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Military operation in Ukraine

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Mayor says Zaporozhye Region wants referendum to join Russia as soon as possible

"Residents of the liberated areas want to make their mind as soon as possible, to voice their opinion, as they do not want to stay under Kiev’s rule and would like to be a single-family with Russia instead,’ Melitopol Mayor Galina Danilchenko said

SIMFEROPOL, June 9. /TASS/. People in the liberated areas of the Zaporozhye Region want a referendum to join Russia as soon as possible, a local mayor said on Thursday.

"Residents of the liberated areas want to make up their mind as soon as possible, to voice their opinion, since they do not want to stay under Kiev’s rule and would like to be a unified-family with Russia instead,’ Melitopol Mayor Galina Danilchenko said during an on-air broadcast of the Rossiya-24 television channel.

Local officials will be getting ready for a referendum, she pledged, saying some technical issues still need to be solved, including wireless connection problems. The Melitopol mayor said the authorities in Ukraine had been involuntarily pushing locals towards a referendum by shelling border areas in order to destroy food reserves.

A member of the Zaporozhye Region administration’s chief council, Vladimir Rogov, said earlier that his region expected to join Russia as part of the Southern Federal District, with the initiative to form a separate federal district to be discussed later. Vladimir Balitsky, the regional governor, said on Wednesday preparations were likely in the next few months so that a referendum would be held as early as the fall.

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Foreign policy Military operation in Ukraine

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China’s Russian oil imports rise by 13% in first quarter of 2024 — customs

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

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Moscow demands international organizations condemn killing of Russian war correspondent

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

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Russia knows French military instructors working in Ukraine — Lavrov

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Ukrainian POW exposes poor battlefield performance of NATO-supplied Javelins, NLAWs

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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

Nearly half of those present in UN Security Council hall walk out before Israel’s address

israeli Permanent Representative Gilad Erdan was to address the council after Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour

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Russian defense chief checks implementation of orders to develop drones

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Izvestia correspondent Semyon Eremin killed in special operation zone

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

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World’s anti-doping agency WADA still waits for Russia’s 2023 financial contribution

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Debris of two aircraft found in Lipetsk Region

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US gives nod to Israeli operation in Rafah in exchange for canceling major attack on Iran

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Russian economy positively influences neighboring countries — Deputy PM

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Sites for practicing ways to counter drones to be set up at all Russian testing grounds

Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has visited a testing ground in the Moscow Military District where new models of small arms developed with the participation of snipers who carried out missions in the special military operation zone were presented

Gazprom delivering 42.4 mln cubic meters of gas to Europe through Ukraine via Sudzha

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Three countries bid to host 2025 Games of the Future, event’s head says

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Swiss parliament votes against joining task force on frozen Russian assets

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

Putin signs law on holding World Friendship Games

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Hungarians in western Ukraine should get their rights back, Budapest says

"The Hungarian community’s opportunities to use its native language in the fields of education, culture, media and self-governance have been significantly limited," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto specified

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

Russian investigators start inquiry into financing of terrorism by US, NATO officials

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Russia’s advanced radar in Kaliningrad to monitor entire territory of Europe — source

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

Turkish president, Hamas political leader discuss Gaza settlement

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Russian government increases customs duties on beer from unfriendly countries

This measure is not a prohibitive one and will make it possible to make competitive conditions equal for Russian producers, the ministry said

Number of flooded residential buildings in Russia drops to 16,200

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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

North Korean agriculture committee’s delegation sets off on visit to Russia

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