Russia

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/:  Russian combat aircraft, missile troops and artillery struck over 70 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

"In the past 24 hours, operational-tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 79 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 124 areas," the spokesman said.

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/: Defending Russia and its people from threats against its historical lands has been the special military operation’s objective, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"The goal [of the special military operation], as I have said many times before, is primarily to protect the people and Russia itself from threats being posed to it on our historical lands bordering our territory. We cannot allow this to happen," the Russian leader said in his speech devoted to Russian Students Day.

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin avoided commenting on Germany's landmark decision on Wednesday to supply tanks to Ukraine during a visit to Moscow State University, instead dispensing career advice to students and fielding questions on other topics.

Germany's announcement that it would send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after weeks of pressure from its allies prompted a furious reaction from Russia's foreign ministry and its embassy in Berlin, but the president steered clear of the issue.

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Russia reacted with fury on Wednesday to Germany's decision to approve the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, saying Berlin was abandoning its "historical responsibility to Russia" arising from Nazi crimes in World War Two.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a Telegram post that the move was confirmation of Germany's involvement in "a war planned in advance" against Russia.

24 Jan 2023; MEMO: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, criticised, on Tuesday, the NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg's comments on burning a copy of the Holy Quran by Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist, Stram Kurs Party leader, Rasmus Paludan, in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/: The Russian Airborne Force’s artillery destroyed a US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar in the Kherson area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Tuesday.

"In the Kherson direction, the Airborne Force’s artillery wiped out a US-manufactured AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar near the community of Antonovka in the Kherson Region," the spokesman said.

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/: Russia’s adversaries are monitoring arms production in the country, but they are in for a disappointment, since Russia has plenty of everything, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said.

On Tuesday, Medvedev visited the Kalashnikov plant in Izhevsk and held a meeting of a working group under the Military-Industrial Commission on the supervision of production of essential weapons and military vehicles.

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/: The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Russia would respond harshly to hostile steps by Latvian authorities. On Monday, January 23, the Russian ambassador in Riga, Mikhail Vanin, was summoned to the Latvian Foreign Ministry, where he was notified that the level of diplomatic relations with Russia had been downgraded. Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Russia was downgrading its relations with Estonia in a retaliatory move.

Jan 24 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that there were shortages of some medicines in Russia, despite the country producing more of its own drugs, and suggested building up stocks of popular medicines to help meet demand.

While prescription drugs are exempt from Western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, their delivery to Russia has been hit by transport, insurance and customs hurdles caused by the war and other restrictive measures, industry figures say.

Jan 23 (Reuters) - Russia's new military reforms respond to possible NATO expansion and the use of Kyiv by the "collective West" to wage a hybrid war against Russia, the newly appointed general in charge of Russia's military operations in Ukraine said.

Valery Gerasimov, in his first public comments since his Jan. 11 appointment to the role, admitted also to problems with the mobilisation of troops, after public criticism forced President Vladimir Putin to reprimand the military.