Tag: Moscow

Russia says shot down two Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow

MOSCOW, Aug 9, 2023 (AFP) – Two Ukrainian combat drones headed for Moscow were shot down, Russian officials said on Wednesday, the latest in a surge of drone attacks targeting the capital. The attempted attack comes a day after the death toll from strikes on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk rose to nine. “Two combat drones’ attempt to fly into the city was recorded. Both were shot down by air defence,” Moscow Mayor Sergei […]

Russia says Ukrainian drone struck police station, no casualties

MOSCOW, July 31, 2023 (AFP) – A Ukrainian drone hit a police station overnight in the frontier Russian region of Briansk but there were no victims, the regional governor said Monday. “Ukrainian forces attacked the district of Trubchevsky at night,” Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram. “A drone hit the police station in this district. No victims” but the windows and roof were damaged, he added. Russia on Sunday said it had downed Ukrainian drones targeting […]

Security tightened in several Russian regions

MOSCOW, June 24, 2023 (AFP) – The mayor of Moscow said on Saturday that “anti-terror” measures were being taken in the Russian capital after the chief of mercenary group Wagner vowed to bring down the country’s military leadership. Authorities in the regions of Rostov and Lipetsk also said security had been reinforced there. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said earlier his units, which spearheaded an assault in eastern Ukraine, had entered the southern region of Rostov. […]

Russian authorities in Lipetsk region announce reinforced security, Rostov residents urged to remain indoors

MOSCOW, June 24, 2023 (AFP) – Russian authorities said Saturday that security measures had been tightened in several regions, after the chief of mercenary group Wagner said his forces had crossed the border from Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to “go to the end” to topple the Russian military leadership, whom he accused of launching strikes on his men, while the country’s prosecutor general said he was under investigation for “armed rebellion”. “A decision has been […]

EU mission to Armenia will fuel confrontation, says Russia

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday accused the EU of seeking to fuel “geopolitical confrontation” by sending a civilian mission to monitor Armenia’s volatile border with Azerbaijan. Moscow has sought to maintain its role as a powerbroker between the ex-Soviet republics despite being bogged down in its offensive in Ukraine. On Monday, the EU launched a civilian mission to help monitor Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, bolstering the bloc’s role in a region viewed by […]

Russian oil price cap put to the test

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – The price cap on Russian oil agreed by the EU, G7 and Australia is set to come into force on Monday. It aims to restrict Russia’s revenue while making sure Moscow keeps supplying the global market. – Embargo and cap – The cap is due to take effect alongside an EU embargo on maritime deliveries of Russian crude oil, which comes several months after an embargo imposed by the United States and […]

Ukraine will ‘defend its people’ in annexation vote regions: Zelensky

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) – Ukraine will “defend” citizens in Moscow-held regions which authorities said voted overwhelmingly for a merger with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. “We will act to protect our people: both in the Kherson region, in the Zaporizhzhia region, in the Donbas, in the currently occupied areas of the Kharkiv region, and in the Crimea,” he said in a video posted on Telegram. “This farce in the occupied territory cannot even […]

Russian court jails US basketball star for nine years over drug smuggling

  by Victoria LOGUINOVA-YAKOVLEVA Agence France Presse A Russian court on Thursday sentenced US basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison over drug smuggling as US President Joe Biden called the ruling “unacceptable”. The court “found the defendant guilty” of smuggling and possessing “a significant amount of narcotics”, judge Anna Sotnikova told a court in the town of Khimki just outside Moscow. Sotnikova sentenced Griner, one of the world’s greatest basketball players, to […]

China has right to take measures to protect ‘sovereignty’: Moscow

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Moscow said Tuesday that ally China had every right to take measures to protect its sovereignty and called US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit a “clear provocation”. “The Chinese side has the right to take necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity over the Taiwan issue,” the Russian foreign ministry said. Moscow called Pelosi’s visit “a clear provocation” aimed at containing China. China’s military said it would […]

Eight killed as fire erupts in Moscow building

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Eight people died in a blaze in a 15-storey building in Moscow overnight, after a fire alarm malfunctioned, officials said Friday. The fire erupted in the building in a southeastern district, an agency investigating criminal acts said, adding that four people were hospitalised. Emergency services said the blaze broke out on the ground floor of the building, adding that the flames were doused soon after midnight and that more than […]

US embassy in Moscow gets new address, named after Ukraine separatists

MOSCOW, June 22, 2022 (AFP) – Authorities in Moscow said on Wednesday that they have changed the official address of the US embassy building in the Russian capital to one named after pro-Kremlin separatists in Ukraine. “The United States embassy in Russia has a new official address,” Moscow city hall said in a statement, saying it had named a previously unnamed open area in front of the embassy’s main entrance. It said the embassy is […]

Blaze rages through Moscow office building

  A fire raged Friday through an office building in western Moscow, said the emergencies ministry, adding that over 120 people had been evacuated. “According to preliminary information, more than 120 people had been rescued from the burning building,” the emergencies ministry said in a statement on messaging app Telegram, adding the search for more people was continuing. The blaze covered an area of 1,000 square metres (10,764 square feet), the ministry said, adding that […]