment to both countries’ stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
The G7 members unequivocally condemned Iran’s destabilizing actions, including its rapid advancement of uranium enrichment without credible civil justification, its facilitation of terrorism organizations and armed groups across the Middle East and Red Sea, its proliferation of ballistic missiles and drones, and its transnational repression and violation of fundamental human rights.
The G7 members reiterated their commitment to a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region, grounded in respect for the rule of law and sovereignty. They strongly opposed any attempts to change unilaterally the status quo using force and underscored the importance of resolving disputes peacefully. They strongly opposed China’s attempts to restrict freedom of navigation through militarization and coercive activities in the East and South China Sea.
The G7 members expressed serious concern over the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. They demanded that the DPRK abandon all its nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs, and any other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner in accordance with all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). They underscored that direct DPRK support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine marks a dangerous expansion of the conflict, with serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific security. They urged the DPRK to cease immediately all assistance for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including by withdrawing its troops. The called upon DPRK to resolve the abductions issue immediately.
The G7 members also discussed urgent situations of conflict and instability elsewhere in the world, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan, and in Haiti and Venezuela.
The G7 Foreign Ministers looked forward to their meeting in Canada in Charlevoix, Quebec on March 12-14.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
We continue our series of historical materials dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
On February 17, 1944, the Korsun-Shevchenkovsk operation, also known as the Korsun or Cherkasy pocket, ended with a crushing defeat for the German Army Group South.
In late December 1943 – early January 1944, the 1st Ukrainian Front under General of the Army Nikolai Vatutin and the 2nd Ukrainian Front led by General of the Army Ivan Konev carried out the Zhitomir-Berdichev and Kirovograd offensive operations, during which they surrounded the German group in the area of the city of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky. Thus, a deep salient was formed on the front, which the Germans held in the hope of restoring the front line along the Dnieper and preventing the further advance of the Russians to the southeast.
The general plan of the Red Army operation was to launch a counterattack at the base of the salient by the adjacent flanks of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts. On January 24, 1944, the armies of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front went on the offensive. Two days later, units and formations of the left flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front joined the operation. Two days later, Konev’s and Vatutin’s troops met in the Zvenigorodka area – the ring around the Germans was closed.
In early February, the Wehrmacht made several attempts to break out of the encirclement, which had almost 60,000 soldiers. The commander of Army Group South, Erich von Manstein, who had at his disposal such famous divisions as Reich, Grossdeutschland, and Totenkopf, equipped with new Tigers and Panthers, planned not only to pull his own out of the cauldron, but also to encircle and destroy the 5th Guards and 6th Tank Armies of the Soviet troops. Despite certain successes, the Germans were unable to unblock the encircled group in two weeks of fierce fighting.
On February 16, Manstein gave the encircled troops the order to break through to meet his group with all their might. Having destroyed the faulty equipment, on the night of February 17, under fire from Soviet artillery, the Germans moved to make a mass breakthrough across the Gniloy Tikich River, the marshy banks and cold water of which became a grave for many German soldiers. About half of the encircled units managed to escape from the cauldron, and about 18,000 people were captured. The commander of the encircled group, General Wilhelm Stemmermann, was killed. All equipment and heavy weapons were abandoned. And the use of large tank formations by the relieving group in the conditions of a thaw and muddy roads led to their mass incapacitation. In subsequent battles, this equipment became trophies of the Red Army.
Despite the fact that the Soviet troops failed to completely destroy the enemy group, the operation was considered successful by the Supreme Command. Ivan Konev was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union, and Pavel Rotmistrov and Yakov Fedorenko became the first marshals of armored forces – this military rank was introduced the day before. The shortening of the front line made it possible to free up forces for further advance to the east.
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 02/17/2025
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.
A spontaneous memorial of flowers in St Petersburg, Russia, on the day of Alexei Navalny’s death, February 16 2024.Aleksey Dushutin/Shutterstock
This is the best day of the past five months for me … This is my home … I am not afraid of anything and I urge you not to be afraid of anything either.
These were Alexei Navalny’s words after landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on January 17 2021. Russia’s leading opposition figure had spent the past months recovering in Germany from an attempt on his life by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Minutes after making his comments, Navalny was detained at border control. And he would remain behind bars until his death on February 16 2024, in the remote “Polar Wolf” penal colony within the Arctic Circle.
“Why did he return to Russia?” That’s the question I’m asked about Navalny most frequently. Wasn’t it a mistake to return to certain imprisonment, when he could have maintained his opposition to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, from abroad?
But Navalny’s decision to return didn’t surprise me. I’ve researched and written about him extensively, including co-authoring Navalny: Putin’s Nemesis, Russia’s Future?, the first English-language, book-length account of his life and political activities. Defying the Kremlin by returning was a signature move, reflecting both his obstinacy and bravery. He wanted to make sure his supporters and activists in Russia did not feel abandoned, risking their lives while he lived a cushy life in exile.
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Besides, Navalny wasn’t returning to certain imprisonment. A close ally of his, Vladimir Ashurkov, told me in May 2022 that his “incarceration in Russia was not a certainty. It was a probability, a scenario – but it wasn’t like he was walking into a certain long-term prison term.”
Also, Navalny hadn’t chosen to leave Russia in the first place. He was unconscious when taken by plane from Omsk to Berlin for treatment following his poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok in August 2020. Navalny had been consistent in saying he was a Russian politician who needed to remain in Russia to be effective.
In a subsequent interview, conducted in a forest on the outskirts of the German capital as he slowly recovered, Navalny said: “In people’s minds, if you leave the country, that means you’ve surrendered.”
Video: ACF.
Outrage, detention and death
Two days after Navalny’s final return to Russia, the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) – the organisation he established in 2011 – published its biggest ever investigation. The YouTube video exploring “Putin’s palace” on the Black Sea coast achieved an extraordinary 100 million views within ten days. By the start of February 2021, polling suggested it had been watched by more than a quarter of all adults in Russia.
Outrage at Navalny’s detention, combined with this Putin investigation, got people on to the streets. On January 23 2021, 160,000 people turned out across Russia in events that did not have prior approval from the authorities. More than 40% of the participants said they were taking part in a protest for the first time.
But the Russian authorities were determined to also make it their last time. Law enforcement mounted an awesome display of strength, detaining protesters and sometimes beating them. The number of participants at protests on January 31 and February 2 declined sharply as a result.
Between Navalny’s return to Russia in January 2021 and his death in February 2024, aged 47, he faced criminal case after criminal case, adding years and years to his time in prison and increasing the severity of his detention. By the time of his death, he was in the harshest type of prison in the Russian penitentiary system – a “special regime” colony – and was frequently sent to a punishment cell.
The obvious intent was to demoralise Navalny, his team and supporters – making an example of him to spread fear among anyone else who might consider mounting a challenge to the Kremlin. But Navalny fought back, as described in his posthumously published memoir, Patriot. He made legal challenges against his jailers. He went on hunger strike. And he formed a union for his fellow prisoners.
He also used his court appearances to make clear his political views, including following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, declaring: “I am against this war. I consider it immoral, fratricidal, and criminal.”
Navalny’s final public appearance was via video link. He was in good spirits, with his trademark optimism and humour still on display. Tongue firmly in cheek, he asked the judge for financial help:
Your Honour, I will send you my personal account number so that you can use your huge salary as a federal judge to ‘warm up’ my personal account, because I am running out of money.
Navalny died the following day. According to the prison authorities, he collapsed after a short walk and lost consciousness. Although the Russian authorities claimed he had died of natural causes, documents published in September 2024 by The Insider – a Russia-focused, Latvia-based independent investigative website – suggest Navalny may have been poisoned.
A mourner adds her tribute to Alexei Navalny’s grave in Moscow after his burial on March 1 2024. Aleksey Dushutin/Shutterstock
Whether or not Putin directly ordered his death, Russia’s president bears responsibility – for leading a system that tried to assassinate Navalny in August 2020, and for allowing his imprisonment following Navalny’s return to Russia in conditions designed to crush him.
Commenting in March 2024, Putin stated that, just days before Navalny’s death, he had agreed for his most vocal opponent to be included in a prisoner swap – on condition the opposition figure never returned to Russia. “But, unfortunately,” Putin added, “what happened, happened.”
‘No one will forget’
Putin is afraid of Alexei, even after he killed him.
Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s wife, wrote these words on January 10 2025 after reading a curious letter. His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, had written to Rosfinmonitoring – a Russian state body – with a request for her son’s name to be removed from their list of “extremists and terrorists” now he was no longer alive.
The official response was straight from Kafka. Navalny’s name could not be removed as it had been added following the initiation of a criminal case against him. Even though he was dead, Rosfinmonitoring had not been informed about a termination of the case “in accordance with the procedure established by law”, so his name would have to remain.
This appears to be yet another instance of the Russian state exercising cruelty behind the veil of bureaucratic legality – such as when the prison authorities initially refused to release Navalny’s body to his mother after his death.
“Putin is doing this to scare you,” Yulia continued. “He wants you to be afraid to even mention Alexei, and gradually to forget his name. But no one will forget.”
Alexei Navalny and his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, at a protest rally in Moscow, May 2012. Dmitry Laudin/Shutterstock
Today, Navalny’s family and team continue his work outside of Russia – and are fighting to keep his name alive back home. But the odds are against them. Polling suggests the share of Russians who say they know nothing about Navalny or his activities roughly doubled to 30% between his return in January 2021 and his death three years later.
Navalny fought against an autocratic system – and paid the price with his life. Given the very real fears Russians may have of voicing support for a man still labelled an extremist by the Putin regime, it’s not easy to assess what people there really think of him and his legacy. But we will also never know how popular Navalny would have been in the “normal” political system he fought for.
What made Navalny the force he was?
Navalny didn’t mean for the humble yellow rubber duck to become such a potent symbol of resistance.
In March 2017, the ACF published its latest investigation into elite corruption, this time focusing on then-prime minister (and former president), Dmitry Medvedev. Navalny’s team members had become masters of producing slick videos that enabled their message to reach a broad audience. A week after posting, the film had racked up over 7 million views on YouTube – an extraordinary number at that time.
The film included shocking details of Medvedev’s alleged avarice, including yachts and luxury properties. In the centre of a large pond in one of these properties was a duck house, footage of which was captured by the ACF using a drone.
Video: ACF.
Such luxuries jarred with many people’s view of Medvedev as being a bit different to Putin and his cronies. As Navalny wrote in his memoir, Medvedev had previously seemed “harmless and incongruous”. (At the time, Medvedev’s spokeswoman said it was “pointless” to comment on the ACF investigation, suggesting the report was a “propaganda attack from an opposition figure and a convict”.)
But people were angry, and the report triggered mass street protests across Russia. They carried yellow ducks and trainers, a second unintended symbol from the film given Medvedev’s penchant for them.
