Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has offered US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff to negotiate an interim agreement on Tehran's nuclear program, Axios reported, citing its sources.

According to the news outlet, the top diplomat told the envoy that it would be very difficult to complete the talks within two months, given the detailed technicalities of a potential deal. Witkoff replied to Araghchi that he did not want to discuss an interim agreement yet. Instead, he wants to focus on reaching a comprehensive agreement within 60 days.

However, Axios pointed out that Witkoff added that if, as that deadline approaches, both sides feel that significantly more time is needed, they could revisit the idea of an interim agreement. Iran's mission to the UN denied Axios' information in a statement, saying it was untrue. The State Department declined to comment.

More takeaways from Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s statements:

▪️NATO has turned the European Union into a kind of wallet, allowing it to use the EU’s available financial resources to serve and promote its own aggressive policy and ideology

▪️The EU has ceased to be a “safe haven” for businesses and undermined its reputation as a reliable partner

▪️Moscow will make sure that the deadly attacks on Russian journalists by the Vladimir Zelensky regime do not go unpunished

▪️The responsiveness of the leadership in Northern European nations to Russia’s substantiated signals regarding joint security remains doubtful

▪️Russia is working hard to prevent a “serious deterioration” of the situation over Iran’s nuclear program and warns other states against the use of force

US President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with Russia's massive strike on military facilities in Ukraine and called for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

“They are not necessary, and very bad timing,” the US leader wrote on his Truth Social page.

He called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to order a halt to such strikes. “Let's get the peace deal done,” Trump added.

📷 Events marking China's Space Day have officially kicked off across the republic

In Shanghai, festivities are already underway, featuring a conference on space cooperation, a concert, and an exhibition showcasing China’s achievements in space exploration.

Photos: Artyom Prytkov/TASS

US President Donald Trump did not support raising income taxes for millionaire Americans, as, in his view, many wealthy individuals could leave the country as a result.

"I think it would be very disruptive because a lot of millionaires would leave the country," Trump told reporters at the White House.

“You know, in the past, they left states. They’d move from one state to another. Now, with transportation so fast and accessible, they leave countries,” he said.

🕔 Developments in Russia’s Kursk Region:

▪The Ukrainian army lost over 150 troops in the Kursk Region in the past day

▪Russian forces destroyed an armored combat vehicle, an artillery system, two mortars, a multiple rocket launcher, and ten motor vehicles, as well as 11 drone control centers and two ammunition depots

▪Kiev’s total losses have reached 75,860 troops since fighting began in the Kursk Region

▪Since the start of fighting in the Kursk Region, Ukraine has lost 412 tanks, 337 infantry fighting vehicles, 311 armored personnel carriers, 2,285 armored combat vehicles, 2,775 motor vehicles, 643 self-propelled and field artillery systems, 63 multiple launch rocket systems

📸 TASS special correspondent, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Zubritsky has shared the photos of SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (ISS)

Photos: Alexey Zubritsky/TASS

#TASSonISS

Tensions between Pakistan and India have escalated after a terrorist attack in India's union territory of Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people. After the attack, the Indian authorities took a number of measures. In turn, Pakistan retaliated.

India's response

▪️Indian authorities have nearly halved the size of their embassy in Islamabad, declared military advisers to Pakistan's diplomatic mission in India personae non gratae, and closed the key Attari checkpoint on the border with Pakistan

▪️New Delhi also suspended its water-sharing agreement with Islamabad

▪️The Indian government also decided to immediately suspend the issuance of visas to Pakistani nationals and cancel those already issued as of April 27

Pakistan's response

▪️Pakistan's National Security Council slammed India's response to the terrorist attack in Kashmir unfair and politically motivated

▪️The agency said that it would suspend all bilateral agreements with India

▪️The Council also rejected India's statement on the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and would consider any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to the country as an act of war

▪️Islamabad has also closed its airspace to Indian and Indian-owned airlines and closed the Wagah checkpoint on the border with India

▪️Pakistan has also declared Indian defense, naval, and aviation advisors personae non gratae

The conclave, a confidential election of the Pope, may be convened from May 5. The date is proposed by the ritual calendar adopted by the Congregation of Cardinals, although it will only be finalized after the funeral on April 26.

According to the Holy See Press Service, a meeting of the Congregation on Wednesday confirmed that the novendial — nine days of mourning for the Pope — will be observed from the day of the funeral until May 4. The first ritual will take place on the day of the funeral, followed by daily observances at St. Peter’s Basilica, involving various representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and led by different cardinals.

