‘Unexplained’ Ukrainian Oligarch Found Dead in UK Mansion

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An investigation is underway after a Ukrainian oligarch was found dead in his British mansion earlier this week, police revealed Thursday.

Mikhail Watford, 66, was pronounced dead after authorities were called to his home in Surrey, just outside London, on Monday at about midday.

Authorities said the circumstances surrounding the tycoon’s death didn’t appear to be suspicious but they called it “unexplained.”

The father of three — who made his fortune in oil and gas after the demise of the Soviet Union — was found hanged in his garage, the Sun reported.

His associates and friends told the outlet that the timing of his death raised questions, especially following the attempted murder of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal on UK soil. (Read more from “‘Unexplained’ Ukrainian Oligarch Found Dead in UK Mansion” HERE)

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‘10 Times Larger Than Chernobyl’: Fire Breaks Out at Ukrainian Nuclear Plant

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A fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine as Russian forces bombard the facility, leading Ukrainian officials to claim that the threat is “10 times larger than Chernobyl.”

“Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe,” Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Thursday evening. “Fire has already broke out. If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl! Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!” . . .

Tuz added that firefighters are unable to subdue the flames due to the continued Russian bombardment. “We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire,” he said in a video statement. “There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.” (Read more from “‘10 Times Larger Than Chernobyl’: Fire Breaks Out at Ukrainian Nuclear Plant” HERE)

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‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’: Russian Tycoon Puts $1M Bounty on Putin’s Head

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A Russian businessman is offering $1 million to any military officer who apprehends Russian President Vladimir Putin “dead or alive” for committing war crimes in his invasion of Ukraine.

Alex Konanykhin, an entrepreneur and former banker, posted the bounty on social media as Russia enters a full week of military action against the neighboring country. Western governments and companies have responded to the invasion by seeking to economically punish Putin and Russia’s ruling elite. The bounty offered by Konanykhin, who is now based in the U.S., places an even more direct target on the Russian leader as backlash over the invasion continues to escalate.

Konanykhin said in a Facebook post Tuesday that he promised to pay the officer or officers the money for arresting “Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international laws.” (Read more from “‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’: Russian Tycoon Puts $1M Bounty on Putin’s Head” HERE)

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China Largely Ignores Biden’s State of the Union Speech

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President Joe Biden had very little to say about China in his first State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday night, and Chinese media returned the favor by saying very little about Biden’s speech.

China’s state-run Global Times counted only two mentions of China in the speech, neither of them terribly confrontational (Biden added a third in the remarks as delivered). The Chinese paper dismissed Biden’s address as a weak imitation of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famed “Iron Curtain” speech that unsuccessfully sought to use Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to rally the divided American political parties behind Biden’s presidency.

The Global Times quoted Fudan University professor Shen Yi mocking Biden’s claims of leadership against Russia:

“If the US has been prepared for Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, why is Washington still discussing with other countries on how to sanction Russia on SWIFT? If US intelligence agencies can make correct early-warnings about Russia’s operation, but the White House failed to fully prepare for sanctions, the US’ capability and national strength are in trouble,” Shen said.

Biden said in his speech that “Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO Allies.” But Shen said this is another pointless line that shows Biden’s weakness. “This means the US will leave Ukraine alone even though Kiev pinned high hopes on Washington. To defend NATO? Did Russia say it wants to invade NATO?”

(Read more from “China Largely Ignores Biden’s State of the Union Speech” HERE)

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Russia’s Ultimatum: No Western Troops, Nukes in Ex-Soviet Countries; ‘He Has No Idea What’s Coming’: Biden Sends Message to Putin

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By Washington Examiner. Following calls from apprehensive neighbors of Russia for an increased U.S. military presence, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that his country opposes any Western military activity in the former Soviet bloc.

Lavrov told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday amid his country’s invasion of Ukraine that Western powers, especially America, must not operate in Eastern Europe and should remove nuclear weapons from the region.

“The Western countries need to abandon creating military sites on the territories of countries previously constituting the Soviet Union and not members of the alliance, including using their infrastructure to conduct any military activity,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov centered his demands on U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe, saying it is “unacceptable for us that U.S. nuclear weapons still remain in a number of European states in contradiction to the basic points of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.” (Read more from “Russia’s Ultimatum: No Western Troops, Nukes in Ex-Soviet Countries” HERE)

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‘He Has No Idea What’s Coming’: Biden Sends Message to Putin

By Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden assailed Russian President Vladimir Putin, barred Russian flights from American airspace and led Democratic and Republican lawmakers in a rare display of unity on Tuesday in a State of the Union speech dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Let each of us if you’re able to stand, stand and send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine and to the world,” Biden urged Democrats and Republicans. . .

In a deviation from his prepared remarks, Biden said of Putin: “He has no idea what’s coming.” (Read more from “‘He Has No Idea What’s Coming’: Biden Sends Message to Putin” HERE)

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‘We Won’t Give Up Our President’: Ukraine Foiled Zelensky Hit Squads With Leaked Russian Intel

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Two elite Chechen death squads sent to kill Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky have been “neutralized” — thanks to intel from Russian security forces sympathetic to Ukraine, according to a senior Ukraine official.

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Ukrainian TV Tuesday that sources inside the Russian FSB gave Kyiv the intelligence needed to track down the assassins, according to a report in The New Voice of Ukraine.

“They were divided in two groups, we were tracking them,” said Danilov.

“One group was handled near Hostomel [northwest of Kyiv], the other one is in our sights.”

“We won’t give up our president, our country,” Danilov added. “This is our land, be gone.” (Read more from “‘We Won’t Give Up Our President’: Ukraine Foiled Zelensky Hit Squads With Leaked Russian Intel” HERE)

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Left-Wing Mexico President Refuses to Impose Sanctions on Russia

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Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador vowed that his government will not be placing economic sanctions on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.

The leftist leader said Tuesday that his decision was solely based on his administration’s preference to maintain a positive image with his counterparts across the globe.

‘We are not going to take any sort of economic reprisal because we want to have good relations with all the governments in the world,’ López Obrador said Tuesday during his daily presidential press briefing.

López Obrador position stands in contrast to the international sanctions imposed on President Vladimir Putin’s actions as his military attacked a war-torn Ukraine for a fifth straight day.

The Kremlin has built strong links to various governments in Latin America, especially authoritarian administrations in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. (Read more from “Left-Wing Mexico President Refuses to Impose Sanctions on Russia” HERE)

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Joe Biden’s America Pays Putin $70 Million per Day for Oil

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Think about the madness of this… Joe Biden is running around trying to look tough, hitting Russia with sanctions over Vladimir Putin’s obscene invasion of Ukraine. But at the same time, we pay Russia in the vicinity of $70 million per day for oil imports.

In other words, during these seven days of Putin’s criminal war against Ukraine, we’ve sent this same Putin during those same seven days close to a half-billion dollars! . . .

On the one hand, Biden claims to be crippling Vlad with sanctions, while on the other hand, we’re slipping him $70 million PER DAY! . . .

“In 2021, the U.S. imported an average of 209,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 500,000 bpd of other petroleum products from Russia.”

And last I checked, oil is currently valued at $106 per barrel, and one of the reasons oil is so high is the war in Ukraine, so…. So Vlad is making more money on his oil by waging his war with a peaceful neighbor! (Read more from “Joe Biden’s America Pays Putin $70 Million per Day for Oil” HERE)

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Zelensky Calls for Flooding Ukraine With Foreign Fighters to Push Back Russia

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky established a new wing of the armed forces on Monday called the “International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine,” intended for foreign nationals who wish to come to fight in the country’s war against Russia.

Zelensky signed a decree creating the military wing on Monday and has lifted visa requirements for individuals who fit the requirements to join the forces. The initiative comes as reports indicate Russian leader Vladimir Putin may be planning a much larger military assault on the country after his initial push towards Kyiv failed.

Putin announced last week that he would recognize two territories in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as sovereign states and that the leaders of these “states” had requested the presence of the Russian military in Ukraine to fight Zelensky’s forces. Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014, colonizing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and funneling support to the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk, collectively referred to as Donbas.

Russian forces have moved far past Donbas, however, and have regularly bombarded Kyiv and other critical metropolitan areas. Putin has since asserted that toppling the Zelensky government is necessary to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. Zelensky has responded to the claim by noting that he is a descendent of World War II veterans who fought Nazi Germany and is Jewish.

(Read more from “Zelensky Calls for Flooding Ukraine With Foreign Fighters to Push Back Russia” HERE)

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Russian Ruble Now Worth Less Than a Penny as Wartime Sanctions Cripple Economy

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The value of Russia’s ruble has collapsed to less than 1 cent after the United States and other Western countries applied biting sanctions against the Russian economy.

The ruble was down nearly 10% against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday at 115.68 to the dollar. On Monday, after a weekend filled with painful new sanctions, the Russian currency saw an even more precipitous decline of about 30%. The ruble was at about 84 per dollar late Friday before the harshest financial penalties kicked in.

The ruble is now worth even less than an Afghani, which is the currency of Afghanistan, a failed state that has been overrun and is controlled by Taliban militants.

The currency’s free fall was blunted a bit by the Russian central bank’s decision to hike interest rates aggressively, increasing them from 8.5% to 20% in order to bolster the ruble and prevent a run on the banks. Still, people across Russia have been seen lining up at ATMs to withdraw foreign currencies. (Read more from “Russian Ruble Now Worth Less Than a Penny as Wartime Sanctions Cripple Economy” HERE)

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