Another reason why so many people came out to protest on March 26 2017 was the organising work carried out by Navalny’s movement.
The previous December, Navalny had announced his intention to run in the 2018 presidential election. As part of the campaign, he and his team created a network of regional headquarters to bring together supporters and train activists across Russia. Although the authorities had rejected Navalny’s efforts to register an official political party, this regional network functioned in much the same way, gathering like-minded people in support of an electoral candidate. And this infrastructure helped get people out on the streets.
The Kremlin saw this as a clear threat. According to a December 2020 investigation by Bellingcat, CNN, Der Spiegel and The Insider, the FSB assassination squad implicated in the Novichok poisoning of Navalny had started trailing him in January 2017 – one month after he announced his run for the presidency.
At the protests against Medvedev, the authorities’ growing intolerance of Navalny was also on display – he was detained, fined and sentenced to 15 days’ imprisonment.
The Medvedev investigation was far from the beginning of Navalny’s story as a thorn in the Kremlin’s side. But this episode brings together all of the elements that made Navalny the force he was: anti-corruption activism, protest mobilisation, attempts to run as a “normal” politician in a system rigged against him, and savvy use of social media to raise his profile in all of these domains.
Courting controversy
In Patriot, Navalny writes that he always “felt sure a broad coalition was needed to fight Putin”. Yet over the years, his attempts to form that coalition led to some of the most controversial points of his political career.
In a 2007 video, Navalny referred to himself as a “certified nationalist”, advocating for the deportation of illegal immigrants, albeit without using violence and distancing himself from neo-Nazism. In the video, he says: “We have the right to be Russians in Russia, and we’ll defend that right.”
Although alienating some, Navalny was attempting to present a more acceptable face of nationalism, and he hoped to build a bridge between nationalists and liberals in taking on the Kremlin’s burgeoning authoritarianism.
But the prominence of nationalism in Navalny’s political identity varied markedly over time, probably reflecting his shifting estimations of which platform could attract the largest support within Russia. By the time of his thwarted run in the 2018 presidential election, nationalist talking points were all but absent from his rhetoric.
However, some of these former comments and positions continue to influence how people view him. For example, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, Navalny tried to take a pragmatic stance. While acknowledging Russia’s flouting of international law, he said that Crimea was “now part of the Russian Federation” and would “never become part of Ukraine in the foreseeable future”.
Many Ukrainians take this as clear evidence that Navalny was a Russian imperialist. Though he later revised his position, saying Crimea should be returned to Ukraine, some saw this as too little, too late. But others were willing to look past the more controversial parts of his biography, recognising that Navalny represented the most effective domestic challenge to Putin.
Another key attempt to build a broad political coalition was Navalny’s Smart Voting initiative. This was a tactical voting project in which Navalny’s team encouraged voters to back the individual thought best-placed to defeat the ruling United Russia candidate, regardless of the challenger’s ideological position.
The project wasn’t met with universal approval. Some opposition figures and voters baulked at, or flatly refused to consider, the idea of voting for people whose ideological positions they found repugnant – or whom they viewed as being “fake” opposition figures, entirely in bed with the authorities. (This makes clear that Navalny was never the leader of the political opposition in Russia; he was, rather, the leading figure of a fractious constellation of individuals and groups.)
But others relished the opportunity to make rigged elections work in their favour. And there is evidence that Smart Voting did sometimes work, including in the September 2020 regional and local elections, for which Navalny had been campaigning when he was poisoned with Novichok.
In an astonishing moment captured on film during his recovery in Germany, Navalny speaks to an alleged member of the FSB squad sent to kill him. Pretending to be the aide to a senior FSB official, Navalny finds out that the nerve agent had been placed in his underpants.
How do Russians feel about Navalny now?
It’s like a member of the family has died.
This is what one Russian friend told me after hearing of Navalny’s death a year ago. Soon afterwards, the Levada Center – an independent Russian polling organisation – conducted a nationally representative survey to gauge the public’s reaction to the news.
The poll found that Navalny’s death was the second-most mentioned event by Russian people that month, after the capture of the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka by Russian troops. But when asked how they felt about his death, 69% of respondents said they had “no particular feelings” either way – while only 17% said they felt “sympathy” or “pity”.
And that broadly fits with Navalny’s approval ratings in Russia. After his poisoning in 2020, 20% of Russians said they approved of his activities – but this was down to 11% by February 2024.
Video: BBC.
Of course, these numbers must be taken for what they are: polling in an authoritarian state regarding a figure vilified and imprisoned by the regime, during a time of war and amid draconian restrictions on free speech. To what extent the drop in support for Navalny was real, rather than reflecting the increased fear people had in voicing their approval for an anti-regime figure, is hard to say with certainty.
When asked why they liked Navalny, 31% of those who approved of his activities said he spoke “the truth”, “honestly” or “directly”. For those who did not approve of his activities, 22% said he was “paid by the west”, “represented” the west’s interests, that he was a “foreign agent”, a “traitor” or a “puppet”.
The Kremlin had long tried to discredit Navalny as a western-backed traitor. After Navalny’s 2020 poisoning, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that “experts from the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency are working with him”. The Russian state claimed that, rather than a patriot exposing official malfeasance with a view to strengthening his country, Navalny was a CIA stooge intent on destroying Russia.
Peskov provided no evidence to back up this claim – and the official propaganda wasn’t believed by all. Thousands of Russians defied the authorities by coming out to pay their respects at Navalny’s funeral on March 1 2024. Many, if not all, knew this was a significant risk. Police employed video footage to track down members of the funeral crowd, including by using facial recognition technology.
The first person to be detained was a Muscovite the police claimed they heard shouting “Glory to the heroes!” – a traditional Ukrainian response to the declaration “Glory to Ukraine!”, but this time referencing Navalny. She spent a night in a police station before being fined for “displaying a banned symbol”.
Putin always avoided mentioning Navalny’s name in public while he was alive – instead referring to him as “this gentleman”, “the character you mentioned”, or the “Berlin patient”. (The only recorded instance of Putin using Navalny’s name in public when he was alive was in 2013.)
However, having been re-elected president in 2024 and with Navalny dead, Putin finally broke his long-held practice, saying: “As for Navalny, yes he passed away – this is always a sad event.” It was as if the death of his nemesis diminished the potency of his name – and the challenge that Navalny had long presented to Putin.
Nobody can become another Navalny
Someone else will rise up and take my place. I haven’t done anything unique or difficult. Anyone could do what I’ve done.
So wrote Navalny in the memoir published after his death. But that hasn’t happened: no Navalny 2.0 has yet emerged. And it’s no real surprise. The Kremlin has taken clear steps to ensure nobody can become another Navalny within Russia.
In 2021, the authorities made a clear decision to destroy Navalny’s organisations within Russia, including the ACF and his regional network. Without the organisational infrastructure and legal ability to function in Russia, no figure has been able to take his place directly.
More broadly, the fate of Navalny and his movement has had a chilling effect on the opposition landscape. So too have other steps taken by the authorities.
Russia has become markedly more repressive since the start of its war on Ukraine. The human rights NGO First Department looked into the number of cases relating to “treason”, “espionage” and “confidential cooperation with a foreign state” since Russia introduced the current version of its criminal code in 1997. Of the more than 1,000 cases, 792 – the vast majority – were initiated following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian law enforcement has also used nebulous anti-extremism and anti-terrorism legislation to crack down on dissenting voices. Three of Navalny’s lawyers were sentenced in January 2025 for participating in an “extremist organisation”, as the ACF was designated by a Moscow court in June 2021. The Russian legislature has also passed a barrage of legislation relating to so-called “foreign agents”, to tarnish the work of those the regime regards as foreign-backed “fifth columnists”.
Mass street protests are largely a thing of the past in Russia. Restrictions were placed on public gatherings during the COVID pandemic – but these rules were applied selectively, with opposition individuals and groups being targeted. And opportunities for collective action were further reduced following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Freedom of speech has also come under assault. Article 29, point five of the Russian constitution states: “Censorship shall be prohibited.” But in September 2024, Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said: “In the state of war that we are in, restrictions are justified, and censorship is justified.”
Legislation passed very soon after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine made it illegal to comment on the Russian military’s activities truthfully – and even to call the war a war.
YouTube – the platform so central to Navalny’s ability to spread his message – has been targeted. Without banning it outright – perhaps afraid of the public backlash this might cause – the Russian state media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has slowed down internet traffic to the site within Russia. The result has been a move of users to other websites supporting video content, including VKontakte – a Russian social media platform.
In short, conditions in Russia are very different now compared to when Navalny first emerged. The relative freedom of the 2000s and 2010s gave him the space to challenge the corruption and authoritarianism of an evolving system headed by Putin. But this space has shrunk over time, to the point where no room remains for a figure like him within Russia.
In 2019, Navalny told Ivan Zhdanov, who is now director of the ACF: “We changed the regime, but not in the way we wanted.” So, did Navalny and his team push the Kremlin to become more authoritarian – making it not only intolerant of him but also any possible successor?
There may be some truth in this. And yet, the drastic steps taken by the regime following the start of the war on Ukraine suggest there were other, even more significant factors that have laid bare the violent nature of Putin’s personal autocracy – and the president’s disdain for dissenters.
Plenty for Russians to be angry about
How can we win the war when dedushka [grandpa] is a moron?
In June 2023, Evgeny Prigozhin – a long-time associate of Putin and head of the private military Wagner Group – staged an armed rebellion, marching his forces on the Russian capital. This was not a full-blown political movement against Putin. But the target of Prigozhin’s invective against Russia’s military leadership had become increasingly blurry, testing the taboo of direct criticism of the president – who is sometimes referred to, disparagingly, as “grandpa” in Russia.
And Prigozhin paid the price. In August 2023, he was killed when the private jet he was flying in crashed after an explosion on board. Afterwards, Putin referred to Prigozhin as a “talented person” who “made serious mistakes in life”.
In the west, opposition to the Kremlin is often associated with more liberal figures like Navalny. Yet the most consequential domestic challenge to Putin’s rule came from a very different part of the ideological spectrum – a figure in Prigozhin leading a segment of Russian society that wanted the Kremlin to prosecute its war on Ukraine even more aggressively.
Video: BBC.
Today, there is plenty for Russians to be angry about, and Putin knows it. He recently acknowledged an “overheating of the economy”. This has resulted in high inflation, in part due to all the resources being channelled into supporting the war effort. Such cost-of-living concerns weigh more heavily than the war on the minds of most Russians.
A favourite talking point of the Kremlin is how Putin imposed order in Russia following the “wild 1990s” – characterised by economic turbulence and symbolised by then-president Boris Yeltsin’s public drunkenness. Many Russians attribute the stability and rise in living standards they experienced in the 2000s with Putin’s rule – and thank him for it by providing support for his continued leadership.
