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Middle East conflict

Hamas’ militant wing claims it holds up to 250 hostages — TV

According to the spokesperson for the militant wing of Hamas Abu Obaida, "200 Israeli captives are held directly by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, while the rest are held by other groups"

CAIRO, October 16./TASS/. Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for the militant wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, claims that radicals are holding between 200 to 250 people hostage, the Al Hadath TV channel said.

"The number of Israeli captives we have is between 200 and 250," he said. According to Obaida, "200 Israeli captives are held directly by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, while the rest are held by other groups.".

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Middle East and North Africa

IDF continues to attack Hezbollah targets — prime minister’s office

According to Dmitry Gendelman, "long-range cruise missiles, launchers with thousands of rockets and drones" of the Hezbollah movement are being targeted

Russia ready for talks with Turkey on Su-35, Su-57 fighters

Russia earlier noted its readiness to participate in the program of developing the Turkish TF-X fifth-generation fighter

Lawmakers urge Czech cabinet to demand Russian compensation for ammo depot blast

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic has initiated another session of the North Atlantic Council

Vucic awards Russia’s envoy to UN with Order of Serbian Flag

The ceremony was held at Serbia's permanent mission to the UN in New York

IDF carries out massive strikes at Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

"The details will be published later," the press office said

Russia opposes fast-tracking of nuclear disarmament — deputy foreign minister

The global digital treaty also contains a serious flaw, Deputy Foreign Minister said

Putin calls for ensuring ‘capacity reserve’ when upgrading Eastern polygon project

The head of state drew attention to the fact that when constructing new facilities, one must not forget about the existing infrastructure and maintaining it in standard condition. He stated that this work "has problem areas"

Dangerous events in Lebanon confirm unprecedented escalation — Russian ambassador

Anatoly Viktorov urged all the sides to "immediately cease fire, show maximum restraint, and move to a political and diplomatic settlement of the situation"

Russia's newest satellites to change course of Ukrainian conflict — former UN inspector

According to Ritter this conflict would become "unsustainable for the Ukrainian sometime by the end of summer, early fall"

Zelensky may be overthrown if Ukraine fails to hold elections — Ukrainian MP

Ukraine is still facing the question of the legitimacy of power in the absence of parliamentary and presidential elections, which cannot be held during martial law

Russian aviation hit 20 areas of deployment of Ukrainian troops in Kursk Region

Russian warplanes hit 13 settlement in the Sumy Region as well, the Russian defense ministry said

Researchers from Siberia’s Tomsk who partnered with CERN start working at home

All eight researchers from the university who took part in mega science research have already returned to Russia

Macron calls for reviewing ties with Russia

The French president also called for bigger presence of "densely populated countries, which did not exist when the current world order was only forming" in international organizations

Rising number of dead foreigners in Ukraine proves West's involvement — envoy to UN

"We have warned from the beginning that those who help the Zelensky clique stay afloat will become our legitimate targets," Vasily Nebezya reminded

Press review: Prognosing upcoming Zelensky-Biden meetup and Hezbollah ups ante with Israel

Top stories from the Russian press on Monday, September 23rd

Spacemen to return to Earth after longest mission in ISS’s history

The undocking has been scheduled for 11:37 Moscow time, the spacecraft is expected to land at about 15:00 Moscow time

Scholz says he won’t relax rules for Ukraine to use German weapons

The German Chancellor emphasized that there were "good reasons for that"

Neglect of Russia’s interests makes lasting settlement in Ukraine impossible — MFA

At the same time, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova explained that Russian representatives "have not participated in any meetings within the framework of the ‘Buergenstock process’ and are not going to participate in any

Ukraine spends over $150 billion on military needs, but it's not enough — Defense Ministry

Rustem Umerov did not specify for what period exactly the specified amount was spent

Telegram may hand over user data of rule violators to authorities

The Telegram team has removed all problematic content from there in recent weeks, Pavel Durov said, without giving any details

Israel attacks 1,600 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, Bekaa Valley over day

The IDF continues to strike Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon as part of Operation Northern Arrows

Netanyahu warns Israelis of ‘difficult days’ ahead amid strikes on Lebanon

"What I am asking of you, the citizens of Israel, is two things: First, to follow the instructions of the Homefront Command, as that saves lives. Second, to be steadfast, responsible and determined," the Israeli PM stated

Hezbollah handing out pagers hours before their detonation — agency

The sources said that the Shiite movement did not have any specific suspicions about these pagers and their "checks had been part of a routine 'sweep' of its equipment to find any indications that they were laced with explosives"

