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Poland's foreign minister says his country has evidence that Russia recruited people on the Telegram messaging service to carry out last year's massive shopping centre fire in Warsaw. Speaking to the BBC in an exclusive interview, Radek Sikorski said Moscow's actions were "completely unacceptable" and that a second Russian consulate in Poland had been closed as a result. His comments come after a Polish investigation concluded that the Marywilska shopping centre fire was orchestrated by Moscow's intelligence services. Russia denied its involvement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accusing Poland of being "Russophobic".

On Friday, SpaceX's Crew-10 mission launched to help bring back the two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station. Astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to just be at the ISS for eight days, but they've been stuck there since June 2024. A SpaceX Dragon capsule, riding atop one of the company's Falcon 9 rockets, is carrying the four Crew-10 astronauts - NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov - to orbit.They are going to replace SpaceX's Crew-9, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut...

NASA's beleaguered mission to rescue two stranded astronauts has finally launched, setting the stage for a happy ending to the nine-month-long saga. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully took off Friday night from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, on a mission to deliver four new astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The new team is scheduled to arrive at the station on late on Saturday. Once there, astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will finally be able to return to Earth at some point on or shortly after March 19. The pair have been stranded in orbit since June 5,...

Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, for talks on resolving bilateral disputes that form part of a wider dialogue they see as crucial to ending the Ukraine war. -snip- Trump has said he wants to move quickly towards a ceasefire in Ukraine, but Putin this week tempered expectations of rapid progress, saying nothing could be achieved without restoring trust between Russia and the United States. -snip- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Wednesday that there was an understanding that Trump and Putin should meet in person after thorough preparation, but...

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has denied claims that he will visit Vladimir Putin in Moscow for the May 9 victory day parade. -snip- Trump has rubbished a report he will fly to Russia for Victory Day celebrations on May 9. It comes after French outlet Le Point claimed, citing Russian sources, that the Republican would be in attendance, marking the first visit by a US president since mad Vlad launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But President Trump was quick to squash the claim, responding "no, I'm not" upon being asked if he was to attend. He also...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked for his initials to be engraved on chains of crosses that will be given to the participants and the commanders of Russian military units in the operation in Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesperson said, Interfax reports. "I believe our friends will be honored to receive these symbols of faith which were consecrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia during the festive liturgy on [Orthodox] Christmas Eve," Dmitry Peskov quoted the Russian leader as saying. At Putin's request and in his presence, Patriarch Kirill held the consecration ceremony of these crosses and icons for...

The Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow, but disputed a claim he made that Western journalists hadn't attempted to interview the leader throughout the war. -snip- Peskov said Carlson is "wrong" by suggesting that Western journalists haven't attempted to interview Putin—an assertion the former Fox News host made in a lengthy video announcing his interview with the Russian leader. "He, in fact, cannot know this. We receive many requests for interviews with the president," Peskov said. -snip- Many Western journalists have interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr...

The successor of sitting Russian President Vladimir Putin will be very similar to him politically, the Kremlin suggests. -snip- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a university student-run channel operated by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations that Putin's eventual successor will be "the same. Or different, but the same," according to the Moscow Times. -snip- Peskov told news outlets in October that there is no competition against Putin ahead of the next presidential election next year. "We have repeatedly said that President Putin is undoubtedly the number-one politician and statesman in our country," said Peskov. "In my personal opinion...

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that, all the preparations are in full swing for the May 9 Victory Day Parade on Moscow’s Red Square. The governors of the concerned regions would make their decisions on regional events proceeding from security considerations. Due to the decision taken by the authorities of the Kursk Region against holding the event this year, Dmitry Peskov was asked whether the May 9 Victory Day Parade is cancelled in the Red Square also. Dmitry Peskov clarified that, “This is the prerogative of the heads of regions. Naturally, they make corresponding decisions proceeding from...

