EU plans fresh Russia sanctions including against son of Dmitry Medvedev

Proposals aimed at choking off commercial revenues include total ban on sale of Russian rough diamonds

The European Commission is proposing a 12th round of sanctions against Moscow, including restrictions on scores of individuals apparently including the son of the former president Dmitry Medvedev and a relative of Vladimir Putin’s.

Among the 47 individuals the commission wants added to existing sanctions lists are Putin’s cousin Anna Tsivileva, who chairs the “defenders of the fatherland” foundation that supports Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

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Defensive missile systems erected on Moscow rooftops

Kremlin appears to prepare for strikes on Russian capital by installing interception systems

Missile systems designed to intercept aircraft and incoming missiles appear to have been deployed on top of several defence and administrative buildings in downtown Moscow, signalling that the Kremlin is preparing for a potential, if unlikely, attack being directed on the Russian capital.

Photographs published on social media on Thursday showed a Pantsir missile system had been installed on the roof of an eight-story building used by the Russian defence ministry along the Moskva River.

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Ex-Russian president suggests Japanese PM should ritually disembowel himself

Dmitry Medvedev accuses Fumio Kishida of shameful subservience to US after Joe Biden meeting

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida of shameful subservience to the US and suggested he should ritually disembowel himself.

His remarks on Saturday were the latest in a long line of shocking and provocative statements from Medvedev, who was once seen as a western-leaning reformer but has reinvented himself as an arch-hawk since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

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Putin adviser promises legal action against attempts to seize Russian assets

Ex-president Dmitry Medvedev says businesses subject to sanctions will take action in international courts

Moscow will fight attempts to seize Russian property abroad in courts around the world, the former president Dmitry Medvedev has said.

Medvedev, who advises Vladimir Putin on national security matters, said in a post on Telegram on Wednesday that Russian businesses whose assets were subject to sanctions would take legal action in the US, EU and elsewhere.

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Ukraine suspends 11 political parties with links to Russia

Zelenskiy says parties such as Viktor Medvedchuk’s Opposition Platform for Life are ‘aimed at division or collusion’

Eleven Ukrainian political parties have been suspended because of their links with Russia, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The country’s national security and defence council took the decision to ban the parties from any political activity. Most of the parties affected were small, but one of them, the Opposition Platform for Life, has 44 seats in the 450-seat Ukrainian parliament.

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Putin orders troops into eastern Ukraine on ‘peacekeeping duties’

Russian deployment follows decision to recognise territories in south-east will be viewed in Ukraine and by other western allies as an occupation

Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to enter the Russian-controlled areas of southeast Ukraine following a decision to recognise the territories as independent states.

The decision to dispatch his troops to perform “peacekeeping duties” will be viewed in Ukraine and by other western allies as an occupation of the region and likely trigger tough sanctions and a Ukrainian military response.

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Dmitry Medvedev: the rise and fall of the Robin to Putin’s Batman

Corruption allegations and embarrassing public moments weakened Russia’s former PM

Vladimir Putin’s decision on Wednesday to accept the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev was not a surprise. For some time, Medvedev’s standing within the Russian government has been inexorably sinking.

There have been embarrassing public moments. Medvedev has been spotted nodding off during Putin’s presidential addresses, not once but on several occasions.

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