The current economic problems are an acute worry for the Kremlin because they jeopardise this basic social contract struck with the Russian people. In fact, one way the Kremlin tried to discredit Navalny was by comparing him with Yeltsin, suggesting he posed the same threats as a failed reformer. In his memoir, Navalny concedes that “few things get under my skin more”.
Although originally a fan of Yeltsin, Navalny became an ardent critic. His argument was that Yeltsin and those around him squandered the opportunity to make Russia a “normal” European country.
Navalny also wanted Russians to feel entitled to more. Rather than be content with their relative living standards compared with the early post-Soviet period, he encouraged them to imagine the level of wealth citizens could enjoy based on Russia’s extraordinary resources – but with the rule of law, less corruption, and real democratic processes.
‘Think of other possible Russias’
When looking at forms of criticism and dissent in Russia today, we need to distinguish between anti-war, anti-government, and anti-Putin activities.
Despite the risk of harsh consequences, there are daily forms of anti-war resistance, including arson attacks on military enlistment offices. Some are orchestrated from Ukraine, with Russians blackmailed into acting. But other cases are likely to be forms of domestic resistance.
Criticism of the government is still sometimes possible, largely because Russia has a “dual executive” system, consisting of a prime minister and presidency. This allows the much more powerful presidency to deflect blame to the government when things go wrong.
There are nominal opposition parties in Russia – sometimes referred to as the “systemic opposition”, because they are loyal to the Kremlin and therefore tolerated by the system. Within the State Duma, these parties often criticise particular government ministries for apparent failings. But they rarely, if ever, now dare criticise Putin directly.
Nothing anywhere close to the challenge presented by Navalny appears on the horizon in Russia – at either end of the political spectrum. But the presence of clear popular grievances, and the existence of organisations (albeit not Navalny’s) that could channel this anger should the Kremlin’s grip loosen, mean we cannot write off all opposition in Russia.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, has vowed to continue her husband’s work. And his team in exile maintain focus on elite corruption in Russia, now from their base in Vilnius, Lithuania. The ACF’s most recent investigation is on Igor Sechin, CEO of the oil company Rosneft.
But some have argued this work is no longer as relevant as it was. Sam Greene, professor in Russian politics at King’s College London, captured this doubt in a recent Substack post:
[T]here is a palpable sense that these sorts of investigations may not be relevant to as many people as they used to be, given everything that has transpired since the mid-2010s, when they were the bread and butter of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Some … have gone as far as to suggest that they have become effectively meaningless … and thus that Team Navalny should move on.
Navalny’s team are understandably irritated by suggestions they’re no longer as effective as they once were. But it’s important to note that this criticism has often been sharpest within Russia’s liberal opposition. The ACF has been rocked, for example, by recent accusations from Maxim Katz, one such liberal opposition figure, that the organisation helped “launder the reputations” of two former bank owners. In their response, posted on YouTube, the ACF referred to Katz’s accusations as “lies” – but this continued squabbling has left some Russians feeling “disillusioned and unrepresented”.
So, what will Navalny’s long-term legacy be? Patriot includes a revealing section on Mikhail Gorbachev – the last leader of the Soviet Union, whom Navalny describes as “unpopular in Russia, and also in our family”. He continues:
Usually, when you tell foreigners this, they are very surprised, because Gorbachev is thought of as the person who gave Eastern Europe back its freedom and thanks to whom Germany was reunited. Of course, that is true … but within Russia and the USSR he was not particularly liked.
At the moment, there is a similar split in perceptions of Navalny. Internationally, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, and a documentary about him won an Oscar.
But there are also those outside of Russia who remain critical: “Navalny’s life has brought no benefit to the Ukrainian victory; instead, he has caused considerable harm,” wrote one Ukrainian academic. “He fuelled the illusion in the west that democracy in Russia is possible.”
Trailer for the Oscar-winning documentary Navalny.
Inside Russia, according to Levada Center polling shortly after his death, 53% of Russians thought Navalny played “no special role” in the history of the country, while 19% said he played a “rather negative” role. Revealingly, when commenting on Navalny’s death, one man in Moscow told RFE/RL’s Russian Service: “I think that everyone who is against Russia is guilty, even if they are right.”
But, for a small minority in Russia, Navalny will go down as a messiah-like figure who miraculously cheated death in 2020, then made the ultimate sacrifice in his battle of good and evil with the Kremlin. This view may have been reinforced by Navalny’s increasing openness about his Christian faith.
Ultimately, Navalny’s long-term status in Russia will depend on the nature of the political system after Putin has gone. Since it seems likely that authoritarianism will outlast Putin, a more favourable official story about Navalny is unlikely to emerge any time soon. However, how any post-Putin regime tries to make sense of Navalny’s legacy will tell us a lot about that regime.
While he was alive, Navalny stood for the freer Russia in which he had emerged as a leading opposition figure – and also what he called the “Beautiful Russia of the Future”. Perhaps, after his death, his lasting legacy in Russia remains the ability for some to think – if only in private – of other possible Russias.
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Ben Noble has previously received funding from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. He is an Associate Fellow of Chatham House.
Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, – February 16, 2025: On the sidelines of the inaugural annual global Conference on Emerging Market Economies in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia (February 16-17), the Saudi Finance Ministry and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) co-hosted a high-level roundtable on “Working Together to Support Recovery in the Middle East’s Conflict-Affected Economies”, bringing together finance ministers of countries in the region, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Syria, representatives from the World Bank, and heads of other International Financial Institutions and the Arab Coordination Group.
Following the meeting, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, and Mohammed Aljadaan, Finance Minister of Saudi Arabia, made the following statement:
“This important meeting brought together representatives from the Middle East and key economic and development partners to discuss how we can work together to support recovery in the Middle East’s conflict-affected economies.”
“We thank all participants for recognizing the urgency and importance of this task, as well as for their commitment to work together to ensure that the conflict-affected countries can start addressing their humanitarian needs. This would help them start rebuilding their economies in an efficient, swift, and durable way for the benefit of their people.”
“Participants welcomed the meeting as an opportunity to discuss recent developments and build a common understanding of the challenges facing conflict-affected countries. They emphasized the importance of strengthening coordination to support the recovery of these countries as the spillovers would impact all. Particular attention was paid to the situation in Syria.”
Participants agreed on the following priorities to support conflict-affected countries:
A Continuous Diagnosticof the challenges and economic and social context facing each conflict-affected country, including an assessment of humanitarian and reconstruction needs. Such a diagnostic should identify institution-building priorities, gaps in policies, and financing needs.
Enhanced Capacity Development (CD) aimed at rapidly scaling up IMF and World Bank CD initiatives to help strengthen and, as needed, build new institutions. Support would need to be tailored to strengthen essential functions of fiscal, monetary and banking institutions.
Mobilization of financial assistance from the international community . Financial support—coordinated with international and regional development partners—will be needed to fund comprehensive reform programs, including reconstruction and humanitarian aid.
“Participants underscored their readiness to work together and complement each other’s efforts while focusing on their institutional mandates. They will continue to work closely and with other partners to further support the international response to the recovery of conflict-affected economies in the Middle East region.”
They agreed to establish an informal coordination group to support these efforts. Discussions will be continued at the upcoming IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings on April 21-26 in Washington, D.C.”
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The innovative development “Navigation system for surgery based on augmented reality technologies” by a research team led by Professor Vladimir Ivanov of the Higher School of Theoretical Mechanics and Mathematical Physics of the Physics and Mechanical Institute was presented in medical centers in India.
Members of the scientific team Ildar Mamaev and Vladimir Chernyavsky visited eight major Indian medical centers, including: Kalalgner Super Specialty Hospital Chennai, MIOT Hospital Chennai Technical specialist, CMC Rainpet, Kauvery Kovilambakkam Chennai and others. The St. Petersburg scientists demonstrated to leading Indian neurosurgeons in Chennai and Hyderabad the possibilities of working with a hologram and video recordings of real operations.
A head phantom demonstrated rapid construction of a volumetric reconstruction and registration with a patient pointer at four points; then superimposition of the volumetric reconstruction and segmented 3D model; construction of sections at different angles, measurement of the distance to a given element of the 3D model and output of orthogonal sections to virtual screens.
The augmented reality technology we developed, which optimizes surgical processes, attracted the interest of Indian surgeons, who expressed a desire to conduct the first operations using this unique navigation system, said project manager Vladimir Ivanov.
According to Vladimir Mikhailovich, the development of international relations is proceeding very actively, including with the support of the Skolkovo Foundation. The first full-scale surgical operations in India are planned for this spring.
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.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
More foreign language editions of ‘Understanding Xi Jinping’s Educational Philosophy’ published
BEIJING, Feb. 17 — The French, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic editions of “Understanding Xi Jinping’s Educational Philosophy” have been jointly published by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press and the Higher Education Press.
Originally published in Chinese in 2020, the book offers a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the important educational discourses of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
The newly released French, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic editions, alongside the previously published English version, are valuable resources for international readers to understand the historical context and rich content of China’s educational reform and development in the new era.
The translations were carried out under the guidance of the Ministry of Education.
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The Polytechnic University is hosting another collection of humanitarian aid for military personnel and children from social institutions of the DPR and LPR, residents of the Kursk and Belgorod regions as part of the regional Headquarters campaign
Every polytechnician can join this campaign. Fleece blankets, thermal socks, balaclavas, thermoses, thermal underwear, tools, electric power extension cord on a reel from 25 m, batteries, tonometers, tactical first aid kits, T-shirts, long sleeves, tactical backpacks, sleeping bags, hunting matches, reinforced tape, three-in-one coffee, portioned sugar, tea bags, canned meat, fish factory-made, condensed milk, towels, wide water-repellent plasters, large sterile wipes, large hemostatic sponges, wide and sterile bandages, Esmarch tourniquets or tourniquets, absorbent diapers for adults, tactical medical pouches, etc. are accepted.
Humanitarian aid can be delivered on weekdays from 10:00 to 18:00 to the following addresses:
Room 206 of the Main Cultural Institution of SPbPU (Volunteer Projects Center “Harmony” (Dobro.Center SPbPU); Polytechnic Tower; Building 6, room 1 (Humanities Institute Directorate); Building 9, room 324; Student Club (on the territory of the Lepota coworking space).
Activists of the SPbPU Dobro.Center “Harmony” conduct master classes on weaving tactical bracelets and making talismans of goodness, organize art exhibitions and perform in hospitals, help in warehouses of humanitarian aid. The guys meet children from evacuated territories, accompany wounded servicemen during examinations in hospitals, bring things, fruits and sweets to hospital wards. Excursions to the Polytechnic University of military personnel are planned in the near future.
For more information, please contact the group VKontakte or bymail.
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.
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
Last week, innovative companies Papillon and SafeVision signed a cooperation agreement with Novosibirsk State University. Plans for 2025-2026 include opening a laboratory based Institute of Medicine and Medical Technologies NSU (IMMT NSU) to combine efforts in the development of new treatment methods and the use of an innovative medical bed, as well as a Medical Decision Support System.