The College of Cardinals comprises 252 princes of the Church, of whom 135 will take part in the conclave, having the right to vote. This group includes cardinals under the age of 80, each of whom is considered a potential contender for the papal throne.

Key takeaways from Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s statements at a press briefing, April 24:

▪Vladimir Zelensky seems to have deliberately attempted to frame Washington by using US-made HIMARS rocket launchers during the Easter ceasefire

▪Zelensky has disrupted the London round of consultations on Ukraine, thereby confirming his intention to torpedo the outlined peace process

▪Russia and the United States continue their dialogue on the Ukrainian crisis and are determined to find long-term solutions

▪Russia condemns the recent US strikes on a fuel terminal in Yemen as unjustified and inadmissible, and will continue efforts toward stabilizing the situation in the Arab country

▪Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will embark on an official visit to the Dominican Republic on April 30, timed to coincide with the inauguration of the Russian Embassy there

▪Lavrov will participate in a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers to be held in Brazil on April 28-29

❗️Warmongers in Europe have launched a campaign to undermine US President Donald Trump’s peacekeeping efforts, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a statement seen by TASS.

Special services in Britain and France have been making persistent efforts with the aim of “searching for informational dirt” about Trump’s ties with Moscow to torpedo the Ukraine peace process, the SVR added.

📷 The annual patriotic event “St. George's Ribbon” has commenced in Kazan, in Russia's Volga region.

Participants unfurled a gigantic 300-meter-long ribbon along the embankment of the Kazanka River.

Photo: Yegor Aleyev/TASS

❗️Key takeaways from statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the meeting on economic matters:

▪️The global economic situation is becoming objectively more challenging

▪️Russia needs to explore opportunities opening in the world economy

▪️National GDP growth will be slightly lower this year, totaling 1.9% over the first two months of 2025

▪️Inflation in the country still remains above 10%

▪️The credit portfolio of Russian banks is declining from the year start

▪️The budget deficit stood at 2.2 trillion rubles ($26.5 bln) in January - March 2025

▪️Russian developers less frequently launch new projects

Indian intelligence agencies have determined that the Pakistani spy agency ISI may have had a hand in a recent terror attack by members of the Pakistan-based radical group Lashkar-e-Taiba (banned in Russia) in Jammu and Kashmir, The Hindustan Times reported, citing sources.

According to them, the digital traces of the Pahalgam attackers lead to ISI’s safehouses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi. “Our intelligence intercepts suggest a direct link with operatives based in Pakistan,” one of the sources told the newspaper.

🗣 Key takeaways from statements by Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, April 24:

▪️US President Donald Trump’s remark that Crimea is not a point of discussion is fully in line with Russia’s position on the issue

▪️Russian President Vladimir Putin favors reaching peace in the Ukraine conflict with the imperative to ensure Russia’s interests

▪️The Kremlin will inform about a new meeting between the Russian leader and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff

▪️Russia is focused on more efforts toward resolving the Ukraine conflict and appreciates the US mediatory role in the process

▪️The Kremlin cannot and will not comment on any leaks related to Trump’s purported peace plan

▪️The Kremlin sees that the participants of the meeting on Ukraine in London are struggling to converge their positions

▪️Russia considers the idea to deploy peacekeepers in Ukraine as an  unacceptable and critical threat

▪️The Russian army continues to perform the combat missions following the expiration of the Easter truce, repeatedly violated by Ukrainian troops

▪️Putin’s annual address to the Federal Assembly has not yet been scheduled

🇵🇰🇮🇳Pakistan suspends all bilateral agreements with India, the National Security Council said.

According to it, Islamabad also declares Indian defense, navy and aviation advisers personae non gratae.

In addition, Pakistan will consider any attempt by India to divert the waters of the Indus River as an act of war.

▶️ The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) launched the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft with three taikonauts on board from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The Changzheng-2F/G carrier rocket brought the taikonauts to the Tiangong space station. The current crew replaces the previous Shenzhou-19 mission.

