Russia

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/: Russian forces seized several Ukrainian strongholds near the settlement of Sergeyevka in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), advancing 1.5 km deep into the enemy’s defense over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/: TASS has signed memorandums of cooperation with the leading news agencies of the Republic of the Congo and Senegal on the sidelines of the Second Russia-Africa summit.

TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov inked cooperation memorandums with Director General of the ACI news agency of the Republic of the Congo Olga Rachelle Mangouandza and Director General of the APS Senegalese News Agency Thierno Amadou Sy.

July 28 (Reuters) - The chair of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, said on Friday that proposals by Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide grain to Africa were not sufficient, and that a ceasefire in Ukraine was needed.

In a closing address to a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, he also said Putin had shown readiness to negotiate with Ukraine, and that "the other side" now needed to be persuaded.

July 28 (Reuters) - African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their peace plan to end the Ukraine conflict and to renew a deal on the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain that Moscow tore up last week.

While not directly critical of Russia, their interventions on the second day of a summit were more concerted and forceful than those that African countries have voiced until now.

They served as reminders of the depth of African concern at the consequences of the war, especially rising food prices.

MOSCOW, July 28 (Reuters) - Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who remains active despite leading a failed mutiny against the Russian army's top brass last month, has hailed Niger's military coup as good news and offered his fighters' services to bring order.

A voice message on Telegram app channels associated with Wagner which they said was Prigozhin did not claim involvement in the coup, but described it as a moment of long overdue liberation from Western colonisers and made what looked like a pitch for his fighters to help keep order.

MOSCOW, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Russian forces have thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack targeting facilities in the Moscow region, the country's defense ministry said Friday.

"This morning, the country's forces thwarted an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack with the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle on facilities in the Moscow region," the defense ministry said in a Telegram post.

It added that there were no casualties or damage following the attack.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin courted leaders from Africa at a summit on Friday, hailing the continent’s growing role in global affairs and offering to expand political and business ties.

Addressing the two-day Russia-Africa summit, Putin said Moscow will closely analyze a peace proposal for Ukraine that African leaders have sought to pursue.

“This is an acute issue, and we aren’t evading its consideration,” Putin said, emphasizing that Russia is treating the African initiative with respect and “looking at it attentively.”

A Ukrainian drone was shot down early Friday outside Moscow, Russia’s defense ministry said. It was the third drone strike or attempt on the capital region this month.

The ministry said there were no injuries or damage in the early morning incident. It didn’t give details about where the drone was shot down, but said it took place in the Moscow Oblast, a region that surrounds but doesn’t include the city itself.

The shootdown adds to concern about Moscow’s vulnerability to attack as the war drags into its 18th month.

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/: Putin holds first meetings with guests of Russia-Africa Summit; Kiev asks NATO to overturn Russia’s ban on maritime traffic to Ukrainian ports; and EU may introduce yet more sanctions against Russia before year-end. These stories topped Thursday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/: The units of Russia’s Battlegroup South repelled the attacks of the assault groups of the Ukrainian armed forces in the directions of Lisichansk, Aleksandr-Kalinovsk and Soledar-Artyomovsk, head of the group’s press center Vadim Astafyev told TASS.

"The units of the Battlegroup South successfully repelled the attacks of the assault groups of the Ukrainian armed forces in the directions of Lisichansk, Aleksandr-Kalinovsk and Soledar-Artemovsk," he said.