Iran has no intention to develop nuclear weapons, ready to return to JCPOA – president

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stressed that there is no place for nuclear weapons in Iran’s military doctrine

Russia says battlegroup West struck 4 Ukrainian brigades

Enemy lost up to 420 troops

Israeli military says it attacked 1,300 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon

As part of the strikes, attacks targeted cruise missiles with a range of hundreds of kilometers

Putin instructs Cabinet to allocate funds to support Russian video game developers

The funds will go to the "specialized entity for the development of the autonomous non-profit organization "Institute for the Development of the Internet"

Potential catastrophe at Kursk NPP to affect entire Europe — Russian officer

He said that he doesn’t understand "why Europe as yielded to America’s globalist interests and is doing everything it can to let America stage a catastrophe that would affect not only Russia and Ukraine, but also entire Europe."

Russian banks’ profits up by 42% in August month-on-month to $4.6 bln — Central Bank

In late August, the number of profitable banks increased to 261, and their share of the total number of banks - to about 82%

FACTBOX: Breakthrough attempts repulsed: situation in Kursk Region

The Russian military repelled two enemy attempts to break through the border towards Novy Put

Ukraine's accusation against Russia over violations in Kerch Strait has no grounds — MFA

Ukraine initiated a dispute on this matter on September 16, 2016

Moscow reiterates will not test nukes if Washington refrains

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov drew attention "to recent media reports saying that the infrastructure on Novaya Zemlya is fully ready"

CERN's turn away from Russian scientists has positive aspects — Kurchatov Center chief

This is quite obviously a positive development for us in some respects, Kovalchuk said

Russian forces hit Patriot SAM launcher, missile reload trailer transporter

Russian forces have liberated Pobeda and took more advantageous positions in the Donetsk area

Sino-Russian economic ties firm, have great prospects — expert

Trade turnover between China and Russia exceeded $158 bln in January-August, which is 1.9% higher than in the same period last year, Ding Jianwei noted

Turkish parliamentary speaker hopes to meet with Putin on Wednesday

Numan Kurtulmus intends to convey greetings from Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Russian President

US coalition aircraft violates Syrian airspace 13 times in past 24 hours

In addition, the coalition violated the provisions of the December 9, 2019 deconfliction

Kiev moves reserves to Kharkov Region as Russian army pushes towards Kupyansk — official

Vitaly Ganchev specified that over the past two weeks, Russian troops had achieved certain success the Kharkov Region

Press review: BRICS challenges existing security concepts and Europe's economy in trouble

Top stories from the Russian press on Friday, September 13th

Bundestag members address Cabinet with query regarding Ukraine’s attack on Kursk Region

The legislators are asking whether German weapons are used by the Ukrainian forces in their incursion into the Kursk Region

Russian stock indices in the green as trading closes on Monday

The yuan-to-ruble exchange rate rose by 0.19% in a day, to 13.14 rubles

Harris will be unable to stop WWIII, Trump argues

Earlier, the politician also warned that the United States would head toward a third world war under a Democratic administration

Senior Hezbollah commander alive following Israeli strike

According to the TV channel, Karaki, who was at the headquarters during the air strike, sustained wounds but was not killed

Russian, Lao servicemen hold first joint exercise in Russia’s Far East — top brass

The Russian Defense Ministry pointed out that the first stage of the drills will begin on September 25

Europe's new security architecture yet to be built — Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov noted that this would require great efforts in the future and be a matter of special concern for the Kremlin in order to ensure Russia's legitimate security interests

Decision on strikes into Russia unlikely to come after Biden-Zelensky talks — The Times

The newspaper noted that the decision on strikes deep into Russian territory is unlikely to change turn the tide of the conflict, because Russia has withdrawn its planes and missile systems from the range of Western-made weapons, used in the Ukrainian conflict

Russian Baltic Fleet's patrol ship ends visit to Dar es Salaam

The ship's crew replenished water, fuel and food supplies and conducted technical examination of the ship

Russia to display Lancet-E kamikaze drone at ADEX show

"Our solutions provide protection against the whole range of internal and external security threats to regional countries," Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev said

Russian expert sees Zelensky's trip to Pennsylvania as crude pressure on US voters

Vladimir Zharikhin noted that Zelensky was making this trip on instructions from Washington

Iranian president vows assassination of Haniyeh won’t go unanswered

The assassination of Haniyeh runs counter to all norms of international law and will definitely not go unanswered

West to be ready for nuclear escalation in confrontation with Russia — expert

According to Glenn Diesen, NATO expansion that canceled inclusive pan-European security agreements with Russia was "the main manifestation of America's hegemonic ambitions after the Cold War"

