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Other Russian Telegram channels said the attack resulted in about 50 Russian casualties. Ukrainian forces have used the Washington-supplied HIMARS on several occasions throughout the war, including in its Donetsk and Luhansk regions which are largely occupied by Russian forces. The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the two regions—which together comprise the Donbas—since Russia's initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. HIMARS has allowed Ukraine to destroy Russia's most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems. Washington has supplied the Ukrainians with at least 39 HIMARS since the war began on February 24, 2022. In February, Serhiy Bratchuk, a...

"The return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law." Erdoğan said in his video address that Turkey has always been opposed to Russia's annexation of Crimea. He decried the persecution of Crimea's ethnic Tatars since 2014. Erdoğan added: "Our sincere wish is for the war to end with a fair and lasting peace based on Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence." In October 2020, the Turkish leader said during a joint press briefing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his country would never recognize the annexation of Crimea. "We have and always will support Ukraine's sovereignty and...

Vladimir Putin has sought to shift blame for Ukraine's surprise incursion into the Kursk region, as evidence emerged that his country's handling of the offensive was damaging the Russian leader's image. At a virtual meeting held by Putin Thursday on the situation in Russia's Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, which border Ukraine, the president told regional officials that the "security issues" in Kursk "are problems that are the responsibility of the security agencies." -snip- "I hope that, as was reported today, interaction between local and regional authorities, the government, and security agencies has been established, and this will also play...

"The complete collapse of the entire railroad network in the country could happen in days," the channel said. "[Russian Railways] chiefs have been ordered to work to the point of exhaustion. Those who fail to cope are threatened with dismissal and 'execution.' This is the motivation." Russian Railways in 2023 reported that the number of trains suspended due to issues with its trains more than doubled to 42,600 amid a shortage of critical parts. This was due to "insufficient maintenance of the locomotive fleet," Kommersant reported in March. A Russian Railways spokesperson told Vedomosti in February that the issue "became...

A staunch ally of Vladimir Putin lamented the destruction of the Black Sea Fleet, dealing the Russian president a double blow as his Navy was forced to hold a muted annual parade on Sunday. In a rare admission of Russia's military failures, Yevgeny Fyodorov from the ruling United Russia party complained that Ukraine has disabled such a large proportion of Putin's prized Black Sea Fleet that it is essentially "gone." -snip- "The Russian fleet as an operational mechanism in the Black Sea does not exist! Not physically, but in terms of its actual combat presence. This is a fact," the...

Russia has refuted social media rumors of a nuclear emergency after speculation spread on Friday that a radiation incident had occurred at the Rostov nuclear power plant. "The Rostov nuclear power plant is operating normally, the background radiation is normal, the messages that have appeared about the emergency are fake," Russian state nuclear company Rosenergoatom told state-run news agency RIA Novosti. Rosenergoatom also responded to the rumors on the social media platform VKontakte, asking internet users to "be vigilant." "The units are operating normally, the radiation background is at the natural level!" it said.

Millions of Russians in the south of the country were left without electricity on Tuesday after a power unit at the Rostov nuclear power plant was shut down due to a malfunction. The Rostov nuclear power plant supplies power to the Russia's entire Southern Federal District, and rolling power outages affected residents of Russia's Krasnodar Territory, Rostov region, Sevastopol, and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula illegally annexed by President Vladimir Putin from Ukraine in 2014. Russia's state-owned energy group Rosatom said one of the nuclear power plant's four power units was shut down due to a malfunction of the turbine...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is losing the Global South, a new Pew Research Center poll showed. The poll—which was published on July 2 ahead of the NATO military alliance's summit in Washington, D.C., on July 9 to 11—surveyed global public confidence in the Russian leader, asking respondents if they had confidence in Putin "to do the right thing regarding world affairs." The poll was conducted between January 5 and May 21 and includes respondents in 35 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and sub-Saharan Africa. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment...

Russians lined up to purchase U.S. dollars after the Moscow Exchange enforced an immediate suspension of trading in dollars and euros in response to fresh U.S. sanctions, a video circulating on social media appears to show. Russia's central bank said Wednesday that exchange trading and settlements of deliverable instruments in U.S. dollars and euros were suspended effective June 13 "due to the introduction of restrictive measures by the United States against the Moscow Exchange Group." It added that over-the-counter trading data would be used to set official exchange rates for the currencies.

Ukrainian forces held their ground in the strategically important eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar as Russian troops are reported to have failed an attempt to cross a canal in the area. The town, which had a pre-war population of more than 12,000, and is dissected by a canal, is located some 7 miles from the war-torn city of Bakhmut which was seized by Russian forces last May. The town in the Donetsk region has been the focus of Moscow's military since March.

