Ukraine’s military retreats from Luhansk, leaves settlements near Donetsk

"No one except the top political leadership can set the task of getting rid of a president", Alexander Lukashenko said

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that Russia can take measures that will be painful to the US, but would keep them in reserve

Maria Zakharova called on the Kiev authorities to adopt a responsible approach and start implementing their obligations under the Minsk Package of Measures

The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at approximately 04:34 Moscow time

Earlier leader of the Civic Democratic Party Petr Fiala told that the Czech right-wing parliamentary parties planned to discuss the issue on the Russian special services’ alleged involvement in the explosion at the ammunition depot in the village of Vrbetice in 2014

The French President plans to discuss the ways of using the conclusions of the Paris summit of December 9, 2019, the Elysee Palace said in a communique

Suspects in an assassination attempt on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko are kept in a detention center and are cooperating with the investigation, giving confessions, Konstantin Bychek, department chief of the Belarusian State Security Committee’s investigation directorate, said

They are to leave Russia by end of day on April 19, the Russian foreign ministry said

According to Russia’s Foreign Ministry, "this hostile step" is a follow-up to a series of anti-Russian actions taken by the Czech Republic in recent years

Besides, entry is barred for John Bolton, former US National Security Adviser and Permanent Representative to the UN, and to Robert Woolsey, the former CIA director

Czech First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said at news conference earlier in the day that the Czech Republic was expelling 18 employees of the Russian embassy

As Ukraine’s military chief Ruslan Khomchak claimed, such actions might be exploited by Russia for its purposes

The plane has been prevented from violating the Russian border

Commenting on reports about detention of lawyer Yuri Zenkovich, a holder of Belarusian and US passports, on suspicion of his involvement in the assassination plot, a US State Department official said that Washington would offer all necessary consular assistance to its national

According to the Syrian Foreign Ministry, "these steps indicate flagrant US interference in other countries’ affairs"

According to the newspaper, one Type 45 destroyer armed with anti-aircraft missiles and an anti-submarine Type 23 frigate will peel off from the Royal Navy’s carrier task group in the Mediterranean and sail through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea

Also, when speaking about relations with Moscow, the US president nearly said "vaccination" instead of "escalation"

Within 48 hours, 18 staff members of the Russian embassy must leave the Czech Republic, he said

Top stories in the Russian press on Friday, April 16

"It is not in our interest to get into an escalatory cycle, but we reserve the right to respond to any Russian retaliation against the United States," a spokesperson said

The diplomat stated it was impossible to talk about any changes in bilateral relations

On April 15, Poland declared three Russian diplomats personae non gratae

The coup was scheduled for May 9 during the Victory Day Parade in Minsk, Russia’s Federal Security Service said

According to the French leader, a number of EU member states have decided to begin discussions about Sputnik

The agency underlines that sanctions risks would remain high under the Joe Biden administration

As the FSB stressed, "this activity is incompatible with the status of the diplomatic employee and is of clearly hostile nature towards the Russian Federation"

Top stories in the Russian press on Thursday, April 15

The expulsion of Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic has demonstrated that this country’s authorities lack independence in their foreign policy and relations with Russia, Maria Zakharova noted

The participation in the 18-day expedition to the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic allowed Russian military specialists "to fully assess and confirm its advantages, in particular, its ability to detect and identify objects in complex weather conditions"

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the measures announced on Friday are only a part of Moscow’s options

A senior diplomat of the Russian Embassy in Kiev must leave Ukraine within 72 hours, starting April 19

Russia’s 17-year-old figure skater Anna Shcherbakova took the top spot in the women’s free skate with 160.58 points

This will be a tit-for-tat response, the top diplomat stressed

Belarusian President has informed about the detention of a group that was scheming an assassination attack on him and his children, and purportedly, had links to the US intelligence agencies

The United States has received 122 RD-180 rocket engines over more than 20 years of cooperation

Head of the foreign department of the Czech president’s office Rudolf Jindrak also said he did not understand why the Russian side had expelled by two diplomats more than the Czech side

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia

The hybrid powerplant boosts the drone’s flight duration

Turkey carried out vaccine production research, according to the Yeni Safak newspaper

Head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky said that he was receiving phone calls from colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe who were wondering about the situation

According to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov is still in Moscow, continuing consultations

Turkish exports to various countries are "a serious issue," Russia's deputy foreign minister said

Lavrov explained that in addition to its regular diplomatic employees stationed in Russia, the US sends several hundred people annually "for short-term business trips"

According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov’s administration, the timeframe of the station’s operations has expired and its condition leaves much to be desired

The crisis center will be regularly informing the Russian Transport Ministry about the number of performed flights from Turkey to Russia, the number of transported citizens as well as the number of Russian citizens with issued flight tickets, the statement says

Twenty grenades were fired, the DPR’s mission to the Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center said

In his words, all anti-Russian US policies in recent years were based on "assumptions, where the highest degree of certainty is reflected by the notorious ‘highly likely’"

The Ukrainian diplomat must leave Russian territory by April 22, the ministry said

According to Jake Sullivan, Washington has arrived at a conclusion that this matter should better be discussed directly with Moscow, via diplomatic channels

The American troops are now redeploying from continental North America to Europe through the Atlantic, Russia’s Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said