Page 70 - Russia

Russian military beefs up border defences after Ukrainian incursion

Putin's defence minister, Andrei Belousov, said the general staff had prepared a series of measures to defend Russia's border regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod

India imports $2.8 billion worth of crude oil from Russia in July

India, the world's third largest oil consuming and importing nation, in July bought USD 2.8 billion worth of crude oil from Russia, second only to China which remains the largest importer of Russian oil, a report said. Russia emerged as India's biggest supplier of crude oil, which is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries, after Russian oil was available on discount following some European nations shunning purchases from Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Imports from Russia, which were less than one per cent of the total oil imported in pre-Ukraine war period, now make up for almost 40 per cent of India's total oil purchases. China bought 47 per cent of Russia's crude exports, followed by India (37 per cent), the EU (7 per cent), and Turkey (6 per cent), the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report. Not just oil, but China and India also bought coal from Russia. "From 5 December 2022 until the end of July 2024, Chin

Ukraine gambles on deep move into Russian territory, changed battle attempt

Ukraine's stunning incursion into Russia's Kursk border region was a bold gamble for the country's military commanders, who committed their limited resources to a risky assault on a nuclear-armed enemy with no assurance of success. After the first signs of progress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy broke his silence and spelled out Kyiv's daily advances to his war-weary public. By Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said they controlled 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of enemy territory, including at least 74 settlements and hundreds of Russian prisoners of war. But a week after it began, the overall aim of the daring operation is still unclear: Will Ukraine dig in and keep the conquered territory, advance further into Russian territory or pull back? What is clear is that the incursion has changed the battlefield. The shock of Ukraine's thunder run revealed chinks in the armor of its powerful adversary. The attack also risked aggravating Ukraine's own weaknesses by ...

Ukraine's missile, UAV attacks on our regions of terrorist nature: Russia

Russian Foreign Ministry, in its recent claim, has said that Ukrainian strike on Kursk on August 11 hit a residential building, which injured 13 civilians, two of whom are in serious condition

India advises nationals in Russia to relocate from Kursk, Bryansk

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the government has taken up the issue of early discharge of Indian nationals from the Russian armed forces

India issues safety advisory to nationals in 3 Russia regions amid conflict

The Indian embassy here on Wednesday advised its citizens, including students, residing in Bryansk, Belgorod, and Kursk regions of Russia to relocate temporarily to safer places, citing recent "security incidents" in these areas following the intensification of the Russia-Ukraine war. The security advisory was issued hours after Russia's Belgorod border region declared an emergency under heavy shelling by Ukrainian forces that are pressing a major cross-border incursion into the adjacent Kursk region for a second week. An emergency was declared in Kursk last Saturday after Ukrainian forces on August 6 launched an incursion into the region, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, with both sides reporting casualties and territorial gains. "In view of the recent security incidents in Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions, Indian nationals are advised to take necessary precautions and temporarily relocate outside these regions," the Indian embassy said. For .

Ukraine pounds Russia with 117 drones, says it is advancing deeper

Russia said on Wednesday that it had destroyed 117 Ukrainian drones in Russia overnight, mostly in the Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions, missiles had also been shot down

Russia beats Ukraine charge to expand attack, Kyiv says won't occupy land

Russia has said that its forces checked an effort by Ukrainian troops to expand a stunning week-long incursion into the Kursk region, as a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Kyiv has no intention of occupying Russian territory. Russian army units, including fresh reserves, aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces, stopped Ukrainian armoured mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky, a Russian Defense Ministry statement said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said the cross-border operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainian land from long-range strikes launched from Kursk. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people, Tykhyi was quoted as saying by local media. He said Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months using anti-aircraft missiles, .

Russian forces strike back at Ukrainian troops with missiles in Kursk

Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers smashed through the Russian border a week ago in a surprise attack that Russian President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at improving Kyiv's negotiating position

Zelenskyy confirms Ukrainian military's operation in Russia's Kursk region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian military forces are operating inside Russia's Kursk region. Zelenkskyy made the statement in a post on Telegram praising the country's soldiers and commanders "for their steadfastness and decisive actions. He did not elaborate further on the military incursion. He suggested that Ukraine would offer humanitarian assistance in the region, saying that government officials were instructed to prepare a humanitarian plan for the territory.