Russian forces have advanced along the front line in Ukraine, battlefield maps published by a U.S. think tank show, as Ukraine warns that Moscow is preparing for a major offensive in the east. Maps released by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, on Sunday, show that Russian forces have made progress in Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions, which together comprise the Donbas. The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since Russia's initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by...

Ukrainian drones attacked the only large oil refinery on Russia's Black Sea coast on Friday morning, authorities said. The attack on the Rosneft-owned refinery in the southern Russian town of Tuapse was reported by local authorities, who said a fire had broken out at the facility and that emergency services were working to extinguish the blaze. -snip- The Russian Black Sea naval port of Novorossiysk and Crimea's Sevastopol were also targeted a the massive aerial assault, which Russia's defense ministry said involved at least 100 drones.

For the second year in a row, a lone Soviet-era tank rolled across Moscow's Red Square during Russia's Victory Day parade, prompting social media users to mock President Vladimir Putin's military's procession on a day which is traditionally used to display the country's might. A single T-34 tank participated in the parade in Moscow to mark May 9, or Victory Day, which is the annual commemoration of Nazi Germany's defeat during World War II. Like last year, this year's procession was notably muted in contrast to previous events amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, during which both sides have suffered...

Ukraine's air force has previously said Russia has used the Tu-22M3 aircraft to fire Kh-22 cruise missiles at Ukrainian territory. The HUR said the bomber that was downed "carried out a missile attack against Ukraine on the night of April 19." The aircraft was shot down "as a result of a [HUR] special operation in cooperation with the Air Force," it said, adding that it was struck at a distance of about 300 kilometers from Ukraine. The HUR added: "It should be noted that this is the first successful destruction of a strategic bomber in the air during a combat...

Russia is having to use electronic parts meant for its air defense systems to manufacture its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) due to shortages caused by sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, according to a local report. -snip- "Sources of VChK-OGPU say that today the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant is experiencing a serious shortage of electronic components...for the production of strategic missiles," the channel said. "The electronics of the new RS-28 (Sarmat) missile system are largely of foreign origin and, due to sanctions, are experiencing a serious shortage. Now all efforts are being made to somehow correct the situation with...

President Vladimir Putin is facing trouble in his ongoing war in Ukraine, days before the country's election, which is expected to result in the Russian leader remaining in power until at least 2030. This week has so far been tumultuous for the Russian president. On Tuesday night, the country was attacked by more than 60 Ukrainian drones, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, with targets including a Federal Security Service building in the southern Belgorod region and an oil refinery—both of which sustained damage. Multiple incursions by Russian defectors were also launched on Russian soil. The militia groups Freedom of...

Ukrainian forces destroyed the Russian Black Sea Fleet's newest patrol ship, the Sergey Kotov, using naval drones in an overnight attack, Kyiv has said. According to the Unian news agency, Russia's newest Project 22160 patrol ship cost around $65 million to build and had a crew of 80, though it is currently unclear how many people were on board. "As a result of the attack by Magura V5 naval drones, the Russian ship of project 22160 'Sergey Kotov' suffered damage to the stern, right and left sides," Ukraine's military intelligence said in a post on Telegram. Ukraine has used Magura...

Vladimir Putin's military is unlikely to use its prized T-14 Armata tank in combat in Ukraine because it is "too valuable," an ally of the Russian president said. The comments were made by Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, the country's state-owned defense conglomerate, in an interview with Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti, published Sunday. Moscow is reported to have briefly deployed several of the main battle tanks for combat operations in July 2023, before they were withdrawn from the front line. The tank was once labeled by a senior British army official as "the most revolutionary tank in...

Deliveries of all-new Russian aircraft have been delayed by two years due to safety concerns ... The publication said that, for example, the weight of the new MS-21 passenger aircraft has increased by 5.75 tons, compared to the previous version, which used foreign components and Western engines. This means its flight range and altitude have been significantly reduced. One of Kommersant's sources said that, if Russia is unable to reduce the weight of the aircraft, it will be impossible for authorities to make the plane achieve the desired performance characteristics. "It's impossible to increase engine thrust by 20 percent," the...

Russia has approved a temporary ban on the export of gasoline, a representative for the country's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told local media on Tuesday. Beginning May 1, Russia will impose a six-month ban on gasoline exports to allow the country to "offset the booming demand for petroleum products," the official told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in an internal letter in January, publication RBC reported. Fuel shortages have been reported nationwide in Russia, which is one of the world's biggest producers of oil and gas. Wholesale fuel prices have soared across the country, and Ukraine has ramped up...