The Way Home.

A going concern.

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1. More than a year after President Vladimir Putin summoned 300,000 draftees to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine, some of their families are starting to demand that they come home. Wives, mothers and girlfriends of mobilized Russian soldiers have begun protests calling on the Kremlin to bring their men back from the war. Their movement, “The Way Home,” has gained more than 37,000 followers on its Telegram channel in support of calls for demobilization of the troops called up in September last year. So far, the authorities have limited their response to sending police to warn organizers against protesting. While the number involved now is relatively small, the movement risks embarrassing the Kremlin as Putin prepares for presidential elections in March. Officials claim overwhelming public support for the invasion of Ukraine that’s lasted almost two years with no end in sight. (Sources: bloomberg.com)

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2. President Putin has signed decrees granting his government power to confiscate and forcibly sell off billions of dollars worth of assets belonging to European energy firms to new state-approved owners. In a decree published Wednesday, the Kremlin mandated the creation of new Russian-run companies to take over shares in the colossal Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field, currently owned by Austria's OMV and Germany's Wintershall. The two European energy giants, both from countries that Moscow claims are "unfriendly" in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, together hold a 60 percent stake in the drilling site in Russia's icy far north. While the companies will theoretically be compensated for their investment, the amount they receive from the sale will be determined by the Russian state, in a move that marks the biggest asset seizure in the country's recent history. (Source: politico.eu)