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Vladimir Putin initially denied having anything to do with Russia's capture of Crimea in February 2014, when mysterious masked commandos in unidentified green uniforms seized the local parliament and fanned out across the peninsula. Those "little green men" marked the start of Russia's war on Ukraine, which culminated in the 2022 full-scale invasion. The future of Crimea is now at the centre of President Donald Trump's peace plan and has prompted Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to rule out recognising Russian control of the peninsula. The exact terms of his plan have not been published, but reports suggest it would include the...

The United States is proposing to recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and freeze the war's front lines as part of a peace agreement, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing several people familiar with deliberations. The U.S. proposals were presented to Ukraine in Paris last week, according to the Post.

US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce announced on Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has canceled his planned visit to London, where discussions about the Ukraine conflict are scheduled. "While the meetings in London are still occurring, he will not be attending," the spokesperson added. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg will attend in his place. Previously, Rubio warned that the US would withdraw from Ukraine peace negotiations "within days" if there were no signs of progress. US President Donald Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg are set to engage with foreign ministers and security advisers from France, Germany,...

Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked his wartime minister of defence and replaced him with a trusted political ally who took part in failed peace talks last year with Russia.The dismissal of Oleksii Reznikov, who has headed Ukraine’s defence ministry since Russia invaded in February 2022, needs to be approved by the Ukrainian parliament.“I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large,” Mr Zelensky said.The 57-year-old Mr Reznikov became one of the most high-profile Ukrainians of the war, representing Ukraine at Nato meetings and dozens of bilateral talks to secure...

On the 11th anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea via an "illegitimate referendum," Türkiye said it does not recognize the "de facto situation in Crimea," expressing its support to Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. "We reiterate that Türkiye does not recognize the de facto situation in Crimea, which constitutes a violation of international law, and that we support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. "We will continue to closely monitor developments in Crimea, particularly the situation of the Crimean Tatar Turks, the indigenous people of the peninsula, and we will...

Angry outbursts over agreement allowing Russian Navy to stay.Politicians pelted Ukrainian lawmakers with a smoke bomb and eggs as the parliament approved an agreement that will keep the Russian navy based in the Crimean Peninsula. Chamber speaker Volodymyr Litvyn was forced to take shelter under his umbrella as he was hit by eggs after deputies from newly elected President Viktor Yanukovich's coalition approved the extension to the Russian Black Sea Fleet's base in Crimea. Ukrainian nationalists, led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former President Viktor Yushchenko, regard the base as a betrayal of Ukraine's national interests. They wanted...

Zelensky’s biggest lie may involve the UK and Europe. Last month, the UK announced an agreement with Ukraine that was signed on Jan 16. There was one key point in the announcement that stuck out: “It also cements the UK as a preferred partner for Ukraine’s energy sector, critical minerals strategy and green steel production.” Although it has yet to be confirmed, some believe that this entire agreement includes Ukraine giving the rights to its minerals to the UK—NOT the US. And this agreement was signed just days before Trump entered office. That way, the UK could screw American taxpayers...

US President Donald Trump has decided to extend sanctions against Russia for at least another year, according to the relevant document in the Federal Register. The document emphasizes that the United States first imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 when Russian soldiers invaded Ukrainian territory, occupying Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Since then, the initial executive order on sanctions, #13660 from 2014, has been repeatedly expanded by US presidents through other orders as Russia continued and escalated its aggression.

By 1259, following the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire after the death of Möngke Khan, the Golden Horde became a fully autonomous political entity. It absorbed and replaced earlier nomadic confederations, notably the Cuman-Kipchak federation, and established itself as a dominant force in Eurasia. Batu Khan led the infamous Mongol invasions of Kievan Rus’, Poland, and Hungary between 1237 and 1242. The destruction wrought during these campaigns allowed the Horde to subjugate key principalities of Rus’, which became tributary states. Batu’s forces halted their European campaigns only after the death of Ögedei Khan in 1241, which required Mongol leaders to...

Russia-appointed officials in occupied Crimea have announced a regional emergency as oil was detected on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula's largest city. Fuel oil spilled out of two stricken tankers nearly three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, about 250 kilometres from Sevastopol on the southwest of the peninsula. "Today a regional emergency regime has been declared in Sevastopol," regional Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on Telegram. Oil was found on four beaches in the region and was "promptly eliminated" by local authorities working together with volunteers, Razvozhaev said. "Let me emphasise: there is no mass pollution of the coastline...

Watch the historic moment the sea drone takes down an aerial target. DRAMATIC footage shows the moment Ukraine claimed the historic downing of a Russian M-8 military helicopter off the coast of occupied Crimea by a missile-firing sea drone. Kyiv's military intelligence announced the strike in the Black Sea with a Magura V5 and included a clip of the historic moment. In the black-and-white footage taken from the sea drone, bursts of water can be seen around the drone launching into the air as Vladimir Putin's chopper attacked. Viewers can quickly spot the Russian aircraft in the top right-hand corner...

