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Ukrainian police sue protesters for riots in Kiev

They face up to 15 years in prison

© EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

KIEV, January 19, /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has initiated criminal proceedings against opposition protesters in Kiev who held a regular rally which they call “people’s assembly” at Kiev’s Independence Square, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry press service said.

In his address to the protesters, the leader of Ukraine’s Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party announced the pro-European opposition’s action plan for the near future.

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Pro-European supporters gather for another rally in Ukraine

Yatsenyuk announced that the Ukrainian parliament lost its legitimacy after a majority of deputies had passed bills on prosecution for slander and extremism on January 16. Other measures include stricter punishment for organization of mass riots, the blocking and seizure of buildings.

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Besides, new laws also introduce punishment for negation of crimes committed by fascists and prosecution for the destruction of monuments to Soviet soldiers. They also provide for additional measures to protect judges.

“Verkhovnaya Rada (parliament) lost its legitimacy after that vote,” Yatsenyuk said.

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Ukrainian opposition suggests creating alternative parliament

“That is why we should create our own People’s Rada (parliament) out of opposition representatives,” Yatsenyuk said.

Besides, the opposition intends to stage a public vote for the Ukrainian president’s resignation and work out a new constitution for Ukraine.

For his part, Oleg Tyagnibok, the leader of the Svoboda (Freedom) party, said that the opposition did not recognize and would not implement the bills which had been adopted by parliament on January 16 and which were signed by the Ukrainian president and were going to sabotage them.

The opposition also called for creating municipal militia for people’s self-defense and staging a public vote for the elections of the mayor of Kiev and members of the Moscow city council.

The Ukrainian opposition holds such meetings, which it calls a “people’s assembly” every week with an aim to draw more supporters, predominantly from Ukraine’s Western regions.

The Sunday meeting of the “people’s assembly” has been the eighth since late November.

“Upon its completion, representatives of opposition forces called on the protesters to move to the European square to seize government institutions (Verkhovnaya Rada/parliament and the cabinet of ministers),” the Interior Ministry’s press service said.

To avert criminal actions police blocked the roadway on Grushevsky Street outside the Dynamo stadium. The protesters started throwing smoke pellets, sticks, stones and other objects at the police. Besides, they tried to break the police cordons.

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Angela Merkel advised politicians "to be authentic" when building up relations with US President-elect dondald Trump

US missile defense base in Poland long among Russian army’s targets — Foreign Ministry

Maria Zakharova stated that the US-NATO construction project, ongoing for nearly a decade with complete disregard to Russian security concerns, has consistently been a focus of Russia's attention

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"An automated warning was sent 30 minutes before the launch," Dmitry Peskov said

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"At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometers, now of course this territory is smaller," the source said

NATO enters conflict, Russia has every right to attack its targets now — expert

Col. (Ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson confirmed to TASS that the launch of ATACMS missiles would be impossible without "US/NATO satellite feeds and/or personnel"

Ukraine was warned about possible missile strike — Pentagon

Department of Defense Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh gave no answer to the question of how could Ukraine prepare for this kind of attack

Russia to toughly respond to Japan’s steps against it — Deputy Foreign Minister

According to Andrey Rudenko, Tokyo has no intention to change anything to the positive side

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Oreshnik missile to go into serial production, Putin says

The president stressed that given the weapon’s special power, it "will be provided precisely to the Strategic Missile Forces"

France only finishes off Ukraine by allowing it to strike inside Russia — diplomat

Zakharova said earlier that no attempts by "French warmongers" would change the outcome of the conflict

US, European officials suggest returning nukes to Ukraine — NYT

US officials believe that ramping up weapons supplies to Ukraine is unlikely to change the situation in the combat zone short term, but it may help Kiev strengthen its stance in case a truce is reached

German politician slams Ukraine’s ‘irresponsible’ strike on Russia with UK-made missiles

"A diplomatic search for balance and mutual understanding should be the goal, instead of further escalation," Alice Weidel said

Cooperation with Russia will play important role in upgrade of Indian armed forces — MFA

