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Sberbank to pay record $12.9 bln in taxes and dividends this year — CEO

Sberbank CEO Herman Gref drew Russian President Vladimir Putin's attention to the company's high investment activity, noting the growth of both public and private investment

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. Sberbank will pay a record amount of about 1.2 trillion rubles ($12.9 bln) in taxes and dividends to the state in 2024, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"This year we will pay the state a total of about 1.2 trillion rubles in taxes and dividends. This is an absolute record," he said.

Gref also drew the President's attention to the company's high investment activity, noting the growth of both public and private investment. "Everything is generally developing quite positively so far," he noted.

Sberbank paid its previous record dividends for 2023 of 750 bln rubles ($8.06 bln).

Russian budget revenues will grow by 12% in 2025 to $433 bln — Prime Minister

According to Mikhail Mishustin, the share of non-oil and gas revenues in the total volume will grow to 73%

Iran has no intention to develop nuclear weapons, ready to return to JCPOA – president

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stressed that there is no place for nuclear weapons in Iran’s military doctrine

Israeli army detects launch of 20 rockets from Lebanon, some intercepted

According to the document, Lebanon fired approximately five projectiles at Israel after sirens were sounded in the northern regions of Israel

Battlegroup East thwarts Ukrainian attempts to reinforce positions

In addition, artillery fire and heavy flamethrower systems hit strongholds and places of accumulation of manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian 72nd mechanized and 58th motorized infantry brigades

Ukrainian army keeps attacking civilians in Kharkov Region, official says

Vitaly Ganchev specified that earlier, a civilian had suffered shrapnel injuries in a drone attack

Russia to continue clarifying position on Ukraine in communication with Iran — Kremlin

"Our cooperation [with Iran] is developing quite positively in various areas," Dmitry Peskov added

Ukraine wants faster in to NATO as part of conflict resolution plan, official says

According to Andrey Yermak, in the long term, bilateral agreements can never compare with the effectiveness of Article Five of the NATO Treaty

Europe's new security architecture yet to be built — Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov noted that this would require great efforts in the future and be a matter of special concern for the Kremlin in order to ensure Russia's legitimate security interests

Poland accuses Russia of 'disinformation campaign' amid large-scale flooding

According to the police, 7 people died and over 6,000 people have been evacuated from the flooded area

Russian diplomat slams Pact for the Future as serious blow on UN

"The United Nations had infringed upon its own principles to pander to a group of delegations from the ‘beautiful garden,’ who have usurped the talks from the very beginning," Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said

Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicts roughly 105 enemy casualties in past day

Ukrainian military losses included an APC, four motor vehicles, two D-20 howitzers, three D-30 howitzers and a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount

Indonesia interested in BRICS, estimating benefit of entry — republic’s MFA

Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto has not confirmed his participation in the BRICS summit in Kazan yet as its timing is close to the inauguration date, according to the statement

Kremlin, unlike Western authorities, stays out of media interference

When asked why the Kremlin does not give assignments to Russian media, particularly RT, Dmitry Peskov emphasized: "Because we do not consider it possible to interfere in editorial policy"

Russia offers safe haven for people trying to escape Western liberal ideals

Under the document, such foreign nationals will have the right to apply for temporary residence in Russia "outside the quota approved by the Russian government and without providing documents confirming their knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and basic laws"

Russia to display Lancet-E kamikaze drone at ADEX show

"Our solutions provide protection against the whole range of internal and external security threats to regional countries," Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev said

IAEA should speak openly about sources of threats to Kursk NPP — Russian mission

Russia is working on the issue of the Zaporozhye and Kursk nuclear power plants with the agency's leadership and its Director General Rafael Grossi, Russia's deputy permanent envoy to international organizations in Vienna Roman Ustinov said

Hezbollah militants launch 9,000 rockets, drones at Israel since October 8 — army

Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari added that Hezbollah has been planning to do in northern Israel what the Palestinian movement Hamas did in southern Israel on October 7 last year

Press review: US shifts rhetoric on Ukraine and walkie-talkie explosions rock Lebanon

Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, September 19th

Macron calls for reviewing ties with Russia

The French president also called for bigger presence of "densely populated countries, which did not exist when the current world order was only forming" in international organizations

Russia opposes fast-tracking of nuclear disarmament — deputy foreign minister

The global digital treaty also contains a serious flaw, Deputy Foreign Minister said

Lebanon fires rockets at Israel — TV

According to Al Jazeera, the rockets are being fired in the direction of the Upper and Lower Galilee

