A Ukrainian soldier walks near a school building destroyed by shelling in Zhytomyr. Photo: Reuters

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Ukraine wari

Russian forces invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, turning Moscow into a global pariah in the worlds of finance, diplomacy, sports and culture, as the West punished it with sanctions. President Vladimir Putin called Russia’s actions - which have triggered the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II - a “special military operation”. Nuclear-armed Russia has warned of consequences if Nato interferes in Ukraine, while strategic ally China urges a peaceful, diplomatic solution.

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Putin’s re-election is positive for the increasingly close alliance with Beijing, but China’s diplomatic efforts require striking a fine balance ahead of Xi’s proposed trip to Europe.

  • The US president says he will ‘never give up hope’ as he seeks the Wall Street Journal reporter’s release, 1 year after he was detained on spying charges
  • Gershkovich, 32, has been held in Moscow’s high-security Lefortovo prison, which is closely associated with the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB

Russian men aged between 18 and 30 are eligible to be called up after lawmakers increased the upper age limit from 27 last year. Military service lasts 12 months.

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In a message posted on Telegram, IS spokesman Abu Huthaifa al-Ansari also praised the group’s attack that killed more than 140 people in a Russian concert hall near Moscow last week.

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‘Quick passage of US aid to Ukraine by Congress is vital,’ Ukrainian president told Mike Johnson. A US$60 billion support package has been stalled in US Congress since last year.

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Lyusya Shtein found guilty of spreading ‘war fakes’ over 2022 post on X that accused Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine of bombing foreign cities, Russian media reported.

The French leader has fashioned himself into the continent’s de facto figurehead on foreign policy by taking a lead on confronting Russia and the war in Gaza.

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Moscow court lengthened Wall Street Journal reporter’s pre-trial detention to June 30. US ambassador said Kremlin was using him and other US citizens as pawns.

Belarusian president, a close Putin ally, said Belarus and Russia had coordinated actions as suspects fled to Bryansk, bordering Ukraine and Belarus, where they were apprehended.

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In an exclusive interview, ambassador Wu Ken says both Berlin and Brussels had greater understanding of China as more in Europe reflect on the ’risks brought by de-risking’.

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Putin said investigators have not determined who ordered attack but it was necessary to ‘find out why the terrorists, after committing their crime, tried to flee to Ukraine’.

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Questions over how Russian security system was unable to thwart deadliest attack on country in 2 decades even as Western counterparts issued warnings 2 weeks ago.

Hobbled by bad knees and respiratory problems, the pope, 87, also did not take part in procession of cardinals around the obelisk in St Peter’s Square on Sunday.

A missile launched by Moscow at the Lviv region violated Poland’s airspace, officials said, while Ukraine’s capital Kyiv also came under assault and it said it had hit two Russian ships in Crimea.

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South Korea is one option, observers say. But the Vietnamese military is stuck in its ways, which may make continued covert purchases from Russia more attractive – despite the risks.

Russia was observing a national day of mourning on Sunday after more than 130 people were killed when gunmen opened fire and set off explosives, reminding residents of similar violence in the early years of Putin’s presidency.

Martial law prohibits most men of military age from leaving the country, creating a need and space for female tech entrepreneurs at home and abroad.

The Kremlin has until now insisted that the attack on Ukraine ordered on February 24, 2022, was described only as a ‘special military operation’.

Readers discuss the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and the meeting between China’s foreign minister and a former Australian prime minister.

The first two months of 2024 were lucrative for the southern tech hub even as some of its biggest private players and industry champions remain under sanctions imposed by Washington.