Live updates: Vaccine manufacturer braces for complications
Recently expanded U.S. sanctions include targeted measures against the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund run by a close ally of President Vladmir Putin that globally markets the Sputnik vaccines.
Kim Gi-young, an official from Seoul-based GL Rapha, said the sanctions won't directly impede its production of the shots as the measures aren't aimed at essential medical supplies.
However, the company is concerned about potential problems rising from the financial side as South Korea joins the United States and many European countries in a move to cut off key Russian banks from global payment systems.
"Right now, we are watching how the situation develops," Kim said.
GL Rapha has so far produced 5 million shots of the single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine, but none of them have been used so far as Russia continues to delay rollout plans, Kim said.
GL Rapha also has an agreement with RDIF to produce 150 million shots of the two-dose Sputnik V and is participating in a consortium of South Korean companies that has been contracted to produce another 500 million doses of Sputnik V, but these shots haven't been produced yet.
RDIF has reportedly criticised the U.S. sanctions and said the measures would slow its promotion of Sputnik V.
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Dubai- The United Arab Emirates says Ukrainian passport holders continue to be eligible for visas on arrival to the Gulf state.
The UAE's Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday came in response to media coverage quoting Ukraine's Embassy in the UAE saying that the Gulf country is reimposing visa requirements on Ukrainians and suspending an agreement for visa-free travel between the two countries.
The energy-rich UAE, which relies on Russian and Ukrainian wheat exports, is home to some 15,000 Ukrainian residents among its roughly 8 million foreign residents and 1 million Emirati citizens. Before the coronavirus pandemic, around a quarter-million Ukrainian tourists visited the UAE.
The UAE, like other Gulf Arab states, does not recognize individuals fleeing war and has not permitted refugees from Syria, Iraq and other wars to seek asylum or seek resettlement.
The UAE, which is home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, abstained in a U.N. Security Council vote late last week condemning Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. It is also chair of the Security Council.
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Mazyr- A string of seven bus-size Russian military ambulances - their windows blocked with gray shades - pulled up to the back entrance of the main hospital about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the border with Ukraine on Tuesday evening, ferrying casualties from the front.
The convoy was part of what residents and doctors said has in recent days become a steady flow of Russian soldiers wounded in fierce fighting around Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, where a Russian advance has stalled in the face of strong resistance.
A doctor at the hospital - which is in southern Belarus's Gomel region, a main staging ground for Russia's offensive - said injured Russian troops began arriving on Monday. "I hope they don't jail me for sharing this," she said.
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Warsaw- The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe says one of its members died during shelling in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Maryna Fenina was killed while getting supplies for her family, the group said in a news release Wednesday. Fenina worked with the organization's monitoring mission in Ukraine.
"In Kharkiv and other cities and towns in Ukraine, missiles, shells and rockets are hitting residential buildings and town centers, killing and injuring innocent civilians - women, men and children alike," it said.
The organization's chairperson, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, and Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid extended their condolences.
"Our deepest condolences and sympathies go to Maryna's family. Maryna was a valued member of the SMM team, and our colleagues in Ukraine remain in close contact with her family to offer our support," it said.
The organization launched its Ukraine monitoring mission in 2014 in response to a request from Ukraine's government and the consent of the group's 57 participating states. The mission observes and reports on the situation in Ukraine and aims to facilitate dialogue. (AP) AMS AMS