Burkina Faso accuses Ivory Coast of attempts to destabilize country

According to the country's Security Minister Mahamadou Sana, these people recently paid terrorist groups to attack the presidential palace of Koulouba

Iranian president vows assassination of Haniyeh won’t go unanswered

The assassination of Haniyeh runs counter to all norms of international law and will definitely not go unanswered

Hungarian minister says UN should reinstate itself as platform for discussing peace

The UN was created as a platform where everyone can talk to everyone about everything, Peter Szijjarto said

IDF launches 'proactive offensive operation' against Hezbollah — General Staff

According to Chief of Israel’s General Staff Herzi Halevi, the IDF is targeting combat infrastructure that Hezbollah has been building for the past 20 years

Unilateral sanctions hinder sustainable development goals, says Iranian president

The Iranian president called on "the UN chief, in cooperation with the countries affected by unilateral sanctions"

US opposes potential Israeli ground operation in Lebanon — media

The source said Washington disagrees with Israel's position and intends to discuss specific ideas with its allies to prevent an escalation of the conflict with the Shiite Hezbollah movement

Ukrainian forces carry out rotation in Kursk area — Russian commander

Ukraine's accusations against Russia over Crimean Bridge go beyond UN convention — MFA

"Just as it was in the UN International Court of Justice, Ukraine's accusations in this arbitration are not serious, they are nothing more than another example of systematic abuse of the international justice system for purely political purposes," Gennady Kuzmin emphasized

UNGA member countries adopt Pact for the Future, despite Russia’s objection

Along with Russia, Belarus and Nicaragua, delegations from North Korea, Syria, Sudan, and Iran voted against

Ukrainian howitzer Bogdana destroyed by Lancet munition in Sumy Region

Objective monitoring of the strike on the Ukrainian artillery piece was carried by air reconnaissance means in the real time mode

Israel destroys 80 buildings in West Bank — media

Palestinian authorities report that over the past month, the Israeli military has demolished a total of 78 structures across Bethlehem, Jenin, Jerusalem, Nablus, Ramallah, Tubas, Tulkarm, and Hebron

Russian ambassador to Beirut warns of high risk of war between Israel, Lebanon

"We might see the activation of mutual support mechanisms across the entire axis of resistance," Alexander Rudakov noted

Special operation to end after Russia achieves its goals — Kremlin

"For us there is absolutely no alternative to achieving our set goals," Dmitry Peskov emphasized

Press review: Prognosing upcoming Zelensky-Biden meetup and Hezbollah ups ante with Israel

Top stories from the Russian press on Monday, September 23rd

Turkey tends to view BRICS as a political trump card against the West — expert

Turkish economist Bartu Soral noted that when looking at "the global distribution of power, it is clear that huge changes have occurred since the early 2000s"

All restrictions on entry to Tikhoretsk lifted after Ukrainian attack

Two drones were downed on Saturday by Russian servicemen in the Tikhoretsky district of the Krasnodar Region, where the falling debris resulted in a fire, followed by the detonation of explosive items

US billionaire sees Zelensky’s 'victory plan' leading to third world war

David Sacks said hopefully Joe Biden can remember why he has rejected the points of the Ukrainian president’s plan

Kosovo has no plans of bowing to Western pressure to find compromise with Serbia — FT

The next parliamentary elections in Kosovo will be held in 2025, as decided by the Pristina authorities

Hungarian PM proposes return to cooperation ‘from Lisbon to Vladivostok’

The UN has an important role to play in this direction, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said

Harris will be unable to stop WWIII, Trump argues

Earlier, the politician also warned that the United States would head toward a third world war under a Democratic administration

Israel attacks 1,600 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, Bekaa Valley over day

The IDF continues to strike Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon as part of Operation Northern Arrows

CERN's turn away from Russian scientists has positive aspects — Kurchatov Center chief

This is quite obviously a positive development for us in some respects, Kovalchuk said

Russia to create counter-balance to US missiles in Asia — MFA

Ryabkov emphasized that Russia "cannot expect good and positive things from the United States"

Russia strongly condemns Israel's large-scale attacks on Lebanon — Foreign Ministry

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized Russia's "principled position on the inadmissibility of indiscriminate attacks that target civilians"

Total of 492 civilians killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon — news agency

Another 1,645 people were injured

Ukrainian shelling kills 11 Russian residents, injures 129 over past week — envoy

"At least 1,982 munitions were fired by Ukrainian armed formations at civilian targets in Russia's territories over the past seven days," Rodion Miroshnik said

Russian forces hit Ukrainian facility producing gas turbine engines for combat aircraft

