Europe

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/: Eurasian countries are forming a new world majority that upholds just and universal principles, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Tuesday.

"[You] can already say that a new powerful, constructive force is taking shape on Eurasian soil, what can be called the world majority, which defends just and universal principles and approaches," the Kremlin aide said, addressing the Primakov Readings in Moscow.

TIRANA, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha was punched in the face by a male bystander as he led a crowd of his party's supporters to central Tirana on Tuesday for anti-government protests taking place at the same time as an EU summit in the city.

Thousands of opposition supporters had gathered in Tirana as Albania hosts its first EU-Balkans summit, attended by leaders of European Union member states, to protest against the administration of Prime Minister Edi Rama and demand early elections.

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Attacks on airfields deep inside Russia will have struck a powerful psychological blow, senior Western officials said on Tuesday, saying it meant Moscow would have to think much more carefully about how to keep its long-range bombers safe.

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Ukraine was continuing to shell the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, deliberately creating the threat of a possible nuclear catastrophe.

Shoigu said Russian forces were taking "all measures" to ensure the safety of the power plant, Europe's largest, in the face of what he called "nuclear terrorism" from Kyiv.

Ukraine denies shelling the facility, which has been under the control of Russian forces since the first days of the war, and has accused Russia of firing on it.

BRUSSELS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Hungary vetoed an 18 billion euro ($19 bln) loan to Ukraine from the European Union on Tuesday as its row with the bloc over undermining democracy rumbled on and the other 26 member states delayed a decision on releasing billions of aid to Budapest.

At an EU economics and finance ministers' meeting in Brussels, Hungarian minister Mihaly Varga confirmed his government's opposition to a loan for Ukraine financed by joint EU borrowing. Budapest has said it would provide bilateral help to Kyiv.

MOSCOW, Dec 5 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday drove a Mercedes across the Crimean Bridge linking southern Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, less than two months since an explosion tore through one of the Kremlin chief's showcase infrastructure projects.

The 12-mile (19 km) road and rail bridge, which was personally opened by Putin in 2018, was bombed on Oct. 8 in an attack Russia said was carried out by Ukraine.

KYIV/NOVOSOFIIVKA, Ukraine, Dec 6 (Reuters) - A third Russian airfield was ablaze on Tuesday from a drone strike, a day after Ukraine demonstrated an apparent new ability to penetrate hundreds of kilometers deep into Russian air space with attacks on two Russian air bases.

Officials in the Russian city of Kursk, located close to Ukraine, released pictures of black smoke above an airfield in the early morning hours of Tuesday after the latest strike. The governor said an oil storage tank there had been set ablaze but there were no casualties.

MOSCOW, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine launched a drone attack against two military airfields deep inside Russia on Monday morning, leaving three Russian servicemen dead and four others injured, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Soviet-made jet drones targeted the "Dyagilevo" airfield in the Ryazan region near Moscow and the "Engels" airfield in the Saratov region in a bid to disable Russian long-range aircraft, the ministry said in a statement.

BRUSSELS (AP) — A rift between the European Union and member state Hungary deepened Tuesday when Budapest vetoed an 18 billion euro ($18.93 billion) financial aid package to Kyiv, exacerbating a dispute over the rule of law under Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his outlook over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

EU finance ministers also postponed any decision to punish Hungary by withholding billions of euros for failing to implement solid rule-of-law reforms.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a new display of defiance from Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to an eastern city near the front line Tuesday, while Russia reported that strategic sites inside the country were hit by drone attacks for a second day.