The Russian-occupied port of Sevastopol, Crimea has come under renewed attack by Ukraine's drone forces after a monthslong lull. Three loud and heavy explosions were reported in Kozacha Bay late Monday night, and citizen journalists said that a large fire was burning in the area. Both aerial and maritime drone attacks were reported. Sevastopol's Russian-backed governor, Mikhail Razvozhaev, told state media that two Ukrainian aerial drones had been shot down over the Black Sea. He did not confirm local reports of large blasts. Kozacha Bay is located five miles southwest of the main harbor, which is more heavily protected by...

The grand mufti of Russia has called on Vladimir Putin to annex Israel to resolve the Palestine conflict. Talgat Tadzhuddin told the World Culture of Bashirs conference in Ufa, Bashkortostan, that he had personally pushed for the move in a meeting with the Russian president. "When discussing the issue of Syria, I suggested to Vladimir Putin to deal with Israel as the Crimea, but Vladimir refused," Tajuddin said at the November 21 conference, reports Yod News. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea province after Ukraine's pro-Moscow Viktor Yanukovich president was ousted from power. Tadzhuddin said that in the 4 November...

Jews have been fleeing Russia in droves | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images As Vladimir Putin’s war rages on for the fifth month in Ukraine and repression suffocates civil liberties back home, Russian Jews are worried they’ll soon become the Kremlin’s targets. Jews have been fleeing Russia in droves; those who’ve stayed behind are terrified of directly criticizing the war, which Putin has cynically claimed he launched to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. “In our congregation, we don’t talk about any political issues,” said a Moscow rabbi who asked not to be named. He added that after a 2011 crackdown on protests linked...

President-elect Donald Trump's team has shut down a former adviser's claim that the Trump administration's priority for Ukraine would be on establishing peace and not restoring territory lost to Russia, including Crimea. Bryan Lanza, a Republican strategist who worked on Trump's presidential campaign and is not involved with the transition, said in an interview that the incoming Trump administration would be asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a "realistic vision for peace." "If President Zelensky comes to the table and says, well we can only have peace if we have Crimea, he shows to us that he's not serious. Crimea...

A former adviser to President-elect Donald Trump says the incoming administration will focus on achieving peace in Ukraine rather than enabling the country to gain back territory occupied by Russia. Bryan Lanza, who worked on Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, told the BBC the incoming administration would ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his version of a "realistic vision for peace". "And if President Zelensky comes to the table and says, well we can only have peace if we have Crimea, he shows to us that he's not serious," he said. "Crimea is gone." A spokesperson for Trump distanced the incoming...

TEL AVIV - Russian-Israeli oligarch Leonid Nevzlin announced on Tuesday that he planned to give up his Russian passport in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Everything that Putin touches dies," Nevzlin wrote in a Facebook post. "I am against the war. I am against the occupation. I am against the genocide of the Ukrainian people." Nevzlin was among the first prominent Russian oligarchs to establish self-imposed exile in Israel, fleeing what he has described as a campaign of politically-motivated persecution by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2003, Nevzlin fled Russia for Israel amid a Kremlin-backed investigation into his Yukos...

New satellite images appear to show thick plumes of black smoke towering over a large oil terminal off the coast of the occupied Crimean Peninsula after a Ukrainian strike on the facility. Ukraine said the country's missile forces launched the strike on the Feodosia terminal, the largest oil-processing facility on the peninsula. A fire broke out at the oil terminal in the early hours of October 7, following a Ukrainian strike, according to Kyiv's military. It's the latest drone strike by Ukraine targeting facilities to disrupt Russia's ability to wage war. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty claimed to show satellite images...

The Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted a drone attack early Monday morning, October 7, striking an oil depot in Feodosia, Crimea. "Ukrainian missile units, working with other defense forces, carried out the operation as part of ongoing efforts to weaken Russia’s military and economic infrastructure," Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement , News.Az reports. The target, identified as the Marine Oil Terminal, is Crimea's largest petroleum transshipment hub, with a storage capacity of 250,000 cubic meters. This is not the first time Ukrainian drones have attacked the terminal. Crimea is home to two major oil depots, the second located in...

A Russian propagandist has called for the reinstatement of the Russian Empire, saying that's the country's ultimate goal. As Russia continues its military offensive against Ukraine, Russian propagandist Sergey Mardan alluded to a misconception that Russia wishes to restore the USSR, which collapsed in 1991, and instead suggested the country could rewind the clock back beyond the days of the Russian Empire. His comments come as President Vladimir Putin announced a new Russian holiday, the "Day of Unification," on September 30, to mark the illegal annexation of the Dontesk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. Putin declared them to...