The Yerevan Brandy Factory, which produces Ararat brandy, has stopped exporting to Russia. This was announced by the Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan at a meeting of the commission of the Armenian Parliament on economic issues, Interfax reports. “I have not received official information yet, but it seems that it is already official,” the agency quoted the minister as saying. The Russian market accounts for about 80% of the exports of the Yerevan Brandy Company.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia reported on the disclosure of an extortion attempt from the founder and CEO of the Gemotest laboratory network Rudem Gaziev. On May 12, the SHOT telegram channel reported that Gaziev’s son Akim, a student at RUDN University, had disappeared, and a ransom of $1 million was demanded from his parents over the phone.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that Ukraine’s Armed Forces were advancing in certain areas in the battle for Bakhmut. According to Maliar, Ukrainian forces were able to advance in certain areas by half a kilometer during fighting north of Bakhmut on May 18. In the suburbs south of Bakhmut, Maliar said that Russian forces had tried to launch an offensive and regain previously lost positions, but suffered losses.

The BBC Russian Service drew attention to the advertisements for the search for "guards" that were posted by some Moscow State Budgetary Institution "Zhilischnik" involved in the maintenance of residential buildings. Such vacancies, in particular, were published by Zhilischniki of Kuzminok and the Ryazan region.

Andrey Medvedev, who identifies himself as a former Wagner Group commander, has decided to return to Russia after unsuccessfully seeking asylum in Norway. In a series of short YouTube videos, Medvedev explained that he’d hoped to find “peace and quiet” in Norway and “leave war and politics behind,” but “it didn’t work out.” The 26-year-old doesn’t know how long he will get to live after returning to his home country, given that he’s made international headlines when defecting from Wagner Group.

The independent news outlet iStories has discovered in open-access form the results of a poll commissioned by the Russian government and surveying the opinions of students and employees across more than 500 colleges. (Although, from the government’s point of view, these are all “Russian” schools, 30 of them are located in Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions.) The first round of polling took place last April.

The Pentagon said that the Patriot anti-aircraft system, which was damaged during a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, was repaired. “It is now fully operational,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at a briefing.

Journalists called the names of the dead pilots. The authorities do not call them A spontaneous memorial in memory of the dead members of the crew of the Mi-8 helicopter. City Klintsy, Bryansk Region, May 13, 2023 On May 13, Russian helicopters and aircraft crashed in the Bryansk region. How many and which ones are still not officially said. Local authorities reported the loss of one helicopter (according to the media, we are talking about Mi-8).

BBC News Russian has called attention to advertisements posted by a state-funded institution called Zhilishnik, which is involved in the maintenance of residential buildings. The ads seek “security guards” in several Moscow neighborhoods.

Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar reported on the advancement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in certain areas in the battles for Bakhmut. So, according to Malyar, to the north of Bakhmut, during the fighting on May 18, Ukrainian forces were able to advance in some areas by half a kilometer.

Andrei Medvedev, who calls himself the former commander of one of the Wagner PMC units, announced his intention to return from Norway to Russia. Medvedev released a series of short videos on YouTube, which, in particular, drew the attention of Reuters. On camera, Medvedev says that he hoped to find "peace and tranquility in Norway, to leave politics and war behind, but for some reason this did not work out." He also says (quoted by Reuters): “Let's see what happens in Russia.

Important Stories has discovered publicly available results of a survey on attitudes toward the country, the war, and Vladimir Putin, which was conducted by Russian authorities in more than 500 universities. As the publication noted, the subdomain of the "Caring Person" platform indicates the departments at whose request the study was conducted - the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Education and the presidential administration.

Traffic along the section of railway between Simferopol and Sevastopol has been suspended, according to Oleg Kryuchkov , an advisor to the head of Russia’s government in Crimea. Telegram channels Baza , Mash and Shot reported that an explosion occurred in the Simferopol region of Crimea on the morning of May 18. Baza writes that eight train cars transporting grain were derailed as a result of the explosion. A 50-meter (164-foot) stretch of the railway was also reportedly damaged.

This is The World Talks, a global experiment by ZEIT Online The German publication ZEIT Online has launched a program called The World Talks , aimed at facilitating dialogue between thousands of people around the world, creating “a space for worldwide debate that brings people together who would never otherwise meet.” The program works as follows: participants respond to a series of diverse questions, such as “Is the world a better place now than 20 years ago?” and “Should climate change always

Pope Francis plans to send envoys to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine to discuss a ceasefire, reports the Vatican news site Il Sismografo. According to Il Sismografo, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to receive the pope’s envoys. The site doesn’t name a source for that information. Neither the Kremlin nor Zelensky’s office have commented.