This week in photos: Flooded Venice, Ferrari Roma unveiling, and Putin salutes composer

Vladimir Putin has been inaugurated as Russian president for the fifth time

"Very often France’s allies from the UK and Germany, as we understand, try to get clarifications as to what the French leadership means, without getting a direct answer," Maria Zakharova pointed out

"We consider the bans discriminatory and contrary to the spirit of post-war historical reconciliation of the peoples of Russia and Germany," the Russian diplomats pointed out

Chinese President began his visit on the day marking the anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade by NATO aircraft

"Remarks of war and nuclear strikes can already be heard from certain figures," the Alexander Lukashenko said

Christelle Nahan noted that people were tired of the fact that there was not enough money for the development of infrastructure, hospitals and schools, for pensions and benefits for children

The main event will be held at the Grand Kremlin Palace but parts of it will take place outside at Cathedral Square where the Kremlin Presidential Regiment will march following the ceremony

In Peter Kuznick opinion, despite Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's assertions, "Ukraine is not going to drive every Russian soldier from the country"

In Peter Kuznick opinion, the world is on the verge of a most serious conflict while "NATO is conducting massive war games"

A petition needs to be signed by at least 25,000 people to be referred to the president for consideration

Meanwhile, the Ukrenergo company reported that explosions had damaged an energy facility in central Ukraine

As the conflict in Ukraine continues, "the global situation grows more dangerous by the day," Peter Kuznick said

Christelle Neant recommended using small "press" labels in order to help Russian troops identify media workers

Battlegroup Center units fully liberated the settlement of Novokalinovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic and battlegroup West units fully liberated the settlement of Kislovka in the Kharkov Region

The general election being held in the country from April to June will be the largest voting ever taking place in the world with 968 million registered voters, 14 million election commission employees, and 1.2 million polling booths

The government is tasked to present eleven new National Projects by September 1 of this year

"Congratulations president Putin and congratulations people of Russia with your president," Marcel de Graaff from the Dutch party Forum for Democracy said

Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet and 23 unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day

Leonid Pasechnik also said the strike "damaged power lines, disrupting electricity supplies to nearby houses"

According to the politician, the cause of the discussion on dispatching Western troops to Ukraine, launched by French President Emmanuel Macron, is a "shameless calculation for political bonus points"

It is stressed that Vladimir Putin proposes a certain general model, a certain general solution to the security system

The Australian side "calls black white and lays the blame on someone else" in its comment on the incident, Zhang Xiaogang noted

According to Maria Zakharova, it is shocking that the statement was made by a European official who "in general speaks on behalf of the entire European Union"

Alexander Lukashenko will also attend the military parade in honor of the 79th anniversary of the Victory in World War II on Red Square on the morning of May 9 alongside other invited leaders

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in January 1962

"We are also not seeking a change of power in Russia," the French leader underscored

Maria Zakharova described British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s remark that London considered it legitimate for the Kiev regime to use British weapons for strikes on Russian territory as "something absolutely insane"

The Aurus Merlon made its public debut at the inauguration of the Russian President

Su-35S have passed ground and flight trials and flew from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to the deployment airfield

The State Security Service claimed that foreign instructors were training protesters to stage provocations against police and create chaos in the country

The Ukrainian army’s losses in the Kupyansk direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 55 personnel and two 122mm D-30 howitzers, it specified

"The plans are the same - we are planning to launch," Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov told

According to Sergey Naryshkin, the French Army is "visibly concerned" over the growing number of French citizens killed in Ukraine

Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Jose Tavares said that around 30% of weapons in service with his country’s armed forces are Russian-made

"This yet another presidential term is a fact illustrating the people’s boundless confidence in your leadership," Maha Vajiralongkorn said

Maria Zakharova pointed out that Beijing adheres to a balanced position in the context of the events unfolding in Ukraine, "perfectly understands both historical and geopolitical reasons for the conflict"

Aydin Sezer recalled that during the Munich Security Conference back in 2007 "Putin said that the unipolar world had no future and a multipolar world order was needed"

It is noted that any Ukrainian activity on this section of the front is immediately suppressed by Russia’s precise and coordinated actions

"Missiles hit an oil storage facility within city limits," Vladimir Rogov said

The cabinet will continue to carry out its duties until a new government is appointed

Russian troops gained better positions in the south Donetsk area over the past day, the ministry reported

Since June 12, 2013, Putin has been the leader of the non-governmental movement All-Russia People’s Front, created at his initiative as a coalition of social and political forces

"History repeats itself," Chief of the Russian General Staff’s Main Intelligence Department, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Hero of Russia Admiral Kostyukov said

Some of those flares disrupted radio communications on the short wave

The escape gives only a few a chance to survive as frequently incessant Russian artillery accurate strikes rule out this option for Ukrainian troops, Yury Yurechko noted

The atmosphere in society has changed, now "reliability, mutual responsibility, sincerity, decency, nobility and courage" are highly valued, the Russian leader stressed

Olga Petersen had earlier been kicked out AfG’s parliamentary group

Russian Foreign Ministry’s mission in Vladivostok that "not following the case of the US citizen closely"

"A letter will be sent by the secretary general as he does whenever new head of state is inaugurated or reinaugurated," Stephane Dujarric said

The summit of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the highest body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), will be held in Moscow on May 8

According to the investigators, he kept improvised explosive devices for sabotage operation

