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Russia’s Win team wins Dota 2 competition at 2025 Games of Future

The winners received $175,000 in prize money

ABU DHABI, December 19. /TASS/. Russia’s Win team won the Dota 2 tournament at the Games of the Future in Abu Dhabi.

Playing in the final match, Russian e-sports players outplayed the united European Vikings team.

The winner in the final match was decided based upon two straight wins and the Win team winning 2-0.

The final encounter was closely watched by several hundred people in the game room, and most of them supported Win. The audience applauded every successful move on behalf of the Russian team.

As the organizers told TASS, the winners received $175,000 in prize money.

The 2025 Games of the Future run between December 18 to 23 in Abu Dhabi. It includes 11 disciplines, such as phygital football, phygital basketball, phygital martial arts, phygital shooters, phygital dance, drone racing, and robot battles.

A total of 141 teams, comprising approximately 500 athletes from more than 30 countries are taking part in the Games of the Future.

The inaugural Games of the Future were held in 2024 in the Russian city of Kazan.

2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy

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The French president believes that "Europeans and Ukrainians, will have to find the right framework to re-engage in this discussion in a proper manner"

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The Russian foreign minister said that the US had sent a strong signal to Europe criticizing the democracy "that is practiced in Europe"

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Russian asset seizure to undermine trust in Euro zone, Putin warns

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

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The Russian Defense Ministry announced the liberation of Krasnoarmeysk on December 1

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Hungary 'absolutely ready' to host Russia-US summit — top diplomat

Hungary has maintained a pro-peace position since the onset of the conflict, Peter Szijjarto noted, despite what he called "enormous political attacks" against Budapest

US Treasury removes six entities, two individuals from anti-Russian sanctions

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Zelensky cannot withdraw troops from Donbass due to nationalist resistance — opposition

Viktor Medvedchuk noted that Western media outlets consistently report significant pressure from Washington on Kiev and Europe regarding this issue

EU's decision to support Ukraine confirms that it does not want peace — Russian diplomat

Maria Zakharova said that EU member states decided to further prolong the Ukrainian conflict

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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico repeatedly said that he would refuse to vote for any support for Ukraine's military needs at the summit

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The Russian president explained that when he took a jab at Europeans by calling them "piglets," as the Western media translated the Russian term, he was not referring to anyone specific in Europe, but rather to a "group of people"

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

According to the Russian president, the enemy is achieving no success

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The president said that Russian troops in the special operation zone are advancing in all directions, fully seizing the strategic initiative

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Military-Political Analysis Bureau head Alexander Mikhailov emphasized that the tactical and technical characteristics of the Oreshnik missile allow the Russian army to launch a strike targeting any spot in Europe

UK 'co-running war' in Ukraine — former French military officer

When asked about the presence of Western servicemen in the area of the Russian special military operation, Xavier Moreau emphasized that there are "many British" in Ukraine

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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"

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The Russian leader recalled how the report on the liberation of Seversk was presented

ECB will not support loan mechanism for Ukraine breaching EU laws — Lagarde

Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union prevents the ECB from printing money explicitly to finance government spending

US pauses green card lottery after Brown University shooting — Reuters

On the evening of December 13, a shooting occurred at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, leaving at least two dead and nine others injured

'Political stumble' for Merz, von der Leyen, as EU fails to seize Russian assets — NYT

As The New York Times reported, the outcome made Europe "appear indecisive at a key moment"

Russian troops strike Ukrainian army’s energy infrastructure over past day

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The Russian president noted that if Russian assets are seized, Russia will defend its interests in court and seek to identify jurisdictions that are not dependent on political decisions

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

"Brussels did not even notice how absurd the situation had become for the EU," Maria Zakharova stated

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19 such commissions are already operational

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According to the Russian president, the combat testing of the Oreshnik missile system was conducted in response to an attack by US-made and British-made long-range missiles on Russian territory

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`He’s an actor’: Putin remarks on controversial Zelensky selfie

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Russia advances in Donbass while West plays shell games — Ukrainian opposition politician

Viktor Medvedchuk also noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it abundantly clear that the desire for war in this situation does not come from Russia

Ukrainian forces execute civilians in Seversk — Hero of Russia

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Refusal to use Russian assets for loan to Kiev will be victory for law — Dmitriev

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"The member states have agreed to finance Ukraine through an EU borrowing on the capital markets for an amount of 90 billion euro for the next two years," Ursula von der Leyen said

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"Those who made decisions collectively, those who made decisions individually and those who put them into practice will all bear responsibility," Dmitry Peskov said

Route to Slavyansk opens from liberated Seversk — Putin

The head of state recalled that the Russian side had long ago urged the Kiev regime to withdraw its troops from the territories of the republics which do not want to live under nationalist control

