Holland says its jets intercepted Russian transport plane in Baltic airspace Wednesday

The European Union is also poised to impose new sanctions on Iran, related to drones and missiles

According to the report, Israel’s war cabinet will meet on April 16 for a third straight day

Meanwhile, Slovakia supports Ukraine’s accession to the European Union

Nikol Pashinyan said about it, replying to a question from a resident of the borderline village of Berkaber about the necessity to hold snap elections before delimiting the border with Azerbaijan

The number of employees in IT companies increased by 1.5 times over four years, Maksut Shadaev said

According to Rada Deputy Speaker Alexander Korniyenko, some of the law’s provisions will take effect after its publication, while most of them will enter into force in a month

The Ukrainian army losses were up to 70 servicemen, three motor vehicles, a D-30 howitzer, 2 Plastun-3000 electronic reconnaissance stations and a Nota electronic warfare station

Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, April 18th

The legitimacy of the authorities is a hot button issue in Ukraine, where parliamentary and presidential elections are prohibited during martial law

There are two countries on the list

The President of the United States has made that very clear

The banker stressed that VTB is working as part of a pilot project for the digital ruble, including in the field of cross-border settlements

The Russian defense minister has given his instructions to speed up the introduction of promising weapons that have been tested in the special military operation zone into service with the Russian Army

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed the mobilization law passed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) in the second and final reading on April 11

Russian troops took better frontline positions in the Donetsk area over the past day, the ministry reported

Dmitry Peskov mentioned a recent phone call between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

Anatoly Antonov emphasized that such steps were another powerful blow to strategic stability

Maria Zakharova wondered how the Western public, government agencies and intelligence services would feel if military experts from third countries started openly discussing ways to blow up bridges in Germany and Portugal

Russian Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov earlier reported to President Vladimir Putin that the spring flood wave had passed Orsk and Orenburg, the water level was dangerous but decreasing

The Chinese leader had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukrainian crisis with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is on an official visit to Beijing

Maria Zakharova also pointed to the fact that Ukraine's special services do not give up attempts to "massacre their former compatriots"

The ministers expressed their willingness to find a way for the center to continue to operate beyond 2025

"China always opposes the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and will continue to take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," Liu Pengyu said

Earlier on Wednesday, Georgia’s parliament passed the foreign agents bill in the first reading

The IDF also said that its soldiers were forced to open fire in the area in order to "remove an imminent threat"

According to Salome Zourabichvili, she is certain that the parliamentary majority will override her veto

Viktor Orban noted that there should be a buffer zone between NATO and Russia and Ukraine could serve as one

According to Grigory Karasin, many BRICS members share the opinion that the association should be in no hurry to adopt a strict charter, "seeing how counterproductively and even provocatively the European Union is acting"

The bill also includes a proposal to earmark $2.4 billion to fund US Armed Forces operating in the Middle East in response to threats against Israel

Vasily Nebenzya is convinced that the work of the UNRWA is indispensable under these circumstances

According to the media outlet, "the US administration will support the plan for a military operation in Rafah put forward earlier," which provides for dividing the city into numbered sectors that will be mopped up one by one

"Investigation should be objective and based not only on data provided by Israel but also on Palestinian information", Vasily Nebenzya said

Nikolay Azarov noted that currently, law enforcement’s main job in Ukraine was to tighten the screws on the country’s population

The Ukrainian army used the outbuilding as an ammunition depot, which accommodated about 15 fighters at the time of the air strike, spokesman Sergey Lebedev specified

The G7 finance ministers and Central Bank chiefs also condemned "the unprecedented attack against Israel by Iran"

The Der Spiegel magazine claims that the saboteurs’ targets included military cargo routes

"Ramadan has passed, and the question of a long-term ceasefire is once again very acute," Vasily Nebenzya said

"The US and Western countries should stop Israel, tell it "Stop!" and prevent the conflict from spilling over," Hakan Fidan said

The participants in the exercises will practice interaction in getting ready for and conducting combat operations by aviation and air defense forces that are part of the unified regional air defense system of Russia and Belarus

Israel told the US administration about the decision to wait, according to a US official

Maria Zakharova pointed out that the southern Kuril Islands were an integral part of Russia under international law based on the outcome of World War II

Iran has the region’s largest arsenal of ballistic missiles, estimated to number in the low thousands, Behnam Ben Taleblu noted

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian added that prior to the attack, Tehran said that it would not target US military infrastructure in the Middle East "except in a situation where the United States wants to take military measures in support of Israel"

Vladimir Zelensky asked his country’s supporters to provide "everything that helps to hold the frontline," including shells, military vehicles and drones

Laurent Briard believes that French President Emmanuel Macron crossed a line when he announced he was considering sending French troops to Ukraine

The Russian defense minister "personally tested the special transportation vehicle and its running qualities"

According to the report, the area around the discovered balloon was cordoned off and residents of nearby houses were evacuated

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik, over that period, Ukrainian troops fired "at least 1,362 munitions" at civilian facilities

After Truss’ statements urging Moscow to move its forces, located on Russia’s soil, away from the border with Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov asked his British counterpart if she recognized Russia’s sovereignty over the Voronezh and Rostov Regions