Battlegroup Center continued to advance deeper into enemy defenses, hitting the troops and equipment of 12 Ukrainian brigades near Dzerzhinsk, Nelepovka, Rozovka, Krasnoarmeysk, Dimitrov, Grodovka, Ukrainsk, Gornyak and Kurakhovka of the Donetsk People's Republic

Scholz says he won’t relax rules for Ukraine to use German weapons

The German Chancellor emphasized that there were "good reasons for that"

Burkina Faso’s PM lobbies for country’s membership in BRICS

Russia and Burkina Faso "have a shared political vision," while Moscow acts as a strategic partner at several levels, including diplomatic, military and economic, Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela added

Telegram may hand over user data of rule violators to authorities

The Telegram team has removed all problematic content from there in recent weeks, Pavel Durov said, without giving any details

Crew of Russia’s Soyuz MS-25 leaves landing module

The module has made a vertical landing

Russian prime minister approves list of countries imposing destructive attitudes

It includes the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and other states

Ukrainian troops shell school with 106 children inside in Zaporozhye Region

There have been no casualties

Swiss parliament votes against export of protective vests to Ukraine

According to the report, the MPs considered that these dual-purpose goods may be used for military purposes rather than for civilian ones

Iran's president ready to discuss conflict in Ukraine with Europe, US — AFP

Massoud Pezeshkian said his country had never approved of what he described as aggression against Ukraine

Russia says its Lancet loitering munition destroys Ukrainian artillery in Sumy Region

According to the ministry, the artillery unit’s destruction was captured in a live-recording feed

Decision on strikes into Russia unlikely to come after Biden-Zelensky talks — The Times

The newspaper noted that the decision on strikes deep into Russian territory is unlikely to change turn the tide of the conflict, because Russia has withdrawn its planes and missile systems from the range of Western-made weapons, used in the Ukrainian conflict

Kremlin reserved over articles about Zelensky plan, would study official version

Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that he had some kind of plan for ending the conflict

Russia's newest satellites to change course of Ukrainian conflict — former UN inspector

According to Ritter this conflict would become "unsustainable for the Ukrainian sometime by the end of summer, early fall"

Bank of Russia raises dollar rate for September 24 to 92.92 rubles — regulator

The official yuan exchange rate has been raised by 7 kopecks to 13.11 rubles

Lebanon fires over 50 shells at northern Israel

Some of the rockets were intercepted, while the rest landed in unpopulated areas, the army's press service said

Pentagon deploying additional US forces to Middle East

The Lebanese Health Ministry earlier said that the death toll from Israeli strikes on residential areas in South Lebanon had climbed to 325

Kremlin refuses to comment on Hague arbitration case against Russia

"I would like to refrain from any comments. Our position on the entire Russian infrastructure is crystal clear, and we stand by this position," Dmitry Peskov said

Energy infrastructure suffers damage in Ukraine’s Poltava Region

"All related services are working to address the aftermath of the incident," the regional administration head noted

Russian expert sees Zelensky's trip to Pennsylvania as crude pressure on US voters

Vladimir Zharikhin noted that Zelensky was making this trip on instructions from Washington

Spacemen to return to Earth after longest mission in ISS’s history

The undocking has been scheduled for 11:37 Moscow time, the spacecraft is expected to land at about 15:00 Moscow time

Ukrainian command deploys foreign fighters in some areas of Kursk Region — commander

Apty Alaudinov pointed out that the foreigners are carrying out, among other things, raids

Duda accuses Ukraine of collaborating with Hitler, Holocaust

Nevertheless, Andrzej Duda blamed his government for the tensions between Warsaw and Kiev

Lebanon risks sliding into Gaza-scale humanitarian crisis, Russian ambassador warns

According to Alexander Rudakov, hospitals in Lebanon are struggling as the death toll keeps climbing, and the scope of the crisis cannot be assessed

FACTBOX: Breakthrough attempts repulsed: situation in Kursk Region

The Russian military repelled two enemy attempts to break through the border towards Novy Put

FACTBOX: Ukraine's failed attacks, losses: situation in Kursk Region

Over the day, the enemy lost more than 360 servicemen and 13 armored vehicles, including an infantry fighting vehicle and 12 armored fighting vehicles

Ukraine loses nearly 150 troops, several strongholds during counterattacks near Volchansk

In recent days, Ukrainian militants have been trying to stabilize the situation in the Kharkov region, military expert Andrey Marochko said

Turkish parliamentary speaker hopes to meet with Putin on Wednesday

Numan Kurtulmus intends to convey greetings from Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Russian President

Moscow reiterates will not test nukes if Washington refrains

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov drew attention "to recent media reports saying that the infrastructure on Novaya Zemlya is fully ready"

