Page 5 - Moscow

Gunmen who raided Moscow concert hall tried to escape to Ukraine: Putin

Russian authorities arrested the four people suspected of taking part in the attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people and believe they were headed to Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday during an address to the nation. Kyiv, meanwhile, strongly denied any involvement in Friday's attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, which the Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for in a statement posted on social media channels linked to the group. Kyiv accused Putin and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault in order to stoke fervor in Russia's war in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year. A U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press that U.S. agencies had confirmed that IS was responsible for the attack. Putin said authorities have detained a total of 11 people in the attack, which also injured scores of concertgoers and left the venue a smoldering ruin

Russia points finger at Ukraine as death toll in Moscow terror attack rises

They planned to cross the border into Ukraine where they 'had contacts,' the service known as the FSB said in a statement without giving more detail, the Interfax news service reported

Moscow concert hall terrorist attack: Death toll rises to 115; 11 detained

Russian officials say 93 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall in western Moscow and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media. The attack was the deadliest in Russia in years and left the concert hall in flames and with a collapsing roof. The head of Russia's Federal Security Service told Putin Saturday that four people directly involved in the attack were among 11 people detained, Russian state news agency Tass said. Eleven people have been detained after gunmen stormed a concert hall in Moscow and opened fire on the crowd, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service told President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

Gunmen with automatic weapons fire at crowds at Moscow concert hall

Several gunmen in combat fatigues burst into a big concert hall in Moscow on Friday and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people, Russian media said. Russian news reports said that the assailants also used explosives, causing a massive blaze at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow. Video posted on social media showed huge plumes of black smoke rising over the building. Russia's state RIA Novosti news agency reported that at least three people in combat fatigues fired weapons. The state Tass news agency also reported the shooting. Extended rounds of gunfire could be heard on multiple videos posted by Russian media and Telegram channels. One showed two men with rifles moving through the mall. Another one showed a man inside the auditorium, saying the assailants set it on fire, with incessant gunshots ringing out in the background. Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said he was heading to the area and set up a task .

Russia mulls putting nuclear power plant on moon with China: Report

Borisov, a former deputy defence minister, said that Russia and China had been jointly working on a lunar programme and that Moscow was able to contribute with its expertise on "nuclear space energy"

Russia's move to ban petro exports for six months not to affect India

Russian media on Tuesday reported that the country has accepted proposals to implement the ban to meet the rising domestic demand

Moscow ally Serbia cracks down on anti-war Russians living in Balkan

When Elena Koposova signed an open letter against Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she didn't expect a backlash in her newly adopted home state of Serbia. After all, Serbia is formally seeking to join the European Union while adopting all the democratic values that go along with the membership, she thought. Now, she sees she was wrong. Two years after signing the letter, the 54-year-old Russian woman is appealing an expulsion order after she was declared a threat to the national security of Serbia and her residency permit was revoked. The beleaguered literature translator said the only reason she could think of is the anti-war petition that she had signed. I am not an activist, but I did sign an anti-war letter when the Russian aggression in Ukraine just started, she said in an interview. Even not being an activist, I couldn't just be quiet about it. So, I just put my name on the open letter where it was said that the war is a crime, and we must all unite to stop it. Koposo

Moscow never hurt our interests: EAM justifies Russian crude procurement

Following the conflict in Ukraine, India's energy suppliers in the Middle-East gave priority to provide petroleum products to Europe that paid higher prices and New Delhi did not have any option but to procure Russian crude oil which in turn stabilised the global energy market, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said. In an interview to German economic daily Handelsblatt, Jaishankar also suggested that India was open to play the role of a mediator to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict if approached, but at the same time, said New Delhi does not believe that it should initiate anything in this direction on its own. He asserted that just as India does not expect Europe to have a view of China that is identical to New Delhi's, Europe should understand that India cannot have a view of Russia that is identical to the European one. The external affairs minister said India has had a "stable" and "very friendly" relationship with Russia, and that Moscow never hurt New Delhi's ...

UP ATS arrests Pakistan ISI agent working at Indian Embassy in Moscow

Satendra Siwal, a resident of Shahmahiuddinpur village in Hapur, could not give satisfactory answers and confessed to his crime during 'questioning', it said

Foreign journalists, people detained in Moscow amid crackdown on protests

Independent Russian media group Mediazona reported on Saturday that among those held are journalists working for Kommersant, France Press and Spiegel, as well as human rights activists

Russian authorities register Putin as candidate for March elections

Russia's election commission on Monday formally registered President Vladimir Putin as a candidate for the March presidential election, a vote in which he's all but certain to win another six-year term in office. Putin, 71, is running as an independent, but he retains tight control over Russia's political system that he has established during 24 years in power. With prominent critics who could challenge him either jailed or living abroad and most independent media banned, his re-election in the March 15-17 presidential vote looks all but assured. In 2018, Putin also ran as an independent, snubbing the United Russia party that nominated him to run in 2012. With his approval ratings hovering around 80 per cent, Putin is far more popular than United Russia, which is widely seen as a part of the Kremlin-controlled state bureaucracy rather than a political force. The Central Election Commission formally cleared Putin for the race after reviewing 315,000 signatures gathered by his campaig

