Latest news with #LucyPapachristou
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Three people found alive after small plane comes down in Siberian forest
(Reuters) -Search and rescue teams have found three people, including two pilots, alive after their small plane made an emergency landing in the forests of Siberia on Tuesday, Russia's civil aviation authority said. The Antonov An-2 had issued distress calls while flying over the Yakutia region. Authorities initially said five people were aboard the aircraft before revising the figure to three. (Reporting Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgian police raid homes of activists providing financing to anti-government protesters
By Lucy Papachristou (Reuters) - Georgian prosecutors said on Tuesday they had conducted searches at the apartments of five individuals who helped organise funding campaigns to support street protesters, amid a government crackdown on the rallies that have raged for months. Georgians have taken to the streets nightly since November to voice opposition to a government decision to halt accession talks to the European Union, a reversal of a longstanding national goal in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million. The demonstrations have drawn a swift crackdown by police, resulting in hundreds of arrests and beatings, rights groups say. The government has defended the police response. In a statement on Tuesday, the prosecutor's office said the searches were part of an ongoing criminal investigation into sabotage, attempted sabotage, and the use of funds to violate the constitutional order, among other charges. Prosecutors launched a probe last month into funding campaigns organised by civil society groups that assisted detained protesters with legal help and money to cover fines. The prosecutors accused the groups of encouraging the protesters to commit illegal acts at street rallies. Authorities froze those groups' bank accounts as part of the investigation. The five individuals who were searched on Tuesday are all affiliated with the civil society groups. Several of them wrote on Facebook that officers had confiscated their cell phones and laptops during the searches. Four of the groups accused of helping the protesters did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters was not able to contact the fifth group, Foundation For Each Other 24/7. Traditionally among the more pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union's successor states, Georgia in recent years has tilted more towards Russia under the Georgian Dream (GD) party, in power since 2012. As part of a broader government clampdown on Georgia's pro-Western opposition, GD passed legislation this month banning foreign donor organisations from providing grants locally without government consent, with violators facing steep fines.
The Star
29-04-2025
- The Star
Ukrainian drone attack kills two civilians in Russia's Belgorod region, governor says
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two people were killed and three suffered injuries after a Ukrainian drone slammed into a car on a highway in Russia's Belgorod region, the local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify his assertion. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
The Star
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Kremlin blames Ukraine for car bomb killing of general near Moscow
Law enforcement officers work at the site of a car bomb, which killed senior Russian military officer, in Balashikha, outside Moscow, Russia April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin blamed Ukraine for a car bomb that killed a senior Russian military officer near Moscow on Friday, hours before U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff was due to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. There was no official comment from Kyiv on the death of 59-year-old Yaroslav Moskalik, the latest in a series of Russian military officers and pro-war figures to be assassinated since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine. Witkoff met Putin to discuss U.S. proposals for ending the war, now well into its fourth year. "The Kyiv regime once again simply shows its true nature. The Kyiv regime continues to be involved in terrorist activity on the territory of our country," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a state TV reporter. "It shows once again that, despite the peace talks, we must be on guard and understand the nature of this regime." Ukraine's SBU intelligence service did not respond to a request for comment on the killing of Moskalik, who was deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. That position would have given him an important role in planning Russian military operations, including in Ukraine. State media said he held the rank of lieutenant general. The body of a man, partially covered in a white sheet, lay on the pavement outside the entrance to an apartment building in the town of Balashikha, east of Moscow, near a burnt-out car. "The explosion occurred as a result of the detonation of a homemade explosive device filled with destructive elements," investigators said in a statement. Ukraine's SBU killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov in a similar manner last December. Trump's Ukraine envoy, General Keith Kellogg, said that attack violated the rules of warfare. RISING STAR Russian war bloggers described Moskalik as a rising star. He had participated in several high-level Russian delegations that have met Western officials to try to negotiate a settlement to the conflict in Ukraine. He also dealt with Syria, presenting a report on military-technical cooperation in Africa and the Middle East at a security forum in Moscow in 2021. Rybar, a Russian war blogger with over 1.2 million subscribers on Telegram, said he was viewed as "one of the most intelligent and demanding officers" in his directorate. The blogger said Moskalik was being considered to serve as head of the National Defence Management Centre, the supreme command and control centre of the Russian Armed Forces, due to his "systematic approach and thoughtfulness." (Reporting by Reuters in Moscow and Lucy Papachristou in London; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
The Star
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Russian region declares emergency after blast at military unit
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A powerful blast ripped through a Russian town east of Moscow on Tuesday where a weapons arsenal is located, local media and Telegram channels close to Russia's security services said, prompting the evacuation of several villages. Local authorities declared a state of emergency in the Vladimir region, where unverified video published on Telegram showed a huge fire ball and clouds of thick smoke rising into the sky. The defence ministry said the fire had been caused by a breach of safety requirements and had resulted in the detonation of ammunition stored in a warehouse. Preliminary information showed there were no casualties, the ministry added. Vladimir's governor Alexander Avdeev said earlier that an explosion had occurred in the Kirzhach district and emergency personnel were working at the scene. He made no mention of what was hit. Baza, a Telegram channel close to security services, said at least 10-11 explosions had occurred and firefighters from neighbouring regions had been called in to contain the blaze. The district administration in Kirzhach wrote on Telegram that evacuations were underway in the villages of Barsovo and Mirniy. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
