- Ukraine disses HBO for hiring pro-Putin Serb to star in The White Lotus POLITICO Europe
- Ukraine hits out at HBO for casting pro-Russia actor in new season of White Lotus The Guardian
- “The White Lotus” casting controversy: Ukraine opposes HBO’s new actor as a “genocide supporter” Salon
- ‘The White Lotus’ Torched By Ukraine For Casting Pro-Putin Actor Miloš Biković: “Dear HBO, Do You Really Support Genocide?” Deadline
- Ukraine Slams HBO For Casting Pro-Putin Miloš Biković In ‘White Lotus’ TMZ
Tag Archives: ProPutin
Ukraine blocks ex-president from leaving country amid alleged plan to meet pro-Putin Hungary’s Orban – FRANCE 24 English
- Ukraine blocks ex-president from leaving country amid alleged plan to meet pro-Putin Hungary’s Orban FRANCE 24 English
- Ex-president barred from leaving Ukraine amid alleged plan to meet with Hungary’s Viktor Orban The Associated Press
- Ukraine’s Security Service Cancels Former President’s Trip To Meet With Orban Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
- Ukraine’s former president planned to meet with Hungary’s PM, Russia sought to use it against Ukraine Yahoo News
- Breaking News Live December 3: Ukraine border guards block ex-leader from meeting Hungary PM Orban Times of India
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Pro-Putin rapper reopens former Starbucks coffee shops in Russia | Russia
A pro-Putin rapper has reopened the chain of coffee shops formerly owned by Starbucks under a new name, Stars Coffee, the latest high-profile rebranding of a major western chain after an unprecedented corporate exodus from Russia.
On Thursday, the rapper Timati and restaurateur Anton Pinskiy, the duo that acquired the rights to the chain in Russia, attended the opening of the first of the 130 cafes previously owned by Starbucks. During the opening in central Moscow, the pair also revealed the chain’s new logo, which replaces Starbucks’s iconic siren with a woman wearing the traditional Russian kokoshnik headdress, but is otherwise fairly similar.
Seattle-based Starbucks announced in May it was exiting the Russian market after nearly 15 years as it joined hundreds of other major western brands that have left the country following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dozens of western companies have since agreed to sell their assets to Kremlin-friendly Russian businesspeople, at steep discounts. The Russian authorities have been actively encouraging the takeovers, intended to comfort ordinary Russians that they can continue to live western lifestyles amid the country’s growing isolation.
Timati, whose real name is Timur Yunusov, has been a vocal supporter of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, as well as a self-described friend of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.
In 2015, the rapper released a song entitled My Best Friend is Vladimir Putin that describes the president as a “superhero”. Timati was also behind a pro-government song called Moscow, in which he boasted that the Russian capital “doesn’t hold gay parades”. It became the most “disliked” song in the history of Russian YouTube.
The reopening of Starbucks marks the second-high profile rebranding of a western food chain after former McDonald’s restaurants restarted their operations under a new name, Vkusno & tochka (“Tasty and that’s it”).
Vkusno & tochka has since been hindered by western sanctions, and has struggled to preserve its old menu, forcing the firm to temporarily stop serving its signature fries and potato wedges.
It was not immediately clear what will be on the menu of the new coffee chain.
Shortly after the acquisition of Starbucks in Russia, Timati vowed not to “disappoint the millions of coffee lovers” in the country: “We have a chance not just to change the sign, but to make a real live case of a cool import substitution!”
Pro-Putin fugitive politician captured in special operation, Ukraine says
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A pro-Putin Ukrainian fugitive who escaped while being held in home confinement in Kyiv on allegations of treason was recaptured by Ukraine’s SBU security service, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.
Viktor Medvedchuk, an oligarch and the former leader of a Ukrainian pro-Russian party, disappeared from his house arrest after Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed in his nightly address on Tuesday that Medvedchuk could be traded for Ukrainian “boys and girls who are now in Russian captivity,” according to BBC News.
In a separate statement, Ukraine’s security service said, “You can be a pro-Russian politician and work for the aggressor state for years. You may have been hiding from justice lately. You can even wear a Ukrainian military uniform for camouflage. But will it help you escape punishment? Not at all! Shackles are waiting for you and same goes for traitors to Ukraine like you.”
In this image provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is both the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, sits handcuffed after being detained in a special operation carried out by the country’s SBU security service, Tuesday, April 12, 2022, in Ukraine.
(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
Zelenskyy on Tuesday posted a photo of Medvedchuk in handcuffs wearing a Ukrainian military uniform.
Fugitive oligarch and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close friend Viktor Medvedchuk is seen handcuffed after a special operation was carried out by Security Service of Ukraine in Ukraine on April 12, 2022.
(Photo by Security Service of Ukraine/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is the godfather to Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter. Medvedchuk was among those considered by Russia to replace Zelenskyy if they had been able to remove the Ukrainian president from power, according to Fox News journalist Jennifer Griffin.
In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 12, 2022.
(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Medvedchuk has denied the charges against him and called them “political repression.” He was arrested last year after being tolerated in Ukraine for years because he was considered to be important for relations with Moscow, according to BBC.
Ukraine arrested Viktor Medvedchuk, pro-Putin politician
President Zelenskyy posted on social media a photo of Viktor Medvedchuk with “A special operation was carried out thanks to the SBU. Well done! Details later. Glory to Ukraine!” Written underneath.
