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Islamic State victims

On February 15 Islamic State militants published a video showing the apparent beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians

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Egyptian Coptic Christians in orange jumpsuits being led by Islamic State militants along a beach in Libya. On February 15, 2015 IS militants published a video showing the apparent beheadings of 21 Copts, who were captured by IS at the end of last year

A Jordanian pilot was captured by IS group's fighters after they shot down a warplane from the US-led coalition with an anti-aircraft missile near Raqqa city

An exchange of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh, captured by IS and Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, the woman suicide-bomber who failed to blow herself up as part of bomb attacks in a Jordanian hotel in 2005, failed

© EPA/JORDAN NEWS AGENCY

Two Japanese hostages, Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, were killed by Islamic State militia in January 2015

© EPA/AL-FURQAN MEDIA

US aid worker Peter Kassig captured by militants in Syria in October 2013 was killed by IS in November 2014

British hostage Alan Henning was beheaded by an Islamic State militant somewhere in a desert setting in October 2014

© EPA/ISLAMIC STATE VIDEO

Alan Henning was kidnapped in December 2013 in Syria while delivering aid as a volunteer

© EPA/BRITISH FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

British journalist David Haines was kidnapped in Syria in 2013 and killed by IS militants in 2014

© EPA/ISLAMIC STATE VIDEO

US freelance journalist Steven Sotloff was captured in Libya in August 2013 and killed by IS in September 2014

© EPA/MAZEN MAHDI

American journalist James Foley was kidnapped on 22 November 2012 in Idlib Province in Syria. On 20 August 2014 the IS militia released a video purporting to show the decapitation of James Foley

© EPA/Nicole Tung/Courtesy of Global

British journalist John Cantlie was kidnapped in Syria with James Foley in November 2012 and remains a hostage. He is used as media arm of the Islamic State militants, delivering series of lecture-like "programs" in which he says he will reveal "the truth" about the Islamic State group

On February 15 Islamic State (IS) militants published a video showing the apparent beheadings of 21 Copts (Egyptian Christians) from the city of Samalut in the Minya governorate to the south of Cairo. The Copts were captured by Islamic militants at the end of last year in Libya. TASS recalls the victims of IS fighters in this gallery.

Georgian president demands appointing snap elections within week

Salome Zourabichvili also promised to announce her further plans on Monday

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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

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Mother of missing US reporter thanks Putin for promising help in locating her son

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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

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

Eight people killed in Israeli strike on school in Gaza Strip

According to the TV channel Al Jazeera, the refugees were housed at a school in the Al-Daraj neighborhood

Mourhaf Abu Qasra becomes top Syrian defense official in transitional government — TV

According to Al Watan newspaper, Abu Qasra was the commander of the military wing of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement

Airborne troops from Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr wipe out enemy position in Kherson region

A Russian airborne crew hit the target by firing a 120-mm mortar gun on a Ukrainian temporary position

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

Top Turkish diplomat calls for listing anti-Syrian sanctions

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Possible arrival of new Russian envoy before Trump’s inauguration depends on US — diplomat

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Yemen’s Houthis announce hypersonic missile strike at military facility near Tel Aviv

Israel’s Ynet media outlet reports that at least 30 people suffered injuries after a missile fired from Yemen fell in central Israel

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

Russian cancer vaccine to be free of charge — top oncologist

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

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

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Ukrainian lawmaker slams Zelensky for trying to bribe Slovak PM

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Yemeni capital city subjected to massive airstrike - TV channel

According to the Al Hadath TV channel, at least three strikes hit Ansar Allah military facilities located in Sanaa, including rebel locations

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

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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German chancellor exasperated by idea of spending frozen Russian assets to help Kiev

According to the Financial Times, the idea was promoted by the US and UK but resisted by Germany, France and Italy

What is known about Russia’s retaliatory strike on Ukraine after attack on Rostov Region

Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko reported the fires in Solomensky and Shevchenkovsky districts

Georgian president demands appointing snap elections within week

Salome Zourabichvili also promised to announce her further plans on Monday

Ukraine's refusal to transit Russian gas will hit EU economies hard — French expert

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Putin agrees 'Russian world' now faces war

The Russian leader also agreed with Sergey Mironov, head of the "A Just Russia - For Truth" faction in the Duma, who said that "the birth rate is insufficient, because the matter concerns extinction"

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Syria's new authorities appoint Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister

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Russia to invite World War II allies to next year’s Victory Day parade

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Russia to raise issue of Ukrainian strikes on Rylsk at UNSC meeting on Friday — diplomat

Acting Kursk Region Governor Alexander Khinshtein said earlier that the town of Rylsk, located some 120 kilometers west of Kursk, had come under Ukrainian fire

ISS orbit raised ahead of launching Soyuz manned spacecraft

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

TASS has gathered the main information about the incident

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

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The married couple, Artyom Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, returned home as a result of an exchange

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Proposal to duel with West response to claims of Oreshnik missile vulnerability — Kremlin

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Putin sends greetings on Russia’s Energy Industry Worker’s Day

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"Robert Fico will travel to visit Putin as a European countries leader," Aleksandar Vucic said

Kremlin mum on reports about Slovakian prime minister's plans to visit Moscow

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said earlier that the Slovak prime minister intended to hold talks with Putin on December 23 amid Vladimir Zelensky's refusal to extend gas transit through Ukraine

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

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

Russian troops liberate 10 communities in Donbass region over week — top brass

Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicted more than 3,610 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed six enemy ammunition depots in its area of responsibility over the week

US confirms strikes on Houthi command posts in Yemen

CENTCOM forces also shot down several Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea

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

Scholz, German Interior Minister booed during visit to terrorist attack site — newspaper

A protest broke out during the chancellor's and minister's visit, with demonstrators whistling and shouting "Get out!"

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Magnitude 5.3 earthquake rocks South Africa

No injuries or damage were reported

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

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Russia ready to normalize relations with US without detriment to its interests — Putin

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

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

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