This agreement is the first step towards interaction between the organizations, allowing for the creation of a long-term scientific and educational partnership. As a result, it is planned to create a Laboratory integrated into the educational process in the specialty “Medical Cybernetics” – this is a new direction, the first recruitment for which will take place in September 2025.
Students will be involved in the company’s production activities as part of their diploma projects. This will allow for the unification of efforts in developing new treatment methods using the potential of medical equipment and new approaches to AI, computer vision and machine learning for monitoring patients. The main goal is to create a scientific base where students and teachers will conduct their scientific research, publishing the results in international journals.
— One of the tasks of medical cybernetics is to create smart devices for interaction with patients. It is very important that during the training process, students could see live how such devices are created, and most importantly — take part in their creation. In cooperation with dynamically developing companies, I see huge potential in both the educational and scientific spheres for students of the new training program — the specialty “Medical Cybernetics”, opened at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medical Cybernetics of the IMMT NSU.
Igor Mendzebrovsky, Development Director of Papillon LLC and SafeVision LLC, noted:
— We provide our products as a platform for students. They can form new solutions and even new business concepts. We help them make their idea as viable as possible, for example, if students want to turn their solution into a product, get a registration certificate and bring it to market.
Several working groups of 2nd and 3rd year students of the NSU Institute of Intelligent Robotics have already been created. Computer science students are working on creating algorithms for the SafeVision software and hardware complex, designed for contactless monitoring of the patient’s condition and risk factor analysis. For example, active work is underway to identify APNEA syndrome in patients (sleep apnea for more than 10 seconds): the device will be able to identify such a disorder in a patient and signal the doctor about it.
Anton Meleshkin, scientific programs manager at SafeVision LLC, senior researcher at the SB RAS IT, PhD in engineering, senior lecturer at NSU, added:
— We develop technological startups, which means we work at the cutting edge of science and technology. We see NSU as a great partner with whom we can build long-term cooperation not only in joint research, but also in the educational process. Our developments can be useful for students to conduct laboratory work, and as topics for course and diploma theses.
For reference:
Papillon LLC — a domestic developer and manufacturer of functional medical beds equipped with automated functions to increase comfort, reduce patient trauma and minimize the burden on medical personnel.
SafeVision LLC — a domestic developer and manufacturer of AI-based medical decision support systems (MDSS) for contactless monitoring of the condition of patients in a medical facility.
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.
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The delegation of the Polytechnic University visited the production facilities of the Engineering Center “Kronstadt”. The participants of the meeting signed a strategically important agreement on the network form of implementation of the professional retraining program “Design and technological support for machine-building production”.
As business representatives, we understand the importance of investing in training specialists in the field of engineering. Therefore, the development of professional competencies of both students of technical universities and already working engineers is one of our key tasks. The professional retraining program was developed taking into account current trends in engineering education, advanced scientific and technical achievements and the needs of the industry. It combines the best educational methods with practice-oriented training, which meets the requirements of modern industry, – said Oleg Egorov, General Director of the Kronstadt Engineering Center.
The program includes three specializations: centrifugal compressor design, piston compressor design and materials science. This approach provides graduates with a wide range of opportunities for professional growth and successful employment in high-tech sectors of mechanical engineering.
One of the important elements of training is a mandatory industrial internship at the Kronstadt Engineering Center. This stage allows students to apply the theoretical knowledge they have acquired in real conditions, get acquainted with advanced production processes, and integrate more deeply into the professional environment. The final stage of the program is the defense of the final project with elements of a demonstration exam, which ensures a high level of training for graduates and their readiness to solve complex engineering problems.
On February 3, more than a hundred young specialists, final-year students and master’s students who study full-time in the evening began their studies. Such high interest confirms the demand for the program and the need to train engineering personnel in this field.
We developed the program and are implementing it together. The online form of training allowed us to build the educational process in such a way that students not only receive knowledge, but also master all technological operations in practice. Participants are immediately involved in solving current production problems, which increases the effectiveness of their training. The program is focused specifically on the practical aspects of mechanical engineering, materials science and engineering, – noted the head of the Directorate of Continuing Education and Industry Partnership Ivan Kurta.
Leading teachers and specialists with a high level of theoretical training and significant practical experience in the industry are involved in the implementation. These are representatives of the Institute of Power Engineering, the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport, PhysMech, Gazpromneft-Polytech Scientific and Educational Center, including directors and teachers of the Higher School of Power Engineering, the Higher School of Physics and Materials Technology, the Higher School of Theoretical Mechanics and Mathematical Physics, the Higher School of Automation and Robotics, the Higher School of Industrial Management and others. Their participation ensures a high level of teaching and guarantees the relevance of the knowledge transferred.
Before the launch of the program, Polytechnic University representatives once again visited the production facilities of the Kronstadt Engineering Center and discussed with colleagues the organization of the practical part of the training, outlining further steps to improve the educational process.
Our interaction with the engineering center goes far beyond this program: we are actively developing partnerships in the field of scientific research, educational initiatives and other promising areas. By joining forces, we create a unique example of productive interaction based on the exchange of knowledge, mutual support and the desire to achieve significant results, – noted the Vice-Rector for Additional and Pre-University Education of SPbPU Dmitry Tikhonov.
The implementation of the network program of professional retraining contributes to the development of domestic mechanical engineering, allows the formation of a new generation of highly qualified engineers capable of solving the most complex production problems. This project is a striking example of how the integration of science, education and industry contributes to the creation of advanced engineering solutions and strengthening the technological potential of the country.
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.
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
105 years separate two events in the history of the Polytechnic University: the first demonstration of Lev Termen’s invention to the teachers of the Polytechnic University and a big concert by his great-grandson, Pyotr Termen. On the stage of the White Hall, one of the world’s leading theremin performers, Pyotr Termen, played two instruments at once.
“Two theremins were not planned for the concert,” the musician said. “But at the sound check it turned out that there was a difficult radiomagnetic situation around, and my theremin was reacting a little nervously, there was some interference in the sound. And behind the scenes of the White Hall there was our own model of theremin, and today it sounded for the first time in a long time.”
The great-grandfather of the performer Lev Termen dreamed since childhood that when playing a musical instrument there would be no need to touch anything, there would be no resistance from the strings, calluses on the hands, and a person and sound would become one, as happens when a person sings. At the age of 12, Lev Termen made a prototype of the theremin based on Tesla coils. And when in 1918, while working in the laboratory of the Polytechnic Institute, which was then located in the choir of the White Hall, he discovered the principle that became the basis of the theremin, he realized that he had invented a new musical instrument. In November 2020, the theremin – “the voice of Theremin” – was demonstrated to teachers of the Polytechnic Institute in the White Hall.
The closer the right hand is to the vertical antenna, the higher the sound, the further the left hand is from the horizontal antenna, the quieter. Any movement turns into sound, even if I take a deep breath now, it will be heard, – explained Peter Theremin and supported his words with hand movements.
No strings, no keys, and a range of eight octaves! Bach, Handel, Rachmaninov — popular and recognizable works sounded unusual. In the White Hall, theremin in a duet with a Bechstein grand piano, Pyotr Termen and Anastasia Mazankina presented the very repertoire with which Lev Termen performed in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, London’s Albert Hall, and the Paris Grand Opera in the 20s and 30s of the last century.
This concert, which has become a symbol of the unity of science and music, took place on the eve of the birthday of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, celebrated on February 19. A great gift will also be the film that the Kultura TV channel filmed on this day for the Nevsky Kovcheg. The Theory of the Impossible program series about extraordinary people who dreamed of the impossible and made it reality, such as Lev Theremin.
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.
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
Mathematical center in Akademgorodok (MCA) is accepting proposals for the 2025 Great Mathematical Workshop. The Workshop consists of three parts: a week of intensive face-to-face work, then more relaxed activities in the “inter-module,” and finally another week of intensive face-to-face work. In 2025, the first module of the Workshop will take place from 6 to 12 July, and the second from 14 to 19 July.
The Big Mathematical Workshop (BMM) is an event where teams of students, schoolchildren and teachers work on the implementation of various projects. Each project is based on an open task with a mathematical component. Workshop participants work together with curators and experts who are assigned to each project group.
Work at the Big Mathematical Workshop will be conducted in person at several sites: in Novosibirsk at Novosibirsk State University, in St. Petersburg at ITMO University, in Tomsk at Tomsk State University, in Maikop at Adyghe State University, and in Omsk at the Omsk branch of the Sobolev Institute of Mathematics and Omsk State University.
The opportunity to submit a project for implementation at the 2025 Workshop is currently open. The project is a mathematical or mathematically related problem formulated by the customer.
A scientist who needs to solve a problem aimed at solving open scientific questions as part of his research can act as a customer. Representatives of any industry have the opportunity to propose problems related to their own production process for solution. Potential customers can be not only scientists and entrepreneurs, but also farmers, architects, students, deputies, and so on. The main thing is that the problem is open, that is, not yet solved by anyone.
The customer gets a team of students who are working on a problem or making significant progress in solving it and delivering results. Of course, the customer may need time and expertise, but as a result, they will receive fundamental results, development or software, and establish connections with students and scientists who may be useful in the future.
— Year after year, we see in practice that the Big Mathematical Workshop is an interesting, exciting and promising event. Students learn to work in a team, find ways to solve new problems and formulate results. In addition, they establish contacts with potential scientific supervisors and employers, and create a base that can serve as a basis for grants, custom research and development, contracts or launching their own startup, — said Timur Nasybullov, Deputy Dean for Development of the Mechanics and Mathematics Faculty of Novosibirsk State University, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
To submit your project for consideration, you must register on on the website of the Great Mathematical Workshop and fill out the project submission form, which is available in your personal account. Projects are accepted until April 1, 2025.
Customers who are unable to formulate their project in mathematical language can present its content in free form, and specialists from the Mathematical Center will help them to formalize the project properly. For consultation on any questions about the Big Mathematical Workshop, please contact the MCA by email MSA@nsu.ru.
The projects will appear on the Workshop website by mid-May. At that time, students will have the opportunity to choose a project and apply for participation in BMM-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.
File photo taken on Dec. 19, 2019 shows Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov at a press conference in Moscow, Russia. [Photo/Xinhua]
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump could visit Russia at any time mutually agreed upon.
Commenting on the prospects of a Russian delegation visiting the United States during an interview with local media, Peskov said that Washington could swiftly lift personal sanctions against Russian officials if it is willing.
Also, he said that future meetings between the Russian and U.S. presidents would require “special efforts,” including a detailed preparation of agendas to address bilateral issues.
The Kremlin spokesman praised the phone conversation between the two presidents on Wednesday as “a strong signal that we will now strive to resolve problems through dialogue. We will talk about peace, not war.”
