Tag: Russia

Ukraine and Russia trade accusations over fire at occupied nuclear plant

(Reuters) – Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of starting a fire on the grounds of Europe’s largest and now Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Sunday, with both sides reporting no sign of elevated radiation. The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, which has a presence at the vast six-reactor facility, said its experts had seen strong, dark smoke coming from the northern area of the plant in southern Ukraine […]

Americans freed alongside Russian assassin in biggest post-Cold War prisoner swap

By Andrew Osborn, Filipp Lebedev, Lucy Papachristou and Trevor Hunnicutt MOSCOW/ANKARA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Russia freed U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan on Thursday as part of the biggest prisoner exchange of its kind since the end of the Cold War. The White House said the U.S. had negotiated the trade with Russia, Germany and three other countries. The deal, negotiated in secrecy for more than a year, involved 24 prisoners, including 16 moving […]

Putin: U.S. missile plans in Germany could spark cold war-style crisis

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned the United States that if Washington deployed long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 then Russia would station similar missiles in striking distance of the West. The United States will start deploying long-range fire capabilities in Germany in 2026 in an effort to demonstrate its commitment to NATO and European defenсe, the United States and Germany said earlier this month. The United States’ “episodic deployments” are […]

Russia jails US reporter Gershkovich for 16 years

YEKATERINBURG, Russia, July 20, 2024 (AFP) – US reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced by a Russian court on Friday to 16 years in prison for “espionage”, a verdict slammed as “despicable”, “disgraceful” and a “sham” by Western governments and his employer. Gershkovich was sentenced after just three court sessions in a secretive closed-door trial in the Urals City of Yekaterinburg, the city where he was arrested while on a reporting trip in March 2023. After […]

Trump says spoke with Zelensky, pledges to ‘end the war’

  By Robin LEGRAND WASHINGTON, July 19, 2024 (AFP) – US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he had spoken by telephone with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky, and pledged to end the European country’s war with Russia. “I appreciate President Zelensky for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent […]

Kyiv and Prague agree to produce rifles, ammo in Ukraine

PRAGUE, July 16, 2024 (AFP) – Kyiv and Prague have agreed to launch joint production of assault rifles and ammunition components inside Ukraine, the countries’ prime ministers said Tuesday following talks in the Czech Republic. Ukraine has been working to develop its own fledgling arms industry to reduce its dependence on Western military aid since Russian forces invaded in 2022. “Today we have signed two important agreements, among others, in the defence industry. A new […]

Blazes intensify in Russia, N. America in fierce start to wildfire season

PARIS, July 16, 2024 (AFP) – Extreme wildfires are spreading across Russia and North America and shrouding swathes of the region in smoke, the EU’s climate monitor said Tuesday as it warned of worse to come. Copernicus said unusually hot and dry conditions were causing blazes in Siberia, Canada and Alaska and a “remarkable intensification” of planet-heating gases as swathes of forest burn. A column of smoke containing ash and harmful particles from wildfires in […]

China, Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol

  BEIJING, July 14, 2024 (AFP) – China and Russia conducted a joint naval patrol in the northern and western Pacific, Beijing’s defence ministry said Sunday, adding that the exercise was not “targeted” at any other nation. The two countries have drawn closer in recent years and tout their friendship as having “no limits”. Both share hostile relations with US-led Western defence alliance NATO. Beijing has further strengthened its diplomatic, economic and military ties with […]

NATO begins sending F-16 jets in new support for Ukraine

By Shaun Tandon and Max Delany WASHINGTON, July 11, 2024 (AFP) – NATO allies on Wednesday announced they had started transferring F-16 jets to Ukraine while stepping up promises to Kyiv on eventual membership in the alliance, at a 75th anniversary summit clouded by political uncertainties in the United States. With the pomp of the three-day gathering in the US capital, President Joe Biden is aiming to rally the West and also reassure voters amid […]

NATO meets in Washington as questions swirl over Biden

By Max DELANY WASHINGTON, July 9, 2024 (AFP) – NATO leaders gather Tuesday in Washington for a summit aimed at showing resolve against Russia and support for Ukraine — but the meeting is set to be overshadowed by US President Joe Biden’s fight for political survival. The 81-year-old leader will try to use the three days of pomp marking NATO’s 75th anniversary to reassure allies over US leadership, and his own ability to govern, as […]

US, allies condemn N.Korea for sanctions-busting arms sales to Russia

UNITED NATIONS, United States, June 29, 2024 (AFP) – Washington and its allies challenged North Korea at the United Nations on Friday over claims Pyongyang is breaching arms control measures by supplying weapons to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine. Washington’s deputy envoy to the UN Robert Wood hit out at what he said were “unlawful arms transfers from the DPRK (North Korea) to Russia” as the two sides forge ever closer ties. […]

Austrian ex-minister exiled in Russia denies she is ‘Kremlin agent’

By Blaise GAUQUELIN VIENNA, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Austria’s highly controversial former foreign minister Karin Kneissl — who now lives in Russia — told AFP she feels slandered as Vienna reels from an unfolding Russian spying scandal. A pariah in her home country after dancing with Russian President Vladimir Putin at her wedding, Kneissl claims she had no choice but to flee Austria and shelter in Russia. Now she denies any involvement in the […]