
Kremlin urging swift action to curb violence in Syria
Russia and US have requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss a response.
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Putin announces phone call with Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he will hold a phone call with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on TO FOLLOW


Russia Today
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- Russia Today
Russia should abolish diaspora organizations
Ethnic diaspora organizations should be banned in Russia, Marina Akhmedova, a member of the presidential human rights сouncil, has said amid a flare-up with neighboring Azerbaijan. Tensions between Moscow and Baku spiked after police raids last week on an alleged organized crime group in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg. The group is composed of Russian nationals of Azerbaijani origin and is accused of a string of gang assassinations and contract killings dating back to the early 2000s. Two elderly male suspects died during the police operation, with the preliminary assessment indicating that at least one of them suffered heart failure. The incident sparked outrage in Baku, which accused Moscow of deliberately targeting people of Azerbaijani descent and claimed that the two men had been murdered while in custody. On Tuesday, the head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Ekaterinburg, Shakhin Shikhlinski, was detained in relation to the case but was swiftly released after questioning, according to his son. Akhmedova reacted to the development in a post on Telegram on Wednesday, saying 'it is time to abolish diasporas' in Russia. 'These are illegal entities. No government agency should have anything to do with them,' she wrote. All such organizations must be prohibited, not only the Azerbaijani diaspora, the human rights expert insisted. According to the results of a 2002 census, more than 621,040 people of Azerbaijani descent are currently living in Russia. On Monday, Azerbaijani police raided the offices of Sputnik Azerbaijan, with a court in Baku ordering a four-month pre-trial detention of two Russian journalists who hold senior positions in the news agency. The Azerbaijani authorities claimed that the outlet has been operating 'through illegal financing' – allegations which Sputnik has dismissed as 'absurd.' Baku has also arrested eight other Russian nationals, accusing them of being members of a group involved in cybercrime and the trafficking of drugs from Iran. Russian media, however, have identified two of the suspects as IT specialists, while describing another one as a tourist. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov said on Wednesday that the Azerbaijani authorities have not yet provided Moscow's consular staff with access to the detained Russians. She advised Russian citizens who are planning trips to Azerbaijan to 'take the current situation into account.' Zakharova also noted that there is a 'strategic partnership' between Moscow and Baku, urging Azerbaijan to take steps aimed at returning bilateral ties to the proper level.


Russia Today
4 hours ago
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Telegram targeted by smear campaign
Telegram has been subjected to a coordinated smear campaign, CEO Pavel Durov has suggested, citing the rapid spread of bogus reports about the company's plans and policies. The claims follow the appearance of a story online about Telegram's exit from Russia that was initially published as a joke by local satirical website Panorama. 'We're probably not dealing with innocent journalistic errors, but with a targeted campaign to discredit Telegram,' Durov said on Wednesday in a post on the messaging platform, urging users to stay alert. Durov noted that the fake story was quickly reposted by serious news channels without any indication that it was satire, forcing the platform to add disclaimers under such posts. The billionaire also denied reports that channels collecting and publishing data from open sources had been blocked 'for political reasons,' emphasizing that 'a few channels were briefly taken down by automated scripts' due to the publication of personal data. Durov stressed that some media reports emerged after the channels had been restored but failed to mention the fact. The tech entrepreneur also mentioned 'a technically illiterate investigation' revealed in June which claimed that Telegram's IP addresses put user data at risk and accusing the platform of having ties to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Durov specified that publications citing 'independent experts' debunking the claims haven't received as much media coverage as the original report. 'For more than 12 years, Telegram has defended people's right to privacy and free access to information, which is why we have often become the target of media pressure from various sides,' Durov concluded. Last month, the billionaire, who is under investigation in France, accused the French daily Le Monde of waging a smear campaign against his messaging platform. Durov said that the newspaper had published 40 negative articles about Telegram in the seven weeks following his arrest at a Paris airport in August 2024. Detained on charges of complicity in crimes allegedly committed by Telegram users, including extremism and child abuse, Durov was later placed under judicial supervision and released on bail.