279 parliament members had voted in favor of the document

He specified that his group took the helmet as proof of the elimination

Christelle Neant said that the Ukrainian armed forces is drafting people with no military experience as part of its mobilization campaign and sends them to the frontline after "just two or three weeks of training"

The Department of State has announced a $10 mln reward for information "leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Russian national Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev"

"In particular, there was no evidence of deliberate actions on behalf of the above-mentioned individual," Business Insider wrote

The petition to invite foreign troops to Ukraine was posted on the Ukrainian president’s website on Tuesday

Earlier on Tuesday, Elon Musk spoke at a conference in Los Angeles, during which he suggested that humanity could find evidence of ancient civilizations existing on Mars

The United States has received 122 RD-180 rocket engines over more than 20 years of cooperation

Ethnic Poles and Georgians account for the largest groups of mercenaries in the Ukrainian army

In turn, head of the Kiev-backed regional administration of Zaporozhye, Ivan Fedorov, reported "some damage" in the area, also without details

Dmitry Peskov recalled that after the inauguration, the Russian government resigned and the members of the Cabinet continued to work in the status of acting ministers

According to Maria Zakharova, French President Emmanuel Macron’s bellicose rhetoric "is being rejected not only by many European Union and NATO allies," but also - most importantly - "by the vast majority of French citizens"

According to the journalist, everything that Washington does shows that it wants this war

Political Bureau member Osama Hamdan warned Israel that its "invasion of Rafah won’t be an easy walk"

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that Belarus would not draw any lines

Top stories from the Russian press on Wednesday, May 8th

The decree is titled On the National Development Goals of the Russian Federation until 2030 and for a Longer Term until 2036

"We elect out parliament. We elect our president. We vote for the president or don’t want to vote for the president. And we insist that we have the right to do it the way we want to do it," Dmitry Peskov emphasized

One of the memos, classified as "Top secret," dated February 1948, contains information concerning the creation of the OUN even before the Great Patriotic War - during the period from 1929 to 1941

According to Maria Zakharova, Berlin’s accusations of Moscow in the alleged ongoing cyberattacks were made in the "highly likely" style

"March election demonstrated a record-breaking voter turnout," Miguel Diaz-Canel said

According to Euroclear's new chief executive Valerie Urbain, the likelihood that the depository will win these cases is quite low

Moreover, the new package of sanctions proposes an EU27-wide prohibition on Russian funding for "European political parties and European political foundations", "non-governmental organizations", and "media service providers", EUobserver said

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said earlier that the US together with its partners would continue imposing sanctions for allegedly assisting weapons and petroleum products supplies between Russia and North Korea

The European Parliament adopted a resolution at a plenary session in Strasbourg on April 25 alleging that the recent presidential election in Russia was undemocratic

The ceremony on the occasion of the visit of the 400-strong Chinese delegation will take place at Palata Srbije

Department of Defense spokesperson Sabrina Singh said that the United States views the decision to hold a military exercise of this kind as "deeply irresponsible"

Hitler's former adjutant Otto Guensche was captured during the battle of Berlin in April-May 1945 and, while being kept in custody in an investigative prison in Moscow, presented a firsthand account of what was happening at Hitler's headquarters in the last months of the war

Deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund Gita Gopinath said that rebuilding mutual trust among countries requires a lot of time and effort and called for preserving "some of the enormous gains from economic integration"

Nikol Pashinyan will chair the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council summit and then meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, May 7th

Nikolay Patrushev speculates that country may split into the North and the South again to get back to its original shape

The Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko doubts that any serious political force in Western Europe wants a military conflict

Andrey Belousov opined that the Russian Central Bank’s key rate would remain at a high level so far, declining to 6-7% by 2027

The head of state set the task to increase the level of the gross added value in real terms and the production index in the processing segment of the industry by at least 40% by 2030, compared to the level in 2022

"The Foreign Ministry was told about this some time before the issue with inviting ambassadors to the inauguration ceremony of the Russian president was resolved," Sergey Ryabkov said

The purpose of the exercise is to strengthen collective air and missile defense in Europe

"It was another blatant attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of our country and it was definitely orchestrated by the West with the use of the Kiev regime as its tool," Maria Zakharova noted

His entry in the database says the man is wanted "on criminal charges"

A traditional friendly dinner for the heads of CIS delegations took place on Tuesday night

Meanwhile, "despite increased geopolitical risks, the latest data show that the US dollar remains dominant," Gita Gopinath noted

Xi Jinping is on a state visit to Serbia on May 7-8

It is reported that all those politicians may be sought-after were the situation on the front line to deteriorate sharply or if the need arises to replace Zelensky as soon as possible

"A little later it became clear that we were simply being led around by the nose, and we had to take extraordinary measures to protect these people with military force," the Russian leader said

Vladimir Chizhov insisted that the drills do not mean "the Russian side is ready or intends to use these weapons immediately"

"During a thorough exchange of views on the settlement of the military-political crisis in Libya, the focus was on the task of uniting all patriotic political and religious forces in the interests of ensuring the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Libyan state," the ministry said

According to the Russian Education and Science Ministry, more than 355,000 foreigners are currently studying in Russian universities

Putin made the first trip on the Aurus exactly six years ago, on May 7, 2018, when he also departed to the inauguration

In addition, two of the city’s neighborhoods lost power