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Russian air base in Crimea that caught fire following a suspected Ukrainian missile attack hosted dozens of military aircraft central to Moscow's invasion. Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russian facilities on the peninsula Moscow has occupied since 2014 and which Kyiv has vowed to recapture. Regarding the latest incident, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, said there had been a massive Ukrainian missile attack over the port city overnight Tuesday. Footage on social-media channels showed flames billowing into the air at the Belbek airfield near Sevastopol. Here is the focal point of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, whose vessels...

Ukraine used U.S-supplied missiles in an attack that sparked blazes at a Russian military air base in Crimea, according to reports. The Astra Telegram channel posted images of flames at the Belbek airfield near the city of Sevastopol following the strikes overnight Tuesday. Belbek airfield has been operated by the Russian defense ministry since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014. -snip- Open-source X user OSINT Technical posted NASA satellite images, which the account said showed large fires raging at the airfield located more than 160 miles from the frontline in Ukraine. "Ukrainian forces reportedly carried out a massive missile strike...

Gazprom, the energy giant at the heart of Russia's economy, has announced it is selling property in Moscow, one week after posting record losses linked to restricted supplies to Europe linked to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The company said on Wednesday that the properties include office and non-residential buildings, a car parking lot in the capital, and the Imperial Park Hotel and spa sanatorium and resort complex in Rogozino village, just outside of Moscow. "Gazprom is engaged in a fire sale. They had their worst year in decades, and their production has fallen precipitously, down to what it was...

"It's of course impossible to know the real reasons for his arrest but this could be related to the revelations made by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation that showed Ivanov and his wife in a pretty bad light," Kallioniemi said. FBK alleged leaked emails from Ivanov's wife, Svetlana Maniovich, showed the extent of her family's lavish lifestyle, beyond what his official salary could cover, with some transactions routed through third parties, including Defense Ministry contractors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted last August that a drop in the importance of the U.S. dollar was "irreversible"—but there appears to be no sign that the global economy is turning its back on the greenback. "The U.S. Dollar was used in 48% of international payment transactions last year, the highest level in more than a decade. But Brics...," it said next to the graph, which showed the euro making 23.2 percent of transactions and the Chinese yuan way behind at 3.47 percent. "BRICS countries would like their currencies to be used in world trade, but each has a major...

Two oil refineries in Russia's Samara region were hit in Ukrainian drone strikes, the local governor has said, in the latest strike against the country's infrastructure facilities -snip- Samara Governor Dmitry Azarov said Saturday that Ukrainian drones had struck facilities belonging to state-owned energy giant Rosneft, which left one site on fire. There were no immediate reports of injuries from either incident, but unverified footage shared by Telegram users showed a blaze at what appeared to be the Syzran refinery. The Baza Telegram channel said that the fire engulfed 5,380 square feet following the attack at 6 a.m. local time...

A former Russian commander and prominent military blogger has given another scathing assessment of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in which he described how Vladimir Putin's troops had already been dealt a "strategic defeat" by Ukraine. Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, is an army veteran and former intelligence officer who played a key role in Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. He is among a number of milbloggers who give candid accounts of Russia's war effort that are far removed from the picture portrayed by Kremlin-backed television channels. On his Telegram...