No shelling attacks on Syrian troops were registered over the past 24 hours

"All NATO allies agree that the 9M729 is not compliant with the INF Treaty," the US embassy’s spokesperson said

The increase in motor gasoline production in mid-April is associated with production recovery after a local drop due to unscheduled repairs at refineries

Another source said MiG-31I differs from previous MiG-K option by "different engines, avionics and missiles"

The Russian president pointed out that Moscow’s "program of assistance to the African countries in sanitary and epidemiological well-being provides for the delivery of ten mobile high-containment biological laboratories"

On Thursday night, air defenses destroyed three drones near Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in the Rostov Region

I"DF soldiers recently carried out strikes to eliminate "an immediate threat" in the Qawqaba area in southern Lebanon," Israel Defense Forces said

G7 countries are also set to take measures to counter alleged attempts to circumvent its price cap on Russian oil

"Taking into account the fact that Canberra does not intend to give up its anti-Russian course and continues to introduce new sanctions, work on updating the Russian stop list will continue," the ministry said

UNSC approval would mean neither "statehood nor self-determination" for the Palestinian people, the State Department argued

Ebrahim Raisi opined that the UN Security Council and the organization as a whole "failed to fulfill their minimum legal obligations to condemn the [Israeli] attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus"

The EU, the US, Japan and Canada have frozen Russian assets worth a total amount of around $300 bln

The group contains US finance and justice ministers, representatives of Australia, the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan, as well as the European Commission

The first Konteiner radar went on combat duty in the Volga area region of Mordovia on December 1, 2019

Top stories from the Russian press on Wednesday, April 17th

Russia’s Federal Security Service has made the memo public on the 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s liberation of Western Ukraine

Igor Kimakovsky said that Ukrainian forces suffered heavy casualties among personnel and military hardware, including Western equipment

Vasily Nebenzya also pointed at the European Union’s double standards with regard to refugees from Ukraine and the Global South

Yevgeny Pogrebnyak said that he was treated well by Russian troops in his captivity

"The defense ministries of Azerbaijan and Russia are taking the necessary measures to implement the decision," Hikmet Hajiyev added

In 2022, 16 individuals were convicted of high treason and one was convicted of spying

According to Governor Alexander Gusev, last night the air defenses on duty in the Voronezh Region detected and destroyed several air targets, including three weather probes

"The experienced and all-too-familiar Hollywood touch can be seen behind these rallies," the politician pointed out

The report said that the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement is also reducing the number of its officers in Syria

"The meeting focused on the situation in the region," said in the statement

The region's governor Roman Starovoit said 50 apartment buildings, 975 single-family homes, two stores, seven social and cultural buildings have been restored in the region since the beginning of the special operation

Anatoly Antonov has urged the US "not to open Pandora's Box" and follow Russia’s suit "by taking all necessary steps to ensure global stability and predictability"

Yury Borisov said that the space facility’s launch pad bore practically no visible signs of the recent Angara-A5 carrier rocket’s launch

The document also says that the EU and its member states will step up humanitarian support and civil protection assistance to Ukraine

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry is assigned to oversee the process of sending the evacuees to their respective regions in accordance with an annex to the directive

Protests against the bill have been held outside the parliament building since Monday

Sergey Ryabkov said the US seeks to maintain military superiority in a great variety of areas

"Ambassador Vinay Kumar paid a courtesy call on [Russian] Foreign Minister H.E. Mr. Sergey Lavrov," the embassy said on its X page

Investigators have established that the funds that were received through commercial organizations, such as the oil and gas company Burisma Holdings operating in Ukraine, have been used to carry out terrorist acts in Russia and abroad

According to Wei Dongxu, Tehran's firepower can cover most of the Middle East region, representing a fierce and precise long-range retaliatory means

According to Andrey Zolotarev, domestically, the population’s confidence level in President Vladimir Zelensky and state authorities will plummet

Alexander Orlov noted that recently French President Emmanuel Macron "has made a number of questionable moves that have increased the divide" between both countries

Robert Fico believes Moscow will win in its confrontation with Kiev

"Without noticing it themselves, they spoke the language of an ultimatum," Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova underlined

"So we got two letters that said: whatever we do, we would be violating the US Constitution," Pavel Durov said

According to the newspaper’s assessments, Russia "has never been closer to its goals" in the special military operation zone

The Turkish leader also announced talks with Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Turkey on April 20

He also said that the US military contacted Russia and the United Kingdom while evaluating the potential of the Iranian attack

According to the minister, Russia is interested in increasing the role of the BRICS states in the international monetary, financial and trading systems, developing interbank cooperation, expanding the use of national currencies and creating its own exchange

On Wednesday night, the Israel Defense Forces press office reported that Israeli fighter jets struck "significant Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure used by the terrorist organization’s aerial defense system" in Lebanon

Sergey Ryabkov stressed that the attacks on the nuclear facility "must be stopped"

Top stories from the Russian press on Monday, April 15th

Nikol Pashinyan pointed out that the demarcation process also involves risks, but they are manageable, after which "Armenia will become ten times stronger"

According to Denis Pushilin, it is too early to say when the city could be liberated

The report did not specify which facilities in Israel had been attacked with hypersonic missiles