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

Russophobic policies to cause further degradation of EU — Naryshkin

"The European Union has somehow missed the general trends and dynamics in global politics and global affairs," director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service noted

Russia ready to restore intergovernmental trade commission with Slovakia

Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov heads the commission from the Russian side, Maria Zakharova noted

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

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

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Four EU officials said that a key point in the discussion was the idea of excluding Hungary and Slovakia from the general debt repayment scheme, as both countries oppose further aid to Ukraine

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

Russian defense technologies unmatched by Western military-industrial complex — expert

Alexander Stepanov noted that established industrial production would make it possible to make tens and even hundreds of items per year to provide strategic coverage for all critical areas and facilities in the Russian border regions

EU replaced its ‘strategic defeat’ mantra with ‘maximum damage’ — Naryshkin

"They no longer prioritize ‘strategic defeat,’ because they have already realized that it will be impossible, so they want to deal maximum damage to Russia instead," director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said

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

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EU summit communique makes no mention of Russian assets, meeting continues

The European Council press service has not yet provided journalists with even an approximate ending time for the first day’s discussions

Western military presence in Ukraine in any format unacceptable for Russia — MFA

Maria Zakharova stated that such pseudo-peacekeepers would become legitimate targets for the Russian army

US actions in Venezuela display Washington's neocolonial approach — Russia’s UN envoy

"Starting with false pretexts of combatting drug trafficking and terrorism, Washington has already moved on to open threats of military aggression and seizure of the territory and natural resources of a sovereign state," Vasily Nebenzya said

Belarus will not completely relocate its factories — Lukashenko

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Sergey Naryshkin said the phone conversation was held "just a few days ago"

EU cannot continue proxy war against Russia due to financial problems — Chinese expert

Wang Yiwei said the idea of using frozen assets for military purposes "effectively exposes the hypocrisy of the EU"

Russian troops liberate four communities in Ukraine operation over week — top brass

Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted more than 1,795 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed four enemy tanks and 20 armored combat vehicles in its area of responsibility over the week, the Defense Ministry reported

Ukrainian army has practically no strategic reserves left — Putin

The President emphasized that the attempts by the Ukrainian army to regain lost positions "at any cost," as is being done in the area of Krasnoarmeysk, are not succeeding

Russia ready to consider halting strikes deep inside Ukraine on election day — Putin

The Russian president still noted that if Kiev wants to use the elections solely to stop the offensive momentum of Russian troops, then this is the wrong choice

Russia-UK relations head south after Putin's Munich speech in 2007 — foreign intel chief

According to Sergey Naryshkin, it has been a gradual process

Inevitable Ukrainian surrender to make peace talk much easier — SVR

According to Sergey Naryshkin, no one will be able to prevent the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict after that

Krasny Liman to be liberated in near future — Putin

The head of state added that Russian forces currently control about half of the city

Lukashenko says he cannot be president forever

Alexander Lukashenko named himself "a departing president"

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The system is being developed with the capability to be operational for the next 25 years

Russia gradually returning to world sports — Kremlin

Dmitry Peskov emphasized that "this is a welcome process that can only be supported"

Gold futures record high on Comex again — market data

The precious metal price gained 0.92% to $4,401.9 per Troy ounce

EU to issue 90 billion euro in interest-free loan to Kiev — Merz

The German Chancellor said that "the Russian frozen assets will remain blocked until Russia has paid reparations to Ukraine"

Russia alarmed by worsening humanitarian situation in Syria — UN mission

"We are concerned by the fact that, despite political shifts in the country and the efforts by UN agencies, the humanitarian situation not only remains dire but is also showing signs of systemic deterioration," Dmitry Polyansky said

Special EU decision now needed to unblock frozen Russian assets — von der Leyen

The qualified majority implies that 16 out of the 27 EU member countries, home to over 55% population of the European Union, need to support the move

Russia not at war with West, West fights Russia with Ukrainian nationalists’ hands — Putin

The President stressed that Russia was ready to end the conflict in Ukraine, provided its security was guaranteed in the medium and long term

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The North Atlantic Alliance, under the pretext of a so-called Russian military threat, has "significantly increased" its military presence near Russia’s borders

Bank of Russia reduced key rate to 16%

According to the regulator, the economy continues to return to a balanced growth path

Trump not ruling out war with Venezuela

The US leader declined to clarify whether US strikes on Venezuelan vessels could directly lead to war

Share of missing Russian servicemen must be reduced to absolute zero — Putin

"If we compare the beginning of the year with now, the number of people who were listed as missing has decreased by 50%," the Russian president said