Russia

Surging prices for Russia's flagship Urals crude loaded in the Baltic, a mainstay for Indian refiners, are driving the pullback

Ukraine's advances in drone technology and tactics have captured the world's attention. Despite those innovations, one problem has plagued the country since the start of Russia's invasion: a shortage of combat-ready troops. Ukraine has always been outmanned by Russia, but as the war drags through its fifth year, the need for personnel is increasingly acute, commanders and analysts say, with some units at only half strength. There just aren't enough forces to fully exploit the battlefield advantages resulting from the drone innovations. "Based on the equipment and the number of people we have today, we barely have enough to hold the sector we currently have," said a deputy commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion in eastern Ukraine's Pokrovsk area, a focus of Russia's offensive. "To move forward would inevitably mean greater losses," said the deputy commander, who insisted on identifying himself only as "Afer" because of military rules. Long-standing mobilisation problems, includi

Death of 28-year-old Darya Shipilova at a Siberian anti-plague research facility has raised concerns over possible exposure to Yersinia pestis, though officials have not linked her death to bacterium

A Liberia-flagged vessel carrying oil, with a crew of 23 Indian nationals, came under attack by drone boats off Russia's Black Sea coast, Russian authorities said. "The crew has been saved and evacuated to shore," a spokesman for the Russian transport ministry told state-run TASS news agency. The Aframax Rio tanker came under attack on Tuesday by unmanned surface vessels (USVs), and open fire is raging in the Black Sea waters, the Russian transport ministry said. The ministry said the vessel's all Indian crew of 23 was saved and none was hurt according to preliminary data. The incident took place near Sochi, Russia's popular resort city on the Black Sea coast. Russia's Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin held a headquarters meeting on eliminating the consequences of the attack on the tanker Aframax Rio off the Black Sea coast. According to the report, the fire was so intense that firefighting could not begin initially. Open burning of oil is currently taking place in the Black Sea

A Russia-backed network called Portal Kombat is spreading disinformation across hundreds of websites to influence AI models such as ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini, according to a former CIA officer

The Russian oligarch who helped bankroll Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding celebration says the president's eldest son has paid back the money. "Yes, he did," Umar Kremlev told an International Boxing Association press conference in Istanbul on Tuesday. "He did repay the money I spent on the present." Still, he said he felt the repayment was unnecessary. "Frankly speaking, I do not understand why he decided to do so," he went on. "There are all kinds of events organized by all kinds of people. It is as if I invite you to come and visit my country house. Would you expect me to issue an invoice to them afterward?" Speaking through an interpreter, he said that would be "ridiculous." ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative website, reported last month that Kremlev, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, "footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses" when Trump Jr. married socialite Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas in May. That included paying to rent o

The US, China and Russia are developing nuclear reactors to power future permanent lunar bases. NASA wants its first lunar reactor ready for launch by December 2030,

Ukraine said that its long-range strikes have neutralised more than half of Russia's oil refining capacity, hampering Moscow's ability to supply its forces during its 4 1/2-year-old invasion. The Defence Ministry said Sunday that recent strikes on refineries in cities including Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ust-Luga, Perm, Saratov and Syzran had put 51% of Russia's oil refining capacity out of action. The claim could not be independently verified. Both Moscow and Kyiv have intensified their aerial assaults as progress along the 1,200-kilometre front line has largely ground to a halt. Ukrainian forces have repeatedly attacked refineries from Moscow to Siberia, sparking a widespread fuel crisis in Russia earlier this year that forced authorities to restrict gasoline sales. President Vladimir Putin said in a rare admission Thursday that the strikes had caused Russia to lose roughly 1 per cent of its gross domestic product. "They started attacking oil refineries and openly declared the goal of .

