Russia

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/: Kiev and its Western patrons, in the first place, the US are primarily responsible for the terrorist attack against writer Zakhar Prilepin, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

May 6 (Reuters) - A prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was wounded in a car bombing that killed his driver on Saturday and investigators said a detained suspect admitted acting on behalf of Ukraine.

Russian officials immediately blamed the attack on Ukraine and the West.

The state Investigative Committee said the writer's Audi Q7 was blown up in a village in Nizny Novgorod region, about 400 km (250 miles) east of Moscow, which it was treating as an act of terrorism. It said Prilepin had been taken to hospital.

May 5 (Reuters) - Former Russian deputy defence minister Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev has joined the Wagner Group private militia as a deputy commander, Russian pro-war social media channels reported on Thursday.

In two videos posted by war correspondent Alexander Simonov on Telegram, Mizintsev - clad in Wagner-branded combat gear - was shown visiting a training camp and touring Russian positions in the east Ukrainian town of Bakhmut.

VLADIVOSTOK, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned on Thursday that Russia and the United States are on the verge of an open armed conflict over Ukraine, but Moscow is trying to prevent this.

Ryabkov said that Moscow knew that Kiev was acting under Washington's instructions when it chose to attack targets in Russia, including a drone strike on the Kremlin, adding that both Ukraine and the United States looked ridiculous when they denied their involvement in the attack.

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/: Polish authorities have designs on the remnants of Ukraine, and this is the clearest signal Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will ever receive on country’s NATO bid, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

The diplomat drew attention to Zelensky's words, who said on Thursday that Ukraine understood that it could not join NATO during the conflict, but wanted a "clear signal" that it would be accepted later.

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has urged to create an international tribunal against Russia.

"The aggressor must feel the full power of justice. This is our historical responsibility. <…> Only one institution is capable of responding to the original crime, the crime of aggression: a tribunal," Zelensky told the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday during his visit to The Hague.

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/: Citydrive is experiencing problems with its GPS inside the Garden Ring in downtown Moscow in the service’s app, the car sharing service told TASS.

"GPS problems have been observed in the area inside the Garden Ring. Users experience challenges accessing vehicles in this zone because cars may not be correctly displayed on the map. We advise choosing other routes when planning trips before May 9 inclusive," the press service said.

The failure is not related to the service’s operations, Citydrive’s press service stressed.

May 4 (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Thursday of being behind what it says was a drone attack on Moscow's Kremlin citadel intended to kill President Vladimir Putin.

A day after blaming Ukraine for what it called a terrorist attack, the Kremlin administration shifted the focus onto the United States, but without providing evidence. The White House was quick to reject the charge.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities accused Ukraine on Wednesday of attempting to attack the Kremlin with two drones overnight in an effort to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian government denied any involvement.

The Kremlin decried the alleged attack attempt as a “terrorist act” and said Russian military and security forces “disabled” the drones before they could strike. It did not elaborate.

MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/: Contacts on the grain deal continue, but have yielded no results thus far, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. He did not go into detail about any future negotiations on the initiative, which expires on May 18.

"I can't tell you anything specific about [their] level, location, or time. Contacts continue, but they haven't yielded any results so far," he said.