RUSSIA

Russia's defence ministry on Wednesday blamed the illegal use of mobile phones by its soldiers for a deadly Ukrainian missile strike that it said killed 89 servicemen, raising the reported death toll significantly.

A Russian missile attack destroyed an ice arena in the town of Druzhkivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Monday, Ukraine's ice hockey federation said, following earlier reports of a missile hitting the town and injuring two people.

Another Russian citizen was found dead in the Indian state of Odisha on Tuesday, just weeks after the deaths of two other tourists from the country.

Russia's buffetted IT sector risks losing more workers in the new year because of planned legislation on remote working, as authorities try to lure back some of the tens of thousands who have gone abroad without prompting them to cut ties completely.

Russia continued intense attacks on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine early on New Year's Day, following a barrage of missiles fired on Saturday, with air raid sirens wailing for hours overnight.

Residents of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv were urged to head to air raid shelters early on Friday as sirens wailed across the city, a day after Russia carried out the biggest aerial assault since it started the war in February.

A fresh barrage of Russian missiles battered Ukraine on Thursday, wounding at least five people including a teenager and cutting electricity in the west.

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday delivered Russia's long-awaited response to a Western price cap, signing a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is also a staunch Putin supporter, has made some really wild and weird predictions for 2023.

Russia retaliated on Tuesday against a price cap on its oil imposed by Western countries, while its forces were involved in heavy fighting around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Russia on Monday placed a senior journalist with the Bellingcat investigative website on a wanted list, following his extensive reporting on Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

Russia's budget deficit could be wider than a planned 2% of GDP in 2023 as an oil price cap squeezes export income, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said, an extra fiscal hurdle for Moscow as it spends heavily on its military activities in Ukraine.

Russian lawmaker and philanthropist Pavel Antov was found dead in a hotel in the Indian state of Odisha.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave Ukraine an ultimatum on Monday to fulfil Moscow's proposals, including surrendering territory Russia controls, or its army would decide the issue, a day after President Vladimir Putin said he was open to talks.

Moscow said on Monday its forces had shot down a Ukrainian drone close to a long-range bomber base deep inside Russia, while Ukraine said the Russians had unleashed heavy artillery barrages on its cities in the past 24 hours.

Russia may have to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) to "rescue" its cosmonauts.

The Ukrainian army counted 71 strikes on the partly recaptured Kherson region on Saturday, including 41 on the city.

The pope has called for peace in Ukraine ever since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, condemning the war but seeking to maintain a delicate dialogue with Moscow.

A day after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy's visit to the US, Russian President Vladimir Putin has started speaking of wanting to end the war.

The Ukrainian military has been able to intercept calls between Russian soldiers and their families back home in Russia.

Biden said he is confident that the Western alliance in support of Ukraine would remain united.