Russia

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week, Russian news outlet Shot reported on Monday, citing Putin's aide Yury Ushakov.

The reported visit comes after the OPEC+ group of oil producers, which includes all three countries, agreed last Thursday to voluntary output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels a day.

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Major General Vladimir Zavadsky, deputy commander of Russia's 14th Army Corps, has been killed in Ukraine, a top regional official said on Monday.

The governor of Russia's Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev, said Zavadsky had died "at a combat post in the special operation zone", without giving further details.

"Special military operation" is the term that Russia uses to describe the war in Ukraine, now approaching the end of its second year.

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Temperatures in parts of Siberia plummeted to minus 56 degrees Celsius (minus 69 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday while blizzards blanketed Moscow in record snowfall and disrupted flights as winter weather swept across Russia.

In the Sakha Republic, located in the northeastern part of Siberia and home to Yakutsk, one of the world's coldest cities, temperatures fell below minus 50 C, according to the region's weather stations.

In Oymyakon, an area in Sakha, the temperature was recorded at minus 56 degrees Celsius on Monday evening.

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/: In the past week, Russian forces carried out 27 group strikes at Ukrainian airfields, arsenals and army, units using high-precision weapons, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"Between November 25 and December 2, Russian forces delivered 27 group strikes at [Ukrainian] airfield infrastructure, arsenals, depots for artillery ammunition and weapons as well as fuel bases, using high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles. In addition, Ukrainian army units were struck. All targets were hit," the ministry said.

MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed new charges by Russian prosecutors.

The 47-year-old is already serving more than 30 years in prison after being found guilty of crimes including extremism — charges that his supporters characterize as politically motivated. In comments passed to his associates, Navalny said he had been charged under article 214 of Russia’s penal code, which covers crimes of vandalism.

MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/: Germany shut down its consulates general in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Kaliningrad within its course towards the cessation of Russian-German diplomatic relations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in her commentary.

"It is perfectly obvious that the German authorities undertake these actions in accordance with the German government’s policy, aimed at cessation of the entire complex of Russian-German relations, including the minimization of interaction in the diplomatic dimension," she noted.

MOSCOW, Dec 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Russia and Cuba plan to connect the city of St. Petersburg with Cayo Coco every ten days by late December, Cuban Ambassador to Russia Julio Garmendia told reporters.

“In late December, Aeroflot plans to resume flights, run by Rossiya Airlines, between the capitals of both countries, in addition to one from St. Petersburg to Cayo Coco every ten days,” the diplomat said.

MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/: Russian troops liberated the community of Artyomovskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.

"In the Donetsk direction, units of the southern battlegroup supported by aircraft and artillery fire improved their forward edge positions and liberated the settlement of Artyomovskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, Nov 29 (NNN-TASS) – Any new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members should come from developing countries, Russian media reported, citing Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, at the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow.

“It is important to redress the historical injustices that emerged, following the end of the decolonisation process and since the emergence of many dozens of young sovereign states,” Lavrov said, noting that, the composition of the UNSC should reflect the current reality.

MOSCOW, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Russia's interior ministry has prepared draft legislation that would force foreigners to sign a "loyalty agreement" forbidding them from criticising official policy, discrediting Soviet military history, or contravening traditional family values.

Since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has introduced a slew of tough laws that outlaw discrediting the military, and courts have handed down long jail sentences to opposition activists.