Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

European banks leaving Russia would damage both Western and Russian companies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, pointing to the many Western businesses that still operate and use banking services in Russia.

With most major Russian banks under Western sanctions over Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, foreign banks including Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International and Italy's UniCredit, have become key financial bridges with the West, boosting profits in the process.

"They perform quite important functions in transferring funds, not only in the interests of our customers of these banks, but also foreign customers," Peskov told reporters.

European Central Bank Banking Supervision has asked all banks with significant exposure to Russia to speed up their de-risking efforts by setting a clear roadmap for downsizing and exiting the Russian market.

Raiffeisen has faced particular scrutiny over its hefty Russia profits and ties to Moscow. The bank was warned by the U.S. Treasury in writing that its access to the U.S. financial system could be curbed, according to a person who has seen the correspondence.

"Don't forget that very many Western businesses work in the Russian economy, they continue to work here," Peskov said. "They have huge, multi-billion investments and the majority of companies have not left, but continue to work in this market.

"So they use these banking services. If they stop, well, these companies will be just as damaged as our companies."

About 1,000 companies have left the Russian market, a corporate exodus since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has cost foreign companies more than $107 billion in writedowns and lost revenue, a Reuters analysis has shown.

Many multinational businesses, Mondelez International, PepsiCo, Auchan, Nestle and Unilever, have maintained a presence in Russia.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

Russia is revising its nuclear doctrine, Kremlin says

Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, has started updating its nuclear doctrine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, citing an earlier statement by President Vladimir Putin.

"President Putin has said that work is under way to bring the doctrine into line with current realities," Peskov told a briefing, without elaborating.

A senior member of the Russian parliament said on Sunday that Moscow could reduce the decision-making time stipulated in official policy for the use of nuclear weapons if it believes that threats are increasing.

Putin said last month that Russia might change its official nuclear doctrine setting out the conditions under which such weapons could be used.

The war in Ukraine has triggered the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

Russia blames US for Crimea deaths and and vows response

People lay flowers as tribute to the victims of Sunday's attack on a memorial bearing the word Sevastopol in Moscow.

Russia has blamed the US and vowed "consequences" for a Ukrainian missile strike on Sevastopol in occupied Crimea on Sunday, which officials say killed four people - including two children.

Around 150 more were injured in the attack as missile debris fell on a beach nearby.

Russia's defence ministry said the missiles used by Ukraine were US-supplied ATACMS missiles, and claimed they were programmed by US specialists.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the strike "barbaric" and accused the US of "killing Russian children".

He pointed towards comments by President Vladimir Putin, who recently vowed to target countries supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Moscow said Sunday's deaths and injuries were caused by falling debris, after its air defences in Crimea intercepted five missiles loaded with cluster warheads launched by Ukrainian forces.

Footage carried on Russian state TV showed chaos on the beach in the Uchkuyevka area, as people ran from the falling debris and some injured people were carried away on sun loungers.

Russia's defence ministry claimed on Sunday that all ATACMS missiles are programmed by US specialists and guided by American satellite reconacince.

The US has been supplying ATACMS missiles to Ukraine for over a year. The system allows Ukrainian forces to strike targets up to 300km (186 miles) away, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Moscow illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and just a handful of countries recognise the peninsula as Russian territory. It therefore does not fall under the US demands that Ukraine refrain from using Washington-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory.

But Mr Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday that the "involvement of the United States, the direct involvement, as a result of which Russian civilians are killed, cannot be without consequences".

"Time will tell what these will be," he added.

The Russian foreign ministry summoned the US Ambassador Lynne Tracy on Monday, before issuing a statement accusing the US of involvement in an "atrocity" and vowing it would "not go unpunished".

Moscow has repeatedly threatened to target countries supplying weapons to Ukraine, claiming that they are legitimate military targets.

"We see very well who is behind this," Mr Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"[Mr Putin] just last week talked about who is aiming these absolutely technologically complex missiles at targets, who is providing these launches. These are not Ukrainians."

Earlier this month, Mr Putin renewed the threat during a meeting with international news agencies.

"If someone thinks it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to attack our territory and create problems for us, why don't we have the right to supply weapons of the same class to regions of the world where there will be strikes on sensitive facilities of those (Western) countries?" he said.

"That is, the response can be asymmetric. We will think about it," he added.

Ukrainian officials have defended the strike in the wake of the attack, calling Crimea a legitimate target.

Mykhailo Podolyak - a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky - said the peninsula was in effect "a large military camp" which he said held "hundreds of direct military targets, which the Russians are cynically trying to hide and cover up with their own civilians".

The UN's human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine says at least 10,000 civilians have been killed since Russia invaded in February 2022. The real figure, officials say, is likely to be far higher.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

Moscow promises US 'repercussions' for Ukraine's attack on Sevastopol

The Russian government said the United States bears responsibility for a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula that left four people dead and more than 150 people injured and promised there would be "repercussions."

"We've seen an absolutely barbaric missile attack in Crimea," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the TASS news agency. "We understand perfectly well who is behind it, who targets these technically sophisticated missiles. It is not the Ukrainians who provide for these launches."

"Naturally, the US’ direct involvement in combat which resulted in Russian civilians dying cannot go without any repercussions. Time will tell which ones precisely."

The Russian Foreign Ministry also summoned the US ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, following the attack on the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Sunday.

The Kremlin says Washington not only supplies arms to Kiev, but that US specialists also help oversee the flight path of the advanced missiles.

The Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine fired five US-supplied ATACMS missiles, four of which were intercepted.

On Monday, authorities in Sevastopol declared a state of emergency. This may restrict certain constitutional rights, such as freedom of movement, to ensure public safety.

Most of the victims were sunbathing on a city beach when rocket debris fell and exploded, with no air raid warning preceding the incident.

A Ukrainian government official said on Monday that the victims of the Crimean missile strike were "civilian occupiers."

Russia currently occupies around a fifth of Ukraine's territory, including the southern Crimean peninsula, which it illegally annexed in 2014.

The main harbour of Russia's Black Sea fleet and the Belbek military airfield are both located near Sevastopol.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion began two years ago, Moscow has been using Crimea as a supply and attack base against Ukraine. The area has also become a target of attacks by the Ukrainian military.

Meanwhile in Kiev President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Lieutenant General Yuri Sodol from his post, following reports of high casualties in the Ukrainian armed forces,

Sodol will be replaced by Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov, Zelensky said in his nightly video address. He did not give any reasons for the dismissal.

The presidential office in Kiev published a decree by Zelensky on the change of personnel in the United Forces.

However, the chief of staff of the controversial Azov Brigade, Bohdan Krotevych, had previously filed a complaint against Sodol, according to the media. He accused the commander of negligent orders that had led to major casualties.

"He has killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general," wrote Krotevych on Facebook, without naming Sodol. At the same time, he demanded that the lieutenant-general be investigated for possible collaboration with Russia.

According to the media, there were accusations against Sodol, not least in the Supreme Rada, the parliament in Kiev, that he had poorly prepared Ukrainian soldiers for missions - for example in the embattled Kharkiv region.

In his video message, Zelensky condemned a Russian missile attack on the city of Pokrovsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Four people were killed and dozens more were injured, the Ukrainian leader said.

He announced a retaliatory strike following the Russian attack. "Our response will be completely fair," Zelensky said.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT