CDE News

Hundreds of Russians join Moscow protest over parliamentary election

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Hundreds of people, angered by last week's parliamentary election, joined a protest in central Moscow on Saturday, holding posters carrying slogans such as "bring back the elections".…

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U.N. rights chief urges Belarus neighbours to protect asylum-seekers

The United Nations human rights chief called on Belarus’ neighbours to protect asylum seekers after four people died near the Polish border earlier this week amid a surge in illegal…

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Photo Story: Spot the soldiers

Russian servicemen display military camouflage equipment during the joint military anti-terrorist command and staff exercise of the armed forces of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states Peace Mission-2021 at the…

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Ukrainian lawmakers pass law on oligarchs after assassination attempt

Ukraine's parliament passed a law on Thursday to order "oligarchs" to register and stay out of politics, a day after an attempt to kill a top aide to President Volodymyr…

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Russian navy practices striking Black Sea targets as Ukraine, U.S. hold drills

Russia's navy practised firing at targets in the Black Sea off the coast of annexed Crimea using its Bastion coastal missile defence system, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Thursday as…

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UPDATED: Russia’s COVID-19 deaths return to record daily highs

Russia on Thursday reported 820 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, matching an all-time high set on Aug. 26, and authorities warned that cases were again rising rapidly. Moscow…

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Ukraine left puzzled after assassination attempt on president’s top aide

KYIV, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Ukrainian police are trying to work out who ordered unidentified individuals to try to murder a top aide of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after his car…

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Russia was behind Litvinenko assassination, European court finds

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights found on Tuesday that Russia was responsible for the assassination of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died an agonising…

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Ukraine holds military drills with U.S. forces, NATO allies

Ukraine began joint military exercises with U.S. and other NATO troops on Monday, at a time when neighbouring Russia and Belarus have been holding large-scale drills that alarmed the West.…

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Four people found dead on Polish border with Belarus

Polish officials said the bodies of three men, believed to be Iraqi nationals, were found on the Polish side of the Poland-Belarus border while Belarusian authorities announced an Iraqi woman was…

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UPDATED: Eight killed in shooting at Russia’s Perm State University

A student opened fire at a university in the Russian city of Perm on Monday, killing at least eight people and wounding several, law enforcement said. The gunman was himself…

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UPDATED: Russia’s ruling pro-Putin party wins majority, credible reports of massive irregularities

Russia's ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, retained its parliamentary majority after an election and a sweeping crackdown on its critics, but opponents alleged widespread fraud. A…

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Russia’s ruling pro-Putin party wins parliamentary vote – early results/exit poll

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, is on course to win a three-day parliamentary election, initial results and an exit poll showed on…

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UPDATED: Pro-Putin party heads for Russian election win after Navalny clampdown

Russians vote on Sunday in the final stretch of a three-day parliamentary election that the ruling party is expected to win after a sweeping crackdown that crushed Kremlin critic Alexei…

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Putin says Russia needs to work with the Taliban

Russia needs to work with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at a meeting of a China- and Russia-led security bloc, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation…

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Pro-Putin ruling party seeks new majority as Russia votes

MOSCOW, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Russia goes to the polls on Friday to elect a new parliament in a three-day vote that the ruling United Russia party is expected to…

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Russia’s Central Asian allies say won’t host Afghan refugees

MOSCOW, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Members of a Russia-led security bloc that includes some countries adjacent or close to Afghanistan have no plans to host Afghan refugees amid the political…

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UPDATED: Putin to remain in COVID-19 isolation for “a few days”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he would have to spend "a few days" in self-isolation after dozens of people in his entourage fell ill with COVID-19, the TASS…

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Putin to self-isolate after coming after coronavirus cases in entourage

Russian President Vladimir Putin will go into self-isolation after cases of the new coronavirus were detected in his entourage and will therefore not travel to Tajikistan this week for regional security meetings,…

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Putin meets al-Assad in Moscow, criticizes foreign forces in Syria

President Vladimir Putin received Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in Moscow for the first time since 2015 on Monday and criticised foreign forces that are in Syria without a U.N. mandate,…

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Belarus leader reviews joint Russian military drills, touts $1 billion arms deals

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko reviewed on Sunday large joint military drills with Russia and said his country planned to buy more than $1 billion worth of arms…

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Four killed as passenger plane makes emergency landing in Siberia

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Four people were killed when a small Russian passenger plane with 14 passengers and two crew on board made an emergency landing in a forest in southeastern…

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Russia summons U.S. Ambassador over alleged interference in election – agencies

MOSCOW, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Russia summoned U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan on Friday over alleged interference by the United States in an election, Russian agencies TASS and RIA reported, quoting…

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Russia completes Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction

Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Friday it had finished construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas subsea pipeline to Germany, completing Moscow's project to increase its gas exporting capability…

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Ukraine president says war with Russia is a worst-case possibility

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that all-out war with neighbouring Russia was a possibility, and that he wanted to have a substantive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.…

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Russia and Belarus formally open huge war games, worrying NATO

Russia and ex-Soviet ally Belarus on Friday launched the active phase of vast military exercises involving 200,000 personnel that have alarmed Ukraine and some NATO nations. The "Zapad-2021" war games,…

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Azerbaijan raises assumed oil price for 2022 draft budget

Azerbaijan has increased the assumed average oil price in its 2022 draft budget to $45 a barrel, from a previously envisaged $40 a barrel, the finance ministry said on Thursday.…

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Smoke detected in Russian module on space station – Roscosmos

A smoke alarm was activated in a Russian service module on the International Space Station (ISS), the Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Thursday, and Russian news agencies reported that…

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Photo Story: Fatal gas explosion in Noginsk, Russia

The general view of a gas explosion at a nine-storey residential building in Noginsk, Moscow region, Russia. The explosion killed two people while nine others were hospitalized. Via EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

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UPDATED: Russia’s emergencies minister dies during Arctic training exercise

Russia's Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev has died during a training exercise in the Arctic, the RIA news agency cited the ministry as saying on Wednesday. The ministry said Zinichev had…

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Russia, Ukraine trade accusations over annexed Crimea

Russia's FSB security service on Tuesday accused Ukraine of organising an attack on a gas pipeline in Russian-annexed Crimea, an allegation rejected by Kyiv which said Moscow was trying to punish prominent Crimean…

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Russian-led misinformation campaign targets hosts of major international news sites

A number of major European news websites have been targeted by a pro-Kremlin propaganda and disinformation campaign, a new report by Cardiff University has claimed. The targeted portals include leading…

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Poland condemns jailing of Belarus protest leaders

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz on Monday condemned prison sentences imposed on Belarusian opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak. Kolesnikova and Znak were sentenced to 11 years and 10…

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Research shows pro-Kremlin trolls target prominent news website comments

A major operation to influence public opinion saw comments posted on Western media articles in support of Russian interests, according to new research. Cardiff University's Crime and Security Research Institute…

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UPDATED: Belarusian court jails protest leader Kolesnikova for 11 years

Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of mass street protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko last year, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday, the state-run Belta news…

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Russia’s coronavirus cases surpass 7 million mark

Russia's coronavirus cases tally hit 7 million on Sunday, with the country reporting 18,645 new infections in the past 24 hours and 793 more deaths. The latest figures took the…

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Russian finance ministry to buy $4.5 bln worth of gold, FX in September

Russia's finance ministry said on Friday it would buy 14.9 billion roubles ($204.8 million) worth of foreign currency a day between Sept. 7 and Oct. 6, an increase in the…

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NATO calls on Russia to be transparent with military exercises

NATO's secretary general called on Russia on Friday to be open about its "Zapad-2021" military exercises and the troop numbers involved as alarm grows in Poland, the Baltics and Ukraine…

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Poland, Latvia worry over Russia’s war games on tense EU-Belarus border

Poland and Latvia expressed concern over Russia’s looming military drills held jointly on Belarus’ western border where the European Union accuses Minsk of pushing migrants over to put pressure on…

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Putin calls for launch of regular cargo shipments via northern sea route next year

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia should start regular container shipments via the Northern Sea Route across its northern flank from Vladivostok to St Petersburg next year. Russia…

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Russian editor decries ‘destruction of media’ before election

The editor-in-chief of a Russian news outlet designated a "foreign agent" after it investigated the poisoning of opposition politician Alexei Navalny has accused the Russian state of destroying the media.…

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Poland requests state of emergency on Belarus border amid migrant surge

The Polish government asked the president on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency in two regions on its border with Belarus after the Polish Border Guard said hundreds of illegal crossings…

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Biden to welcome Zelenskiy to White House on Wednesday

President Joe Biden will meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity between the two countries, the White House said on Sunday. The meeting is…

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Around 500 Russian troops in drills near Afghanistan

Around 500 Russian motorised infantry troops are carrying out drills in the mountains of Tajikistan against the backdrop of instability in neighbouring Afghanistan, Russia's defence ministry was quoted as saying…

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Russian anti-aircraft missile troops arrive to Belarus to set up training centre

MOSCOW, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Russian anti-aircraft missile troops have arrived in Belarus with a mission of establishing a training centre in the city of Grodno near the border with…

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Russia reports 798 COVID-19 deaths

Russia on Friday reported 798 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours as well as 19,509 new cases, including 1,509 in Moscow. Official case numbers have been gradually falling since…

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Photo Story: Moldova celebrates 30 years of independence

Two women soldiers make selfie while waiting for military parade in Chisinau, Moldova, 27 August 2021. The parade was delayed for more than one hour, waiting for arrive of Romanian…

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Kremlin says danger in Afghanistan remains high after Kabul attack

The Kremlin said on Friday that danger remained high for everyone in Afghanistan after an attack at an airport in Kabul, and that Islamic State and other militant groups were…

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Russia reports record 820 COVID-19 deaths

Russia on Thursday reported a record 820 coronavirus-related deaths amid a surge of cases blamed on the Delta variant and the slow rate of vaccinations. The government’s coronavirus task force…

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Hungary, Russia plan to sign vaccine production deal, new gas supply contract -minister

Hungary is in advance talks with Russia on a licence-based production of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in Hungary that could start from the end of 2022, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday.…

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Lithuania says will complete Belarus border fence by Sept 2022

Lithuania said on Monday it would complete a 508-km (315-mile) fence along its border with Belarus by September next year to stop migrants it says are crossing in record numbers orchestrated…

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Russia says it detained a Ukrainian spy trying to steal arms secrets

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday it had detained a Ukrainian man caught "red-handed" trying to steal state secrets about its small arms industry in Tula, a town…

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Ukraine says discussed guarantees with US, Germany over Nord Stream 2 pipeline

The energy ministers of Ukraine, the United States and Germany discussed guarantees for Ukraine about its future as a transit country after the construction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas…

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Russia’s daily COVID-19 cases below 20,000 for first time since June 23

Russia reported 19,454 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, the first time the daily tally has dipped below 20,000 since June 23 as authorities blamed a case surge on the infectious…

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Russia’s Putin: we don’t want Afghan militants in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the conflict in Afghanistan directly affects the security situation in Russia, Russian news agencies reported. Putin criticised an idea of some Western…

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Russia reports 20,564 new COVID-19 cases and 762 deaths

Russia reported 20,564 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, including 1,661 in Moscow and 1,481 in St. Petersburg, which took the national tally to 6,747,087. The Russian coronavirus task force said…

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European neighbours jointly rebuke Belarus for illegal migrant surge

WARSAW (Reuters) - The leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia came together on Saturday to condemn Belarus for allowing migrants to illegally cross its borders into the European Union. "All European Union member states have…

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