Page 91 - Russia

Russia evacuates 4,000 people after dam bursts near Kazakh border

Thousands of Russians have been evacuated as the dam in the city of Orsk could not contain the flow of water from the Ural River and broke in two places, local authorities told TASS

China providing geospatial intelligence to Russia: US warns allies

Spokespeople for the White House National Security Council declined to comment. China's foreign ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment during a holiday weekend

Authorities in Russia, Kazakhstan evacuate thousands following dam burst

Authorities in Russia ordered residents to evacuate parts of the Orenburg-region city of Orsk ofter a dam burst, adding to existing flooding in the region

Emmanuel Macron says 'no doubt' Russia will try to target Paris Olympics

French President Emmanuel Macron believes Russia could try to sabotage the Paris Olympics, including in terms of manipulation of information, which is a part of "Russia's arsenal of warfare" today

Russia renews attacks on Ukraine with new tactics, improved intelligence

When the Russian barrage hit the Ukrainian power plant, a worker named Taras was manning the control panel a crucial task that required him to stay as the air-raid siren blared and his colleagues ran for safety. After the deafening explosions came a cloud of smoke, then darkness. Fires blazed, and shrapnel pierced the roof of the huge complex, causing debris to rain down on workers. Following protocols, Taras shut down the coal-fired plant, his heart racing. In the March 22 attack, Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine the worst assault on the country's energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion began in early 2022. The fusillade reflected Russia's renewed focus on striking Ukrainian energy facilities. The volume and accuracy of recent attacks have alarmed the country's defenders, who say Kremlin forces now have better intelligence and fresh tactics in their campaign to annihilate Ukraine's electrical grid and bring its economy to a

Ships in Iran, Venezuela shadow trade supplied Russian oil to India

Supplies of Russian oil to India are arriving on vessels that were earlier used to ply crude oil produced by Iran and Venezuela, both of which have been under US sanctions for years

Moscow concert hall attack: Is a harsher era under Putin in the works?

Video and photos of suspects in a mass shooting show them apparently being brutalised by Russian security forces without any rebuke from authorities. A top Kremlin official urges that hit squads be sent to assassinate Ukrainian officials. Senior lawmakers call for restoring capital punishment, abolished decades ago. The aftermath of the Moscow concert hall attack that killed 145 people in the bloodiest assault in Russia in two decades seems to be setting the stage for even harsher rule by President Vladimir Putin following his highly orchestrated electoral landslide last month. Putin vowed to hunt down the masterminds of the March 22 attack that he linked to Ukraine despite Kyiv's vehement denials and a claim of responsibility by an offshoot of the Islamic State group. He warned ominously that terrorism is a double-edged weapon. Putin lieutenant Dmitry Medvedev declared that if Ukrainian involvement is proven, Moscow should respond by deploying hit men to kill the country's leaders

Russian minister warns French counterpart against sending troops to Ukraine

Russia's defence minister warned his French counterpart against deploying troops to Ukraine in a rare phone call Wednesday and noted that Moscow is ready to take part in talks to end the conflict. Sergei Shoigu told French Defense Minister Sbastien Lecornu that if Paris follows up on its statements about the possibility of sending a French military contingent to Ukraine, it will create problems for France itself, according to a statement from the Russian Defence Ministry. It didn't elaborate. The conversation followed French President Emmanuel Macron's comments in February, in which he said that the possibility of Western troops being sent to Ukraine could not be ruled out. The call marked the first such contact between Russian and French defense ministers since October 2022. Shoigu noted Moscow's readiness for dialogue on Ukraine", emphasising that a planned round of peace talks in Geneva would be senseless without Russia's involvement. He added that possible future negotiations .

Opec+ ministers agree on keeping oil output policy steady: Reports

OPEC+ members, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, last month agreed to extend voluntary output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of June to support the market

Nato debates plan to provide long-term military support to Ukraine

NATO is debating a plan to provide more predictable military support to Ukraine in coming years as better armed Russian troops assert control on the battlefield, the organisation's top civilian official said Wednesday. We strongly believe that support to Ukraine should be less dependent on short-term, voluntary offers and more dependent on long-term NATO commitments, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said before chairing a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers in Brussels. Earlier on Wednesday, Ukraine lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 to help replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war. A shortage of infantry combined with a severe ammunition shortfall has helped hand Russian troops the initiative. The reason why we do this is the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine. It is serious, Stoltenberg told reporters. We see how Russia is pushing, and we see how they try to win this war by just waiting us out. The plan is to have NATO ...

