Russia

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/:  Russia’s second meteorological satellite Arktika-M, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, has been successfully put into a designated orbit with a Fregat booster, Roscosmos said in a statement.

"The second Arktika-M is in orbit!" the space agency said.

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Russian Railways on Friday said Finland's state-owned railway company VR had acted unlawfully in seizing four trains co-owned through a joint venture.

"The transfer of trains ... was not agreed," Russian Railways said in a statement.

VR said on Thursday it had seized the Allegro trains that used to travel between the two countries after more than 18 months of negotiations without any result.

Passenger trains between Finland and Russia were suspended in March 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia plans to conduct seven launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in 2024, the commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) Lieutenant General Sergei Karakayev said on Friday.

In an interview with Russian newspaper Red Star, Karakayev said that in the past five years, the SMF has conducted more than 20 ICBM launches as part of flight tests of new missile systems and training exercises for the Russian armed forces.

MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/: The conflict in Ukraine is a tragedy, akin to a civil war between brothers, President Vladimir Putin said at the combined Direct Line Q&A and year-end press conference.

"What is happening now [in Ukraine] is a huge tragedy, a kind of civil war," he said.

MOSCOW, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared briefly lost for words on Thursday when confronted with an AI-generated version of himself.

The "double" took the opportunity to put a question to Putin about artificial intelligence during an annual news conference where dozens of callers from around the country were hooked up to the president by video link.

MOSCOW, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine does not wish to hold negotiations on its demilitarization, so Russia is forced to take other measures including military ones, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

He made this statement during his annual press conference and question-and-answer session.

"As for demilitarization, they (Ukraine) don't want to negotiate, well, then we are forced to take other measures, including military measures," said Putin.

When Russia realizes its target of the special military operation, then peace will come, he added.

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that some 244,000 Russian troops who were called up to fight in Ukraine are on the battlefield.

Putin said during his year-end press conference that the Kremlin doesn’t need a second wave of mobilization of reservists, with 1,500 men recruited into the army every day across the country.

As of Wednesday evening, a total of 486,000 soldiers have signed a contract with the Russian military, Putin said.

He did not give a total number of troops fighting in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that two new nuclear submarines -- Emperor Alexander III and Krasnoyarsk -- will join the country's Pacific Fleet soon.

"Very soon, the underwater missile carriers Emperor Alexander III and Krasnoyarsk will start their duty on the Pacific Fleet," Putin said at the flag-raising ceremony for the two submarines.

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/: The puppet regime in Kiev will inevitably be abandoned by its overseas masters in the end, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin said.

"The puppet regime in Kiev, which is alien to the majority of Ukrainians, and which has perpetrated bloody massacres in Donbass, in Odessa and in many other towns and villages of Ukraine, will eventually and inevitably be abandoned by its overseas masters," he said at a roundtable discussion devoted to the study of Ukrainian propaganda and efforts to fight against it.

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has kicked off his campaign for re-election in March 2024; the EU may ban the import of Russian gas; and Moscow plans to deploy dual-use naval assets to freeze NATO out of the Arctic. These stories topped Monday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.