Russia declared a federal emergency on Thursday over an oil spill caused by two Russian tankers in the Black Sea, the Emergencies Ministry said.

Finnish authorities have detained a Russia-linked ship as they investigate whether it damaged a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables, according to police and news media reports, in the latest incident involving disruption of key infrastructure.

Russia's economy will be under major strain in 2025, economists told BI. One said stagnation was similar to the USSR at the start of the 1980s.

Ukraine's air force says it detected 184 missiles and drones, causing damage to energy infrastructure across the country.

Moscow again struck Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, part of an effort to wear down the country. “In the trenches, there are no holidays,” one man said.

Zelensky warns of greater military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, including sending more troops and military equipment

A Moscow court has on Tuesday sentenced a US citizen to 15 years in prison for espionage, according to state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

Russia's friends — or frenemies — aren't all pariah states. Some of them enjoy good relations with the West, too.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 caught fire as it tried to make an emergency landing in Aktau, southwestern Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. It was traveling from the Azeri capital Baku to Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, reported power outages across large areas of the country after Russia fired missiles against DTEK power stations in strikes on Christmas day. DTEK said

Kazakh authorities have recovered the flight data recorder and an investigation is under way. Shortly after the crash, reports from Russian state-controlled TV said the most likely cause was a strike from a flock of birds.