BJP wants to replicate Russia, China like rule, says Farooq Abdullah

The BJP wants to replicate Russia- and China-like rule in the country, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah claimed on Tuesday and said the INDIA bloc has come forward to safeguard the Constitution, even at the cost of "our lives". He also targeted the Centre over the issue of the Katchatheevu island, handed over to Sri Lanka in the 1970s, and asked why the BJP-led Centre is silent on the "continuous incursion" by China in Ladakh and its claims over land in Arunachal Pradesh. "The INDIA bloc has been formed to safeguard the Constitution because there is apprehension that the Constitution will be finished (by the BJP) The same thing will happen here (in India) as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and China President (Xi Jinping) are sitting there. They (the BJP) are making attempts as they want to rule the country for life (without any opposition)," Abdullah told reporters. "INDIA will not allow this to happen and protect the Constitution given by (BR) Amdedkar, even at the co

Moscow Crocus City Hall attack: Death toll climbs to 134, 551 injured

On the ill-fated evening of March 22, a terrorist incident shook the music venue situated in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just on the outskirts of Moscow

Russia committed to fight terrorism along with India, other nations: Envoy

Russia is committed to "decisively fight" the menace of terrorism together with India and other countries, bilaterally and multilaterally, its envoy in New Delhi said on Saturday. Russian ambassador Denis Alipov, in a thread post on X, described the March 22 attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall in which 144 people were killed as a "monstrous terrorist attack". "The Embassy keeps receiving condolence messages expressing sympathy over the huge loss of lives and condemnation of the monstrous terrorist attack on March 22 near Moscow," he said. "We highly appreciate the sentiments towards victims and their kin and the Russian Government by the people of India and other countries," Alipov added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had condemned the attack, calling it a heinous terrorist attack. Alipov said, "Russia is committed to decisively fight the menace of terrorism together with India and other countries bilaterally and multilaterally." He said that "strong statements of support" to

Ukraine Foreign Min Dmytro Kuleba discusses peace plan in India meeting

India, with deep economic and political ties with Russia, has consistently pushed for dialog and diplomacy to end the conflict. It has not publicly criticized or voted against Russia at the UN

As cases of asset seizures rise, Vladimir Putin's tycoons seek safeguards

With most Russian billionaires having been sanctioned over the past two years, the next concern is which decades-old privatisation decisions might be reversed

9 detained in Tajikistan in relation to Moscow concert hall attack: Report

Nine people have been detained by Tajikistan's state security service over suspected contact with the perpetrators of last week's attack by gunmen on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed 144 people, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Friday. Nine residents of the Vakhdat district were detained for contact with the persons who committed the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall on March 22, the agency reported, citing information from an unnamed source in Tajikistan's special services, who said that Russian security forces were also involved in the operation to detain the suspects. Those detained are also suspected of having connections with the Islamic State group, according to RIA Novosti. Russia's Investigative Committee said Thursday it had detained another suspect in relation to the raid on Crocus City Hall, on suspicion of being involved in financing the attack. It did not give further details of the suspect's identity or alleged actions. Russian officials previou

Working for release of Wall Street Journal reporter held in Russia: Biden

On the one-year anniversary of the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, President Joe Biden said the US is working every day to secure his release. Journalism is not a crime, and Evan went to Russia to do his job as a reporter risking his safety to shine the light of truth on Russia's brutal aggression against Ukraine, Biden said in a statement on Friday. Gershkovich was arrested while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. The Federal Security Service, or FSB, alleges he was acting on US orders to collect state secrets but provided no evidence to support the accusation, which he, the Journal and the US government deny. Washington designated him as wrongfully detained. On Friday, there was a giant blank space on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, with an image at the top of the page of Gershkovich in the newspaper's signature pencil drawing and a headline that read: His Story Should be Here. A recent court hearing ..

Russia launches 99 drones, missiles on Ukraine's energy system: Israel

Air raid warnings rang out across the country, with 10 Ukrainian regions coming under fire, the country's Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, said

Ukraine requests India to reconsider 'Soviet legacy' of Russia ties

Ukrainian foreign minister has urged India to support it in its war against Russia. India-Russia ties are based on Soviet legacy that is evaporating, he said

Singapore attracts cyber espionage as host of high-profile global events

Cyberespionage is taking place all over the world and Singapore -- being one of the hubs for hosting high-profile trade exhibitions and conferences -- "inevitably" attracts intelligence operations, a report said on Friday. "Cyberespionage is happening all over the world because we are more connected than ever before," said Dr Alan Chong, senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Chong's comments came after Russian media earlier this month leaked a recording of a German military phone call that Berlin said was due to a participant dialling in through an "unauthorised connection" from a Singapore hotel during the February Singapore Airshow. "In terms of the geopolitical location of Singapore, to me it's no surprise. Since the Cold War, long before the digital age, we were already a base of operations for both the Communist and the Western powers," Channel News Asia quoted Chong as saying. Intelligence operations around the world will happen more frequently as