The Russian invasion The sanctions

Vladimir Putin during the digital summit. Alexander Kazakov / AP  

 

Russian invasionRussian reactions  

Putin: We will continue to counter sanctions  

 

Russia will continue to counter the sanctions imposed on the country by the West. This is what Vladimir Putin says at a summit organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), writes AFP.  

 

- Russia resists and will continue to resist external pressure, sanctions and provocations, says the president.  

 

Included in the SCO are, among others, China and Iran – countries that have become increasingly important economic partners for Russia after both the US and the EU introduced heavy sanctions against the Russian economy.  

 

Oleg Deripaska Dmitri Lovetsky / AP  

 

The Russian invasion The sanctions  

Finnish billion-dollar trade favors Russian owners of Swedish companies  

 

Finnish companies have done deals worth billions, including with oligarchs in Putin's close circle, according to an investigation by Yle. 

 

Among these is Oleg Deripaska, major shareholder in several Swedish companies such as the aluminum smelter Kubal in Sundsvall.  

 

The information obtained from the Russian customs authorities includes data on tens of companies and over 2,000 imports and exports between Finland and Russia.  

 

The statistics mainly cover the time from the outbreak of the war in February 2022 to the fall of 2022. After that, there are only isolated data when Russian authorities have delayed releasing information. 

 

billionaire Vladimir Potanin, who is on the US sanctions list.Mikhail Klimentyev / AP  

 

The Russian invasion The sanctions  

Finnish companies do billion-dollar deals in Russia  

 

During the war in Ukraine, Finnish companies made billion-dollar deals in Russia. That's according to a review by Yle's dig editor.  

 

According to statistics from the Finnish Customs Service, at least EUR 1.5 billion worth of business has been done in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.  

 

Among other things, it concerns deliveries to Russia's metal mines, something that has benefited the Russian war machine in its rearmament, according to a researcher in Russian energy policy.  

 

The review shows that some of the money went to companies owned by oligarchs in Vladimir Putin's inner circle, people who are subject to Western sanctions and who are on the US sanctions list.  

 

Maria Zakharova. Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP 

Russia: Five drones shot down near Moscow  

 

Five drones have been shot down in the Moscow region during the morning, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense according to AFP. The drones are said to have caused no damage. 

 

 Flights due to land at Vnukovo International Airport outside Moscow were said to have been diverted this morning. It is unclear whether there is a connection.  

 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zacharova accuses Ukraine of attempting to attack civilian infrastructure. Ukraine has not commented on the alleged incidents, nor have they been independently confirmed.