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Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to host Syrian leader Bashar Assad for talks in the Kremlin on Wednesday that are expected to focus on rebuilding Syria after a devastating civil war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two leaders would talk about postwar reconstruction and the continuation of the peace process in all of its aspects with an emphasis on the absolute priority of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Wednesday's meeting comes on the anniversary of Syria's 12-year uprising-turned-civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country's prewar population. Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad's government to fight back armed opposition groups and to reclaim control over most of the country. While Russia has concentrated its military resources in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military foothold in Syria and kept its warplanes and troops there. Moscow ha
The Kremlin on Thursday accused Ukrainian saboteurs of crossing into western Russia and firing on villagers. Ukraine denied the claim and warned that Moscow could use the allegations to justify stepping up its own attacks in the ongoing war. The exact circumstances of the alleged attack reported in the Bryansk region were unclear, including what the strategic purpose of such an assault might be. If confirmed, it would be another indication following drone attacks earlier this week that Kyiv may be stepping up pressure against Moscow by exposing Russian defensive weaknesses, embarrassing the Kremlin and sowing unease among Russian civilians. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukrainian terrorists for an incursion, claiming that they deliberately targeted civilians, including children in "yet another terror attack, another crime. They infiltrated the area near the border and opened fire on civilians, Putin said during a video call. They saw a civilian vehicle with civilians, wit
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday monitored drills of the country's strategic nuclear forces involving multiple practice launches of ballistic and cruise missiles, the Kremlin said. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the drills were intended to simulate a massive nuclear strike by Russia in retaliation for a nuclear attack on Russia. The exercise comes amid soaring Russia-West tensions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. The Kremlin said in a statement that all tasks set for the exercise were fulfilled and all the missiles that were test-fired reached their designated targets. Washington has said that Moscow informed it about the drills in advance. The Russian exercise comes amid Moscow's warnings of a purported Ukrainian plot to detonate a radioactive device commonly known as a dirty bomb in a false flag attack to blame Russia. Ukraine and its allies strongly reject the allegation.
Russian forces launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kremlin-orchestrated votes took place in occupied regions of Ukraine to create a pretext for their annexation by Moscow. Ukraine's presidential office said the latest Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19. Oleksandr Starukh, the Ukrainian governor of Zaporizhzhia, one of the regions where Moscow-installed officials organised referendums on joining Russia, said a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the city of Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and injuring seven others. In the five-day voting in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south that began on Friday, election officials accompanied by police officers carried ballots to homes and set up mobile polling stations, citing safety reasons. The votes are set to wrap up Tuesday, when balloting will be held at polling stations. Ukraine and its Western allies dismissed the referendums as a sham with no legal