Ukraine seizes 28 villages in Russia's Kursk ahead of possible peace talks

Putin said Zelenskyy is trying to improve negotiating position; questions "what talks there can be with Ukraine"

Russia evacuates another border region amid growing threat from Ukraine

Ukrainian forces rammed through the Russian border early on Tuesday and swept across some Western parts of Russia's Kursk region

Ukraine's Kursk attack to pressure Russia, restore justice: Zelenskyy

Ukraine has at most occupied several tens of square kilometres of Russian territory without laying claim to it

For Russian activist Ilya Yashin, resuming work against Putin a priority

All Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin had with him when he was released from his penal colony in a swap was his toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, his expired passport and the prison garb he was wearing. But he has hit the ground running. Within days of arriving in Germany, Yashin not only bought new clothes, set up a smartphone and reunited with his parents, but also held a news conference, fielded questions from his supporters live on YouTube and held a rally in a Berlin park even if it meant he didn't have time to catch up on sleep. The 41-year-old dissident, released last week in the historic East-West prisoner exchange, admits he doesn't quite know how to be a politician in exile, a role that was forced upon him against his wishes. But in an interview Friday in Berlin with The Associated Press, he said he wanted to continue campaigning against Russia's war in Ukraine, trying to free more political prisoners and advance projects to unite the country's fragmented ...

Russia declares emergency in Kursk region after attack by Ukraine

Russia declared a federal-level emergency in the Kursk region following a large-scale incursion from Ukraine and sent reinforcements there on Friday, four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured across the border in what appeared to be Kyiv's biggest attack on Russian soil since the war began. Meanwhile, a Russian plane-launched missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping mall in the middle of the day, killing at least 14 people and wounding 44 others, authorities said. The mall in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, is located in the town's residential area. Thick black smoke rose above it after the strike. This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by the Russians, Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin said in a Telegram post. It was the second major strike on the town in almost a year. Last September, a Russian missile hit an outdoor market there, killing 17. July saw the heaviest civilian casualties in Ukraine since October 2022,

Russia kills 11 in airstrike, puts emergency in Kursk after Ukraine attack

Russia declared a federal-level emergency in the Kursk region following a large-scale incursion from Ukraine and sent reinforcements there on Friday, four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured across the border in what appeared to be Kyiv's biggest attack on Russian soil since the war began. Meanwhile, a Russian plane-launched missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping mall in the middle of the day, killing at least 11 people and wounding 44 others, authorities said. The mall in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, is located in the town's residential area. Thick black smoke rose above it after the strike. This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by the Russians, Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin said in a Telegram post. It was the second major strike on the town in almost a year. Last September, a Russian missile hit an outdoor market there, killing 17. Russia's Defence Ministry said that reinforcements were on their way to t

Awaiting release of 69 Indians from Russian army, says Jaishankar in LS

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said the government is awaiting the release of 69 Indians recruited into the Russian army and that in many cases there are indications that the Indian nationals were misled. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the minister also said the government has taken up seriously the issues of recruitment of Indian nationals into the Russian army and cyber crime trafficking of nationals to South East Asian countries. There are a total of 91 cases so far of Indian nationals being recruited in the Russian army. Out of them, eight have passed away, 14 have been discharged or sent back, and the release of 69 nationals is awaited, Jaishankar said during the Question Hour. "We take this issue very very seriously... I have myself raised it many times with the Russian foreign minister," he said and added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took up the issue during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month. The minister said the problem is

Chess scandal: Russian champion caught poisoning opponent with mercury

Russian chess champion Amina Abakarova has been suspended after she poisoned her former rival, Umayganat Osmanova, by lacing chess pieces with toxic mercury during a tournament

Russia sliding back toward Stalinist times, says human rights advocate

A human rights activist since the 1980s, Oleg Orlov thought Russia had turned a corner when the Soviet Union collapsed and a democratically elected president became leader. But then Vladimir Putin rose to power, crushing dissent and launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Finally, the 71-year-old Orlov was himself thrown in prison for opposing the war. Freed last week in the largest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War, he was forced into exile -- just like the Soviet dissidents of his youth. In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday in Berlin, Orlov decried t he scale and severity of repressions under Putin, with people imprisoned for merely criticizing the authorities, something unseen since the days of dictator Josef Stalin. And he's vowing to continue his work to free the many political prisoners in Russia and keep their names in the spotlight. We're sliding somewhere into Stalin times, said Orlov, who at times showed signs of fatigue from a hectic schedul

Troops battling to push back Ukrainian forces from Kursk region: Russia

Russian troops are battling to push back Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region on the third day of one of the largest cross-border incursions of the war, the Russian Defence Ministry said Thursday. A ministry statement said the Russian military and border guards have blocked Ukrainian forces from pushing deeper into the region in southwestern Russia. It added that the army is attacking Ukrainian fighters trying to advance into the area from Ukraine's Sumy region. Attempts by individual units to break through deep into the territory in the Kursk direction are being suppressed, the ministry said. Ukrainian troops had advanced as much as 15 kilometers (9 miles) into Russian territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. The data that hasn't been officially confirmed. Kyiv has not commented on the incursion. In a video address to the nation late Thursday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not mention the fighting in the Kursk regio