Iran's president ready to discuss conflict in Ukraine with Europe, US — AFP

Massoud Pezeshkian said his country had never approved of what he described as aggression against Ukraine

Scholz says Germany not to send Kiev missiles ‘capable of reaching as far as Moscow’

German Chancellor emphasized the need to explore ways in order to peacefully resolve the Ukraine conflict

Turkey tends to view BRICS as a political trump card against the West — expert

Turkish economist Bartu Soral noted that when looking at "the global distribution of power, it is clear that huge changes have occurred since the early 2000s"

Unilateral sanctions hinder sustainable development goals, says Iranian president

The Iranian president called on "the UN chief, in cooperation with the countries affected by unilateral sanctions"

IAEA should speak openly about sources of threats to Kursk NPP — Russian mission

Russia is working on the issue of the Zaporozhye and Kursk nuclear power plants with the agency's leadership and its Director General Rafael Grossi, Russia's deputy permanent envoy to international organizations in Vienna Roman Ustinov said

Court decides not to toughen sentence for Baring Vostok case defendant Philippe Delpal

Earlier, the Interior Ministry put Delpal on the wanted list

Opportunities in coupling of Belt and Road Initiative, EAEU outweigh challenges — expert

"It should be noted that the trend of expanding cooperation between China and Russia at the level of regions is uncontainable," Senior Researcher at the Chinese Taihe Institute Ding Jianwei noted

Russian Agriculture Ministry may adjust forecast for grain harvest in 2024

According to current data, 78% of the area under grain has already been harvested in the country, 105.9 million tons of grain have been threshed, including 77.7 million tons of wheat

Cosmonauts, astronaut move from ISS to Soyuz MS-25, close hatches

The crew will now don their spacesuits and take their seats for the journey back

Advanced Sarmat ICBM systems go on combat alert in Russia — Roscosmos head

The RS-28 Sarmat missile to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda ICBM operational in the Russian Strategic Missile Force since 1988

Kremlin spokesman says West ‘obsessed’ with fighting Russia until Ukraine runs out of men

Peskov was commenting on NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg's recent statement that there is no need to be afraid of using Western weapons for strikes deep inside Russia

TASS flag at 900 m above sea level. About new Arctic pass

The Clean Arctic — Vostok-77 expedition initiated the idea to mark the 120th anniversary of Russia's first state news agency and to remember its journalists who have actively participated in Arctic expeditions

Russia says its Iskander missile destroys US-made HIMARS in Sumy Region

The crew of an Iskander tactical missile system of the Russian Armed Forces carried out a missile strike on the position of an M142 HIMARS of Ukrainian forces in the settlement of Shaposhnikovo

IRGC says exposed network of 12 Israeli agents in 6 Iranian provinces

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has blamed Israel for seeking to spread the conflict onto Iran’s territory and destabilize the situation inside the country

IDF launches ‘proactive offensive operation’ against Hezbollah — General Staff

According to Chief of Israel’s General Staff Herzi Halevi, the IDF is targeting combat infrastructure that Hezbollah has been building for the past 20 years

Kremlin reserved over articles about Zelensky plan, would study official version

Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that he had some kind of plan for ending the conflict

Three Hezbollah religious leaders killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon — TV

According to the broadcast, Abdul Moneim Mahna, Ali Aburia and Amin Saad died during the shelling attacks

Hezbollah attacks Israeli Ramat David air base for second time

Movement used two types of rockets: Fadi-1, with a range of 80 km, and Fadi-2, with a range of 105 km

Hungarian PM proposes return to cooperation ‘from Lisbon to Vladivostok’

The UN has an important role to play in this direction, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said

Hungarian minister says UN should reinstate itself as platform for discussing peace

The UN was created as a platform where everyone can talk to everyone about everything, Peter Szijjarto said

Russian forces strike Ukrainian energy facilities, troops last night — top brass

Overnight, the Russian Armed Forces launched a group strike on energy facilities that supply electricity to Ukrainian defense plants and drone production cites as well as Ukrainian troops

Ukrainian decoy drone meant for hacking air defenses seized in Kursk Region

Such drones are made of cheap components and carry no quality cameras or other additional radio transmitting devices

Crew of Russia’s Soyuz MS-25 leaves landing module

The module has made a vertical landing

Ukrainian troops shell school with 106 children inside in Zaporozhye Region

There have been no casualties

Russia to create counter-balance to US missiles in Asia — MFA

Ryabkov emphasized that Russia "cannot expect good and positive things from the United States"

