Russia Morning Memo

Latest — 30 Oct 2025

0830GMT//Putin test-fires another missile; death toll from Russian weapons factory blast rises; protest banned in Vladivostok

ANOTHER NEW WEAPON: Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia had test-fired a nuclear-powered underwater drone that can be fitted with a nuclear warhead. This was Russia's second nuclear weapons test since Sunday, when it launched the Burevestnik cruise missile. (COMMENT: Once again, Putin said that Russia'

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1315GMT//Lukoil to sell foreign assets off cheaply; visa deal with Myanmar; Russian reservists to deploy in anti-drone units

LUKOIL'S FOREIGN ASSETS TO BE SOLD CHEAPLY: Lukoil will sell off its foreign assets at a 50-70% discount because of Western sanctions, a Russian energy analyst told the Izvestia newspaper. Lukoil said at the end of last week that new US sanctions would force it to sell off

0735GMT//Putin cancels missile agreement with the US; Moscow Stock Exchange falls; Lukoil to sell overseas assets

PUTIN CANCELS MISSILE AGREEMENT: Vladimir Putin on Monday cancelled Russia's agreement with the US to dispose of Cold War-era stockpiles of nuclear missiles. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement was signed in 2000, although Putin suspended Russia's participation in the agreement in 2016 when relations soured

0715GMT//Russia lowers interest rates; new missile tested; top North Korean official visits

INTEREST RATE CUT: Russia's Central Bank cut its core interest rate on Friday to 16.5% from 17%. This was broadly in line with expectations. (COMMENT: This is the fourth consecutive cut since June. Russian business wants a harder cut. The Central Bank still says that there are

0625GMT//Putin-Trump meeting cancelled; former deputy mayor of Russian city killed in Ukriane; Russian credit cards in Afghanistan

PUTIN-TRUMP MEETING CANCELLED: A planned meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Budapest has been cancelled. Trump said that it would have been a "waste of time" as there was too much of a gap between the two men's positions. (COMMENT: This was always likely.

0752GMT//Trump says he's "interested" in US-Russia tunnel; Putin proposes ceding captured regions of southern Ukraine; blast at Russian gunpowder factory kills three people

US-RUSSIA TUNNEL: Russia has suggested building a 'Putin-Trump' tunnel under the Bering Strait from Alaska to Chukotka. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for talks with the US, said that research on the project has been ongoing for six months. On Friday, media reported that Donald Trump had

0645GMT//Putin and Trump to meet in Budapest; India starts buying oil from South America; Assassination plot in France foiled

TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING: Donald Trump will meet with Vladimir Putin in Budapest "next week". The two leaders held a two-hour telephone conversation on Thursday to discuss the war in Ukraine, which both said was "good and productive". In the phone call, their first for two months, Putin

0754GMT//Putin hosts Syrian leader at the Kremlin; Trumps says India to stop buying Russian oil; Russian 'foreign leader' label now fast-tracked

PUTIN HOSTS SYRIAN LEADER: Vladimir Putin hosted Syrian Pres. Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Kremlin for talks that focused on the status of Russian air bases in Syria. Less than a year ago, al-Sharaa defeated the Russia-backed forces of Bashar al-Assad. Putin has given al-Assad, who is accused of war crimes

0654GMT//Petrol prices rise in Russia; Kremlin economists warn of recession; Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran trade route meeting goes ahead after Putin apology

PETROL PRICES RISE: Car fuel prices in Russia continued to hit new records, a reflection of shortages caused by Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries. Prices are up by around 60% since April. The Kremlin has reduced rules around blending fuels, yet another attempt to ease shortages. Motorists in Novosibirsk

0745GMT//Azerbaijan releases Russian reporter after Putin apology; US helps Ukriane hit Russian refineries, says FT; Medvedev flies in to North Korea

RUSSIAN JOURNALIST RELEASED: Azerbaijan released a Russian journalist from prison in Baku the day after Vladimir Putin apologised for the shooting down of an Azerbaijani Airlines passenger plane on Christmas Day. Igor Kartavykh, a director at the Kremlin-financed Spunik news agency, had been arrested in June with another Russian journalist

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