US carries out two airstrikes on pro-Iranian groups in Syria — Reuters

Adnan Sayed Hussein points out that the attack came at a time when a large batch of weapons is being prepared to be sent to Ukraine and discussions are underway on increasing military assistance to Kiev to $100 bln

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin thanked State Duma lawmakers for approving his candidacy for the prime minister’s office

Kazem Jalali pointed out that the United States uses the dollar to create restrictions, and therefore the use of national currencies in mutual settlements is on the agenda

"Australia condemns, in the strongest possible terms, North Korea’s illegal export and Russia’s procurement and use of North Korean ballistic missiles," the statement reads

Earlier, Hungary took measures against foreign influence on the country’s domestic policy

Peter Szijjarto said he had asked the Council of Europe to include alternative peace plans to the resolution but that his proposal had been declined by a majority vote

In addition, Ukrainian forces were facing ammunition shortages due to a stalled US aid package

It is reported that doctors are doing everything possible to stabilize the patient

Konstantin Kosachev pointed out that it was a mutually beneficial and promising partnership

It is reported that the Ukrainian military had been unsuccessfully trying to bring in reserves to hold the defense

The Kiev regime’s attempt to use a fixed-wing drone to carry out a terrorist attack on targets in Russia was foiled, Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement

The total number of evacuees stands at 9,907, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the regional military administration, said

Three shelling attacks on positions of Syrian government troops by militants of the Jabhat al-Nusra were reported in the Idlib governorate in the Idlib de-escalation zone, Yury Popov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said

The North-South project is also important for many countries of the region, Ahmed bin Nasser bin Jassim Al-Thani added

According to the 24.kg news agency, about 1,000 people, who arrived there after the fight in the hostel, gathered behind the cordon

"You can 'bribe' the tanker fleet and arrange [supplies] along the Northern Sea Route almost like through the pipeline," the Russian leader

it should be enough to make sure that US, French and British-made long-range weapons don’t reach Russia, including the country’s new regions, Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russia’s National Defense magazine told TASS

"By the end of the year the number of new Chinese brands may reach 10," analysts said

The restrictions were imposed on Vostochnaya Stevedoring Co LLC and Toplivo Bunkering Company, as well as North Korean Paekyangsan Shipping Company

According to the Hungarian prime minister, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is planning to visit Hungary in the run-up to elections to the European Parliament scheduled for June 6-9 to try and persuade Budapest to reconsider its stance

"As long as the world is unipolar, this world will be extremely unstable, this world will continually generate threats," Konstantin Kosachev said

On May 16, US Department of State Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel noted that China cannot improve relations with Europe, if it will support Russia at the same time, allegedly fueling the Russian military-industrial complex

According to the Russian leader, the partnership between Moscow and Beijing "will serve as a model of how ties between neighboring states should be built"

The current Kiev regime is to blame for ongoing battles in the Kharkov direction, the Russian leader stressed

Russian forces advanced to better positions and inflicted casualties on 18 Ukrainian army brigades in the Kupyansk area over the week, the Defense Ministry reported

"It is impossible to build peace in the region without close economic ties," Ali Bagheri Kani said

According to the Council, this ban does not apply to any activities other than broadcasting

Maria Zakharova pointed out that behind these barbaric attacks with Western weapons the silhouettes of US and British handlers of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's were clearly visible

Kiev acknowledges that the situation in the Kharkov Region is extremely difficult for the Ukrainian troops

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin said, commenting on Russia’s offensive operations in Ukraine, that the goal was to create "a sanitary zone" to protect border areas from shelling attacks

The leaders of Russia and China also expressed their intention "to boost Afghanistan-related partner interaction both at the bilateral level and on multilateral platforms"

The explosion occurred during clean-up operations at basement premises in the utility zone of the Budenny Military Academy, the press service of the Leningrad Military District reported

According to Sergey Ryabkov, it is necessary to "treat both the issuance and non-issuance of American visas with coldness and detachment"

The Chinese leader added that Beijing "is ready to play its constructive role"

The target of the strike was not specified

The Russian leader noted that solutions on how to make payments are possible and do exist

The meeting was held in a generally calm atmosphere, the 24.kg news agency reported

One employee died of injuries, Alexey Smirnov said

According to Zelensky, Kiev does not believe in the idea of an Olympic truce as it would "play into the enemy’s hands"

"The naval group’s ships have set their course towards the Atlantic Ocean through designated areas of the Barents Sea," the press office said

The attack involved HIMARS rockets

According to Axios, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at a meeting with ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of 17 countries that Hamas has withdrawn from negotiations with Israel as it hopes to increase international pressure on the Jewish state by demanding an end to hostilities in the Gaza Strip

The Ukrainian president asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to provide two Patriot systems to defend Kharkov, but the US diplomat did not give him an unequivocal answer

Alexander Stubb pointed out that after joining the North Atlantic Alliance, Finland wants to play a meaningful role in it

Ukrainian forces lose a large number of armored vehicles to Russian FPV drones, platoon commander Alexander Belyayev said

Russian troops employed the Upyr FPV drone for the first time in the special military operation in Ukraine in May 2023

The press service of the Leningrad Military District reported earlier in the day that seven servicemen were injured in an explosion that occurred in the academy’s utilities territory when garbage was being removed from basemen premises

Taiwan's army responded by deploying aircraft, ships and land-based anti-aircraft missile systems to monitor the targets

"The prime minister’s personal protection group acted absolutely properly amid a rapidly developing emergency situation," Matus Sutaj-Estok underlined

"Once the Kiev regime uses Storm Shadow / SCALP-EG missiles with a range of at least 550 kilometers when the distance between Belgorod and Kiev is 429 kilometers, practically the entire central and most of the western parts of Ukraine fall within this sanitary zone," the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council said

The Russian president noted that the program for creation of carbon polygons that already exist in Russia, is being implemented together with Chinese partners

The Russian leader blamed Kiev’s sponsors in the West for organizing this coup, saying they escalated it into an armed conflict

The Russian president noted that sanctions are elements of economic war and are nothing new

According to the Russian diplomat, the EU decision is based "solely on political motives."