Israel expands strikes on Hezbollah targets across Lebanon — defense minister

Yoav Gallant has held a security meeting in the command and control center of the Israeli Air Force which was attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the chief of the General Staff and the commander of the Israeli Air Force

Tensions flare up in North Caucasus since start of special military op — commander

Lieutenant General Vladimir Makeyev also mentioned the emergence of self-radicalized citizens, usually living abroad

UNGA member countries adopt Pact for the Future, despite Russia’s objection

Along with Russia, Belarus and Nicaragua, delegations from North Korea, Syria, Sudan, and Iran voted against

Russia’s response to long-range weapons supplies to Kiev will be brutal — MFA

"The opponents in Washington, London, and other places clearly underestimate the degree of danger of the game they continue to play," Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Ryabkov said

Russia offers safe haven for people trying to escape Western liberal ideals

Under the document, such foreign nationals will have the right to apply for temporary residence in Russia "outside the quota approved by the Russian government and without providing documents confirming their knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and basic laws"

Ukraine's accusations against Russia over Crimean Bridge go beyond UN convention — MFA

"Just as it was in the UN International Court of Justice, Ukraine's accusations in this arbitration are not serious, they are nothing more than another example of systematic abuse of the international justice system for purely political purposes," Gennady Kuzmin emphasized

All restrictions on entry to Tikhoretsk lifted after Ukrainian attack

Two drones were downed on Saturday by Russian servicemen in the Tikhoretsky district of the Krasnodar Region, where the falling debris resulted in a fire, followed by the detonation of explosive items

Elite Iranian army unit bans use of comm devices in wake of Lebanon blasts — media

Top officials are concerned about the incident, having requested the results of technical examination as well as several samples of detonated products from Hezbollah

Press review: US shifts rhetoric on Ukraine and walkie-talkie explosions rock Lebanon

Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, September 19th

BRICS countries must build a just world order together — Chinese politician

"The BRICS countries should firmly protect their rights to progress, encourage developing countries to evolve independently, as well as lay the foundation for consolidating multilateralism and building a more just and rational international order," Wang Gang said

Ukrainian troops hold up to 120 captured civilians in Russia’s borderline Sudzha

Rodion Miroshnik noted that as of now, 266 wounded and 56 killed civilians have been reported since the onset of the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk Region

US billionaire sees Zelensky’s 'victory plan' leading to third world war

David Sacks said hopefully Joe Biden can remember why he has rejected the points of the Ukrainian president’s plan

Ukrainian howitzer Bogdana destroyed by Lancet munition in Sumy Region

Objective monitoring of the strike on the Ukrainian artillery piece was carried by air reconnaissance means in the real time mode

Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicts roughly 105 enemy casualties in past day

Ukrainian military losses included an APC, four motor vehicles, two D-20 howitzers, three D-30 howitzers and a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount

Russia considers Ukraine's accusations of obstructing navigation groundless — diplomat

The convention, Gennady Kuzmin noted, does not regulate inland waters, except in extremely limited circumstances

Israel wants to drag whole region into war, engages in terrorism, says Erdogan

The Turkish President said he would address the UNGA to ask the participants to remember "the need for taking action against genocide in the Gaza Strip and Israel's aggressive policies"

PREVIEW: UN General Assembly's high-level week kicks off in New York City

In the coming week, representatives of 193 UN member states, the Vatican and Palestine, which have observer status in the world body, as well as the European Union will take turns at the General Assembly podium

Russian diplomat slams Pact for the Future as serious blow on UN

"The United Nations had infringed upon its own principles to pander to a group of delegations from the ‘beautiful garden,’ who have usurped the talks from the very beginning," Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said

Hezbollah militants launch 9,000 rockets, drones at Israel since October 8 — army

Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari added that Hezbollah has been planning to do in northern Israel what the Palestinian movement Hamas did in southern Israel on October 7 last year

Russia to display Supercam S350 drone at ADEX show

Supercam S350 is a light drone with video signal range of over 70 km

Total of 492 civilians killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon — news agency

Another 1,645 people were injured

Nornickel invests $30 mln in Battery Technology Center project

The company estimates the demand of the Russian market for cathode active materials at around 10,000 tons per year, while the demand on the global market tops millions of tons

Poland accuses Russia of 'disinformation campaign' amid large-scale flooding

According to the police, 7 people died and over 6,000 people have been evacuated from the flooded area

Pentagon deploying additional US forces to Middle East

The Lebanese Health Ministry earlier said that the death toll from Israeli strikes on residential areas in South Lebanon had climbed to 325

Russian prime minister approves list of countries imposing destructive attitudes

It includes the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and other states