Russian industrial businesses in some industries face bankruptcy due to the inability to purchase critical chemical raw materials abroad, including from "friendly" countries. The 14th package of EU sanctions has resulted in the suspension of supplies of 1/7
polymethylene phenyl isocyanates (another name for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, MDI) to Russia. These are used in the production of foams, sealants, self-levelling floors, pipes, refrigerator components and car parts. According to a letter sent to Anton Alikhanov, 2/7
the Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, the economy is 100% dependent on imports of this material. Suppliers from the US, Europe and Japan stopped shipping, followed by China. China's largest MDI producer, Wanhua Chemical Group, announced a complete halt to supplies 3/7
to Russia. At the same time, an attempt to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia was unsuccessful, the industrialists complain. Sadara Chemical did not confirm the possibility of shipments to Russia. "The loss from a shortage of this component will be huge. There is nothing 4/7
to replace it in most applications. After all, these are jobs; these are people who need to be paid, but the companies will not be able to provide them," said Gorokhov. Without MDI, it is impossible to produce the foam used to make thermal insulation, but not only 5/7
construction companies will suffer, but also, for example, refrigerator manufacturers, warns Anton Guskov, an official representative of RATEK (an association of trading companies and manufacturers of electrical household and computer equipment). 6/7
"We do not produce it (MDI), and if we do, it is produced in small quantities and in a quality unsuitable for household appliances," Guskov complains. 7/7
The arrest of Pavel Durov in France has greatly alarmed Russian Z-channels. The Telegram messenger is actively used by the Russian army for communication on the battlefield. It is through Telegram that troops are controlled due to the lack of normal secret communications. 1/8
The main accusation against Pavel Durov is weak moderation. However, Telegram moderates messages, but this is selective moderation. There is almost no doubt whether Durov cooperates with the Russian authorities. They tried to close Telegram in 2018, but all restrictions were 2/8
lifted in 2020. This is impossible without cooperation. The VKontakte social network founded by Durov has already passed into the ownership of the Sogaz group, close to Putin. Risking losing Telegram, Pavel most likely made a deal with the FSB. Telegram has become a Dark Net 3/8
On Ukraine's Independence Day, there are several important pieces of news at once. A prisoner exchange was carried out and 115 defenders of Ukraine returned home. Among them are soldiers of the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Service. Ukraine
1/11
returned 115 soldiers to Russia, whom the Ukrainian Armed Forces captured in the Kursk region. According to Dmitry Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, there are over 14,000 Ukrainian civilians in Russian captivity. This number includes
2/11
Ukrainians detained by the Russia since 2014 in Crimea and Donbass, as well as those captured after the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. This does not include the forced deportation and displacement of Ukrainian children. Ukraine was able to confirm the location of
3/11
This week has been very eventful. The oil depot in the Rostov region has been burning for the sixth day, and there was a repeat arrival. The last ferry for transporting railway cars is at the bottom. The "Kursk People's Republic" is expanding and the Ukrainian Armed Forces
1/18
are successfully clearing the Glushkovsky district and preparing to advance on Rylsk. After the attack on the Marinovka airfield near Volgograd, experts are still calculating exactly how many planes were destroyed. The Volgograd region is unlucky this week. In IK-19, four
2/18
men considering themselves members of ISIS took eight employees of the colony and four convicts hostage. The terrorists inflicted stab wounds of varying severity on the four prison workers, three of whom died. Another four who resisted were hospitalized, one of whom died
3/18
Crimean Bridge, get ready! The ferry Conro Trader that was hit in the port of Kavkaz was the last one that was sailing across the Kerch Strait and could transport railway cars. The only way of transportation between the peninsula and Russia remains the Crimean 1/8
Bridge. The ferry sank. According to initial data, it was hit by a Neptune missile. It was transporting fuel and caught fire after the missile hit. There were two ferries across the strait and the first one is currently undergoing repairs after it was damaged in May of this 2/8
year. Russia was moving its best, newest air defense systems to Crimea, but in two months from March to June, Ukraine destroyed about 15 S300-S400 systems. Possibly one S-500. Ukraine is clearly clearing a path for itself and is using Neptune missiles of its own production 3/8
Ukraine continues to destroy Russian fuel logistics. New reports of the destruction of a ship with fuel tanks in the port of Kavkaz in Kerch. Details are being clarified. The oil depot in Proletarsk, Rostov Region, has been burning for the fifth day. After the attack on
1/13
Proletarsk, a sale of oil depots has begun in the Rostov Region, local media write. Several oil depots in different areas of the region are up for sale. In addition, two more oil refineries and an inactive oil depot are up for sale in the Rostov Region. Ukraine is
2/13
confronting a much larger enemy and the tactics that Ukraine has successfully used many times during this war are to methodically destroy logistics and attack when the army has supply problems. There is nothing new in the tactics themselves, but new technologies provide new
3/13
The Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out a major drone attack in Russia. Drones were spotted in Murmansk, which is more than 2,000 km from Ukraine and currently the farthest point that a Ukrainian drone has ever flown to. There was also a hit on an airfield in Volgograd, 1/7
after which a fire started there. Residents of the Kalachevsky District of the Volgograd Region reported a drone attack on the Marinovka military airfield, where Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft are stationed. The region's governor, Andrei Bocharov, confirmed the fire "on the 2/7
territory of a Defense Ministry facility." According to NASA satellite data, the fire also broke out on the site where the aircraft are parked. Details. The governor reported a UAV crash on the territory of a military facility, as well as a drone attack near the village of 3/7