Russia has warned it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures" to address what it called security threats created by Finland's (NATO) membership. https://www.euronews.com/2023/04/04/russia-warns-of-retaliatory-measures-over-finlands-nato-membership By Euronews with AP • Updated: 04/04/2023 - 16:08 Russia has warned it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures" to address what it called security threats created by Finland's membership. It had already warned that it would bolster defences along its border with NATO if the alliance deploys any additional troops or equipment to its new member. The move is a strategic and political blow to President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s...

The battle for Soledar in eastern Ukraine continues to intensify, with Ukraine denying claims by the private Russian Vagner military group that it had taken control of the salt-mining town. Ukraine's Defense Ministry cited "colossal losses" by Russian forces trying to capture the town in a sustained offensive that the ministry described on January 11 as "maniacal" as the community's fate hangs in the balance. -snip- Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his forces had taken control of Soledar, which lies near another heavily contested city, Bakhmut, after Russian troops regrouped during an Orthodox Christmas pause last weekend. -snip- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov...

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued on Thursday that Russia's latest attacks against Ukraine's power grid weren't aimed at the civilian population, urging Kiev to "end the suffering" of its people by accepting Moscow's terms to end the war. Russia's requests for ending the attacks include Ukraine proclaiming political and military neutrality, recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and granting independence to Donetsk and Lugansk.Despite millions of Ukrainians currently without power across the country, Peskov told reporters that Russia's military pays "special attention to avoid striking social targets... As for targets that are directly or indirectly related to military potential, they are...

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — A current FBI special agent and a former bureau analyst who both served on Robert Mueller’s team testified that the special counsel’s office declined to investigate and never interviewed Charles Dolan, the Clinton-allied business associate of the main source for Christopher Steele, despite their urging. Supervisory special agent Amy Anderson and former FBI intelligence analyst Brittany Hertzog both testified Friday that, as members of Mueller’s team who were specifically tasked with scrutinizing the allegations within the Trump dossier, they believed the FBI should interview and further investigate Dolan, a longtime ally of Bill and Hillary Clinton, partly...

This is collusion. The real thing. Dossier author Christopher Steele identified a former Russian spy chief and a top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin as being involved in handling potentially compromising information about President Donald Trump, State Department notes show. In her notes, State Department official Kathleen Kavalec also referred to the two Russians — former Russian foreign intelligence chief Vyacheslav Trubnikov and Putin aide Vladislav Surkov — as “sources.” The references to Trubnikov and Surkov, which have not previously been reported, are not definitive proof that either were sources for Steele’s dossier or that they were involved in an...

A request for Russian military assistance from the head of a Moscow-backed rebel in Ukraine's Donbas region has been batted away by the Kremlin. Facing fierce shelling from Ukrainian forces, Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), requested additional assistance from the Russian government in a video published on his Telegram channel on Monday. Pushilin accused Kyiv of using "prohibited methods of warfare," and that the central districts of Donetsk were being shelled while other settlements in the republic were under fire. "In this regard, an understanding was reached that all the necessary additional forces of the...

BREAKING: Putin’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov says Russia would use nuclear weapons if faced with "existential" threat. “…If it is an existential threat, a threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept."pic.twitter.com/X5Z6XBlSnq— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 22, 2022

Russia would use nuclear weapons if it feels threatened, a Kremlin official said Tuesday. Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov was asked on CNN whether the idea of nuclear warfare was still on the table during the war with Ukraine. Peskov said that only an "existential" threat would be enough to justify the use of nuclear warfare.

There is no evidence in the emails that Mr. Sater delivered on his promises, and one email suggests that Mr. Sater overstated his Russian ties. In January 2016, Mr. Cohen wrote to Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, asking for help restarting the Trump Tower project, which had stalled. But Mr. Sater did not appear to have Mr. Peskov’s direct email, and instead wrote to a general inbox for press inquiries. The project never got government permits or financing, and died weeks later. “To be clear, the Trump Organization has never had any real estate holdings or interests in Russia,”...