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Georgia, in particular that of 28 November 2024 on Georgia’s worsening democratic crisis following the recent parliamentary elections and alleged electoral fraud(1),
– having regard to Georgia’s status as an EU candidate country, granted by the European Council at its summit of 14 and 15 December 2023,
– having regard to Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which demands the implementation of all possible measures to guarantee Georgia’s complete integration into the EU and NATO,
– having regard to the final report of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on the parliamentary elections held in Georgia on 26 October 2024,
– having regard to Rules 136(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the democratic backsliding in Georgia has dramatically accelerated since the parliamentary elections of 26 October 2024, which were deeply flawed and marked by grave irregularities, and failed to meet international democratic standards and Georgia’s OSCE commitments; whereas these elections violated the democratic norms and standards set for free and fair elections, failing to reflect the will of the people and rendering the resulting ‘parliament’, and subsequently the ‘president’, devoid of any democratic legitimacy; whereas from the very beginning of its activity, the current Georgian parliament has operated as a one-party (Georgian Dream) organ, which is incompatible with the essence of pluralistic parliamentary democracy;
B. whereas Article 2 of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement(2) concerns the general principles of the agreement, which include democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms;
C. whereas Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution states that the constitutional bodies must take all measures within the scope of their competences to ensure the full integration of Georgia into the European Union;
D. whereas the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, publicly condemned the parliamentary elections as rigged, declared that she would not recognise them and called for an international investigation; whereas the current Georgian regime, led by the Georgian Dream party and its founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has orchestrated an unconstitutional usurpation of power, systematically dismantling democratic institutions, undermining judicial independence and eroding fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, thereby deepening Georgia’s political and constitutional crisis;
E. whereas Georgia has officially held the status of EU candidate country since December 2023; whereas on 28 November 2024, Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would delay initiating accession talks with the EU and reject its financial assistance until the end of 2028, disregarding the country’s constitutional commitment to European integration and effectively undermining Georgia’s sovereign Euro-Atlantic aspirations;
F. whereas on 28 November 2024, peaceful mass anti-government protests began across the country, demanding new, free and fair elections, an end to political violence and repression, and the return of the country to its European path; whereas the protests have been taking place without interruption for over 75 days;
G. whereas on 14 December 2024, the de facto parliament held a ‘presidential election’ with a single candidate from the Georgian Dream party, former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, elected with 224 out of 225 votes cast;
H. whereas Georgia’s self-appointed authorities have plunged the country into a fully fledged constitutional and political crisis, as well as a human rights and democracy crisis; whereas this has been marked by the brutal repression of peaceful protesters, political opponents and media representatives, with judges, prosecutors and police officers actively fabricating politically motivated administrative and criminal charges against protesters, journalists and opposition figures detained during peaceful anti-government demonstrations; whereas, as of December 2024, more than 460 people have been arrested or punished since the protests began, with this number growing by the day;
I. whereas riot police deliberately lacking force identification numbers have forcefully dispersed protesters with tear gas and water cannons; whereas numerous journalists have reported being targeted and beaten, and having their equipment destroyed and personal items stolen; whereas dozens of protesters have been brutally assaulted, and several hundred people have been arrested; whereas Georgia’s Public Defender has revealed that 80 % of those detained reported experiencing violence and inhumane treatment at the hands of law enforcement officers; whereas despite international condemnation, the illegitimate Georgian Government has awarded medals to officials involved in the crackdown;
J. whereas independent media outlets, including TV Formula, TV Mtavari and TV Pirveli, face severe operational and financial constraints due to the regime’s interference, while dozens of media representatives are being subjected to various forms of intense physical and psychological pressure; whereas numerous violent attacks on journalists have been documented, including the severe beatings of Aleksandre Keshelashvili, Maka Chikhladze and Giorgi Shetsiruli, and the harassment of detained journalist Saba Kevkhishvili; whereas on 12 January 2025, the Georgian authorities arrested journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, who has been in pre-trial detention since then and is on hunger strike in solidarity with all political prisoners in Georgia; whereas she faces between four and seven years in prison;
K. whereas, on the night of 14 January 2025, Giorgi Gakharia, opposition leader of the For Georgia party and former Prime Minister, and Zviad Koridze, journalist and Transparency International activist, were physically assaulted by Georgian Dream officials in separate incidents at the same venue in Batumi;
L. whereas on 2 February 2025, Nika Melia, a leader of the pro-European Akhali party, and Gigi Ugulava, the former mayor of Tbilisi, were arrested during the anti-government protests and subjected to physical violence in detention; whereas on 12 January 2025, Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa political movement, was detained in Batumi;
M. whereas the de facto Georgian authorities have used disproportionate force and excessive violence against peaceful protesters and resorted to arbitrary mass arrests to thwart dissent; whereas independent human rights organisations have reported the systemic mistreatment of detainees, including torture; whereas to date, not a single law enforcement official involved in the brutal crackdowns, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment has been brought to justice;
N. whereas the self-appointed authorities introduced new draconian legislation that came into force on 30 December 2024 and amended the Criminal Code, the Code of Administrative Offences and the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations, imposing further arbitrary restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, introducing, among other things, hefty fines for putting up protest slogans and posters, and granting police the power to detain individuals ‘preventively’ for 48 hours on suspicion of planning to violate the rules governing public assembly; whereas on 3 February 2025, the Georgian Dream party unveiled further draft legislation designed to tighten control, ramping up penalties for a variety of offences directly targeting protestors, critics and political dissent, such as harsher punishments for ‘insulting officials’, the criminalisation of road blocks and an increase in the duration of administrative detention from 15 to 60 days;
O. whereas on 27 January 2025, the Council decided to suspend parts of the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement for Georgian diplomats and officials, but failed to impose individual sanctions in response to the continued crackdown; whereas the Hungarian and Slovak Governments have been consistently blocking impactful EU-wide sanctions, preventing the remaining 25 Member States (EU-25) from effectively introducing sanctions against the self-appointed Georgian authorities;
P. whereas several Member States, including Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Czechia, have imposed bilateral sanctions on some Georgian politicians, judges and other officials responsible for the brutal crackdown on protesters, violations of human rights and abuse of the rule of law; whereas in December 2024, the United States sanctioned Bidzina Ivanishvili, alongside Georgia’s ‘Minister of Internal Affairs’ Vakhtang Gomelauri and Deputy Head of the Special Tasks Department Mirza Kezevadze, for their involvement in brutal crackdowns on media representatives, opposition figures and protesters; whereas the UK and Ukraine have imposed similar sanctions on high-level Georgian officials; whereas Ivanishvili, through hastily adopted laws tailored to his personal situation, is moving his offshore assets to Georgia in anticipation of further sanctions;
Q. whereas on 29 January 2025, Georgian Dream announced that it would withdraw its delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) after it demanded new, genuinely democratic parliamentary elections, the release of political prisoners and accountability for perpetrators of violence; whereas UN experts have condemned the pattern of repression and human rights violations in Georgia, while the OSCE has called this suppression a serious breach of the right to freedom of assembly;
R. whereas the ruling Georgian Dream party convened the new parliament in violation of the country’s constitution, resulting in a boycott of parliament by the opposition; whereas on 5 February 2025, the self-appointed ‘parliament’ voted to approve the early termination of the mandates of 49 out of 61 members of parliament, representing the Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia and the United National Movement, in order to strip them of their immunity and facilitate their arrest and prosecution; whereas the same ‘parliament’ established a commission to punish former ruling party United National Movement;
S. whereas a growing number of civil servants have been dismissed after speaking out against the halting of Georgia’s EU accession process; whereas Georgian Dream has amended laws on public service, simplifying procedures to dismiss public servants, several of whom have been dismissed for participating in protests, in a clear attempt to silence critical voices;
1. Condemns the Georgian Dream ‘authorities’ and urges them to immediately cease the violent repression of peaceful protesters, political opponents and media representatives; underlines that Georgia’s self-appointed authorities are currently violating fundamental freedoms, basic human rights and the core international obligations of the country, thereby undermining decades of democratic reforms driven by the country’s political class and civil society; considers Georgia as a state captured by the illegitimate Georgian Dream regime; expresses deep regret over the fact that the ruling Georgian Dream party has abandoned its path towards European integration and NATO membership; recalls that the ongoing democratic backsliding and adoption of anti-democratic laws has effectively suspended Georgia’s EU integration process; reiterates its unwavering support for the Georgian people’s legitimate European aspirations and their wish to live in a prosperous and democratic country;
2. Does not recognise the self-proclaimed authorities of the Georgian Dream party established following the rigged election of 26 October 2024, which was neither free nor fair, was held in violation of democratic norms and standards, and did not reflect the will of the people of Georgia; underlines that the extensive electoral fraud has undermined the integrity of the election process, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the result and eroded public trust, both domestically and internationally, in any new government;
3. Calls for the EU and its Member States, as well as national parliaments and interparliamentary institutions, not to recognise the legitimacy of the Georgian Dream one-party parliament and their appointed president; calls, therefore, on the international community to join the boycott of the self-proclaimed Georgian authorities;
4. Continues to recognise Salome Zourabichvili as the legitimate President of Georgia and representative of the Georgian people; praises her efforts to peacefully steer the country back towards a democratic and European path of development; calls on the President of the European Council to invite President Zourabichvili to represent Georgia at an upcoming European Council meeting and at the next European Political Community summit;
