Russia

Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, the Luna-25 probe, has crashed on the Moon's surface after an unspecified incident during pre-landing maneuvers, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Aug. 20.

The crash comes almost a year and a half into Russia's Ukraine offensive that has seen Moscow isolated, with punishing sanctions that have affected its space industry.

Russia will stop the supply of spare parts for Russian and Soviet military equipment to unfriendly countries and will revoke the licenses for the right to repair such equipment. This was reported to Interfax by the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) of Russia, Dmitry Shugaev, quoted by "News in France".

Russia's crisis involving a mercenary group's aborted revolt against the Kremlin exposed "real cracks" in President Vladimir Putin's authority, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.

Wagner mercenaries were returning to base on Sunday as their mutinous leader agreed to go into exile after President Vladimir Putin was forced to accept an amnesty deal.

The agreement appears to end the immediate threat that Yevgeny Prigozhin's private army could storm Moscow, but analysts said Wagner's revolt had exposed a fragility in Putin's rule.

In other news, Poland denies any involvement in last years sabotage of Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines; the Ukrainian PoWs that Russia sent to Hungary are causing tensions; and a new amendment means former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis must sell off his media assets.

European Union governments agreed on Wednesday to an 11th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, aimed at stopping other countries and companies from circumventing existing measures.

The new package, tweeted by Sweden as EU president, forbids transit via Russia of an expanded list of goods and technology which might aid Russia's military or security sector.

In the show "Evenings with Vladimir Solovyov" on the Russia 1 channel, attacks on Western capitals are often discussed, and the guests and the presenter present President Vladimir Putin's full invasion of Ukraine as a proxy war between NATO and Moscow.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which has been going on for 16 months already, has generated significant implications of the political scene of the Middle East, where the war has exposed the complexities of the calculations with which the states of the region are faced as a result of the escalation of international relations and the siding of the countries world-wide with one of the two groups - the gr

President Vladimir Putin on Friday confirmed Russia had sent nuclear arms to its ally Belarus which borders Ukraine.

"The first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus... This is the first part," Putin told an annual economic forum, where AFP and media of other countries Russia deems "unfriendly" were not accredited.

Russian tourists' bookings for holidays in Türkiye, especially in Antalya, have increased by 20 percent in the past few weeks compared with April and May, Turkish daily Milliyet has reported.

Russian holidaymakers had delayed vacation plans due to the ongoing war and elevated inflation which eroded their purchasing power. Russians were looking for alternative destinations to Türkiye.