A message of black smoke sent to the Kremlin on the first day of its economic showcase. Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in St. Petersburg on Wednesday morning, the opening day of the traditional Economic Forum bringing together many Russian leaders, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
Some 20,000 guests from 130 countries are expected to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), once considered the “Russian Davos” and Russia’s main event for attracting Western investors and businesses. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the three-day event where he is due to deliver a speech on Friday.
Davos russian
The SPIEF has become a reflection of a certain isolation of Russia on the international scene since the outbreak of the large-scale conflict in Ukraine in February 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, then German Chancellor, and the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were among the list of speakers at this Forum in the 2010s.
This year’s list of participants includes the names of Russia’s allies, including the presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania, ministers from Cuba, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Kremlin economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the event a gathering of “sovereign countries” as opposed to the “globalist” rivals at the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland. “The countries of the South are building their economic strength, are actively moving towards a partnership with Russia, and will be strongly represented,” he said.
Conspirators, Russophiles and Masculinists
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who on Tuesday condemned the latest wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine, is expected in Saint Petersburg and is due to speak at a panel on the environment scheduled for Friday.
The figure of the American conspiracy sphere Candace Owens, the Russophile American actor Steven Seagal, as well as Rodney Mims Cook Jr, the president of the Commission of Fine Arts of the United States notably in charge of the commission of the controversial new ballroom of the White House, are on the list of speakers of the forum.
Members of the German far-right AfD party are also among the participants. The misogynistic masculinist Andrew Tate and his brother, prosecuted in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape, indicated on social networks that they had arrived in Moscow, without specifying whether they planned to go to the SPIEF.