5. Underlines that the settlement of the current political and constitutional crisis in Georgia can only be achieved by way of new parliamentary elections; demands that new elections take place in Georgia within the next few months in an improved electoral environment, overseen by an independent and impartial election administration and monitored through diligent international observation to guarantee a genuinely fair, free and transparent process; encourages the Member States and EU officials to firmly demand new elections and to make any future engagement explicitly conditional on setting a new date for parliamentary elections and establishing a mechanism to ensure they are free and fair;
6. Calls on the Council and the Member States, particularly the EU-25 on a bilateral and coordinated basis, to impose immediate and targeted personal sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, his family and his companies, and to freeze all his assets within the EU for his role in the deterioration of the political process in Georgia, enabling democratic backsliding and acting against the country’s constitutionally declared interests of Euro-Atlantic integration; calls on the French Government to strip Bidzina Ivanishvili of the Legion of Honour and impose individual sanctions on him; welcomes, in this regard, the sanctions imposed bilaterally by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Czechia, as well as those already imposed by the US and the UK;
7. Calls for the EU and its Member States, in particular the EU-25 on a bilateral and coordinated basis, to impose personal sanctions on the officials and political leaders in Georgia responsible for democratic backsliding, electoral fraud, human rights violations and the persecution of political opponents and activists, including Irakli Kobakhidze, Shalva Papuashvili, Vakhtang Gomelauri, Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party Kakha Kaladze, and Chair of the Georgian Dream party Irakli Garibashvili; calls for them to extend these sanctions to judges, including those of the Constitutional Court of Georgia who are passing politically motivated sentences, and representatives of the law enforcement services, as well as to financial enablers tacitly or openly supporting the regime and the owners of regime-aligned media outlets, including TV Imedi, Pos TV and Rustavi 2 TV, for their role in spreading disinformation and seeking to manipulate public discourse in order to sustain the current ruling party’s authoritarian rule;
8. Calls on the Council and the Member States to impose sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili’s network of enablers, elite entourage, corrupt financial operatives, propagandists and those facilitating the repressive state apparatus, including, among others, Ekaterine Khvedelidze, Uta Ivanishvili, Tsotne Ivanishvili, Bera Ivanishvili, Gvantsa Ivanishvili, Alexander Ivanishvili, Shmagi Kobakhidze, Ucha Mamatsashvili, Natia Turnava, Ivane Chkhartishvili, Sulkhan Papashvili, Giorgi Kapanadze, Tornike Rizhvadze, Ilia Tsulaia, Kakha Bekauri, Lasha Natsvlishvili, Vasil Maglaperidze, Grigol Liluashvili, Mikheil Chinchaladze, Levan Murusidze, Irakli Rukhadze, Tinatin Berdzenishvili, Tamaz Gaiashvili, Anton Obolashvili and Gocha Enukidze;
9. Maintains the view that the measures taken so far by the EU in response to the flagrant democratic backsliding and reneging on previous commitments does not yet fully reflect the severity of the situation in Georgia and the latest developments; welcomes the Council’s decision to suspend visa-free travel for Georgian diplomats and officials, but considers it as only a first step, which must be followed by tougher measures; deplores the obstruction by the Hungarian and Slovak Governments of the Council decisions on introducing sanctions against individuals responsible for democratic backsliding in Georgia;
10. Emphasises that respect for fundamental rights is vital to the EU’s visa liberalisation benchmarks; reiterates its call on the Commission and the Council to review Georgia’s visa-free status, with the possibility of suspension if it is considered that EU standards on democratic governance and freedoms are not being upheld;
11. Strongly condemns the brutal violence and repression used by Georgia’s ruling regime against peaceful protesters since 28 November 2024; calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and those detained during the anti-government protests; demands the release of journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, who has been on hunger strike for over four weeks now because of her unjust detention and risks facing critical, irreversible and life-threatening consequences; denounces the assault and beating of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, resulting in his hospitalisation, followed by the arrest on 2 February 2025 of political leaders including Nika Melia and Gigi Ugulava, as a shocking escalation of state-orchestrated violence by Georgian Dream and its allies against peaceful demonstrators and political opponents; reminds of the detention of Elene Khoshtaria on 12 January 2025 in Batumi;
12. Reiterates its solidarity with the people of Georgia and its vibrant civil society in fighting for their legitimate democratic rights and for a European future for their country; urges the Georgian Government to reverse its current political course and return to implementing the will of the Georgian people for continued democratic reforms that would reopen the prospect of future EU membership;
13. Strongly condemns the enactment of draconian legislation that imposes unjustified restrictions on freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, and demands the annulment of such recently adopted repressive legislation; urges the Georgian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals detained for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, and to ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all allegations of unlawful and disproportionate use of force by the law enforcement agencies; considers that the Georgian justice system has been weaponised to stifle dissent, instil fear and silence free speech;
14. Calls for the ‘Georgian authorities’ to take immediate action to ensure the safety and freedom of journalists and to investigate all instances of violence and misconduct by law enforcement agencies; emphasises the importance of fostering a democratic environment where media, civil society and the opposition can operate freely without fear of retaliation or censorship;
15. Demands an independent, transparent and impartial investigation into police brutality and the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators; calls for those responsible for human rights violations, including law enforcement and government officials ordering acts of repression, to be held fully accountable before the law;
16. Denounces the launch of an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office on 8 February 2025 into non-governmental organisations accused of aggravated sabotage, attempted sabotage and assisting foreign and foreign-controlled organisations in hostile activities aimed at undermining the state interests of Georgia, for which they could receive multiple-year sentences; views this action as further escalation of repression by the regime, misuse of the judicial system and accelerated democratic backsliding;
17. Condemns the broader campaign of attacks by the Georgian authorities vilifying civil society organisations and reputable international donors that support democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights in Georgia;
18. Denounces the termination by Georgian Dream of the mandates of 49 opposition members of parliament as a sign of further democratic backsliding, and considers this the latest move in Georgian Dream’s attack on political pluralism in the country;
19. Welcomes PACE’s decision to challenge the credentials of Georgia’s parliamentary delegation due to democratic backsliding and human rights abuses; supports PACE’s call for Georgia to immediately initiate an inclusive process involving all political and social actors, including the ruling party, the opposition and civil society, to urgently address the deficiencies and shortcomings noted during the recent parliamentary elections and to create an electoral environment conducive to new, genuinely democratic elections to be announced in the coming months;
20. Notes that Georgia, once a front runner for Euro-Atlantic integration, is undergoing an accelerated process of democratic backsliding, in a seemingly deliberate attempt to demonstrate that the will of the Georgian people no longer determines the country’s future, which could result in the country taking the Belarussian path of political development, transitioning from the current authoritarian state to a dictatorial regime;
21. Deplores the decision of Irakli Kobakhidze to suspend accession talks and reject EU funding until the end of 2028; recalls that all polls consistently show the overwhelming support of the Georgian population for a Euro-Atlantic future; expresses strong support for the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the Georgian people;
22. Calls for an immediate and comprehensive audit of EU policy towards Georgia due to the democratic backsliding; calls on the Commission to review the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in the light of the self-declared Georgian authorities’ breach of the general principles, as laid down in Article 2, namely respect for democratic principles, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms; points out that non-fulfilment of obligations may result in the conditional suspension of economic cooperation and privileges afforded by the Agreement;
23. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to cease all budgetary support to the Georgian authorities and to suspend the initiation of any future investment projects; encourages the Commission to terminate all financial support for ongoing projects; calls for a moratorium on all investment projects in the field of connectivity; calls on the Commission to start identifying economic sectors of relevance to the oligarchic interests that support and sustain the current authoritarian rule, with a view to a potential future decision about restrictive measures or economic sanctions; calls on the Commission to start identifying connectivity projects that support and sustain the current authoritarian rule and to consider their suspension until a rerun of the parliamentary elections;
24. Condemns the climate of intimidation and polarisation fuelled by statements by Georgian Government representatives and political leaders, as well as by attacks against political pluralism, including through disturbing cases of intimidation and violence against the Georgian democratic political forces and repeated threats to ban opposition parties, to arrest their leaders and even ordinary supporters, and to silence dissent; underlines that anything but the full restoration of Georgia’s democratic standards will entail a further deterioration of EU-Georgia relations, make any move towards EU accession impossible and result in additional sanctions;
25. Calls on the Commission to swiftly redirect the frozen EUR 120 million originally intended as support for the Georgian authorities to enhance the EU’s support for Georgia’s civil society, in particular the non-governmental sector and independent media, which are increasingly coming under undue pressure from the ruling political party and the authorities, as well as to support programmes supporting democratic resilience and electoral integrity; calls for the EU’s funding mechanisms to be adjusted to take into account the needs that arise in a more hostile and anti-democratic environment; highlights the urgency of the need to support civil society in the light of growing repression and the suspension of activities of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and therefore urges the Commission to ramp up support without delay;
26. Expresses deep concern about the increasing Russian influence in the country and about the Georgian Dream government’s actions in pursuing a policy of rapprochement and collaboration with Russia, in spite of its creeping occupation of Georgian territory; deplores, in this regard, the growing anti-Western and hostile rhetoric of the Georgian Dream party’s representatives towards Georgia’s strategic Western partners, including the EU, and its MEPs and officials, and Georgian Dream’s promotion of Russian disinformation and manipulation;
27. Strongly reiterates its urgent demand for the immediate release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili on humanitarian grounds, specifically for the purpose of seeking medical treatment abroad; emphasises that the self-appointed authorities bear full and undeniable responsibility for the life, health, safety and well-being of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and must be held fully accountable for any harm that befalls him; calls, furthermore, on the Georgian Dream authorities to ensure that Members of the European Parliament are granted unhindered access to Mikheil Saakashvili;
28. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the self-appointed authorities of Georgia.
