Rosenberg: Russian government clearly nervous as country faces economic challenges

20 hours ago Share Save Steve Rosenberg Russia Editor Share Save

Getty Images

At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a Russian MP came up to me. “Are you going to bomb Iran?” he asked. “I’m not planning to bomb anyone!” I replied. “I mean you, the British…” “Don’t you mean Donald Trump?” “He’s told what to do by Britain,” the man smiled. “And by the deep state.” It was a brief, bizarre conversation. But it showed that in St Petersburg this week there was more on people’s minds than just the economy.

Take President Vladimir Putin. On Friday, the Kremlin leader delivered the keynote speech at the forum’s plenary session. It focused on the economy. But it’s what the Kremlin leader said in the panel discussion afterwards that made headlines. “We have an old rule,” Putin declared. “Where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that’s ours.” Imagine you’re the leader of a country that’s hosting an economic forum, seeking foreign investment and cooperation. Boasting about your army seizing foreign lands wouldn’t appear to be the most effective way to achieve this. But that’s the point. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the state of the economy has been secondary to the goal of winning the war against Ukraine. That is the Kremlin’s overarching priority. True, Russia’s economy has been growing, but largely due to massive state spending on the defence sector and military-industrial complex.

And even this war-related growth is now petering out. Putin didn’t sound overly concerned. “As far as the ‘murder’ of the Russian economy is concerned, as a famous writer once said – ‘rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated,'” the Russian president declared. But the Russian government is clearly nervous. At the forum, Russia’s Minister for Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, warned that the country’s economy was teetering “on the brink of recession”. “We grew for two years at a fairly high pace because unused resources were activated,” said Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina. “We need to understand that many of those resources have truly been exhausted.” The St Petersburg International Economic Forum was conceived as a shiny showcase for the Russian economy. A lot of that shine has faded due to the thousands of international sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Many Western companies pulled out of Russia.

EPA

Kyiv troops still hold around 90 square kilometers (37.8 square miles) in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky on Sunday.

At a local press conference, Syrsky said Ukrainian troops are still present in the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region.

JOIN US ON TELEGRAM Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.

“The Ukrainian army controls about 90 square kilometers of the territory of the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, and these are our preemptive actions in response to a possible enemy offensive,” Syrsky said, according to Ukrinform.

Syrsky’s latest statement countered Moscow’s claim in April that the operation to purge Kyiv troops in the region “has been completed,” as reported by Russian state media TASS at the time.

Advertisement

Syrsky added that Ukrainian troops’ presence in the region in April had prevented Moscow from transferring troops to other sectors.

“In April 2025, Russian units – and this, I remind you once again, is about 60,000 people (including two airborne assault divisions, airborne assault brigades, marine brigades) – were tasked with moving to new areas of combat operations and replenishing the offensive groups of the Russian army in the Pokrovs, Toretsk, Lyman, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson sectors, and thereby increasing the pace of the enemy offensive,” Syrsky said.

Other Topics of Interest Swedish Magnus’ Effect in Ukraine: A Military Instructor Bringing Knowledge, Support Swedish veteran Magnus Ek volunteers in Ukraine, training soldiers with battlefield skills critical to survival amid limited time, resources, and ongoing shelling.

“But our active actions in the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation thwarted these plans,” he added.

Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August 2024, capturing more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of territory at the peak of the operation.

But Russian troops have regained control over the majority of the region in recent months, in part thanks to the troop reinforcements from North Korea.

Despite setbacks in the Kursk region, Syrsky nonetheless said in May that the objective of the incursion, namely to “prevent an offensive campaign by the enemy in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions,” has been achieved.

Advertisement

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia lost more than 63.000 soldiers in the Kursk region in a May social media update.

Ukrainian mum’s book inspired by new friendships

10 hours ago Share Save Ashlea Tracey BBC News, Isle of Man Share Save

Yuliia Brykailo Yuliia Brykailo moved to the Isle of Man with her children Veronika and Sviatin in 2022

A Ukrainian woman who fled her home country following the Russian invasion has released a children’s book inspired by her daughter adjusting to life in a new place. Veronika’s Treasure Adventures on the Isle of Man was written and illustrated by Yuliia Brykailo, who arrived on the island with her children in October 2022. Ms Brykailo said he daughter had found the move “difficult” but was welcomed by the staff and students at Arbory Primary School who had “supported her constantly” ever since. The tale takes the girl, who is feeling sad and missing home, on a journey that visits Manx landmarks, before she discovers the “true treasure of the Isle of Man is friendship”.

Ms Brykailo said it had been “so hard emotionally, physically and morally” to make the decision to leave Kiev at the beginning of the conflict. “Seeing so much change around us was a horrifying feeling and it changed our lives into before and after,” she said. “There was so much we had to leave behind, our families and our things.” Arriving on island using the Isle of Man Homes for Ukraine scheme, she said her host family and other residents had made her “experience here truly magical”. “People have been so welcoming and nice to us,” she said.