Video: TASS/Reuters/Xinhua News Agency

✈️ Pakistan closes its airspace to India, the National Security Council said

❗️Key takeaways from statements by the Russian Defense Ministry, April 24:

▪️Russian troops liberated the community of Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic

▪️Russian air defenses destroyed 230 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones in the past 24 hours

▪️Russian forces delivered a strike on Ukraine’s aviation and aerospace industry enterprises and production sites of propellant and gunpowder

▪️Russian forces destroyed infrastructure facilities at Ukraine’s military airfields and hit Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries' temporary deployment sites

▪️Ukraine lost up to 255 military personnel and a tank in Russia’s Battlegroup West’s responsibility area in the past day

▪️Russian forces inflicted over 45 casualties on Ukraine and destroyed four combat vehicles and three field artillery weapons of the enemy over the past day

▪️Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted up to 405 casualties on the Ukrainian army in the past 24 hours

▪️Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted up to 155 casualties on Ukraine over the past day

▪️Ukraine lost over 70 military personnel and two electronic warfare stations in Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr’s responsibility area in the past day

▶️ The United States should celebrate the meeting with Russia on the Elbe River again, American World War II veteran Frank Cohn said in an interview with TASS.

Video: Ivan Pilshchikov/TASS

Russian Press Review, April 24

Europe and Ukraine undermine the US peace plan; Washington seeks a return to Libya; and Donald Trump begins to ease off in the tariff war with China. These stories have topped Thursday’s newspaper headlines across Russia. 

▪️Media: Europe, Ukraine undermine US peace plan

▪️Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Washington seeks comeback in Libya

▪️Vedomosti: Trump begins to ease off in tariff war with China

▪️Rossiyskaya Gazeta: US, EU shift away from climate agenda in energy sector

▪️Kommersant: Russia set to boost production, export of fertilizers

▶️ A group of the Russian Pacific Fleet’s corvettes Rezky and Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov and the support vessel Pechenga have begun their business call at Thailand.
The Russian naval ships were welcomed on the coast by a military band of the Sattahip Royal Thai Navy Main Base and high-placed Thai officers. The business call by the Russian naval ships at Thailand will run until April 27.

“Any military contacts in peacetime are an important factor of maintaining stability and security in the region. We know well together with you that we view the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a central element of the entire security framework in that region. And we always support ASEAN’s central role in this regard,” Russia’s Ambassador to Thailand Yevgeny Tomikhin told Russian reporters.

The officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin fully realized that it would never be enforced, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Dmitry Medvedev said.

“The ICC reached the real heights of ridiculousness and futility when it issued arrest warrants for the heads of sovereign states, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, in whose case the situation in Ukraine was cited. When making such decisions, the court’s officials understood perfectly well that those would not be enforced but would only have propaganda-driven consequences, certainly aimed at benefiting the interests of the Anglo-Saxon world,” he pointed out in an op-ed published in this year’s first issue of St. Petersburg State University’s Legal Science journal.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin has announced a potential meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

“I had a telephone conversation with my colleague, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. It was a very constructive conversation. So I do not rule out the possibility of a meeting in the near future,” Naryshkin told TASS.

A retired French army general believes Russia will force Ukraine into an unconditional peace by securing a decisive victory on the battlefield by next Christmas.

“I think we will have peace by Christmas, but that peace will be achieved through the use of military force on the battlefield and by compelling Ukraine to unconditionally accept” a post-conflict peace agreement, the terms of which would be dictated by Russia, Dominique Delawarde told TASS.

Swiss trader Glencore has completely withdrawn from the shareholding structure of Russneft, according to data on the share capital of the Russian oil company posted on its website.

In particular, as of March 31, 2025, Rambero Holding, a structure through which Glencore held 23.46% of shares in Russneft, is no longer on the list of shareholders owning at least 5% of the company’s share capital, Russneft reported.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has slammed the publication by Politico on an alleged debate in the White House whether to lift sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as fiction.

“This is unequivocally false. Neither Steve Witkoff nor I have had any conversations about lifting sanctions against Russia as part of a deal with Ukraine. This is journalistic malpractice. If Politico has an ounce of integrity they will fully retract this piece of fiction,” Rubio wrote on the X social network.

Earlier, the newspaper wrote citing sources that the US was debating whether to lift sanctions on Nord Stream 2 and potentially other Russian assets in Europe. Lifting the sanctions on gas pipeline would be “a sharp reversal” in the US policy and amount to “a major concession” from the administration of US President Donald Trump, Politico said, adding that sanctions against companies participating in the construction of the gas pipeline were put in place during Trump’s first term.

