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Military operation in Ukraine

Ukraine’s border guards claim Belarusian troops participated in Ukrainian border attack

Earlier, the US TV Channel broadcast the footage of CCTVs showing convoys of the armor moving along a highway

KIEV, February 24. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Border Guard Service claimed on Thursday that Belarusian armed formations participated in ‘an attack of the Ukrainian border.’

"At about 05:00 (06:00 Moscow time), the state border of Ukraine at its section with the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus was attacked by the Russian troops supported by Belarus," the Ukrainian Border Guard Service claimed in a statement.

The forces attacking the Ukrainian border guard units and checkpoints are employing artillery, heavy equipment and small arms, it said.

"These operations are taking place within the bounds of the Lugansk, Sumy, Kharkov, Chernigov and Zhitomir Regions. Also, an attack is in progress from the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. There are also reports of the activity of enemy subversive and reconnaissance groups," the Ukrainian Border Guard Service reported.

Information on casualties among the Ukrainian border guards is being specified, it added.

CNN claimed on Thursday that the troops crossed the Ukrainian border from Belarus. The US TV Channel broadcast the footage of CCTVs showing convoys of the armor moving along a highway. CNN specified that the footage was made at the Senkovka checkpoint at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen said it was unclear from the video footage whether the armor belonged to the Belarusian or Russian troops.

Special military operation

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported later on Thursday that Russian troops were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. It emphasized that Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons.

Civilians are not threatened, it assured.

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Foreign policy Military operation in Ukraine

Military operation in Ukraine

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Izvestia correspondent Semyon Eremin killed in special operation zone

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A power test of a super-large warhead designed for "Hwasal-1 Ra-3" strategic cruise missile was held as well

EU ministers to discuss use of Russian assets for Ukraine on April 22 — EU official

Earlier, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Union intends to invest the first 2.5-3 billion euros of profits raised from seized Russian assets in military assistance for Ukraine

Russian instructors help train over 10,000 Central African troops — CAR president

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Russian economy proves resilience amid large-scale sanctions — IMF

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Russia not to go for settlement on Ukraine based on 'Zelensky formula' — Lavrov

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French, US, British nukes all interwoven — Russian diplomat

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Russia has significant amount of West’s funds in case of confiscation of its assets

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French president says creating Israeli-type air defense network for Ukraine impossible

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Russian government increases customs duties on beer from unfriendly countries

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US House passes procedural vote on Ukraine aid bill

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Top stories from the Russian press on Friday, April 19th

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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

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Participation in ‘Columbine’ movement may result in life sentence — Prosecutor General

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Russia knows French military instructors working in Ukraine — Lavrov

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Armenia’s relations with Russia not at their highest — top diplomat

Ararat Mirzoyan also said that Yerevan is currently making efforts to expand cooperation with the European Union and the United States

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Unidentified man attempts suicide outside courthouse where Trump trial is underway

The man set himself on fire

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Russian military base may appear in CAR’s eastern region — President Touadera

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Lavrov labels way West ramping up sanctions against Russia as mindless

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Iran suspends flights above several cities amid reports of air attack — IRNA

Fox News said the Jewish state delivered a limited strike on Iran

Water in Kurgan above dam, breaking records

More than 100 employees of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies are fencing the shores and filling the least reliable dam segments

Major Western investor accuses Zelensky's office of extorting millions of euros

Arnulf Damerau said that he provided details of the meeting, along with evidence and a list of names of those involved, to US and European intelligence agencies

Russia to scrap moratorium on intermediate missiles if US deploys them anywhere — MFA

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

Ukrainian drone damages energy infrastructure in Russia’s Kaluga Region

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Russia delivers 34 strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure over week — top brass

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Ukraine’s new ethnic minorities law insufficient to protect Magyars — Hungarian president

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Security guarantees on Ukraine did not apply to Crimea, Donbass — Lavrov

The Russian Foreign Minister noted that "Ukrainian negotiators came and said that, for example, on the issue of maneuvers with the participation of third countries, let's replace the wording 'if all guarantor countries agree' with 'unless the majority agrees'"

West wants to make Transnistria hotbed of tension — Lavrov

According to the top Russian diplomat, the leaders who rule countries where they claim to be from while holding foreign passports "will not enjoy support and authority for long"

Senior Chinese official to take part in conference on security in Russia — diplomat

The conference will take place from April 23 to 25 in St. Petersburg

Three Ukrainian soldiers swim across Dnieper to surrender to Russian troops — governor

Vladimir Saldo called on other Ukrainian servicemen to switch to the Russian side and request the corresponding assistance

Iran has no plans to immediately retaliate to attack on its soil — agency

"We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack," a senior Iranian official reported

CIA chief says Ukraine could lose by end of this year — Politico

William Burns said "there is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could at least put Putin in a position where he could essentially dictate the terms of a political settlement"

Founder of neo-Nazi cell in Crimea flees to Georgia — source

According to the official, the investigation established that Mikhail Maurov planned to travel to Ukraine to join the ranks of a right-wing Ukrainian organization called the Freedom of Russia Legion

Ukrainians abroad storming embassies to avoid mobilization, Russian diplomat says

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Ukrainian trace obvious in Crocus City Hall attack — Russian prosecutor general

The law enforcement employees exert efforts to identify the instigators of this crime, Igor Krasnov said

No plans for pauses in fighting if talks on Ukraine begin, Lavrov says

The Russian foreign minister emphasized that the situation on the ground had changed significantly

Court arrests another man accused of blowing up car of former SBU officer in Moscow

Ivan Paskar is charged with illegally transporting explosive substances, but he does not recognize his guilt

US volunteer Russel Bentley missing in Donetsk killed — RT editor-in-chief

Bentley came to Donbass from the United States in 2014

BRICS looking at creating common digital payment platform

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that BRICS nations have already established a special channel for information exchange between their central banks

Russian Cabinet expands list of perfumery, cosmetic products subjected to import duty

"The effect of the customs duty totaling 35%, renewed in December 203 in respected of imported perfumery, cosmetics and home care products will cover certain new positions of these products from unfriendly countries," the ministry said

Lavrov says Borrell let it slip that Europe ‘fighting against Russia’

Russia’s top diplomat noted that Josep Borrell may made the statement in a moment of weakness

Armenia has to define CSTO’s zone of responsibility on its territory, says Lavrov

On March 12, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Yerevan asked its CSTO partners to answer where the CSTO's zone of responsibility in the republic was

Blast rocks military base south of Baghdad — Reuters

According to the news agency, one PMF fighter was killed and six were wounded