Courtesy: Office of Presidency of Ukraine
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday announced the apparent capture of Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Kremlin politician who was living in Ukraine.
Medvedchuk had been under house arrest on treason charges since last year, but allegedly escaped shortly after Russia launched its invasion in late February. His lawyers have denied wrongdoing.
“A special operation was carried out thanks to the SBU,” Zelenskyy wrote in Russian on his verified account on the social media platform Telegram, referencing Ukraine’s Security Service.
“Well done! Details later. Glory to Ukraine!” Zelenskyy said.
Above that caption, Zelenskyy posted a photo showing a disheveled Medvedchuk seated by a radiator with his hands clasped in handcuffs.
Medvedchuk, the leader of a pro-Russian opposition party in Ukraine and a staunch opponent of Kyiv’s appeals to join NATO, has extremely close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is godfather to Medvedchuk’s daughter.
Some experts have speculated that if Putin had planned to install a puppet leader after toppling Ukraine’s government, Medvedchuk would be on the short list.
Ukraine’s Security Service posted a mugshot of Medvedchuk on its official Twitter account, along with a cavalier warning for other Russia-allied Ukrainians.
“You can be a pro-Russian politician and work for the aggressor state for years. You may be hiding from justice lately. You can even wear a Ukrainian military uniform for camouflage… But will it help you escape punishment? Not at all! Shackles are waiting for you,” the Secret Service tweeted in Russian.
“And on the same traitors of Ukraine as you! Pro-Russian traitors and agents of the Russian secret services, remember – your crimes have no statute of limitations. And hiding places, wherever we find you!” the agency tweeted.
The thread of tweets included a statement from Ukraine Secret Service leader Ivan Bakanov, thanking the officers who “proved their professionalism and conducted a lightning-fast and dangerous multi-level special operation to detain” Medvedchuk.
“No traitor will escape punishment and will be held accountable under the Law of Ukraine,” Bakanov said, according to the translation of the agency’s tweets.
Pro-Putin party wins majority in Russian elections despite declining support | Russia
Russia’s ruling United Russia party, which supports president Vladimir Putin, retained its majority in parliament after a three-day election and a sweeping crackdown on its critics, despite losing around one fifth of its support, partial results on Monday showed.
With 33% of ballots counted, the Central Election Commission said United Russia had won just over 45% of the vote, with its nearest rival, the Communist party, at around 22%.
Although that amounts to an emphatic win, it would be a weaker performance for United Russia than the last time a parliamentary election was held in 2016, when the party won just over 54% of the vote.
A malaise over years of faltering living standards and allegations of corruption from jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have drained some support, and a tactical voting campaign organised by Navalny’s allies appears to have inflicted further damage.
Kremlin critics said the vote was in any case a sham and that United Russia would have fared much worse in a fair contest, given a pre-election crackdown that outlawed Navalny’s movement, barred his allies from running and targeted critical media and non-governmental organisations.
The result looks unlikely to change the political landscape, with Putin, who has been in power as president or prime minister since 1999, still dominating ahead of the next presidential election in 2024. Putin has yet to say whether he will run.
The 68-year-old leader remains a popular figure with many Russians who credit him with standing up to the west and restoring national pride.
Partial results showed the Communist party finishing in second place, followed by the nationalist LDPR party with around 9%. Both parties usually back the Kremlin on key issues.
At a celebratory rally at United Russia’s headquarters broadcast on state television, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a close ally of the Russian leader, shouted: “Putin! Putin! Putin!” to a flag-waving crowd that echoed his chant.
Allies of Navalny, who is serving a jail sentence for parole violations he denies, had encouraged tactical voting against United Russia, a scheme that amounted to supporting the candidate most likely to defeat it in a given electoral district.
In many cases, they had advised people to hold their noses and vote Communist. Authorities had tried to block the initiative online.
The election commission was slow to release data from online voting in Moscow, where United Russia traditionally does not fare as well as in other regions. Pro-Kremlin candidates were leading in the majority of the city’s 15 districts before the online votes were tallied.
Golos, an election watchdog accused of being a foreign agent by authorities, said it had recorded thousands of violations, including threats against observers and ballot stuffing, blatant examples of which circulated on social media, with some individuals caught on camera depositing bundles of voting slips in urns.
The Central Election Commission said it had recorded 12 cases of ballot stuffing in eight regions and that the results from those polling stations would be voided.
The Kremlin denies a politically driven crackdown and says individuals are prosecuted for breaking the law. Both it and United Russia denied any role in the registration process for candidates.
“One day we will live in a Russia where it will be possible to vote for good candidates with different political platforms,” Navalny ally Leonid Volkov wrote on Telegram messenger before polls closed on Sunday.
One Moscow pensioner who gave his name only as Anatoly said he voted United Russia because he was proud of Putin’s efforts to restore what he sees as Russia’s rightful great power status.
“Countries like the United States and Britain more or less respect us now like they respected the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 70s. The Anglo-Saxons only understand the language of force,” he said.
There was also widespread apathy, with official figures showing turnout at around 47%.
“I don’t see the point in voting,” said one Moscow hairdresser who gave her name as Irina. “It’s all been decided for us anyway.”