▶️ A state of high alert has been declared in the Milkovsky municipal district in Kamchatka in the Russian Far East after the Bezymyanny volcano began spewing ash. Residents are urged to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary, the regional Emergencies Ministry told TASS

Video: Telegram channel of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Moscow reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of the West’s aggression, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said in an interview with TASS.

“In November 2024, changes were introduced to the Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence, according to which Russia reserves the right to use nuclear arms in the event of aggression against it or the Republic of Belarus, including with the use of conventional weapons,” he noted.

Russian forces are currently establishing new footholds near Grigorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic after advancing to a distance of almost 1 km of the village, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

“Our troops are currently consolidating their positions and building on their successes in this sector of the line of engagement,” he explained.

Russian forces also managed to expand the zone of control west of Belogorovka in the neighboring Lugansk People’s Republic, Marochko added.

❗️Key takeaways from Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu’s interview with TASS:

▪️Russian forces will soon liberate the entire territory of Russia’s borderline Kursk Region from Ukrainian troops

▪️Ukraine violated the Easter truce 4,900 times in 30 hours

▪️Having failed in Ukraine, the West will seek to destabilize the situation in Russia, Moldova, and the South Caucasus

▪️European countries are openly preparing for a war with Russia they anticipate in 2030

▪️Threats to Belarus continue to exist, so, the deployment of Russia’s Oreshnik systems in its territory is quite justified

▪️Russia may resume nuclear tests if the United States does the same

▪️The United States’ first steps on a path toward detente in relations with Russia deserve attention

▪️Moscow is ready for dialogue with Washington but will not rely only on words

▪️Delegates from more than 150 countries will take part in the security conference in Moscow on May 27-29

#tass_photo_archive

Passengers waiting to board a bus. Moscow, April 1961

The International Space Station’s orbit has been raised by 2.1 kilometers, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos said.

“Today, at 3:08 a.m. Moscow time (00:08 a.m. GMT), engines of the Progress MS-30 cargo spaceship, which is docked to the International Space Station, were switched on for 639.7 seconds and generated an 1.22 m/s impulse. As a result, the station’s average orbit altitude was raised by 2.1 kilometers, to 419 kilometers above Earth surface,” it said.

Eighty-seven Ukrainian drones were intercepted and downed over Russian regions during the past night, the Russian defense ministry said.

“During the night, Russian air defense systems destroyed and intercepted 87 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, including 45 over the Republic of Crimea, ten over the Belgorod Region, ten over the Kursk Region, eight over the Voronezh Region, four over the Bryansk Region, four over the Lipetsk Region, four over the Nizhny Novgorod Region, and two over the Moscow Region,” it said.

▶️ Security services of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) found a large weapons cache in a school in the settlement of Kurakhovka after it was liberated from Ukrainian troops, Russian Federal Security Service’s regional department said.

Video: Federal Security Service’s DPR department

▶️ A Russian S-34 fighter jet hit a Ukrainian drone control and launch center, the Russian defense ministry said.

Video: Russian defense ministry/TASS

Taiwan’s armed forces have registered the approach of 19 aircraft of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and seven warships of the PLA Navy near the island, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense reported.

“19 PLA aircraft, 7 PLAN vessels and 2 official ships operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 14 out of 19 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s southwestern and eastern ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone – TASS). We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly,” it said.

It is much more difficult for the United States to deal with Kiev than with Moscow on settling the Ukrainian conflict, US President Donald Trump said.

“I think Russia is ready. I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelensky. I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelensky. So far, it's been harder, but that's okay,” he told reporters when asked about efforts to settle the Ukrainian conflict.

“But I think we have a deal with both. I hope they do it,” he added.

Cuba is against attempts to isolate Russia and unilateral sanctions against it, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal Ferreiro said.

“Cuba stands against unilateral sanctions against Russia and attempts to isolate it,” she said at an event on the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Cuba calls for “a diplomatic, constructive and realistic solution to the ongoing conflict in Europe that would guarantee the independence and sovereignty of all countries, as well as peace and stability,” she emphasized.

US President Donald Trump has said that he may meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin shortly after his visit to the Middle East in May.

“I will be meeting with him [Putin],” he told reporters when asked whether he plans to meet with the Russian president. When asked whether such a meeting could take place in Saudi Arabia, he replied, “It's possible, but most likely not.” “I think we'll meet with him shortly thereafter,” he added.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu has not ruled out that Russia may resume nuclear tests if the United States does the same.

“Our position on this matter depends on the United States’ actions in this area,” he said in an interview with TASS when asked whether Russia could resume nuclear tests. “Now, warranty periods for some types of their nuclear munitions are expiring and the development of new types of weapons is underway. This may push Washington toward resuming nuclear tests.”

“In such an event, Russia may follow their lead as a response step,” he stated, adding that Russia’s defense ministry and the state corporation Rosatom “are ready for such works.”

Kiev has not yet responded positively to Russia’s inquiry about the return of Kursk Region residents who were taken to Ukraine during the period of the temporary occupation by Ukrainian troops, Russian human rights ombudswoman Tatiana Moskalkova told TASS.

“We have not yet received a final positive response. We maintain dialogue with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Ukrainian side and hope that reason will have the upper hand and international norms on the return of resident of our Kursk Region to their families in the homeland from another country’s territory, from Sumy will be observed,” she said.

Kiev officials are concerned that the administration of US President Donald Trump will stop providing military aid to Ukraine due to the failure of talks on a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the newspaper, Ukrainian officials “are worried that Trump, who has said he doesn't like Zelensky, might blame Kiev for a breakdown in talks and refuse to provide further military aid.”

Suites in St. Petersburg hotels may have the price hike of 15-20% before the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, deputy department director at Nikoliers Evgenia Kulesh shared with TASS.

The average accommodation price is now 11,700 rubles ($140) per night for the period of the Forum, she said. Depending on the hotel category, prices may skyrocket by two or three times, the expert added.

▶️ Global car brands showcase some innovative tech at Auto Shanghai 2025.

Video: Andrey Popov/TASS

Bosnia and Herzegovina's State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) tried to detain Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik in Istocno Sarajevo, the klix. ba news outlet reported.

According to its information, representatives of the Interior Ministry of Republika Srpska (an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina) prevented SIPA from doing so.

About 1,000 pipes for Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines are stored in a warehouse in Germany.

Such quantity may be enough to repair damaged pipeline strings, the Ostsee Zeitung newspaper said.

📷 The future burial place of Pope Francis in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in the Vatican. The pontiff himself chose the site of his burial.

Photos: Vera Shcherbakova/TASS

❗️TASS News Roundup, April 23:

▪️Thousands of believers bid farewell to Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

▪️Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova will represent Moscow at the late pontiff's funeral, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said

▪️The use of FPV drones is a key factor of success on the battlefield, that is why Russia will increase its production to meet the needs, President Vladimir Putin emphasized

▪️Vladimir Zelensky's statements that Ukraine will not recognize Crimea as Russian are harmful for peace talks, US President Donald Trump said

▪️The United States has developed “a very explicit proposal” to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, and will withdraw from the negotiations, if Moscow and Kiev do not agree to the plan, Vice President JD Vance said

▪️The US understands Russia’s position on the settlement in Ukraine better after consultations, State Secretary Marco Rubio pointed out

▪️Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that another round of talks between Russia and the United States will be held soon

▪️US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff may meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 25; a Gulfstream G650 airplane with the envoy on board is believed to have departed toward Russia from Paris

▪️Russia wants negotiations, while Europe wants war, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with France’s Le Point

▪️Gornal has become the only village in the Kursk Region where Ukrainian troops remain, a Russian military commander said

▪️A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey’s Istanbul; at least three strong tremors were felt in the city within half an hour

A Mongolian woman told TASS she hopes to present Russian President Vladimir Putin with symbolic stirrups at this year’s commemorative parade in Moscow.

“Just like hundreds of Mongolians during the Great Patriotic War, my granny gave her horses to help the USSR. To continue this family tradition, I would like to give the finest Mongolian breed of horse to the Russian president as a gift for the 80th anniversary of our common victory in the war against fascism,” said Choijinkhuugiin Enkhjargal.

Under Mongolian tradition, the mare called Yalalt (Victory) must stay in Mongolia, but Enkhjargal hopes to hand over its stirrups to Putin.

Photo from Choijinkhuugiin Enkhjargal's personal archive.

More than 190 civilians have died in the Kursk Region since Ukraine invaded it in August 2024, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.

"Since the illegal invasion of Ukrainian militants into the territory of the Russian Federation in August 2024, 191 civilians have been killed in the Kursk Region, 372 people have been injured, including 17 minors. Civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed and partially damaged: residential buildings, schools, kindergartens and vehicles," the statement read.

