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Air raid alert issued in six regions of Ukraine

The air raid sirens also went off in the Kiev region

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. An air raid alert was issued in the early hours of Tuesday in six regions across Ukraine, according to the country’s official air raid alert portal.

The air raid sirens went off in the Kiev, Zhitomir, Kirovograd, Poltava, Sumy and Cherkassk regions.

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Blast that killed teenager in Moscow Region caused by mishandling of explosive object

An investigation is underway

Only Indonesia, Italy ready to join ‘stabilization forces’ in Gaza — Palestinian envoy

Nofal stressed Palestine's interest in quickly completing the first stage of settlement

Netanyahu plans to discuss potential new strikes on Iran with Trump — TV

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Russian intel chief reveals recent extended call with MI6 director

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Crew Dragon with Russian cosmonaut on board to be launched no earlier then Feb. 15 — NASA

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Russia to eliminate threats to Kaliningrad Region should they emerge, says Putin

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Gazprom, European Commission, German FM urge mutually beneficial relations

Putin sends major message to West by his statement on Ukraine — portal

L’AntiDiplomatico also recalled that during his year-end press conference, the Russian leader noted that US President Donald Trump "is making serious efforts" to end the Ukrainian crisis and is doing this "absolutely sincerely"

US may continue strikes on Islamic State in Syria for several weeks — TV

According to NBC News, the operation targets areas where Islamic State is trying to revive its potential and is geared to exterminate its forces and facilities

Kiev counterattacks near Krasnoarmeysk, trying to slow Russian advance — expert

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Arms supplies to Ukraine did not stop after Trump’s decision to cease financing

Speaking at NSATU's Wiesbaden headquarters, Major General Maik Keller said that NATO had dispatched nearly 220,000 tons of military aid to Ukraine in 2025

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US department confirms detention of tanker near Venezuelan coast

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Putin’s Direct Line demonstrated that 2025 was successful for Russia — Focus

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Bern takes part in EU’s risky plans, though it realizes danger of stealing Russian assets

Russian Ambassador to Switzerland Sergey Garmonin stressed that Swiss elites "understand perfectly well that a theft of Russian assets will be illegal and destroy the confederation’s reputation of a 'safe haven' for foreign investors"

WSJ names five key obstacles to peace between Russia, Ukraine

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Peace in Ukraine close like never before — US envoy to NATO

Matthew Whitaker added that the US administration will not give up its efforts to resolve the conflict

Putin sees EU's Russian asset grab as daylight 'robbery'

The Russian leader emphasized that the European Union is trying to do it overtly

US National Intelligence confident Russia not planning to control entire Ukraine

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called such information about Russia's plans "a lie and propaganda"

Hong Kong fire death toll up to 161 — police

However, the possibility of discovering other dead people cannot be ruled out, and this number may increase

Economy, special op, taxes most popular topics on social media following Putin’s Q&A

Since the start of the event at noon Friday and until 10:00 p.m. Moscow time, approximately 1.5 million messages about it were posted on social media, a research by Russia’s Medialogia automated real-time media monitoring and analysis system says

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Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador at Large Rodion Miroshnik noted that Ukraine will not receive the loan in a lump sum

At least 27 drones taken down over various Russian regions overnight

Two of them were destroyed over the Sea of Azov waters

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed issues of the development of bilateral relations with his Tunisian counterpart

Palestine believes Gaza Strip should be administered by PNA, awaits US decision — envoy

Abdel Hafiz Nofal noted that the international community and, in particular, the United States, need to finally define their position on this issue, "without resorting to unworkable solutions that are currently being considered"

Dollar declines to 92.22 rubles on Moscow Exchange

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Lawsuit against Euroclear filed in time — Central Bank chief

Elvira Nabiullina said that it is difficult for her to comment on specific arguments prevailing among EU member-countries that did not approve the confiscation of Russian assets

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Two Russians arrested in Bulgaria at US request — Russian embassy

No official details about the US extradition request are available at this point

EU 'war party' to pay Kiev 'reparations' itself — Foreign Ministry

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Putin to chair SEEC, host CIS leaders in St. Petersburg

Furthermore, on the initiative of the Russian leader, a traditional informal meeting of the leaders of the CIS member countries will be held in St. Petersburg on December 22

Russia seeks to develop energy, investment cooperation with Qatar — Putin

“We also stand for security in the Persian Gulf and other trouble spots in the Middle East,” the Russian president said

US aggression against Venezuela may lead to humanitarian catastrophe — Brazilian leader

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on the countries of the region to consolidate their efforts to preserve it as a zone of peace and stability

Russian diplomat says US Justice Department places her in waiting queue for Epstein files

Maria Zakharova believes that the files "show all those western 'mentors' in interesting circumstances and with no less interesting fellow partygoers"

Cancer-stricken Serbian sues NATO for use of depleted uranium in 1999 attack on Yugoslavia

His lawyer Srdan Aleksic disclosed that the Serbian officer’s grievance is fully identical to the 500 lawsuits, filed by Italian soldiers who were deployed in Kosovo in 1999

Civilians being relocated to left bank of Dnieper in Kherson Region — officials

It is reported that rescuers were out there to provide routes to people accordingly

Hong Kong flu has pandemic potential — virologist

Doctor of medical sciences and virologist Yelena Malinnikova called upon everyone to comply with sanitary and epidemiological guidelines

Blast that killed teenager in Moscow Region caused by mishandling of explosive object

An investigation is underway

Lavrov tells Europe we don't need your help on Ukraine deal, just don't blow it up

"The Russian-American dialogue is based on understandings reached in Alaska," the Russian top diplomat stressed