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
– having regard to the statement by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the EU of 25 January 2025 on the latest escalation in eastern DRC,
– having regard to the statement by G7 foreign ministers of 2 February 2025 on the escalation of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo,
– having regard to the press statement of the UN Security Council of 26 January 2025 on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
– having regard to the special session of the UN Human Rights Council of 7 February 2025 on the human rights situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
– having regard to the communiqué of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union of 28 January 2025 on the recent developments in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,
– having regard to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women of 18 December 1979,
– having regard to the Partnership Agreement of 15 November 2023 between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, of the other part(1),
– having regard to Rule 136(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas in January 2025, the armed rebel group M23, backed by Rwandan forces, further advanced in the eastern DRC and seized the regional capital city of Goma; whereas violence between rebel groups and the Congolese army increased sharply, causing a high number of civilian casualties; whereas an estimated 3 000 deaths occurred during the offensive on Goma; whereas approximately 800 000 internally displaced people were sheltering at that time in densely populated displacement sites around the city;
B. whereas M23 announced a unilateral ceasefire to begin on 4 February 2025; whereas fighting has nonetheless continued, Goma airport remains closed, air traffic management equipment is damaged and humanitarian access is still limited; whereas there are reports that the mining town of Nyabibwe in South Kivu has been captured by M23; whereas M23 leaders have declared their intention to continue advancing in the DRC; whereas the latest advances of M23 mark an alarming escalation of the devastating conflict in the eastern DRC, a violation of territorial integrity and an escalation in violence, leading to a dire humanitarian crisis, human rights violations and the further destabilisation of the country;
C. whereas the region has been plagued by decades of cyclical violence, causing a security and humanitarian crisis; whereas after a ceasefire that lasted several years, the M23 fighters took up arms again at the end of 2021; whereas martial law has been in force since 2021 in the eastern DRC and the civilian government has been replaced by the military; whereas the M23 forces have been expanding their presence in the eastern DRC, setting up new governance administrations and taxation systems, establishing military training camps and exporting minerals directly to Rwanda; whereas the long-term consequences of the terrible 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi are still fuelling violence, hatred and forced displacements today;
D. whereas on 23 and 24 January 2025, M23 fired on positions of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), which resulted in the deaths of 13 peacekeepers deployed with MONUSCO and the peacekeeping mission led by the Southern African Development Community (SADC);
E. whereas the UN Group of Experts concluded in its June 2024 report that the deployment of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) ‘violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’ and that the RDF’s ‘de facto control and direction over M23 operations also renders Rwanda liable for the actions of M23’;
F. whereas the seizing of Goma has led to significant displacement of civilians; whereas over 500 000 people are estimated to have been displaced since early January 2025; whereas thousands of Congolese people had previously fled to the city to escape violence and have been further driven from camps for internally displaced people into makeshift tents or forced to sleep out in the open; whereas the safety of internally displaced people is now seriously threatened, with women and girls suffering disproportionately;
G. whereas the deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force based in Goma has reported on the mass rape and killing of women inmates inside Goma’s Munzenze prison, and it is estimated that hundreds of women were raped and many burned alive in the prison;
H. whereas women and girls in the DRC face increased levels of sexual and gender-based violence, resulting in there being one victim of rape every four minutes; whereas the staff of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, which receives many survivors of sexual violence, is alarmed about the deteriorating security situation in the area and about the security of the staff and patients in Panzi Hospital itself;
I. whereas the seizure of Goma triggered violent protests in Kinshasa, with dozens of protesters attacking embassies and calling on the international community to halt the advance of M23;
J. whereas the conflict in the DRC is at risk of regional spillover; whereas a peacekeeping deployment from the East African Community Regional Forces withdrew in 2023; whereas the SADC deployed a peacekeeping mission to the DRC in December 2023 with troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi; whereas at least 20 peacekeepers were killed during the M23 advance on Goma; whereas on 6 February 2025, Malawi announced the withdrawal of its troops from this mission;
K. whereas it is widely acknowledged that Rwanda is active in the conflict in the eastern DRC, including through its de facto control of M23, to which it supplies weapons, logistical support and troops; whereas UN experts estimate that there are between 3 000 and 4 000 Rwandan troops operating with M23;
L. whereas North Kivu is a resource-rich region, with vast supplies of critical raw materials including cobalt, gold and tin, which are necessary for the global digital and energy transition; whereas Goma is a major transport and trading hub for the export of minerals; whereas the UN estimates that around 120 tonnes of coltan are being moved by M23 to Rwanda each month; whereas UN experts further estimate that M23 is financed by around EUR 288 000 per month generated through its control of the mineral trade in the DRC; whereas the rebel groups often recruit child soldiers in a blatant violation of international law and humanity;
M. whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations in the DRC have focused on alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed mainly in the eastern DRC, in the Ituri region and the North and South Kivu Provinces, since 1 July 2002; whereas the DRC made a second referral to the ICC in May 2023 concerning alleged crimes committed in North Kivu since 1 January 2022;
N. whereas on 8 February 2025 at a joint summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the regional blocs of southern Africa, the SADC, and eastern Africa, the East African Community (EAC), called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, demanded the withdrawal of uninvited foreign armed forces from the DRC territory, urged all warring parties to hold peace talks within five days, and demanded the reopening of Goma airport and other key routes to facilitate humanitarian aid; whereas the African Union is set to address the matter at a meeting in Addis Ababa on 14 February 2025; whereas other mediation efforts are ongoing, notably by France, which aims to bring all actors to the negotiation table;
O. whereas the Foreign Affairs Council of the Council of the EU is expected to exchange views on the situation in the DRC on 24 February 2025;
P. whereas between 2021 and 2024, the EU provided EUR 260 million in funding to Rwanda, with an additional EUR 900 million pledged under the Global Gateway strategy; whereas following the latest developments in the eastern DRC, the EU declared that it stood ready to boost emergency assistance, particularly for the newly displaced populations in and around Goma, and on 28 January 2025, the Commission announced new humanitarian support for the DRC with an initial amount of EUR 60 million for 2025; whereas the EU is trying to intensify its presence in the region, including through its recent support for the ‘Green Corridor Kivu-Kinshasa’ programme via a Global Gateway initiative, which aims to help establish a sustainable 2 600 km corridor connecting the eastern DRC to Kinshasa and the Atlantic Coast, covering 540 000 km2;
Q. whereas the EU has formed raw materials partnerships with several countries, including the DRC, Rwanda and other countries in the region; whereas these partnerships are focused on, among other things, advancing due diligence and traceability, cooperation in fighting against the illegal trafficking of raw materials, and alignment with international environmental, social and governance standards; whereas Parliament, unlike the Council, was not given the opportunity by the Commission to share its political assessment of the decision to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rwanda or to provide technical feedback on the draft MoU;
R. whereas the DRC Foreign Affairs Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and Nobel Prize laureate Denis Mukwage briefed Parliament on 5 February 2025, at an extraordinary meeting of the Delegation to the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly (DAFR) and the Committee on Development, on the occupation of the eastern DRC and the dire humanitarian impact on the local population and internally displaced people;
S. whereas the Council appointed Johan Borgstam as the EU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region on 1 September 2024; whereas on 30 January 2025, DAFR organised an extraordinary hearing with the EU Special Representative and Bintou Keita, Head of MONUSCO;
T. whereas prior to recent developments, the DRC faced one of the largest displacement crises in Africa, with 6,7 million internally displaced persons, including 4,6 million in South and North Kivu; whereas the DRC also hosts over 520 000 refugees and asylum seekers from neighbouring countries, while 1,1 million refugees from the DRC are being hosted in neighbouring countries in the region, more than half of them in Uganda; whereas the recent surge in violence has internally displaced over half a million people since the beginning of the year; whereas given the severe overcrowding in the displacement sites where people remain and the lack of water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, the risk of a cholera outbreak is extremely high, along with that of a rapid spread of the Mpox epidemic;
1. Strongly condemns the occupation of Goma and other territories in the eastern DRC by M23 and the RDF as an unacceptable breach of the DRC’s sovereignty and territorial integrity; urges the Rwandan Government to withdraw its troops from DRC territory, as they are in clear violation of international law and the UN Charter, and to cease cooperation with the M23 rebels; demands that Rwanda and all other potential state actors in the region cease their support for M23;
2. Strongly condemns the indiscriminate attacks with explosive weapons in populated areas of North Kivu by all parties, including on displacement camps and other densely populated areas near Goma, as well as the unlawful killings, rapes and other apparent war crimes, forced labour, forced recruitment and other abusive practices committed by M23 with the support of the RDF and by the armed forces of the DRC, the FARDC;
3. Is appalled by the shocking use of sexual violence against women and girls as a tool of repression and weapon of war in the eastern DRC as well as the unacceptable recruitment of child soldiers by the various rebel groups; demands that these matters be addressed by the international community without delay; strongly reiterates that any attack against UN-mandated forces is inexcusable and might be considered a war crime;
4. Calls for an immediate end to the violence, particularly the mass killings and the use of rape as a strategic weapon of war; calls on the DRC and Rwanda to investigate and appropriately prosecute those responsible for war crimes, including sexual violence, under the principle of command responsibility;
5. Is extremely concerned by the critical humanitarian situation in the country; calls for the immediate reopening of Goma airport to re-establish humanitarian operations and bring in supplies via the airport and the land border; calls for the creation and immediate opening of humanitarian corridors and for all parties, including armed groups operating in the eastern DRC, to allow and facilitate full humanitarian access based on needs and humanitarian principles, including ensuring that civilians and displaced people are not denied access to items essential for their survival;
6. Emphasises that humanitarian workers must be able to operate safely to deliver life-saving assistance to Congolese civilians, and that the safety of medical facilities must be preserved; stresses that this is a central obligation under international humanitarian law, and that perpetrators violating these obligations should be held to account; underlines that Rwanda and the neighbouring countries have a special responsibility to facilitate humanitarian access to the region;
7. Strongly condemns the attack on diplomatic institutions of the EU, its Member States and civil society organisations, such as political foundations in Kinshasa; underlines that the protection of civilians and diplomatic staff must be guaranteed;
8. Expresses concern over the lack of coherence in the EU response to the Great Lakes region’s crises and calls on the Council to reassess the implementation of its renewed EU Great Lakes strategy; recalls that the EU and its special representative for the region are ready to assist all mediation efforts;
9. Welcomes the increased humanitarian support pledged by the EU, notes that this still falls far short of meeting the basic needs for food, water, medical assistance and shelter in the eastern DRC, especially in the light of the recent termination of support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); calls on the Commission and the international community to significantly step up financial support for urgent and life-saving assistance;
10. Regrets that the EU has not taken appropriate measures to sufficiently address the crisis and effectively press Rwanda to end its support for M23, and that it has instead taken steps – including the signing in February 2024 of an MoU on sustainable raw materials value chains without sufficiently discussing the conflict, and the decision to top up support for Rwanda’s deployment in Mozambique under the European Peace Facility (EPF) – that have failed to demonstrate sufficient safeguards and that have contributed to sending an inconsistent message to the Rwandan authorities;
11. Urges the Commission and the Council to immediately suspend the EU-Rwanda MoU on sustainable raw materials value chains until Rwanda proves that it is ceasing its interference and its exportation of minerals mined from M23-controlled areas; calls on all actors to increase transparency and to effectively ban the entry of all blood minerals into the EU;
12. Calls on the Commission to render the future re-activation of cooperation on critical raw materials conditional upon Rwanda joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which the DRC is already part of;
13. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the current Conflict Minerals Regulation(2) is strongly enforced and on the Commission to propose a revision of the EU rules, with the aim of ensuring the highest standards of traceability and transparency;
14. Notes that parliamentary oversight and civil society involvement in the preparation, signing and implementation of raw material MoUs and roadmaps are essential for an inclusive process with adequate scrutiny, and must become part of the MoU;
15. Calls on the Commission, the Member States and the international financial institutions to freeze direct budget support to Rwanda subject to it meeting conditions on, among other things, humanitarian access and the breaking of all links with M23; urges the Commission and the Member States to freeze their military and security assistance to the Rwandan armed forces to ensure that they do not contribute directly or indirectly to abusive military operations in the eastern DRC; calls strongly, in particular, for a review of the EU’s renewed support under the EPF to ensure that troops deployed in northern Mozambique and benefiting from EPF support, as well as their commanders, have been properly vetted and have not been involved in the eastern DRC or in other human rights violations, with a view to suspending the support if it is found to contribute directly or indirectly to abusive military operations in the eastern DRC;
16. Urges the Commission and all Member States to ban the transfer of weapons to the Rwandan forces and M23 and to ensure greater transparency of trade in EU weapons;
17. Urges the Council to expand sanctions against senior M23 commanders, leaders of other armed groups and senior officials from the DRC and Rwanda – including Major-General Eugene Nkubito, the commander of the RDF’s 3rd Division, and Major-General Ruki Karusisi, RDF Special Force Commander, identified in the June 2024 report of the UN Group of Experts, and Major-General Emmy K. Ruvusha, Commander of the Rwanda Security Forces, identified in the June 2023 report of the UN Group of Experts – and from other countries across the region, as being responsible for or complicit in recent serious abuses by their forces or those for which they have command responsibility;
18. Urges the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Member States and the Government of the DRC to take immediate action to prevent sexual violence and improve care for survivors, including by adapting the national legal framework to guarantee access to medical abortion care; draws attention to the health needs of pregnant women, notably those who are displaced and out of reach of medical support; calls on the EEAS and the Member States to further prioritise the disbursement of humanitarian support for women and girls in the region;
19. Calls on the Commission to continue supporting anti-corruption efforts and the strengthening of governance in the DRC;
20. Commends the Prosecutor of the ICC’s announcement that the ICC will continue to investigate alleged crimes committed by any person, irrespective of affiliation or nationality; reiterates the EU’s unwavering support for the ICC and calls on the Council and Commission to fulfil their obligations to ensure the functioning and effectiveness of the ICC;
21. Reiterates its full support for MONUSCO in protecting civilians and stabilising the region; urges the EU to cooperate with all actors on the ground, in particular MONUSCO, to ensure the protection of civilians in the eastern DRC; calls on the UN to work towards a stronger mandate for MONUSCO in order to enable peacemaking; calls on the UN to ensure the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law, particularly given the increased risk of gender-based violence, and to preserve the safety of humanitarian staff, health workers and medical facilities;
22. Calls on the UN to take immediate and specific measures to protect Panzi Hospital and its patients and staff;
23. Welcomes the special session of the UN Human Rights Council of 7 February 2025 on the human rights situation in the east of the DRC; supports the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into serious violations committed since January 2022;
24. Reiterates its condemnation of hate speech and xenophobia, as well as ethnic-based politics; underlines that all those responsible for sustaining armed conflict, instability and insecurity in the DRC must be held accountable;
25. Is concerned about the consequences of Russian interference in the conflict and more widely in the region, and about the increasing presence of disinformation campaigns; condemns, in particular, efforts by Russia to foster anti-Western sentiment through the dissemination of fake news on social media about Western players;
26. Expresses its concern about the increasing presence of Chinese actors in the mining sector of the DRC and the region acting without respect for economic and social responsibilities, and recalls that European industries and companies in the region will only have long-term security of supply if a long-lasting and peaceful solution to the conflict is found;
27. Recalls that only an inclusive and regional approach will be able to address and tackle the multifaceted, long-standing problems in the region; strongly welcomes the joint SADC and EAC peace summit in Dar es Salaam on 8 February 2025; reiterates, in this regard, its full support for the Luanda and Nairobi processes and calls upon all Great Lake countries, in particular the DRC and Rwanda, to urgently pursue negotiations within these frameworks; emphasises that any solution must also address the root causes of the conflict, including, but not limited to, the illicit trafficking of natural resources; calls on the Commission and the Member States to fully support national and regional initiatives, such as the initiative of the Congolese Catholic and Protestant leaders, and the Luanda Process; underlines that regional organisations, such as the African Union, the SADC and the EAC, must play a central role in all of these efforts; underlines also that a lasting solution requires a reform of the DRC security sector, with a better organised DRC army and administration;
28. Calls on the international community and all actors involved to use the Addis Ababa framework agreement and to organise an international conference for peace in the eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region; stresses that this ‘Business for Peace’ conference will have the unique feature of having the private sector around the peace negotiation table, since the war is about strategic minerals; underlines that business people can have significant leverage to push their countries to act for peace; believes that the business for peace approach can help us move forward in finding a solution;
29. Calls for the cancellation of the 2025 International Cycling Union (UCI) Road World Championships in Kigali if Rwanda does not change course;
30. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Government and Parliament of Rwanda and of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the African Union, the secretariats of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community, and other relevant international bodies.
Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas (OJ L 130, 19.5.2017, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/821/oj).
Commemorating the first anniversary of the death in custody of Russian opposition politician and prisoner of conscience Aleksei Navalny, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:
“One year has passed since Aleksei Navalny, a prisoner of conscience and a fearless voice against corruption and Russian state repression, lost his life in a remote Russian prison. This is an occasion to remind Putin that questions about Navalny’s death are not going away, and neither are calls for accountability. The Kremlin is mistaken in its calculation that Aleksei’s memory will fade away and a thorough investigation into his death can be avoided. Our resolve for justice remains as strong as ever. Only an investigation conducted by independent and impartial international experts can ensure that truth is revealed, and the world must insist on nothing less.
“Aleksei Navalny embodied courage and resilience. He brought optimism and hope, uniting thousands of people who dared to stand against abuse of power and human rights violations. He challenged a stagnant status quo marked by repression and the silencing of political opponents and minorities.
The Russian state could not break Aleksei Navalny with unjust imprisonment, torture and repeated isolation. Even in death, his legacy of resistance continues to inspire those who believe in a better future
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
“The Russian state could not break Aleksei Navalny with unjust imprisonment, torture and repeated isolation. Even in death, his legacy of resistance continues to inspire those who believe in a better future. We honour his memory by standing in solidarity with all those who, despite growing repression, continue to pursue truth, justice and freedom.
“Among them are Antonina Favorskaya, Sergei Karelin, Konstantin Gabov, and Artyom Kriger, who face prison terms under charges of ‘participating in an extremist community’ for working with media projects founded by Aleksei Navalny. Their resilience embodies the very principles that Navalny fought for. We are outraged by the eight year sentence handed to Daniel Kholodny, prosecuted on similar arbitrary ‘extremism’ charges simply for working as an IT director at one of Navalny’s media channels.
“We also resolutely condemn the criminal prosecution of Navalny’s lawyers – Aleksei Liptser, Vadim Kobzev and Igor Sergunin – who have been imprisoned on ‘extremism’ charges simply for defending their client. Amnesty International calls for their immediate and unconditional release and urges the international community to intensify pressure on the Russian government to end these and other politically motivated prosecutions.”
The office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms Ministry of Textiles, Government of India organized a fashion event titled “Breathing Threads” to feel the pulse of craftsmanship, to honour a living legacy, to witness the timeless elegance of Indian handlooms in modern silhouettes.
The event was organized at amphitheatre in Bharat Mandapam on the sidelines of Bharat Tex 2025 in association with Vaishali S Couture, Vaishali S Threadstories Private Limited, Mumbai and in coordination with Handloom Export Promotion Council.Vaishali S Couture is a 24-year-old brand dedicated to reviving old and dying hand weaving techniques and bringing them to the top global luxury stages by inserting innovation, creativity, and a very high level of quality.
The beauty of Handloom and the mission of the brand is also its sustainability and zero waste strategy, in line with what are the living habits of Indian villages.
The Indian hand-woven textiles are the untapped wealth of the country, and it is just a question of showcasing them in a more modern and global language that will set them back to the most admired luxury fashion stages around the globe.
The show carried fabrics woven in the villages from 5 different states viz. West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka & Rajasthan and 20 models in 30 looks showcased these weaves, draped in 7 different weaving techniques: Chanderi, Maheshwari, Jamdani, Khun, Benarasi, Kota Doria, Murshidabad. Each weave was creatively embellished with unique textures and cording.
The show was the testament of how much skill and hard work, together with creativity is needed to make a hand-woven fabric, and at the same time how a craft can be elevated to being one of the global luxury brands.
The show was a great success and demonstration of the power of Indian heritage textiles when given a global language, to the mesmerised eyes of buyers from overseas countries such as Australia, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Chile etc. besides the stake holders of Indian textile industry with the unwavering support of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms, the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan held multiple high-level engagements at Aero India 2025, demonstrating India’s willingness to forge strategic defence partnerships. Key interactions included meetings with General Kevin B Schneider, Commander Pacific Air Force (USA), Lord Vernon Coaker , Minister of State it’s f Defence (UK) and Air Vice Marshal Suraya Marshall (UK), Lt Gen Ibrahim Nasser Al Alawi (UAE), Maj Gen Duong Van Yen (Vietnam), Maj Gen Ro Jone Kalouniwai Logavatu (Fiji), General Paul Velentino Phiri (Malawi), Lt Gen Salum Haji Othman (Tanzania) and Vice Admiral Exon Oswaldo Ascencio Albeno (El Salvador). The discussions centered on enhanced military cooperation, capacity building, and strategic partnerships in the defence sector.
The CDS engaged extensively with global defence industry leaders, conducting strategic discussions with executives from major aerospace companies including Saab AB, Airbus, Israel Aerospace Industries, BAE Systems, Dassault Aviation, and Rolls Royce. These interactions centered on indigenous manufacturing, technology transfer, and the development of niche capabilities under India’s Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.
General Chauhan also visited various defence pavilions, engaging with both Indian and foreign defence equipment manufacturers, MSMEs, and startups. He witnessed impressive displays of military aircraft from friendly foreign countries and received comprehensive briefings on the capability and performance parameters, including the F-35 from the USA, MRTT from Germany, A400 from Spain, SU-57 from Russia and H125 from France, underlining India’s commitment to fostering international defence collaboration while strengthening domestic capabilities.
In a notable development, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh had unveiled a landmark document on ‘Network Centric Multi Domain Operations’ in the presence of key military leadership. This pivotal document, created by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff , outlines the roadmap for preparing the Indian Armed Forces for future warfare, emphasizing decision superiority in an increasingly data-centric environment amidst rapidly evolving military technologies.
The visit of General Chanegriha Said, Minister Delegate to the Minister of National Defence and Chief of Staff of Algeria’s People’s National Army, marked a significant milestone in Indo-Algerian defence relations. During his comprehensive tour of India’s vital defence establishments and industrial complexes, General Chanegriha expressed strong satisfaction with the similarities in military traditions and cultures between both nations, setting the stage for enhanced military cooperation and defence modernization initiatives.
Aero India 2025 has emerged as a landmark event in India’s defence ecosystem, showcasing the nation’s growing stature as both a significant market and an emerging producer of defence technology. The unprecedented participation of military leaders from diverse nations, coupled with engagements with global defence industry giants, underscores India’s pivotal role in shaping international defence partnerships. The exhibition’s success not only highlights India’s commitment to achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing but also positions the country as a reliable partner for joint development and production of advanced military systems, marking a significant step toward realizing the vision of ‘Make in India, Make for the World.’
A visitor takes photos of an Origin Wukong superconducting quantum computer model at the 2024 World Manufacturing Convention in Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province, Sept. 20, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] China’s independently developed third-generation superconducting quantum computer, Origin Wukong, has received more than 20 million remote visits globally, passing an important milestone in the country’s quantum computing development, China Science and Technology Daily has reported. According to the Anhui Quantum Computing Engineering Research Center, users from 139 countries or regions have accessed Origin Wukong remotely, with the United States, Russia, Japan and Canada showing the highest levels of user activity. Among these countries, the United States is leading in foreign user visits. Origin Wukong has completed more than 339,000 quantum computing tasks since it went into operation on Jan. 6, 2024, covering a wide range of industries, such as finance and biomedicine. The quantum computer is powered by Wukong, a 72-qubit indigenous superconducting quantum chip. It is one of the country’s most advanced programmable and deliverable superconducting quantum computers. Wukong’s name was inspired by the mythological Sun Wukong, the legendary Monkey King, who had the ability to transform into 72 different forms, symbolizing the computer’s powerful and versatile capabilities.
