Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said 32 countries confirmed participation, and more than 20 will send heads of state.
The country's north, central, and eastern parts have fallen further behind, with the share falling to 25.6 percent in FY24 from 30.5 percent before the pandemic
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which is executing the project, has floated tenders for five packages for the Satellite Town Ring Road-West section (STRR- West).
Russia's defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region, which Ukraine attacked a week ago and claims to have captured 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) by Monday.
For Islamic State or al-Qaeda, Putin’s military interventions in Syria and Chechnya are no different from America’s in Iraq or Libya. The presence of a large Russian military base in predominantly Sunni Muslim Tajikistan — the ex-Soviet country that the arrested suspects may have been from — is no less offensive to Islamist ideas than the presence of US military bases in the Gulf. Russia is for them a part of the Christian West. It doesn’t belong anywhere on the territory of their imagined Islamic caliphate
Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not "rushing" up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
The West’s overnight interest in the Global South was rooted more in expedient self-interest than sober understanding of its intricacies. The phrase “Global South” itself flourished only after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, driven by the awkward realization that non-cooperation from Asian, African and Latin American countries could doom the Western effort against Putin
"In the West, some people are hyping up what is called 'cutting reliance and de-risking'," Li told delegates in a wide-ranging speech calling for deepening economic globalisation and cooperation.
In his first address to the nation since the rebels pulled back, Putin said he had issued orders to avoid bloodshed, and granted amnesty to the Wagner fighters whose mutiny served up the greatest challenge yet to his two-decade rule.
He said this during a 'Meet and Greet' interaction organised by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan with over 500 young voters, joggers and visitors at Cubbon Park here.
Russia has not only shored up its revenue by increasing the crude sale to New Delhi -- though at a heavily discounted price -- it is also finding an indirect supply route to the West via the fuel processed by India, analysts say.
Following a pattern of heavy aerial bombardment at times of Ukrainian battlefield or diplomatic advances, Russia launched 32 missiles in the early hours, Ukraine's Air Force said.
Britain has been a steadfast supporter of Kyiv since Russia's invasion last February, and at the weekend pledged to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks and other heavy weaponry to Ukraine.
In its Monday evening update, Ukraine's army General Staff said Russian artillery pounded around 25 towns and villages around Bakhmut and Avdiika, the two focal points of Russian attempts to advance in the strategic eastern industrial Donbas region.
In Washington, a $1.2 billion contract for six National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) for Ukraine was awarded to Raytheon, the Pentagon said.
Military alliance NATO and member Poland said the missile was probably a stray fired by Ukraine's air defenses and not a Russian strike, easing international fears that the war could widen. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demurred, saying there was no doubt the missile was not Ukrainian.
Putin said Western countries had "thrown aside the rules" of international affairs in order to maintain their domination and hold down what they saw as "second-class civilisations."
In a television address, Zelenskiy said Russian forces had planted explosives inside the huge Nova Kakhovka dam, which holds back an enormous reservoir that dominates much of southern Ukraine, and were planning to blow it up to cover their retreat.
India has been buying discounted crude oil from Russia against the backdrop of high prices internationally and Western nations scaling down their reliance on Russian energy.
During a joint press meet with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong here, Jaishankar also said that India and Russia have a long-standing relationship that has certainly served New Delhi's interests well.
The vote is shaping up as a test of political and diplomatic clout between the West and Beijing.
Western leaders have condemned Russia’s annexations as illegal, and the “referendums” that preceded them — purporting to show local support for joining Russia — as fraudulent.
In a televised address, Putin said the partial mobilisation of its 2 million-strong military reserves was to defend Russia and its territories, claiming the West wants to destroy Russia and did not want peace in Ukraine.
At a nuclear nonproliferation conference, Russian diplomat Alexander Trofimov rejected "utterly unfounded, detached from reality and unacceptable speculations that Russia allegedly threatens to use nuclear weapons, particularly in Ukraine."
During his Iran visit Putin also met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss a deal that would resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports, now blockaded by Russia. Putin said that not all the issues had been resolved yet on grain shipments, "but the fact that there is movement is already good."