Trump confirms retaliatory strike against IS in Syria

The strike was very successful, with precision, also said US President

Russia attaches great importance to developing relations with African partners — Putin

Putin noted that African states possess enormous economic and human potential and are playing an increasingly significant role in global politics

Georgian president calls EU decision to allocate €90 billion to Ukraine bluff

"Ukraine has simply been sold out," Mikhail Kavelashvili said

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Jeffrey Epstein’s friends and acquaintances included a large number of current and retired officials not only from the United States but also from many other countries, including former heads of state, major entrepreneurs, and show business stars

Ukraine must be prepared for continuation of conflict in 2026 — US envoy to NATO

The reason is that a peace agreement may not yet be concluded by the end of this year, said US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker

German expert slams EU decision on loan to Ukraine as 'madness'

Earlier, an EU summit concluded with no consensus on the expropriation of Russian assets under the guise of a so-called reparations loan to Kiev despite spending 17 hours in discussion

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Russian troops destroy 67 foreign mercenaries in battles for Yunakovka — defense source

According to the source, they were mostly Colombian nationals

Krasny Liman to be liberated in near future — Putin

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Russia plans to set up 13 more economic cooperation commission with African countries

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Russia, US still to discuss in detail Washington’s peace plan on Ukraine — Kremlin

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Russia-Africa Forum agree plan of actions for 2026-2029 — top Egyptian diplomat

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Ukrainian forces fail to retake parts of Krasnoarmeysk, suffer losses — Putin

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Britain refuses to expropriate Russian assets after failure of EU summit — FT

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Ukraine, Portugal sign statement on joint production of surface drones

Portuguese prime minister Luis Montenegro is on his first visit to Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky said

Ukraine itself to blame for failure of mobilization — intelligence chief

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Zelensky admits that Kiev will not be able to finance 800,000-strong army

Vladimir Zelensky said that he maintains dialogue with Western leaders concerning partial financing of Ukrainian army at the expense of the partners

Inevitable Ukrainian surrender to make peace talk much easier — SVR

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Kiev troops shell DPR four times in past day

The attacks targeted the city of Gorlovka and the town of Starobeshevo

Dmitriev calls for resignation of Merz, von der Leyen after failure at EU summit

The Chief Executive Officer of Russian Direct Investment Fund added that Friedrich Merz and Ursula von der Leyen "spent all their political capital, promised results – and delivered a spectacular failure"

EU diplomats do not rule out retaliation against Ukrainian elites by angry mob — SVR

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said that the Mindich-Zelensky case is undermining Ukraine

Ukrainian elections only legitimate if citizens residing elsewhere take part — Medvedchuk

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Putin goes to St. Petersburg for informal CIS summit

The head of state will also have bilateral meetings with leaders of certain countries

Russia’s offensive in Zaporozhye forces Kiev to expand evacuation zone

The reason behind this decision is an increase in the operational range of Russian drones, the source said

West downplayed importance of traditional energy for internal political reasons — Putin

The Russian leader noted that Western politicians speculated on people's natural concern about climate issues

Russia-Africa ministerial meeting joint statement adopted unanimously — Lavrov

According to the top Russian diplomat, the statement lays bare the countries’ principled approaches to the key issues of international development

Lavrov meets with South Sudanese counterpart

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Kyrgyz president arrives in Russia on working visit

Sadyr Japarov has arrived to take part in the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the informal meeting of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg, the press service of the Kyrgyz leader said

US drafts $112-billion Gaza reconstruction plan — WSJ

According to the newspaper, Project Sunrise was designed "to turn Gaza’s rubble into a futuristic coastal destination"

Lavrov meets with Algerian counterpart

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on March 23, 1962

Merz finds himself in isolation in Europe due to position on Russian assets — newspaper

German Chancellor attempted till the last "to praise advantages of the de facto expropriation of Russian assets, downplaying risks at the same time," the newspaper said

Top Egyptian diplomat describes Miami talks on Gaza as good

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty also expressed hope for the soonest beginning of the implementation of the Gaza deal second phase

Providing military aid to Ukraine weakens EU instead of making it stronger — Orban

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Russian troops to move westward after liberating Kupyansk-Uzlovoi — Putin

As the president stressed, the Russian troops have been assigned a very important task to eliminate the enemy group on the left bank of the Oskol River

US starts striking Islamic State sites in Syria — NYT

The operation involves US fighter jets and attack helicopters

Negotiations on Ukraine in Miami constructive, Dmitriev says

Talks on the settlement in Ukraine will continue in Miami on Saturday and Sunday local time, the Russian envoy continued

US, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey report progress in implementing Gaza ceasefire phase one

As follows from the document, they held talks in Miami, Florida

Gazprom Export files lawsuits against Axpo Solutions AG, Vychodoslovenska energetika

No other details about the cases were given in the database

Russian army has full strategic initiative in special military operation zone — Putin

The president said that the Russian forces are advancing along the entire line of engagement

Zelensky says Ukraine discusses options to ensure election security with US

According to Vladimir Zelensky, the Ukrainian foreign ministry is working on the issue of organizing voting among Ukrainian nationals living abroad

Possible pause in Russian airstrikes thwarts Kiev's plans to avoid elections — senator

Konstantin Kosachev said that Russia is prepared to act for peace, and this is one of the main messages today

International Handball Federation to discuss return of Russians

The president of the International Handball Federation Hassan Moustafa recently announced the possibility of allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete internationally in 2026

Russian foreign minister notes prospects of African Continental Free Trade Area

The second ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum is taking place in Cairo on December 19-20

Tanker apprehended by the US near Venezuela sailed under flag of Panama — newspaper

According to the newspaper, the cargo belonged to an oil trader from China that supplies oil from Venezuela to Chinese refineries