4 survivors of Russian plane crash in Afghanistan in 'good health': Taliban

Video footage released by Mujahid's office showed the four men, some of whom had bruising visible on their faces and one with blood stains on his clothes, stepping off a helicopter with Taliban

North Korean minister visits Moscow as concern grows over alleged arms deal

North Korea's foreign minister is visiting Russia on Monday for three days of talks, as international concern grows over an alleged arms cooperation deal between the two countries. A delegation led by Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui arrived in Moscow on Sunday, according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. She is to meet her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said. Choe is visiting at Lavrov's invitation, the ministry said. The United States and South Korea say North Korea has provided Russia with arms, including artillery and missiles, to help its fight in Ukraine. The Biden administration said it has evidence that missiles provided by North Korea to Russia have been used in Ukraine. In a joint statement last week, the U.S., South Korea and their partners said the missiles support Russia's war, while North Korea receives valuable technical and military insights in return. Koo Byoungsam, spokesperso

Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of war prisoners in biggest release

Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities said that 230 Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home in the first exchange in almost five months. Russia's Defence Ministry said that 248 Russian servicemen have been freed under the deal sponsored by the United Arab Emirates. There was no immediate acknowledgment from the UAE, which has maintained close business ties to Moscow throughout Russia's war on Ukraine. Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said it was the 49th prisoner exchange during the war. Some of the Ukrainians had been held since 2022. Among them were some of those who fought in milestone battles for Ukraine's Snake Island and the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Russian officials offered no other details of the exchange. Also Wednesday, Russia said it shot down 12 missiles fired at one of its southern regions borderin

21 killed in Russia's Belgorod following aerial attacks across Ukraine

Shelling in the centre of the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 21 people, including three children, local officials reported. A further 110 people were wounded in the strike, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, making it one of the deadliest attacks on Russian soil since the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine 22 months ago. Russian authorities accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack, which took place the day after an 18-hour aerial bombardment across Ukraine killed at least 41 civilians. Images of Belgorod on social media showed burning cars and plumes of black smoke rising among damaged buildings as air raid sirens sounded. One strike hit close to a public ice rink in the very heart of the city, which lies 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the Ukrainian border and 415 miles (670 kilometers) south of Moscow. While previous attacks have hit the city, they have rarely taken place in daylight and have claimed fewer lives. Russia's Defence Ministry said it ...

Russian poet receives 7-year prison sentence for reciting anti-war verses

A Russian poet was given a 7-year prison sentence Thursday for reciting verses against Russia's war in Ukraine, a tough punishment that comes during a relentless Kremlin crackdown on dissent. Moscow's Tverskoi District Court convicted Artyom Kamardin on charges of making calls undermining national security and inciting hatred, which related to him reading his anti-war poems during a street performance in downtown Moscow in September 2022. Yegor Shtovba, who participated in the event and recited Kamardin's verses, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years on the same charges. The gathering next to the monument to poet Vladimir Mayakovsky was held days after President Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilization of 300,000 reservists amid Moscow's military setbacks in Ukraine. The widely unpopular move prompted hundreds of thousands to flee Russia to avoid being recruited into the military. Police swiftly dispersed the performance and soon arrested Kamardin and several other participants. Russian media

Jaishankar discusses multilateralism, regional conflicts during Russia trip

Jaishankar arrived in Moscow for a four-day visit to Russia from December 25-29. After he arrived in Moscow, Jaishankar said he looked forward to his engagements in Russia

Jailed Russian opposition leader Navalny located 3 weeks after contact lost

Associates of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Monday that he has been located at a prison colony above the Arctic Circle, nearly three weeks after contact with him was lost. Navalny, the most prominent foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. He had been imprisoned in the Vladimir region of central Russia, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) east of Moscow, but his lawyers said they had not been able to reach him since December 6. His spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was located in a prison colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenetsk region about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar arrives in Russia on five-day visit

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Moscow on a five-day visit to Russia during which he will hold talks with his counterpart and discuss various bilateral and global issues. "Arrived in Moscow. Look forward to my engagements," Jaishankar said in a post on X. During his visit, he will also travel to St. Petersburg. "The time-tested India-Russia partnership has remained stable and resilient and continues to be characterized by the spirit of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in New Delhi on Sunday. The minister will meet Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov to discuss matters related to economic engagement. He will also hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for discussion on bilateral, multilateral and international issues. "Focusing on the strong people-to-people and cultural ties between our two countries, the external affairs minister's

Russian volunteers join Ukrainian ranks to fight against Putin's forces

When Russia's invasion of Ukraine ignited into war, back in Moscow, a young Russian who now goes by the name of Karabas was plunged into despair. Shocked by images of what was happening to Ukrainians in Russian-occupied areas, he decided to act against Russia, his home and country. Karabas said he knew that what he was doing was drastic. He packed his bags and decided to find a way to get to Ukraine to join the ranks of Kyiv's troops fighting Russian forces. It took him almost a year to make it happen. Today, he is part of the Siberian Battalion, a unit made up of Russians who have joined Ukrainian military ranks to fight against their homeland, hoping someday to help oust Russian President Vladimir Putin. Its members hail mostly from ethnic minorities from Russia's far east. I was disillusioned with my own people," recounted Karabas, who like other fighters in the battalion spoke to The Associated Press on condition that only his military call sign be used. "That is why I wanted