Tag: Russia

France wants China to send ‘clear message’ to Russia over Ukraine war

By Sébastien RICCI BEIJING, April 1, 2024 (AFP) – France’s top diplomat said Monday that Paris expects China to send “clear messages” to its close partner Russia over its war in Ukraine, after meetings with his counterpart in Beijing. France and China have sought to strengthen ties in recent years and, during meetings in Paris in February, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told President Emmanuel Macron that Beijing appreciated his country’s “independent” stance. But Paris […]

Ukraine shelling kills woman in Russian border village

MOSCOW, March 31, 2024 (AFP) – Ukrainian shelling killed a woman in the Russian border village of Dunayka on Sunday, the latest in a series of deadly cross-border attacks by Kyiv, the local governor said. Since Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine two years ago, Russia’s Belgorod region on the frontier has been repeatedly targeted by what authorities say is indiscriminate Ukrainian bombardment, which has increased in recent months. “The village of Dunayka, in the […]

Russia arrests gay bar owner amid ongoing crackdown

MOSCOW, March 31, 2024 (AFP) – The owner of a popular gay bar in the Russian city of Orenburg has been arrested for “extremism”, rights groups said Sunday, as authorities crack down on the LGBTQ community. Police and local nationalists raided the Pose bar in Orenburg earlier this month during a drag show, later arresting its administrator and artistic director in the first criminal case of its kind. The bar’s owner was detained three days […]

Polish PM Tusk warns Europe has entered ‘pre-war era’

WARSAW, March 30, 2024 (AFP) – Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned of the “real” threat of conflict in Europe, saying that for the first time since the end of World War II the continent has entered a “pre-war era”. “War is no longer a concept from the past. It is real, and it started over two years ago. The most worrying thing at the moment is that literally any scenario is possible. We […]

Russia says attack foiled in south of country

MOSCOW, March 29, 2024 (AFP) – Russian officials said Friday they had arrested three people plotting an attack in the country’s south, a week after the assault on a Moscow concert hall killed at least 144 people. The FSB security agency said it had “put an end to the terrorist activities of three nationals from a Central Asian country”, Russian news agencies reported. The three suspects had been “planning to commit a terrorist act by […]

Blackouts hit three Ukrainian regions after Russian air attack

By Victoria LUKOVENKO KYIV, Ukraine, March 29, 2024 (AFP) – Ukraine said on Friday it had imposed emergency blackouts on three regions after Russia fired dozens of missiles and drones at its power stations overnight. Moscow has stepped up its aerial bombardment of Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting energy infrastructure in response to deadly Ukrainian assaults on Russia’s border regions. National grid operator Ukrenergo said its dispatch centre was “forced to apply emergency blackout schedules […]

Russian court orders journalist in Navalny case detained

MOSCOW, March 29, 2024 (AFP) – A Moscow court on Friday ordered a journalist who covered the trials of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to be held in pre-trial detention on “extremism” charges. Prosecutors say Antonina Kravtsova, a correspondent for the independent SotaVision outlet, participated in an “extremist organisation”, charges which carry up to six years in prison. The Kremlin outlawed Navalny’s organisations as “extremist” before his death and has carried out a crackdown against […]

France eyes spent uranium plant to bypass Russia: ministry

PARIS, March 29, 2024 (AFP) – The French government has said it is “seriously” studying the option of building a plant to convert and enrich reprocessed uranium to cut its reliance on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The only plant in the world that currently converts reprocessed uranium for use in nuclear power plants is located in Russia. “The option of carrying out an industrial project to convert reprocessed uranium in France is being […]

Russia faces backlash as veto ends UN’s N. Korea sanctions monitoring

SEOUL, March 29, 2024 (AFP) – Russia faced a mounting backlash Friday after using its veto power to effectively end official UN monitoring of sanctions on North Korea amid a probe into alleged arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang. Russia’s UN Security Council veto on Thursday blocked the renewal of the panel of experts tasked with investigating violations of sanctions tied to North Korea’s banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. South Korea’s foreign ministry on […]

Russia hits Ukraine energy sector in overnight attack

KYIV, Ukraine, March 29, 2024 (AFP) – Russia fired dozens of drones and missiles at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, wounding at least six people and cutting off power in several regions, officials said on Friday. Moscow has stepped up its aerial bombardment of Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting electricity facilities in response to an uptick in deadly Ukrainian assaults on Russia’s border regions. Ten regions across Ukraine came under attack, damaging critical infrastructure and wounding […]

Russia sentences journalist to 2 years in prison, detains others

MOSCOW, March 28, 2024 (AFP) – A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a journalist to two years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s full-scale military offensive on Ukraine, as police in Moscow detained five other reporters over a 24-hour period. Russia has made on-the-ground reporting increasingly dangerous and illegal since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago, arresting and fining those who defy the Kremlin’s narratives. A court in the western exclave of Kaliningrad said […]

Russian military jet crashes into sea off Crimea: governor

(AFP) — A Russian military plane crashed Thursday into the sea off Ukraine’s annexed peninsula, the Moscow-installed governor of the city of Sevastopol said. “A military plane has fallen into the sea,” Mikhail Razvozhayev said in a post on Telegram, without giving the cause. Footage on social media showed a plane in flames falling out of the sky. Sevastopol, the historic headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, sits on the southern tip of Crimea, the […]