Russia has claimed it has foiled a number of plots to assassinate high-ranking officers and their families in Moscow using bombs disguised as power banks or document folders.The country’s Federal Security Service added that four Russian citizens allegedly involved in planning the attack had been detained.
To ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights, temporary restrictions have been introduced on the operation of Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Zhukovsky and Kaluga airports,” Russia’s aviation authority said.
It provoked outrage from outgoing US President Joe Biden who vowed to deliver more weapons to Ukraine after sending hundreds of air defence missiles in recent months. “The Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety,” he said. Weapons such as surface-to-air missiles can cost many times more than the drones they are trying to shoot down
The missile has been branded as Ukraine's answer to dwindling Western aid, building self-reliance in defense technologies.
"Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day," said Keith Kellogg, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Ukraine and Russia envoy.
Russia wants a legally binding deal for a lasting peace in war-torn Ukraine that would ensure the security in the region, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday that Russia was closer to reaching its goals in Ukraine and that the front line was advancing every day.
A Russian general who was wanted by Ukraine for using chemical munitions was killed by a remotely detonated bomb in Moscow on Tuesday, Russian authorities said.
Igor Kirillov, who was named the head of Russia’s nuclear defense forces in April 2017, was under sanctions from several countries including the U.K. and Canada for his role in Ukraine.
But he attached numerous caveats to the idea of compromise, suggesting Moscow’s goal of subjugating Ukraine and winning major security guarantees remain in place. Read the analysis by Steve ...