"It’s a matter of assessment. And this assessment should primarily be made by the Constitutional Court and the political system in Ukraine itself," the Russian president reiterated

Maria Zakharova added that "the Western puppeteers exploit the Baltic countries as a 'testing ground' to test the waters concerning various kinds of anti-Russian ideas"

The North Korean leader also pointed to "the need to build an overwhelming nuclear war deterrent in response to the security situation caused by the enemies' reckless intrigues"

"The greatest impression lies in the power of Harbin," the Russian leader noted, adding that "Harbin has turned into a powerful world-scale megacity in recent years"

Ukrainian media outlets reported explosions in the city of Mirgorod

"We will continue combating drug businesses along with those partners who share these and other goals of countering common security challenges," Maria Zakharova stressed

Civilians are being killed there as a result of Kiev’s bombardments, which is obvious, the Russian leader noted

According to the press office, the commissioned vehicles made it possible to complete equipment of seven motorized infantry and tank units

Ukraine was expected to hold its presidential election in March but the vote was canceled because martial law is in effect in the country

Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky said that he "inspected all the units"

According to Said bin Mohammed Al Saqri, this happened thanks to Russia’s cooperation with both the Council in general and "bilateral cooperation with each of its member countries"

"This situation, when one country dictates its will to the rest of the world, including in the political sphere, using financial and economic instruments, is unacceptable," the Russian president stressed

According to the report, Robert Fico is in stable but still serious condition

Top stories from the Russian press on Friday, May 17th

The expedition North Pole-41 was a continuation of the program for comprehensive research in the high latitudes of the Arctic founded by Soviet scientists decades ago

The work is underway on development of international transport corridors in different directions, Marat Khusnullin added

The Russian leader stressed that it was politicians in Kiev who "withdrew from the negotiation process" as soon as troops were pulled back from Kiev

The Hungarian prime minister believes that the upcoming months will be extremely important for the future of Europe in due to the upcoming European Parliament elections and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin stressed that Russia considers this "a violation of international law"

Ukrainian service members have been moving little in the city lately and normally only at night, the Kherson Resistance guerilla unit commander added

This "experimental unit of super covert scouts" is designed to identify enemy strongholds, locate entrances to trenches, and coordinate assault teams to capture them, the RTL reported

Svetlana Akulova noted that the mama panda turned out to have very strong maternal instincts

According to the source, the radio frequency operates in all directions of the line of engagement in the special military operation zone

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin noted that retaliatory measures "can be both symmetrical and asymmetrical in a variety of instruments, including legal, financial, and administrative"

"The vehicle has already been repaired and is being prepared to be added to the collection of foreign trophy weapons," the Russian Defense Ministry said

Russian air defenses down 37 drones, Tochka U missile, 21 HIMARS, Vampire, Olkha rockets in past day

The new rules caused a storm of indignation among Ukrainian citizens of military age at the stage of the bill's introduction into the Verkhovna Rada at the end of last year

Vitaly Ganchev added that as of today, more than 200 square kilometers of the region had been liberated from the Ukrainian armed forces

"It is fundamentally important to achieve the minimum mass while retaining such properties as strength and resistance to adverse external effects," Yevgeny Alexandrov pointed out

Dmitry Peskov also highly praised the cooperation between the regions of Russia and the provinces of China and emphasized its contribution to the development of the Russian territories bordering China

According to Axios, the consultations were devoted to discussing the possible "consequences of Iran and its proxies" in the region, as well as "US concerns about Tehran's nuclear program"

According to the governor, the two wounded men were taken to hospital

Even though Vladimir Putin’s visit to China was a state one, "it was a purely working trip"

According to Roman Shkurlatov, two Patriot systems will not make Kharkov safe

The test launch confirmed the accuracy and reliability of the system, the Korean Central News Agency reported

The Ukrainian army lost over 520 troops in battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk area over the past day, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported

"Yet this vagueness has always been typical of the Western group’s doctrinal approaches, including nuclear weapons," Sergey Ryabkov noted

"We are interested in Afghan exports of agriculture products to our market," Alexey Overchuk said

According to The Wall Street Journal, Kiev has also asked Washington to lift restrictions on the use of US weapons against targets on Russian territory

Ramzan Kadyrov noted that there is no need to worry about hostilities currently happening on Russian territory

The talks have reached an impasse because the parties to the conflict cannot agree on the conditions for the release of hostages, the Israeli state broadcaster Kan reported

The NNSA claims that the current and previous 33 subcritical experiments were consistent with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

Islam Khamayseh was involved in organizing a number of terror attacks in the area, the army’s press service reported

Melkulangara Bhadrakumar added that closer relations with China will "strengthen Russia's position and become a stepping through for major events"

Georgia’s parliament passed the third reading of the bill On the Transparency of Foreign Influence on May 14