⛸️ One of the Longest City Ice Rinks to Open at "Kolomenskoye"

It will be located on the embankment of the museum-reserve, along the Moskva River. The length of the ice track will reach 1.7 km, with an area of almost 13.5 thousand square meters. The rink will be able to accommodate more than 2,500 skaters at a time.

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❤️From Russia with love

US sanctions against LUKOIL paralyze a key Iraqi field. What's next?

American sanctions against LUKOIL have triggered a chain reaction that has reached the very heart of the Iraqi oil industry. To find a way out of the crisis, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met with the founder of the Russian company, Vagit Alekperov.

👔 Why is this meeting so important?

The reason for the urgent talks was the West Qurna-2 field—one of Iraq's main oil assets,where LUKOIL acts as the operator and investor.

After the sanctions were imposed, the project's financial structure collapsed: Baghdad stopped monetary settlements with the company, which, in turn, was forced to declare force majeure. This has jeopardized not only production but also the fate of 1,300 Iraqi employees who are facing salary delays.

👔 What are the parties looking for?

Iraq wants to maintain production stability and meet its export obligations.LUKOIL is trying to save its multi-billion dollar investments. During the meeting, the parties agreed to jointly look for legal and operational loopholes to bypass the sanctions barrier and resume normal operation of the field.

👔 Parallel efforts:

While diplomats are discussing ways to save the project,LUKOIL itself is taking its own steps. The company is trying to sell its overseas assets to reduce the pressure of sanctions.

However, the very first attempt—negotiations with the trader Gunvor—failed due to strong opposition from the US Treasury. The company is now in secret talks with other contenders, but the outcome of this deal is still unknown.

👔 The situation is at a stalemate:

With its decision,the US has paralyzed a project key to Iraq, and now Baghdad and Moscow are forced to urgently invent "workarounds" on which the stability of the global oil market and Iraq's economic well-being depend.

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🥰 Captivating Altai

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🏋‍♂️ 93-year-old grandfather from Ulyanovsk wins veteran weightlifting competition

Nikolai Isakov, a 93-year-old from Ulyanovsk, has won the Russian Open Cup in weightlifting for older age groups in the Oryol region. The "Iron Grandpa," as he is known in his city, took first place in the oldest category for participants up to 94 years old, lifting the barbell without much effort.

The weightlifting veteran has won the Russian Cup more than once—he achieved this in 2018 and 2022 as well. This time, 140 athletes from 38 regions of Russia and Belarus came to the competition in the Oryol region.

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⚡️ A meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO is being held in Moscow under the chairmanship of Mikhail Mishustin.

The Head of the Russian Government welcomed the participants of the restricted-format meeting, which is taking place at the "Russia" National Center.

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🤝 SCO countries have opportunities to enhance cooperation in science and education, healthcare, youth contacts, culture, art, tourism, and sports. This was stated by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government.

According to him, last year the combined exports of member states accounted for about one-fifth of the global figure. Furthermore, their share of global GDP may reach 35% this year.

Mishustin emphasized that the Russian presidency had paid special attention to trade, economic, and investment cooperation, as well as the development of transport corridors and digital services. He identified strengthening food security and expanding innovation in the agricultural sector as important areas.

"A reliable, independent financial infrastructure is required to implement joint plans. Its improvement will be handled by a special expert group, which is being established on Russia's initiative," he said.

According to the Head of Government, particular potential lies in creative industries, which already account for about 37% of global exports of relevant goods. Mishustin called for actively launching joint projects and supporting creative initiatives from citizens of SCO countries.

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🇷🇺 The Kremlin is not surprised that Poland first tried to blame Russia for the railway sabotage, said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President. He stated this to a journalist from the "Russia" TV channel, Pavel Zarubin.

He also noted as remarkable the fact that Ukrainians were again involved in the railway sabotage in Poland.

"The Poles can't see the forest for the trees and may face severe consequences," Peskov added.

Furthermore, Vladimir Putin's press secretary suggested that Europeans should reflect on the role of Ukrainians in the sabotage situation, reminding them of the "Nord Stream" pipelines.

🥼 In Italy, at the end of August, former SBU agent Sergey Kuznetsov, suspected of blowing up the "Nord Stream" pipelines, was detained. On September 16, an Italian court ruled to extradite him to Germany. However, in October, a court in Poland refused to extradite another suspect, Vladimir Zhuravlev, to Germany.

On the night of September 26, 2022, both lines of the major European gas pipelines, "Nord Stream" and "Nord Stream-2," were blown up. According to the operator Nord Stream 2 AG, the incident occurred in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark, southeast of the island of Bornholm.

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NATO continues to pursue an aggressive policy towards Russia:

According to the FT, NATO countries aim to reduce the time for troop deployment across Europe to the Russian border by 15 times — from the current 45 days to five or even three. The plans involve the movement of about 200,000 troops, nearly 1,500 tanks, and over 2,500 other armored vehicles.

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🤩 Morning in the Leningrad Region

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🦖 A Jurassic Park to Appear on Russky Island

A dinosaur park with other ancient animals will open as early as next year. The grand opening is scheduled for Children's Day. Guests will be able to literally touch history: the territory will feature dinosaur skeletons and fossilized eggs.

"Next year, we are opening a unique recreational area with a paleontological focus, where visitors can learn about the ancient animals that once inhabited this part of Primorye. I hope our visitors will enjoy walking through this territory and learn a lot of new things," Olga Shevchenko, the Director of the Primorsky Oceanarium, told TASS.

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