Azerbaijan: President Ilham Aliyev urges Russia to accept blame for plane crash

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has called on Russia to accept blame for a plane crash on Christmas Day that killed 38 people. The plane is thought to have come under…

USA: How much Ukraine aid did Biden approve after Trump win?

United States President Joe Biden asked the Department of Defense to rush weapons deliveries to Ukraine after Russia launched a Christmas Day attack on its smaller neighbour’s energy infrastructure. Biden’s comments on…

Russia: FSB security service says jailed American leaked biotechnology secrets

Russia’s FSB security service has said a US citizen sentenced to a 15-year jail term this week was found guilty of leaking biotechnology secrets to the United States. In a…

Ukraine: Zelenskyy accuses Slovakia of opening ‘second energy front’ against Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico of opening a “second energy front” against Kyiv on the orders of Moscow, deepening an already tense dispute over transfers of…

Russia: Putin apologises for plane crash, without saying Russia at fault

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has apologised to the president of neighbouring Azerbaijan for the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace, in which 38 people were killed – but…

Finland: Authorities investigate Russia ‘shadow fleet’ ship after cable damage

Finnish police are investigating whether a Russian ship was involved in the sabotage of an electricity cable running between Finland and Estonia. The authorities said on Thursday that they believe…

Ukraine: North Korean soldier captured dies, reports say

An injured North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces has died, Yonhap News Agency has reported, citing a statement from South Korea’s spy agency. The soldier is believed to be…

Kazakhstan: Russia warns against ‘hypotheses’ after Azerbaijan Airlines crash

The Russian government has cautioned against promoting “hypotheses” about the cause of the crash of a Russia-bound passenger plane that killed 38 people in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Footage of the…

Russia: US citizen jailed in Moscow on espionage charges

A Moscow court has sentenced a Russian-born US citizen to 15 years in prison on espionage charges, Russian news agencies report. Businessman Gene Spector was already serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence,…

Ukraine: Zelensky condemns ‘inhumane’ Christmas Day attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia made a “conscious choice” by launching a major attack on his country’s energy infrastructure on Christmas Day. Ukraine’s air force said it had detected…