Advanced Sarmat ICBM systems go on combat alert in Russia — Roscosmos head

The RS-28 Sarmat missile to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda ICBM operational in the Russian Strategic Missile Force since 1988

Trump calls Zelensky 'greatest salesman in history'

The politician added that Zelensky "wants them the Democrats to win this presidential election" because he receives financial aid from them

Israeli military says it attacked 1,300 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon

As part of the strikes, attacks targeted cruise missiles with a range of hundreds of kilometers

Senior Hezbollah commander alive following Israeli strike

According to the TV channel, Karaki, who was at the headquarters during the air strike, sustained wounds but was not killed

Russia to display Supercam S350 drone at ADEX show

Supercam S350 is a light drone with video signal range of over 70 km

UN General Assembly's high-level week kicks off in New York City

In the coming week, representatives of 193 UN member states, the Vatican and Palestine, which have observer status in the world body, as well as the European Union will take turns at the General Assembly podium

Israel pushes Hezbollah 20 years backwards in past week — media

Officials believe that Israel has "significantly weakened" the movement by killing several senior commanders and impacting Hezbollah’s command and control structure

Lawmakers urge Czech cabinet to demand Russian compensation for ammo depot blast

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic has initiated another session of the North Atlantic Council

US coalition aircraft violates Syrian airspace 13 times in past 24 hours

In addition, the coalition violated the provisions of the December 9, 2019 deconfliction

Putin instructs Cabinet to allocate funds to support Russian video game developers

The funds will go to the "specialized entity for the development of the autonomous non-profit organization "Institute for the Development of the Internet"

Kremlin downplays importance of US presidential election for Russia

"The political struggle is very fierce," Dmitry Peskov said, describing the situation in the US

Top EU diplomat says escalation in Lebanon ‘extremely dangerous’

Josep Borrell also pointed to the growing intensity of attacks and the growing number of victims

Russia’s position on potential Western strikes explicitly outlined by Putin — Kremlin

On September 12, the Russian leader noted that NATO countries are currently not merely discussing whether to allow Ukraine to use their long-range weapons, but are essentially deciding whether to become directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict and noted that Moscow would make decisions based on the threats posed to Russia

Hezbollah launches rocket attack on military airfield, airbase in northern Israel

The Islamic Resistance attacked the Megiddo military airfield, west of the city of Afula with Fadi-1 and Fadi-2

Vucic awards Russia’s envoy to UN with Order of Serbian Flag

The ceremony was held at Serbia's permanent mission to the UN in New York

Neglect of Russia’s interests makes lasting settlement in Ukraine impossible — MFA

At the same time, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova explained that Russian representatives "have not participated in any meetings within the framework of the ‘Buergenstock process’ and are not going to participate in any

Kremlin spokesman says West ‘obsessed’ with fighting Russia until Ukraine runs out of men

Peskov was commenting on NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg's recent statement that there is no need to be afraid of using Western weapons for strikes deep inside Russia

Researchers from Siberia’s Tomsk who partnered with CERN start working at home

All eight researchers from the university who took part in mega science research have already returned to Russia

Press review: EP extends hand to Russia and Tehran ready to talk nuke deal with US

Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, September 24th

Russian forces strike Ukrainian energy facilities, troops last night — top brass

Overnight, the Russian Armed Forces launched a group strike on energy facilities that supply electricity to Ukrainian defense plants and drone production cites as well as Ukrainian troops

Ukrainian decoy drone meant for hacking air defenses seized in Kursk Region

Such drones are made of cheap components and carry no quality cameras or other additional radio transmitting devices

Lebanon may 'become another Gaza,' Iranian president warns

Masoud Pezeshkian stressed that the current events could spiral into a regional conflict, which "can be dangerous for the future of the world and planet Earth itself"

Africa’s exclusion from UNSC must be addressed — African Union

African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed regret that discussions on the issue were dragging on, while the current developments required countries to take quick collective action

West to be ready for nuclear escalation in confrontation with Russia — expert

According to Glenn Diesen, NATO expansion that canceled inclusive pan-European security agreements with Russia was "the main manifestation of America's hegemonic ambitions after the Cold War"

TASS flag at 900 m above sea level. About new Arctic pass

The Clean Arctic — Vostok-77 expedition initiated the idea to mark the 120th anniversary of Russia's first state news agency and to remember its journalists who have actively participated in Arctic expeditions

Kiev moves reserves to Kharkov Region as Russian army pushes towards Kupyansk — official

Vitaly Ganchev specified that over the past two weeks, Russian troops had achieved certain success the Kharkov Region