A suspected plague case in Siberia has prompted quarantine measures after a 28-year-old worker at an anti-plague research institute died. Here's all you need to know

Moscow threatens attacks on Ukrainian military and industrial infrastructure as tensions escalate and Germany backs Kyiv

US, China and Russia race to secure reliable lunar power as scientists warn of risks from rushing nuclear technology into space

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday briefed a parliamentary consultative committee on India's "multifaceted" engagement with Russia, highlighting shared ambitions to expand bilateral trade, investment, and energy cooperation. Chairing the meeting on India-Russia relations, Jaishankar also apprised members of New Delhi's stance on the Ukraine conflict and its recent diplomatic efforts to contribute toward a peaceful settlement. The external affairs minister further informed the panel that Russia has agreed to take around 70,000 Indian skilled workers this year, especially in the fields of construction and logistics, people familiar with the meeting said. While discussing the trade and investment ties between the two countries, Jaishankar mentioned that there is a shared ambition to expand bilateral trade in a balanced manner, including through greater Indian exports to Russia in seven areas -- auto, pharma, food, marine products, engineering goods, chemicals and ...

Traffic on Kyiv's Northern Bridge was halted after the strike damaged its surface and trolleybus power lines, while Moscow said it also hit a logistics centre and a cargo vessel

Wedged between Poland and Lithuania, Kaliningrad hosts key Russian military infrastructure and is central to rising tensions between Moscow and Nato

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reiterated Moscow's long-held position that Russia is not planning to attack European countries but will respond to aggression with "all weapons" in its arsenal. In remarks at a foreign policy forum, Putin accused the West and Europe of escalating tensions by talking about preparing for a war with Moscow in the coming years, conducting military drills in the Baltic Sea, and seizing Russian vessels. His remarks followed Moscow's warning to NATO that it would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons to defend Kaliningrad should any members of the military alliance try to cut off the Baltic exclave from the rest of Russia. Several Russian embassies in Europe this week issued statements that said Moscow has "information that NATO is preparing (an) air and naval blockade of Kaliningrad and (the) Kaliningrad region." They accused European leaders of "playing a dangerous game" by saying Russia might attack another country or ramp up a campaign of destabiliz

The MEA has repeatedly cautioned Indian nationals against joining the Russian armed forces, warning them of the dangers involved and urging them not to fall for unverified job offers abroad

Putin envoy arrived "to continue ​constructive discussions on a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict ‌and possible US-Russia energy initiatives ‌after the war ends," the US official said

India's imports of Russian crude fell to about 1.75 million barrels a day in September, their lowest level since April, as refiners diversified purchases amid geopolitical risks, even as the country's overall crude intake rose sharply on stronger refinery runs, according to ship tracking data. India's total crude imports averaged about 5.3 million barrels a day in September, up roughly 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) from August and 700,000 barrels a day from a year earlier, according to data from global commodities data and analytics firm Kpler. India imported an average of 1.74 million bpd of Russian crude in September. The volumes imported were the lowest since 1.58 million bpd of Russian crude imports in April. It compared with 2.02 million bpd of Russian imports in August and 2.65 million bpd in July. Iraq and Saudi Arabia made up for the drop in Russian volumes. Iraq supplied some 575,000 bpd of crude this month, up from 163,000 in August. Saudi volumes also rose to 566,000 bpd

About 69% voted against the proposal, which sought to bar Switzerland from joining military alliances and imposing sanctions not approved by the United Nations

Russia's top diplomat rejected German calls to ease off its "dangerous path of escalation" toward the country, instead accusing Germany of being Ukraine's main sponsor and seeking to be a leading military power in Europe. "Does Berlin understand what this could lead to?" Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asked in his speech at the UN General Assembly's annual gathering of world leaders. "Didn't they not learn the lessons of World War II?" Lavrov was dismissive after the German and Russian foreign ministers met Saturday on the sidelines of the meeting, holding what's believed to be the first such tete-a-tete since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "He simply reiterated his official public position condemning Russia," Lavrov said. "You can judge for yourself whether that counts as dialogue or not." The meeting, at German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul's request, came just before Lavrov addressed world leaders, where he also criticised the militarisation of Japan