This week in photos: a bridge to Crimea, colours of Holi festival and merry Purim

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

The Russian president has ordered that migration policy be overhauled taking into account the national interests and security of the population, and the importance of preserving Russia’s culture and language, Nikolay Patrushev reiterated

The Russian Embassy in Tehran keeps the issue under special control, Maria Zakharova said

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

"We do not rule out the United States may use so-called defensive technologies for offensive purposes, as well as for global governance by creating crisis situations of biological nature," lieutenant general Igor Kirillov stressed

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

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

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

"We have to ensure the evacuation of the wounded from the frontline," the Russian defense minister said, adding that "it has to be done safely and rapidly to the maximum"

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

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"

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

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

First and foremost, the pardon covers women with minor children, pregnant women and women, whose relatives are involved in the special military operation

According to a statement signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on November 9, 2020, a Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh

Prices slowed down to in their growth to 0.1% during the reporting week

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

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

The President of the United States has made that very clear

According to Anatoly Antonov, the United States are creating new closed groups and military-political alliances in the Asia-Pacific region and this way "are trying to return the world to the worst times of the Cold War and brinkmanship on the brink of a nuclear conflict"

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

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"

In the northern part of the Central Range, the greatest reduction is observed in small glaciers with an area of less than 0.1 square kilometers and in glaciers of the southeastern and southern parts

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

Inflation stood at 7.83% in annual terms as at April 15, 2024

Robert Fico believes Moscow will win in its confrontation with Kiev

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

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 contract of the 38-year-old Ovechkin with NHL Washington Capitals is valid until the end of June 2026

The statistics service does not provide the year-on-year dynamics of gasoline production

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

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

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

According to the the Russian presidential press service, "Vladimir Putin said all parties would hopefully show a reasonable degree of constraint to avoid a new bout of tensions"

The dollar-to-ruble rate decreased by 0.15% to 94.27 rubles, the euro-to-ruble rate rose by 0.15% to 100.39 rubles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, April 16th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In chemicals production, prices edged up by 26.8% for ethers, organic peroxides, epoxides, acetals and semiacetals and their derivatives

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

In the Russian general's words, such actions set a dangerous precedent for air incidents and accidents, and escalate the general situation in Syria’s airspace

In February-March 2024, the Military Aerospace Defense Academy held training of CIS specialists in counter-drone fight

Anti-tank guided missiles hit an artillery battery in Al-Samak in the Kfarchouba hills

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

There are two countries on the list

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

Details are unknown

The Turkish leader slammed Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide and said that the only way to ease tension in the region is to stop it

The most important is the fact that Russian solutions account for more than 85% of expenses, Maksut Shadaev noted

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

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

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

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Joe Biden had made it clear that the United States would not take on a combat role in Ukraine

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

"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

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

Domestic airlines completed about 30 flights between airports in Russia and Dubai

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

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

On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region

Earlier, the media watchdog restricted access to the websites of web hosting companies Amazon Web Services and GoDaddy

On the evening of April 13, Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel in response to what it called "repeated crimes," including an attack on the consular office of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

The quarterly cycle of information disclosure is convenient for the company as a matter of principle, Nikita Klimantov noted

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

The government of the Kurgan Region has arranged the work on providing financial assistance to the victims in the emergency zone

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

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

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

"Basically, attempts to question the maximum security of nuclear facilities must be completely ruled out everywhere in the world," Sergey Ryabkov stressed

This figure includes frozen assets of individuals and legal entities included in the sanctions list, such as cash, corporate investments, and yachts

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

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

According to Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, "Qatar condemns the policy of collective punishment that is still being pursued by Israel in the Gaza Strip, as well as the escalation in the West Bank"

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

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