The US administration believes that Vladimir Zelensky is not moving towards peace in Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

“President Trump is frustrated. His patience is running very thin. He wants to see peace,” Leavitt noted.

“But you need both sides of the war willing to do that, and President Zelensky seems to be moving in the wrong direction,” she emphasized.

▶️ Russia's Mi-28NM helicopter has destroyed a Ukrainian temporary deployment site in the Kursk border area, the Defense Ministry reported.

Video: Russian Defense Ministry/TASS

Russian sappers have found and destroyed 261,899 mines and explosives in the border areas of the Kursk Region, the regional authorities emphasized.

“More than 29,000 hectares of territory, 708 kilometers of roads, over 10,000 buildings have been demined,” the statement said.

Almost 240 Turks were injured in the earthquake in and around Istanbul on Wednesday, said Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu.

"A total of 236 our citizens were injured after the earthquake, mainly because they fled their houses in panic. Of these, 173 are in Istanbul itself," the minister said, adding that the bulk of the wounded did not require hospitalization. "They received assistance on the spot," he said.

Vodka exports from Russia to China in the first quarter of 2025 increased in kind by three times and amounted to more than 318 tons, in monetary terms the supplies increased by 2.7 time to $751,000, the Agroexport federal center reported.

"According to the data of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, in the first 3 months of 2025, China purchased more than 318 tons of vodka from Russia for $751,000. Compared to the same period last year, imports from Russia increased 3 times in kind and 2.7 times in value," the report says.

US President Donald Trump said Vladimir Zelensky's statements that Ukraine will not recognize Crimea as Russian are harmful for peace talks.

“Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal that, ‘Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here.’ This statement is very harmful to the peace negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Obama, and is not even a point of discussion,” he said on Truth Social.

❗️Key takeaways from Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov's statements in an interview to the France-based Le Point edition:

▪️Russia wants negotiations, while Europe wants war

▪️Russia has no territorial claims to the Baltic states

▪️Europeans try to teach Russia democracy, but they often violate these principles themselves

▪️Russia is not going to attack anyone

▪️Russia aims to achieve its goals either peacefully or militarily

▪️The presidents of Russia and the US are united by the understanding that refusal to engage in dialogue is absurd

▪️The meeting between Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is expected to be productive; preparations are underway

▪️Russia has learnt to live under sanctions, while for the EU they create huge problems

▪️Putin respects Trump because he is a strong politician and a strong personality

▪️Relations between Russia and the West are now in a deadlock; in the meantime, Moscow is trying to restore relations with Washington

The American administration believes that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should be a truly defensive alliance, not an alliance between the United States and a "handful of junior partners," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with The Free Press.

"NATO is good as long as NATO is a real defense alliance, not the United States and a bunch of junior partners that aren’t doing their fair share" he said.

US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff may meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 25, Axios reported

More than 190 civilians have died in the Kursk Region since Ukraine invaded it in August 2024, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.

"Since the illegal invasion of Ukrainian militants into the territory of the Russian Federation in August 2024, 191 civilians have been killed in the Kursk Region, 372 people have been injured, including 17 minors. Civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed and partially damaged: residential buildings, schools, kindergartens and vehicles," the statement read.

A Gulfstream G650 airplane with the US president’s special envoy Steven Witkoff on board is believed to have departed toward Russia from Paris, the Flightradar tracker service indicates.

On Tuesday, the White House confirmed that Witkoff would go to Russia this week.

The meeting of representatives of Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France and Germany in London ended with statements and agreement on further consultations, Ukrainian presidential office head Andrey Yermak reported.

According to him, the Ukrainian delegation to the meeting included him, Foreign Minister Andrie Sibiga and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. The UK was represented by national security adviser Jonathan Powell, France by presidential diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne, Germany by foreign policy and security adviser Jens Plotner, the official pointed out.

Yermak also said that the participants in the consultations emphasized their commitment to US President Donald Trump's efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova will represent Moscow at the funeral of Pope Francis according to President Vladimir Putin's decision, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The United States will shift its focus to other priority issues if finds that progress in resolving the crisis in Ukraine is insufficient, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with The Free Press.

“We’ve done our best. We’ve put a lot of time and energy at the highest levels of our government. We’ll continue to be willing to do so as long as there’s a realistic path forward,” Rubio noted. “If at some point we determine that we’re just too far apart and not enough movement is happening, we may need to move on to other priorities because there are a lot of important things happening in the world,” the politician added.

