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Kiev does not conduct or plan any offensive operations — Foreign Minister

The situation along the contact line in eastern Ukraine took a turn for the worse on the morning of February 17

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba

© EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

KIEV, February 20. /TASS/. Ukraine does not plan or conduct any offensive operations because it does not want war, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba said on Sunday.

"Ukraine does not plan and does not conduct any offensive military operations, provocations, sabotage, and shelling of the territory of the Russian Federation. This is not what we are doing or planning to do. We don't want war, we want peace," he said at a briefing following the Munich Security Conference.

The situation along the contact line in eastern Ukraine took a turn for the worse on the morning of February 17. The Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics reported some of the most intensive shelling by Kiev forces in recent months. The shelling damaged some civilian facilities.

On Friday, the leaders of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of the republics’ inhabitants to Russia, citing the increasing threat of hostilities.

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger reaffirm withdrawal from ECOWAS irreversible

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Kiev to face more destruction after its UAV attack on Kazan, Putin warns

"We will not only restore the damage that some attempt to cause to us but will also move forward even at a faster pace as we are doing now," Russian President said

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Nikolay Patrushev agreed that Trump, when he was still a candidate, "made many statements critical of the destructive foreign and domestic policies pursued by the current administration"

Putin calls Oreshnik missile development ‘an historic event’ for space rocket industry

Russian President also said that he had handed down direct instructions to produce and test-fire the Oreshnik hypersonic missile

Top Turkish diplomat calls for listing anti-Syrian sanctions

According to Hakan Fidan, during his contacts with al-Sharaa he "saw the Syrian leadership’s strong will and commitment in this area,"

Ukrainian troops struggling to escape being trapped in Lozovaya in Kharkov region — expert

In general, "quite active hostilities" are taking place near Dvurechnaya and Lozovaya in the Kupyansk sector of the line of engagement, Andrey Marochko noted

Arkhangelsk nuclear submarine ready to join Russian Navy — Sevmash Shipyard CEO

Project 885M nuclear-powered submarines carry Oniks and Kalibr-PL cruise missiles as their basic strike weapons

Putin to extend New Year greetings to peoples of several unfriendly countries — Kremlin

The Russian president will not congratulate leaders of unfriendly countries, but he will congratulate some individuals and people of several ones, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said

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"We’d better wait for the meeting to end to learn what they discussed," he Dmitry Peskov said

Oreshnik test launch forces London to take a step back — Russian ambassador

According to Andrey Kelin, the UK’s official reaction to the launch of the Oreshnik missile was rather vague

Russia currently holds upper hand in Ukraine conflict, Indian expert says

Nandan Unnikrishnan pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has more than once spoken about Russia’s readiness to discuss an end to the conflict"

Turkish president calls on West to stop Israel in Syria before it’s too late

"All international mechanisms need to be effectively employed in order to prevent Israel from exploiting the situation in Syria," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said

Response to Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Rylsk to come shortly — Russia’s UN envoy

Vasily Nebenzya warned as he denounced the attack as yet another unambiguous step by the Kiev regime toward escalation

West should consider Putin's words on Oreshnik missile duel — diplomat

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized that the rhetoric about "inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia" is firmly rooted in the mentality of the NATO regimes not at all as hypothetical assumptions

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Russian forces create bridgehead near Kupyansk-Uzlovoy in Kharkov Region — expert

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Reporters are ramping up Russophobia, distorting the facts while writing on this matter, the Russian Embassy in Portugal said

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According to US Central Command, the incident occurred during airstrikes on Houthi facilities

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The previous generation of Russian politicians chose the course towards the country’s destruction for the sake of joining the so-called civilized world but this was what the West wanted, President Vladimir Putin

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Russia declassifies intel about France’s plans to send 2,000 troops to Ukraine

SVR Director Sergey Naryshkin said on March 19 that Paris was already preparing to send some 2,000 troops to Ukraine

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Russia considers launching direct flights with Brazil, Malaysia, Pakistan — Minister

