Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been confirmed dead after genetic analysis of bodies found in Wednesday’s plane crash, Russian officials say. The Investigative Committee (SK) said the identities of all 10 victims had been established and corresponded to those on the flight’s Continue Reading
A Russian tanker with 11 crew members has been hit in a Ukrainian attack in the Black Sea, Russian officials say. They said the vessel’s engine room was damaged in the overnight strike in the Kerch Strait. No-one was hurt. Ukraine has not publicly commented. But a Ukrainian security service source told the BBC a […]Continue Reading
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he does not reject the idea of peace talks on Ukraine. Speaking after meeting African leaders in St Petersburg, he said African and Chinese initiatives could serve as a basis for finding peace. President Putin also said it was hard to implement a ceasefire when the Ukrainian army was […]Continue Reading
Vice President, Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja to represent President Bola Tinubu at two major international summits in Rome, Italy, and St Petersburg, Russia. Shettima, who left the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 3 pm Sunday, will join other global leaders for the first Stocktaking Moment Summit, with the theme, “Transforming Food Systems […]Continue Reading
More than 2,000 residents are being evacuated from four villages in Russian-occupied Crimea after a fire that triggered hours of explosions at a nearby ammunition depot. Russian-installed officials also shut a stretch of the motorway that crosses the southern half of the peninsula. They did not explain the cause of the fire at a military […]Continue Reading
The UN has expressed deep concern about an escalation of hostilities in north-western Syria after at least 11 people were reportedly killed in Russian air strikes on rebel held Idlib province. Nine were killed when warplanes dropped bombs next to a market outside Jisr al-Shughour on Sunday, rescuers said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights […]Continue Reading
Mali’s foreign minister has called on the UN to withdraw its peacekeeping force from his country “without delay”. Abdoulaye Diop accused the force, Minusma, of having “become a part of the problem in fuelling intercommunal tensions”. He was addressing the UN Security Council. Minusma has more than 13,000 troops. Its decade-old mission has Continue Reading
Ukraine’s military has launched attacks on occupying Russian forces in the key southern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian officials and military bloggers say. Reports say Ukrainian troops – backed by tanks, artillery and drones – are trying to advance south of the town of Orikhiv for the second night running. A senior Ukrainian defence official said the […]Continue Reading
Russia’s military says it has thwarted another major offensive by Ukrainian forces in Donetsk, destroying military equipment and inflicting huge personnel losses on the enemy. A defence ministry statement early hour on Tuesday said Russian forces had repelled Ukraine’s second major offensive in two days, destroying, among other military equipment, eight main Continue Reading
A 15-year-old Sasha Kraynyuk has studied the photograph handed to him by Ukrainian investigators, as he recognised the boy dressed in Russian military uniform immediately. The teenager sitting at a school desk has the Z-mark of Russia’s war emblazoned on his right sleeve, coloured in the red, white and blue of the Russian flag. But […]Continue Reading
A huge pro-EU rally has taken place in Moldova’s capital Chisinau, organised by the country’s President Maia Sandu. An estimated 75,000 people turned out to support Moldova’s push to join the European Union. Her pro-Western government has accused Russia of stoking tensions by supporting Moldova’s pro-Russian opposition Sor party. Moscow denies Continue Reading
Russia has launched a series of missile and artillery attacks on Ukraine, the second pre-dawn attack in three days. One person died in the Kherson region and 25 people – including three children – were injured in Dnipropetrovsk. Ukraine’s armed forces said 15 of 18 missiles fired were intercepted by the country’s air defence. One […]Continue Reading
At least four persons have been killed in a fresh Russian attack on several Ukrainian cities. Upper floors of two student dormitories were hit early on Wednesday in a drone strike in the city of Rzhyshchiv, on the outskirts of the capital. A rescue service said an 11-year-old was among the wounded. Separately, officials in […]Continue Reading
The US has accused Russia of reckless behaviour after an American surveillance drone crashed into the Black Sea following an encounter with Russian fighter jets. The US says the drone was on a routine mission in international airspace when two Russian jets tried to intercept it. The incident highlights the increasing risk of direct confrontation […]Continue Reading
UN head António Guterres has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an “affront” to the world’s collective conscience at a meeting of the General Assembly nearly one year on. The meeting was debating a motion backed by Ukraine and its allies demanding Russia pull out immediately and unconditionally. Ukraine hopes that by supporting the motion Continue Reading
China is considering giving Russia weapons and ammunition for the Ukraine war, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said. Mr Blinken told CBS News that Chinese companies were already providing “non-lethal support” to Russia – and new information suggested Beijing could provide “lethal support”. This escalation would mean “serious Continue Reading
Ukrainian defence minister says, as Western countries, once concerned that military assistance could be seen as an escalation by Russia, change their “thinking approach”. In an interview with BBC, Oleksii Reznikov said he was sure that, Ukraine would receive long-sought weapons, including tanks and fighter jets, as both Ukraine and Russia seemed to be preparing Continue Reading
Russia has said a New Year’s Day missile attack which killed at least 89 Russian soldiers happened because troops were using their mobile phones. Use of banned phones allowed the enemy to locate its target, officials said. An investigation has already begun. Ukraine says 400 soldiers were killed – and another 300 wounded – in […]Continue Reading
A Ukrainian drone attack on Engels bomber base in south Russia has left three people dead, Moscow says. Air defences reportedly shot down the drone but falling debris caused the casualties in the overnight attack. Russia accuses Ukraine of carrying out a similar attack on the airfield, home to strategic bombers, on 5 December. The […]Continue Reading
The US and Russia have exchanged jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, held in an American prison for 12 years. The swap was approved by President Joe Biden in recent days, sources told CBS. Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February for possessing cannabis oil and last […]Continue Reading
Russia has launched massive missile strikes across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, causing power and water outages. At least two blasts were reported in Kyiv. According to the report, one resident said his district was without electricity. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, critical infrastructure facilities were hit. The strikes come after Russia blamed Ukraine Continue Reading
Russia has hit the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with a wave of Iranian-made kamikaze drones – killing at least one person, says Mayor Vitali Klitschko. “It shows their desperation,” said Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s staff, and in the port city of Mykolaiv, sunflower oil tanks were set on fire by similar drones, […]Continue Reading
Light traffic has resumed on Russia’s only bridge to Crimea, hours after a huge blast brought down sections of the roadway. According to investigations, the blast on Europe’s longest bridge – a symbol of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 – killed three people. Russian officials claimed that, the victims were in […]Continue Reading
A large fire on the only crossing between the occupied Crimean peninsula and Russia was caused by a lorry explosion, Russian officials say. A blast on the road section led to oil tankers on the rail section catching fire, before the road collapsed. Crimea was annexed in 2014 by Russia, which now uses the bridge […]Continue Reading
Russia’s Vladimir Putin will hold a signing ceremony on Friday formally annexing four more areas of Ukraine after self-styled referendums condemned by Ukraine and the West as a sham. Russian-backed officials had earlier claimed the five-day exercise secured almost total popular support. So-called votes were held in Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, and in […]Continue Reading