The United States will not conduct "land wars" in Yemen or engage in regime change in that country, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pointed out.

“This is not nation-building. This is not land wars. This is not endless wars. This is not regime change,” he said, commenting on US operations in Yemen.

Washington is outraged by Kiev's refusal to accept the proposal to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, The Washington Post reported, citing an official.

According to the newspaper, US diplomats refused to take part in the talks in London because of US anger over Ukraine's unwillingness to accept the proposal to officially recognize Crimea as part of Russia.

The US is also unhappy that Ukraine prefers “to discuss a complete ceasefire first and everything else later,” the official pointed out.

The United States can no longer be a guarantor of Europe's security, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

"The time of the United States, the sole guarantor of European security, has passed,” he said, speaking at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

▶️ The aftermath of the earthquake in Istanbul

Video: TASS/Reuters/Anadolu Agency/Newsflare

Moscow will never support any initiatives that stipulate deploying European troops to Ukraine, Russian upper house chairperson Valentina Matviyenko said.

According to her, the idea was doomed from the start. “We will never support it because this concerns our country’s security and sovereignty. It doesn’t matter under what flag they do that, NATO's or otherwise, because it’s about troops from the unfriendly countries that are confronting Russia, still nursing plans to inflict a strategic defeat on us,” Matviyenko added.

Russia banned entry to 21 UK lawmakers over London’s anti-Russian policies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“In response to London's ongoing confrontational policies, which include efforts to demonize our country, fabricate many anti-Russian narratives with the aim to reduce Moscow's influence on the international stage, and continue funneling weapons to the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, a decision has been made to include a number of members of the UK Parliament in the Russian stop list,” the statement said.

US Vice President JD Vance believes that Russia and Ukraine need to take a decisive step toward ending the conflict and freeze the border somewhere close to the present contact line.

“The current lines, somewhere close to them is where you’re ultimately, I think, going to draw the new lines in the conflict,” he told reporters after a visit to the Taj Mahal, as quoted by AFP. In Vance’s view, both Russia and Ukraine would need to make certain concessions under such a scenario.

🕔 Developments in Russia’s Kursk Region:

▪️ The Ukrainian army lost over 170 troops in the Kursk Region in the past day

▪️ Russian forces destroyed a US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, an armored combat vehicle, six artillery systems, two mortars, six motor vehicles, and an armored repair and recovery vehicle, as well as 11 drone control centers and two ammo depots

▪️ Kiev’s total losses have exceeded 75,710 troops since fighting began in the Kursk Region

▪️ Since the start of fighting in the Kursk Region, Ukraine has lost 412 tanks, 337 infantry fighting vehicles, 311 armored personnel carriers, 2,284 armored combat vehicles, 2,765 motor vehicles, 642 self-propelled and field artillery systems, 62 multiple launch rocket systems, including 15 US-made HIMARS launchers and seven MLRS launchers

US understands Russia’s position on the settlement in Ukraine better after consultations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said

Jordan moved to prohibit the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist organization (banned in Russia), seize its property, and shut down all its offices in the kingdom, Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh said at a news conference.

“The government of Jordan has taken action to disband the Muslim Brotherhood and outlaw this group after special services discovered that it had been plotting a criminal scheme against the state,” Al Mamlaka television quoted the minister as saying.

Gornal has become the only village in Russia's Kursk Region where Ukrainian troops remain, a Russian military commander said.

"We are working together as a brigade, moving towards the only settlement where the enemy remains: it's Gornal. We are busy completely clearing our territory up to the border," the commander said.

Earlier, a source in Russia’s defense circles told TASS that Russian forces were engaged in intense battles near Gornal, pushing Ukrainian troops out of the settlement.

❗️Russia barred entry to 21 UK lawmakers over London’s anti-Russian policies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement

▶️ Construction materials and gas cylinders were burning in the parking lot of Moscow's Afimall City shopping center, emergency services told TASS.