Answering a question about the supply of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to India, Andrey Rudenko stressed that Moscow "strictly fulfills its contractual obligations"

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France, UK will have to pay for their helping Ukraine strike inside Russia — diplomat

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said that what has been done by the White House is very dangerous

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"Certainly, it is being prepared in advance, this is a lengthy process," the Kremlin official said

Gazprombank’s UnionPay cards no longer serviced in several countries

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US expects Russia-North Korea cooperation to be formidable challenge in coming years

Mira Rapp-Hooper mentioned the US administration’s version, according to which North Korea has allegedly sent troops to engage in active combat in Ukraine

Israel strikes checkpoint on Syrian-Russian border — agency

The Jusiyah checkpoint is located on the border with Lebanon in the al-Qusayr area in the Syrian Homs governorate

Eliminating best enemy units: Defense Minister visits special op area

Andrey Belousov stressed that Russian troops have accelerated their advance in the special military operation zone and have effectively disrupted Kiev's 2025 military campaign

Developments in Russia’s Kursk Region: Counselling for residents, enemy’s losses

Doctors, including psychologists, are working with the Kursk Region residents that returned from Ukraine

Zelensky’s actions make Ukraine vulnerable to coup, says politician

"Democratic institutions in the country have been destroyed, rendering dialogue between the government and the people impossible," Viktor Medvedchuk said

Oreshnik can reach targets across entire Europe — missile troops commander

"Based on the tasks and the range of this weapon, it can hit targets across entire Europe, which sets it apart from other high-precision long-range weapons," Sergey Karakayev said

Ukraine should consider territorial concessions to Russia in return for peace — magazine

Foreign Policy pointed out that Western officials should stop insisting in public speeches on the need to achieve a strategic defeat for Russia

Russia will not artificially impede process of terrorist status lifting from Taliban

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said that completion of legal procedures of removing the terrorist organization’s status from the Taliban Movement will attribute a positive impetus to Russian-Afghan interaction in various spheres

Trump seeks to restore peace in entire world — transition team on Putin’s address

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Warehouse with containers of flammable liquids on fire in Barnaul — Emergencies ministry

As the ministry’s the regional headquarters reported, the area of the fire is 6,000 square meters

Kiev forces lost over 260 troops in Kursk direction in 24 hours — Russian Defense Ministry

During the fighting in the Kursk direction, the enemy lost more than 35,310 servicemen

Japanese lawmaker praises Putin's restraint amid decision to strike deep into Russia

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed that the US administration had lifted restrictions for US-supplied missiles to be used for strikes up to 300 kilometers inside Russia

Weapons supplied to Ukraine cannot reach Russian territory, Spanish defense minister says

The New York Times reported on November 17 that US President Joe Biden had authorized the use of US-supplied ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles for strikes inside Russia

Lukashenko tells Putin situation is "starting to get tense with Wagner"

The Belarusian leader noted that they want to go to Warsaw

Russian forces eliminate Ukrainian MiG-29 on ground

Additionally, Russian units eliminated one munitions depot

Russia’s Oreshnik has no analogues worldwide — Putin

"We know what kind of developments are being carried out there, but this will happen tomorrow or in a year or two, but we have such a system already today," the president said

Shooting took place near Israeli embassy in Jordan — TV

Adjacent streets are blocked by security forces

Putin says Oreshnik missile system cutting-edge innovation by Russia, not Soviet byproduct

The Russian Defense Ministry announced earlier in the day that the country’s latest Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile hit all the targets at a major Ukrainian military-industrial enterprise in Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk) with its MIRVed warheads

Russia will respond ‘in every way’ to Seoul’s arms supply to Kiev — MFA

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko called on South Korean to soberly assess the situation and refrain from "reckless steps"

US, Europe openly side with Kiev by supplying it with weapons — top Turkish diplomat

He stressed that today "it is vital prevent economic and political confrontation in certain regions of the world from growing into a real war."

West irrational, fails to understand it cannot intercept Russia's new missiles — Kneissl

The former Austrian foreign minister stressed that she "counted on rational Western decision-makers, but irrationality is unfortunately on the rise among them"