Roman Starovoyt noted that Russia is holding negotiations with many airlines from friendly countries

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All three of them are in satisfactory condition, but it is too early to talk about their discharge, the regional hospital staff said

Commander Makarov was killed in fighting to repel Ukrainian attack — ministry

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov also informed of the death of the deputy commander of the army corps for military-political work, Colonel Yevgeny Brovko, who led the efforts of the personnel

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US wants to destabilize whole region using terrorists in Afghanistan — Shoigu

The defebse minister noted that "instead of working for the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the hasty withdrawal from it, the NATO countries are trying in various ways to restore their military presence in the Central Asian region"

An-2 plane missing in Kamchatka located, survivors found — regional emergencies ministry

According to the press service of the regional Emergencies Ministry, all three people onboard the plane survived the emergency landing

Putin opens new transport infrastructure sites in Russian regions via video link

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Russian cancer vaccine to be free of charge — top oncologist

It is planned to launch it in general circulation in early 2025

Strike on SBU control center response to Russian general’s assassination, expert says

The ministry clarified that Ukraine launched a missile strike against the Kamensky Integrated Plant in the Rostov Region using six US-made ATACMS missiles and four Storm Shadow cruise missiles

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger take armies to maximum alert — declaration

"The College of national leaders closely follows the deceiving maneuvers, initiated by the French junta, who declares the shutdown of its military bases only to replace them with another, less visible mechanism, which pursues the same neo-colonial goal," says the statement

Drone attack triggers fire at fuel infrastructure facility in Russia’s Oryol Region

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Oil supplies to Hungary via Druzhba pipeline resume — top Hungarian diplomat

Reuters reported earlier that oil supplies to Belarus and EU countries via Druzhba had been suspended on December 19 due to technical problems

Aleppo taken by 350 militants while 30,000 gov’t troops retreated without fight — Putin

The Russian president recalled that no Russian land troops had been deployed to Syria, with Russia having only an airbase and a naval base

Israeli minister’s suggestion of nuclear strike on Gaza raises questions — Russian MFA

Maria Zakharova stressed that such statements by Israeli officials shed light on the true reasons why Tel Aviv was opposing the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East

Putin’s talks with visiting Slovak PM over — Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov added that it is not planned to issue any joint statements

Russia has confidence in its weapons, senior diplomat says

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov also stressed that the recent developments had shown that the US policy of establishing a system of increasingly layered missile defenses was wrong

Syria’s new government wants to build strategic relations with Turkey

Ahmed al-Sharaa also said he will not "tolerate uncontrolled arms trafficking" across the country

Trump nominates billionaire Feinberg as US Deputy Secretary of Defense

The president-elect called Feinberg an "extremely successful businessman"

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Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov praised the new mechanisms for accelerating the introduction of advanced weapons and equipment developed by the civilian defense industrial complex in the interests of the Russian army

Hungarian PM highlights need to lift sanctions on Russia once Ukraine conflict is resolved

Viktor Obran added, however, that only a couple of EU countries shared Hungary’s position

Lavrov describes attack by insurgents in Syria as carefully planned

"We will oppose this in every possible way. We will support the legitimate Syrian government. And at the same time, of course, we will actively advocate the need to resume dialogue with the opposition, as required by [UN] Resolution 2254," Lavrov continued

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More than 107,600 people received wounds

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Ahmed аl-Sharaa expressed hope for building strategic relations with Lebanon

Russia’s Battlegroup South liberates settlement of Ostrovskogo in DPR — Defense Ministry

"The enemy lost up to 285 troops, two armored combat vehicles, two motor vehicles, a D-30 122 mm howitzer, a US-made M119 105 mm howitzers and five field ammunition depots," the ministry added

Ukraine may cease to exist by 2034 — Russian security official

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Georgian president demands appointing snap elections within week

