Crude oil price has rocketed upward since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 (Image: Reuters) India is in talks with Russia over a deal to buy oil at discounted rates, the chairman of India's state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp. said on Thursday, at a time when much of the West is shunning Russian crude over the conflict in Ukraine. India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, is struggling like much of the rest of the world with inflation at multi-year highs, and is keen to cut its import bill and protect consumers from soaring fuel prices. The country has already bought more than twice as much crude from Russia since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 as it did in the whole of 2021, according to Reuters calculations, with sources saying Indian buyers were getting discounted prices. Also Read: India buying Russian oil: I will put my country's national interest, energy security first: FM Sitharaman But the comments from HPCL … [Read more...] about Indian government in talks with Russian over cut-price oil deal: HPCL
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Explainer: Who were Mariupol’s last defenders?
The capture of Mariupol would represent the Kremlin’s biggest victory yet of the war in Ukraine. It would help Moscow secure more of the coastline, complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014, and free up more forces to join the larger and potentially more consequential battle now underway for Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, the Donbas. (Image: AP) The Ukrainian forces who made a determined last stand in a Mariupol steel mill against Russian troops were a mixture of seasoned soldiers, border guards, a controversial national guard regiment and volunteers who took up arms in the weeks before Russias invasion. As Russia announced it had completed its takeover of Mariupol with the surrender of the fighters who served as the final obstacle, Ukraine's government did not confirm the city's fall. Earlier in the week, Ukrainian officials said its combantants in the Azovstal steel plant had completed their mission and were being … [Read more...] about Explainer: Who were Mariupol’s last defenders?