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Twelve analysts offer a median forecast of a 4.7% drop in Russia’s GDP in the second quarter, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 11. The drop would bring the economy to its 2018 indicators, but this decline is smaller than previously expected. The central bank predicts worsening in the quarters to come, with fiscal stimulus and monetary easing in recent months “blunting the impact of international sanctions.”
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Wednesday, May 20
"I'm not going to make pre-commitments in a negotiation on any particular topic," Vance said, though he maintained the proposal was "not currently" part of the plan.
(Updated: )
The first license permits imports of diesel and jet fuel made from Russian oil if "the products have been processed in a third country," while the other allows the maritime transport of Russian LNG.
Tuesday, May 19
Short-range drones killed and injured more Ukrainian civilians in April 2026 than in any other month since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
*Russia hits Ukraine's Chernihiv, Sumy oblasts in morning attacks, killing 5*Ukraine says it struck major Russian oil refinery, pumping station*China secretly trained Russian soldiers who later fought in Ukraine, Reuters reports*Russia launches large-scale nuclear forces drills after Belarus exercises *Russian military hospitals overwhelmed by wounded soldiers from war in Ukraine, media reportsT
The Czech Interior Ministry proposed a set of legal changes that could restrict the temporary protection benefits that have been in place for Ukrainian refugees since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
MEPs in Brussels agreed on May 19 to slash the EU’s tariff-free steel imports to 18.3 million metric tons per year — a 47% reduction from what is currently allowed — starting in July 2026.
Russian military hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of soldiers wounded in the war against Ukraine, forcing authorities to repurpose civilian hospitals, maternity wards, and other medical facilities for military use.
Renat Suleimanov, a State Duma deputy from the Communist Party (KPRF), said in an interview with Russian outlet Kontinent Sibir that Russia needs the "swiftest possible end" to what Moscow calls its "special military operation," the Kremlin's term for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine's economy improved in April, driven partly by the defense industry, softening what had been expected to be a sharper slowdown in early 2026 after the country's toughest winter of the full-scale invasion, the prime minister said.
The drills, scheduled to run through May 21, involve Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, the Northern and Pacific fleets, long-range aviation command, and units from the Leningrad and Central military districts, the ministry said.
The Kyiv Independent has launched its largest and most ambitious membership campaign to date, seeking 4,000 new members from across the world to support its independent journalism from Ukraine.
