Russia accuses the West of 'stealing' more than $300 billion
Russia accuses the West of “stealing” more than $300 billion. Ukraine claims to have destroyed two Russian patrol ships in the Black Sea.
Russia accuses the West of “stealing” more than $300 billion.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that most of it was oil and gas payments that Russia received, as energy company Gazprom had to keep money in Western bank accounts.
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| Oil is Russia's major export. Illustrative photo. |
“Gazprom is forced to keep money in Western bank accounts because of the regulations of those countries,” Lavrov said, adding that “now Russia has proposed that the delivery will not be considered paid when Gazprombank receives euros or dollars, but when they are converted into rubles, so that the money will not be stolen anymore.”
A senior Russian general may have traveled to Ukraine last week.Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, has visited several frontline positions in eastern Ukraine.
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| Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov. Photo: TASS |
During his visit, Gerasimov escaped an attack by Ukrainian forces on a school used as a military base in the Russian-controlled city of Izium in eastern Ukraine on April 30. About 200 soldiers, including a general, were killed in the attack, Ukrainian officials said. However, Gerasimov returned to Russia before that.
Ukraine claims to have destroyed two Russian patrol boats in the Black Sea.Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army Valeriy Zaluzhniy said that early on May 2, the country's Bayraktar drone destroyed two Russian patrol boats near Zmiinyi Island (Snake Island) in the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that Russian forces destroyed 38 Ukrainian military targets with high-precision missiles. In addition, the Russian Air Force also killed 160 Ukrainian soldiers.