The book, which was printed in Ukraine, can be found in two Manx bookshops

In the tale Veronika uses a map given to her by her mother to explore the island’s “treasures”, such as the steam train, Castle Rushen and Cafe Lingo, which supports residents whose first language is not English. Ms Brykailo said: “Initially the story was meant to be written just for Veronika, to make sure she remembers the people who were around her and everyone who’s treated us so well.” They included teachers and pupils at Arbory Primary School who “learned a few words in Ukrainian” to make the then five-year-old Veronika “feel so welcome”, she said. It was that new Manx support network, which also included their host family, that convinced her to share the story with other readers.

Yuliia Brykailo has written and illustrated the children’s book

Ukraine army chief says forces hold ground in Russia’s Kursk

KYIV, Ukraine, June 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) – Ukraine’s top military commander said his forces were still operating in Russia’s Kursk region and held around 90 square kilometres (56 square miles) there, in remarks made public on Sunday.

“We control about 90 square kilometres of the territory of the Glushkovo district of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, and these are our preemptive actions in response to a possible enemy offensive,” Oleksandr Syrsky told reporters, including AFP.

32 nations but only one man matters – Nato’s summit is all about Trump

2 days ago Share Save Jonathan Beale Defence correspondent Share Save

Getty Images Nato’s chief Mark Rutte (left) wants to give Donald Trump what he wants – higher defence spending by America’s allies

Nato summits tend to be “pre-cooked”, not least to present a united front. Secretary General Mark Rutte has already settled on the menu for their meeting at The Hague: one that will avoid a row with Nato’s most powerful member, the US. A commitment to increase defence spending by European allies is the dish that President Donald Trump wants served – and that’s exactly what he’ll be getting. Though there will inevitably be the added ingredients of compromise and fudge. Nor will the summit be able to paper over the cracks between Trump and many of his European allies on trade, Russia and the escalating conflict in the Middle East. The US president, whose mantra is America First, is not a huge fan of multinational organisations. He has been highly critical of Nato too – even questioning its very foundation of collective defence. In Trump’s first term, at his first Nato summit, he berated European allies for not spending enough and owing the US “massive amounts of money”. On that message he has at least been consistent.

Getty Images European countries are upping defence spending – in part because of Trump, in part because of Putin

Mark Rutte, who has a good relationship with the US president, has worked hard to give him a win. The summit takes place at the World Forum in The Hague over two days, on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Now the main discussions will last just three hours and the summit statement is being reduced to five paragraphs, reportedly because of the US president’s demands. Trump is one of 32 leaders from the Western defensive alliance who are coming, along with the heads of more than a dozen partner countries. Dutch police have mounted their biggest ever security operation for the most expensive Nato summit so far, at a cost of €183.4m (£155m; $210m). Some have suggested the brevity of the summit is in part to cater to the US president’s attention span and dislike of long meetings. But a shorter summit with fewer subjects discussed will, more importantly, help hide divisions. Ed Arnold, of the defence think tank Rusi, says Trump likes to be the star of the show and predicts he’ll be able to claim that he’s forced European nations to act. In truth he’s not the first US president to criticise allies’ defence spending. But he’s had more success than most. Kurt Volker, a former US ambassador to Nato, admits that some European governments do not like the way Trump’s gone about it – demanding that allies spend 5% of their GDP on defence.

Getty Images Since his first term in office, Donald Trump has consistently demanded that Nato allies pay more towards their defence

Europe still only accounts for 30% of Nato’s total military spending. Volker says many Europeans now admit they that “we needed to do this, even if it’s unfortunate that it took such a kick in the pants”. Some European nations are already boosting their defence spending to 5% of their GDP. Most are the countries living in close proximity to Russia – such as Poland, Estonia and Lithuania. It’s not just Trump who’s been piling on the pressure. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is forcing a response. But in reality many Nato members will struggle to meet the new target. A few haven’t met the goal of 2%, set more than a decade ago. Rutte’s compromise formula is for allies to increase their core defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, with an additional 1.5% towards defence-related expenditure. But the definition of defence-related expenditure appears to be so vague that it might be rendered meaningless. Rutte says it could include the cost of industry of infrastructure – building bridges, roads and railways. Ed Arnold, of Rusi, says it’ll inevitably lead to more “creative accounting”. Even if, as expected, the new spending target is approved, some nations may have little intent of reaching it – by 2032 or 2035. The timescale’s still unclear. Spain’s prime minister has already called it unreasonable and counterproductive. Sir Keir Starmer hasn’t even been able to say when the UK will spend 3% of its GDP of defence. The UK prime minister only said that it was an ambition some time in the next parliament. However, given the UK government’s stated policy of putting Nato at the heart of the UK’s defence policy, Sir Keir will have to back the new plan. The real danger is to interpret the demand for an increase in defence spending as arbitrary, a symbolic gesture – or just bowing to US pressure. It’s also driven by Nato’s own defence plans on how it would respond to an attack by Russia. Rutte himself has said that Russia could attack a Nato country within five years.

Getty Images Russian forces are still driving into Ukraine – and there are fears it could invade other European states