A dramatic campaign, a comeback, and peace efforts amid attacks & counterattacks - 2024 redefined global relations. Diplomacy was tested, power disrupted, and the world watched as history was made
Russia launched a massive missile barrage targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Wednesday, striking a thermal power plant and prompting Ukrainians to take shelter in metro stations on Christmas morning. In a Facebook statement, Ukrainian energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, said Russia again massively attacks energy infrastructure." Ukraine's Air Force alerted multiple missiles fired at Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Poltava regions east of the country. The (electricity) distribution system operator takes the necessary measures to limit consumption to minimise negative consequences for the power system, he said. As soon as the security situation allows, energy workers will establish the damage caused. Ukraine's biggest private energy company, DTEK, said Russia struck one of their thermal power plants Wednesday morning, making it the 13th attack on Ukraine's power grid this year. Denying light and warmth to millions of peace-loving people as they celebrate Christmas is a depraved and
In an interview with Russian TV and radio outlet VGTRK, Putin said, "It is possible to do everything if there is desire. We have never abandoned this desire"
Ukraine's air force said it intercepted five Iskander short-range ballistic missiles fired at the city
Russia's central bank has left its benchmark interest rate at 21 per cent, holding off on further increases as it struggles to snuff out inflation fueled by the government's spending on the war against Ukraine. The decision comes amid criticism from influential business figures, including tycoons close to the Kremlin, that high rates are putting the brakes on business activity and the economy. Factories are running three shifts making everything from vehicles to clothing for the military, while a labour shortage is driving up wages and fat enlistment bonuses are putting more rubles in people's bank accounts to spend. All that is driving up prices. On top of that, the weakening Russian ruble raises the prices of imported goods like cars and consumer electronics from China, which has become Russia's biggest trade partner since Western sanctions disrupted economic relations with Europe and the US. High rates can dampen inflation but also make it more expensive for businesses to get th
Russian head of state emphasised that the association works for the interests of the member states
President Vladimir Putin boasted that his military operation in Ukraine has strengthened Russia and denied that the ouster of key ally Bashar Assad in Syria had hurt Moscow's prestige, as he held his annual news conference and call-in show Thursday. He used the tightly choreographed event, which lasted for about 4 1/2 hours, to reinforce his authority and demonstrate a sweeping command of everything from consumer prices to military hardware. He claimed that sending troops into Ukraine in 2022 has boosted Russia's military and economic power. He also said that if he could go back in time, he would have thought that such a decision should have been made earlier, and Russia should have prepared for it in advance and more thoroughly. "Russia has become much stronger over the past two or three years because it has become a truly sovereign country, he said. We are standing firm in terms of economy, we are strengthening our defence potential and our military capability now is the strongest
Kyiv has refused to extend the five-year deal to ship Russian gas across Ukraine beyond its expiry at the end of this month, President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow
Asked what he might be able to offer Trump, Putin dismissed an assertion that Russia was in a weak position, saying that Russia had got much stronger since he ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he may reverse President Joe Biden's recent decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use American long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory. Trump called the decision made by Biden last month stupid." He also expressed anger that his incoming administration was not consulted before Biden made the move. With the loosening of the restrictions, Biden gave Ukraine long-sought permission to use the Army Tactical Missile System provided by the U.S. to strike Russian positions hundreds miles from its border. I don't think that should have been allowed, not when there's a possibility certainly not just weeks before I take over," Trump said during at a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. "Why would they do that without asking me what I thought? I wouldn't have had him do that. I think it was a big mistake. Trump's withering criticism of the Biden administration's move comes as the Democratic administratio
Trump said it would take a century to rebuild Ukrainian cities leveled by the Russian invasion and brushed aside Ukrainian hopes of recapturing seized territory
He said roughly 430,000 Russians had signed army contracts this year, up from roughly 300,000 the year before, a factor he said had huge importance for Russia's war effort
Ukrainian drone strikes on southern Russia killed a 9-year-old boy and set fire to a major oil terminal, officials said Saturday, the day after Moscow launched a massive aerial attack on its neighbour that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was one of the heaviest bombardments of the country's energy sector since Russia's full-scale invasion almost three years ago. The boy died when a drone struck his family's home outside Belgorod, a Russian city near the border with Ukraine, local Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported on Saturday morning on the Telegram messaging app. His mother and 7-month-old sister were hospitalised with injuries, Gladkov said. He posted photos of what he said was the aftermath of the attack, showing a low-rise house with gaping holes in its roof and front wall flanked by mounds of rubble. Elsewhere in southern Russia, Ukrainian drones overnight hit a major oil terminal in the Oryol region, sparking a blaze, Ukraine's General Staff reported on Saturday
The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to grant asylum in Russia to Assad
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We have carefully read the statement by US President-elect Donald Trump, made after his meeting with Macron and Zelensky in Paris, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added
The ships construction was closely monitored by an Indian team of specialists from the Warship Overseeing Team stationed at Kaliningrad, under the aegis of the Indian Embassy in Moscow
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is on a three-day visit to Russia, where he is expected to hold crucial discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Watch the video to know all the details.
Russia's Foreign Ministry claimed Sunday that Bashar Assad had left Syria after negotiations with rebel groups, and gave instructions to transfer power peacefully. In a post on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday, the ministry said Moscow had not directly participated in these talks. It also said it has been following the dramatic events in Syria with extreme concern". It also said Russian troops stationed in Syria have been put on high alert and that as of early afternoon Sunday, there was no serious threat to the security of Russia's military bases there. Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad's government to fight armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country. While Russia now concentrates the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, it has maintained a military foothold in Syria and keeps troops at its bases there.
Lavrov said Ukraine had lost the opportunity to maintain its territorial integrity by twice rejecting proposals for a deal, once before full-scale war began and then in talks in April 2022 in Turkey