Salome Zourabichvili also promised to announce her further plans on Monday

Russia to retaliate against Ukrainian strikes, just as Putin said — Kremlin

"Russia’s position is well known, it was voiced by Putin back in St. Petersburg," Dmitry Peskov stressed

NATO spies study damage from Oreshnik at Yuzhmash — expert

Alexander Stepanov emphasized that both Kiev and its Western allies are closely scrutinizing the consequences of the strike on the plant

Russian troops liberate two communities in Donbass area, Kharkov Region over past day

Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicts 480 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day

Three of eight drones that attacked Kazan targeted defense industry facilities — head

The Tatarstan head Rustam Minnikhanov also noted that all operational services worked well when dealing with the aftermath of the drone attack

NATO prepares for war with Russia, Moscow takes these risks into account — senior diplomat

According to Alexander Grushko, NATO's general course poses a danger both to Russia and to the entire architecture of global and regional security

IN BRIEF: What is known about drone attack on residential buildings in Kazan

TASS has gathered the main information about the incident

Putin holding talks with visiting Slovak PM

According to Putin’s press secretary, the meeting is being held one-on-one

Oreshnik’s launch is sudden, undetectable by satellites — analyst

The range of the Oreshnik system is up to 5,500 kilometers

AI can help generate personalized cancer vaccines in an hour — Russia’s vaccine chief

Now it takes quite long to build personalized vaccines because computing of how a vaccine should look like uses matrix methods, Alexander Gintsburg said

Ukrainian troops attempt counterattacks on Vasilyevka direction in Zaporozhye Region

According to the report, the Russian troops also improved their positions near Nesteryanka on the Orekhov direction

Assad allegedly hands list of military targets over to Israel before leaving Syria — media

According to the Turkish newspaper, the former Syrian president did it to ensure his own safety

Ukraine loses over 300 troops, two Bradley vehicles in Kursk Region in past day

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Father of conscript who killed 8 in Siberia asks son to cooperate with investigators

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Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger reaffirm withdrawal from ECOWAS irreversible

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Kiev takes out its anger for military defeats on Russian people — diplomat

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also emphasized that Moscow is outraged by the hypocritical silence of the West and its media on the terrorist attacks in Russia

Hungary wants to preserve relations with Russia as part of economic neutrality — Orban

Prime minister underscored that, "the more serious the problems in Europe are, the more decisively the economic relations in all other markets should be promoted"

Ukraine’s General Staff admits tense situation along entire frontline

The Ukrainian military also admitted the Russian army’s supremacy in terms of military equipment and the size of personnel

No real impulses for organization of Putin-Trump meeting so far — Kremlin spokesman

The Russian leader said during the press conference that he is ready for a conversation with the US president-elect and is ready to meet with him at any moment

Kalashnikov improves combat capabilities of Vikhr-1 aviation missile

"I will not comment on that in any further detail, it is our client’s prerogative," Kalashnikov CEO Alan Lushnikov said

Serbia will never joint anti-Russian sanctions, deputy prime minister vows

Aleksandar Vulin noted that he is "not optimistic about prospects for the United States changing its policy toward Serbia" after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump

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Demostenes Floros also drew attention to the growing potential of the ever-expanding domestic market and mentioned new ways of using natural gas in the future - for example, for the production of hydrogen and ammonia, necessary for the energy transition and agriculture (in production of fertilizers)

Almost 20 drones downed over four Russian regions, Black Sea last night

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Russian missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov to become world’s strongest warship after upgrade

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Air raid alert issued in six Ukrainian regions

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Massacre staged by retreating Ukrainian troops in Selidovo — report

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Magdeburg attacker may be charged with murder of 5, attempted murder of 205 — prosecutor

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Russian forces control more than half of Chasov Yar in DPR — expert

Andrey Marochko noted that Russian forces had "slightly advanced" in the northern and southern parts of Chasov Yar

Israeli delegation discussing in Doha ways of reaching deal om Gaza — TV

The Al Arabiya television channel said that, citing a source

CIA station in Kiev targeted in recent Russian attack, military expert reveals

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