Russia

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Russian forces conducted aerial attacks on Thursday in their slow-moving campaign to win control of eastern Ukraine and used smaller attack groups to try to capture the beleaguered town of Avdiivka, the Ukrainian military said.

Russia has ramped up its push in recent weeks to try to encircle Avdiivka, which lies less than a dozen kilometres from the outskirts of the Moscow-held regional capital of Donetsk.

MOSCOW, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Russia's success in evading a Western oil price cap is helping drive a recovery in economic growth as President Vladimir Putin prepares to run for re-election, despite the problems caused by labour shortages, inflation and high interest rates.

Russia's parliament has formally set next year's presidential election date for March 17. Putin, who on Thursday said the economy was set to grow 3.5% this year, is widely expected to run for a new six-year term.

VLADIVOSTOK, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Russian passenger plane with 176 people on board made a safe emergency landing at Novosibirsk airport on Friday morning after its engines caught fire shortly after takeoff, local media reported.

The incident occurred around 07:00 local time (0000 GMT), according to preliminary data, when the Boeing 737 plane, operated by S7 Airline, was flying from Novosibirsk to Moscow as it experienced a technical malfunction.

(AP) --- Lawmakers in Russia set the country’s 2024 presidential election for March 17, moving Vladimir Putin a step closer to a fifth term in office.

Members of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, voted unanimously Thursday to approve a decree setting the date.

“In essence, this decision marks the start of the election campaign,” Valentina Matviyenko, the chamber’s speaker, said.

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian girl shot several classmates at school Thursday, killing one person and wounding five others before killing herself, state news agencies and authorities said.

The shooting happened at a school in Bryansk, a city in a region of the same name that borders Ukraine, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

One of the people wounded was in serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said.

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/: Russian forces destroyed command posts of two Ukrainian army brigades over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.

"Command posts of the 31st mechanized brigade and the 12th special operations brigade, a UAV control post of the Ukrainian army’s 109th mechanized brigade, ammunition and fuel depots were destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/: The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned about possible delays in the provision of consular services in Germany following the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Frankfurt am Main.

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/: British diplomats these days are keen to position themselves as peacemakers in the situation around Ukraine, although it was London that banned Kiev from conducting peace talks with Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told a news briefing.

She was commenting on media reports that British diplomats were allegedly putting pressure on the Ukrainian authorities in order to make them to come to the negotiating table with Russia.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: Russian forces struck Ukrainian troops and military hardware in 107 areas over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"Operational/tactical and army aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groupings of forces inflicted damage on Ukrainian manpower and military equipment in 107 areas," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: The "frozen" state of relations between Russia and Germany benefits neither country, but it is Germany who suffers most here, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a ceremony ushering in new ambassadors of foreign states.

"The current ‘frozen’ state of relations with Russia, and not on our initiative, I want to stress this, is not beneficial, it is not beneficial either to us or to you. But first of all, in my opinion, to Germany," the Russian President said.