Video: Vadim Belozertsev/Elena Tsybulina/TASS

❗️Highlights from the Russian Defense Ministry Press Briefing, April 23:

▪️Russian troops liberated the village of Tarasovka in the Donetsk People's Republic

▪️The Russian Armed Forces hit a military airfield, UAV production sites and a Vampire MLRS parking lot

▪️Russia's Battlegroup West made Ukraine lose up to 250 troops

▪️Air defenses shot down nine JDAM bombs, three HIMARS rockets and 166 drones

▪️Ukraine lost up to 85 troops in the responsibility zone of the Battlegroup Dnepr

▪️Kiev lost up to 50 servicemen in the Belgorod and Kharkov areas

▪️Ukraine lost 370 troops and a tank in the responsibility zone of the Battlegroup Dnepr

▪️The Battlegroup East made Kiev lose up to 175 troops

🗣 Key takeaways from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statements at a press conference following his visit to Uzbekistan:

▪️Another round of talks between Russia and the United States will take place “soon”

▪️A range of new infrastructural projects will make it possible to boost twofold Russian gas supplies to Uzbekistan

▪️Moscow strongly opposes the West’s attempts to establish dominance in Central Asia

▪️Western countries are making active efforts to return to the “Afghan gamble” which they quit after the Taliban came to power

▪️Lavrov has called for reckoning with the Taliban government that has become a reality in Afghanistan and unfreeze the country’s state reserves in the United States

▪️Lavrov warned about the danger of the North Atlantic Alliance’s military infrastructure returning to Afghanistan, noting that this could become a “time bomb”

▪️President Vladimir Putin will decide who will make up the Russian delegation that goes to the late Pope Francis’s funeral, and an announcement about its members will be made very soon

❗️ Russian forces have wiped out the group of Ukrainian troops that were holding the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery in the village of Gornal in the Kursk Region, a regiment commander told TASS

▶️ An explosion preceded the car fire in the Afimall City parking lot in downtown Moscow, the emergencies services reported.

Crews put out the fire that started at a car parking lot near a shopping mall in downtown Moscow, emergency management officials said.

Video: Vadim Belozertsev/Elena Tsybulina/TASS

▶️ Thousands of believers bid farewell to Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica, with wait times to enter reaching up to 4 hours.

Video: Vera Shcherbakova/TASS

❗️A total of 151 people were affected by the Istanbul earthquake, with no casualties reported so far, according to city officials

India is eyeing Russia as an alternative market for seafood supplies amid new US tariffs, Director General and CEO of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) Ajay Sahai told TASS.

Discussions with the Russian side on this issue were "very positive," he noted. "Given Russia's trade surplus with India, the Russian Federation supports the expansion of the list of goods supplied from our country,” the expert stressed.

According to Sahai, Indian frozen shrimps exports to Russia have the growth potential of 10-20%.

The Afghan government, formed by the Taliban movement, will soon send its ambassador to Russia, said Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad following a meeting between the head of the ministry, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov.

“The foreign minister expressed his appreciation for Russia's recent move to remove the Taliban movement… from the list of organizations banned in Russia,” the foreign ministry spokesman wrote on social media network X.

Muttaqi also thanked Kabulov for the opportunity to send an ambassador from the Taliban government and promised that this would be done soon, Zia Ahmad added.

▶️ Footage of the earthquake in Istanbul. The tremors lasted 10-15 seconds, TRT Haber reports.

Ten aftershocks of magnitude 3.1 to 4.9 struck Istanbul following the major magnitude 6.2 quake, the emergencies department said.

Video: TASS/Reuters/ViralPress/Anadolu Agency

🗣 Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered a speech at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission. Key takeaways from his statements:

▪️Russia more than doubled its production of armaments and electronic warfare systems last year

▪️Russia is moving fast to upgrade the most popular weapons based on its experience in the special military operation

▪️The 2025 tasks of the Russian military-industrial complex are even more ambitious than before

▪️All armies worldwide are currently studying Russia’s approach to special operations, however, Moscow must stay one step ahead

▪️Putin has ordered to speed up the production of unmanned boats, robotic systems and combat lasers

▪️Russia needs to adapt its weapons to new challenges and revise its training programs

▪️The Russian army is still lacking FPV drones, which are very much awaited, so their production will increase

▪️Putin ordered efforts to build a satellites system for military reconnaissance and communications in the Armed Forces on time

▪️Artificial intelligence provides for greater advantage on the battlefield and Russia must make use of it

▪️Putin has called on members of the Military-Industrial Commission to forecast what global conflicts of the future will be like when developing armaments

▪️The use of FPV drones is a key factor of success on the battlefield

▪️Putin suggested discussing the supply of the most in-demand weapons to the army

▪️The Russian Armed Forces received over 1.5 million drones and more than 4,000 armored vehicles last year