Aug 9 (Reuters) - Syria and Russia reached a memorandum of understanding to settle the future of Russian bases ‌at Tartous and Hmeimim following 18 months of intensive ‌negotiations, the Syrian foreign ministry said on Sunday, according to the Syrian state news agency.
The ministry said the Syrian state would take over management of civilian facilities, including Hmeimim airport and the commercial berth at Tartous port, allowing them to be gradually integrated into the country's ‌civilian administration.
It said military ⁠facilities would be repurposed as joint training and qualification centres under new arrangements preserving the interests ⁠of both sides, with the transition to be completed within three months.
Russia's naval facility at Tartous and Hmeimim air base have long been Moscow's principal military footholds in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Their future ‌has been the subject of negotiations with Syria's new leadership since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December 2024.

#hmeimim #state #civilian

KYIV, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video was released showing a drone chasing down and wounding a vegetable seller in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.
Footage released by Ukrainian police ‌shows the drone pursuing a man around a van being used as a street stand before exploding as he dives for ‌cover behind the vehicle. Police said the man in his 50s survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries.
Ukrainian officials later identified him only as a 52-year-old called Yurii and released a video interview with him from a hospital ward.
"Today, many were shocked by yet another video of the drone 'safari' Russians are carrying out against civilians in Kherson," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X, saying that "Russia has gone mad" and calling for more pressure on Moscow and strong security guarantees for Ukraine.
"We must act and support life in ways that force Russia to think seriously about peace rather than expanding the range of its drones."

#police #tuesday

At least 17 people were killed and more than 40 injured in Russian attacks on the Kyiv region, which also hit a train station and other civilian infrastructure, according to emergency services.

#killed

Vacationers were sent scrambling for safety Monday after a projectile struck a crowded beach in a Russian Black Sea resort town, killing seven people, including four children, and injuring dozens more, officials said.
Video footage captured the incident in the village of Arkhipo-Osipovka near Gelendzhik, where the beach was packed with visitors at the time of the strike.
The Russian Mission in Geneva said in a post on X that the "bloody attack" was carried out by a drone launched by Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of targeting civilians.
Ukraine Launches What Appears To Be One Of Its Largest Drone Attacks Against Russia: Report
A projectile flies overhead near Arkhipo-Osipovka, Russia, on Monday.

#osipovka

Aug 3 (Reuters) - Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, after years of questions over the health and well-being of the 81-year-old ******* el Peace Prize winner.
Suu Kyi has been in detention since February 2021, when an elected civilian government led ‌by her was ousted by Myanmar's military in a dawn coup, plunging the impoverished Southeast Asian nation into turmoil.
Since then, Suu Kyi's exact whereabouts and health condition have been ‌difficult to determine, with no foreign leader or envoy having publicly met with her despite requests for contact from countries in the region that have excluded Myanmar's leadership from their summits.
Suu Kyi met with Arnaud de Baecque, Resident Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross to Myanmar, in the capital Naypyitaw on Monday, government spokesperson Khine Khine Soe said in a message via Telegram.
The ICRC confirmed that a delegate had met with Suu Kyi, without naming the official, while her son described the visit as the first positive development concerning his mother in more than five years.

#representative

MOSCOW, July 31 (Reuters) - Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian online retailer Wildberries amount to "acts of terrorism" against civilians, ‌affecting millions of people in Russia and other countries, ‌the company's founder and CEO, Tatyana Kim, said on Friday.
Ukraine has attacked more than a dozen Wildberries sites since July 18 in a bid to disrupt the operations of the company, a linchpin of Russia's consumer economy.
Kim said businesses across 10 countries had suffered ‌significant losses as ⁠a result of the attacks and that Wildberries was working with the Russian government to mitigate ⁠the impact on vendors using its platform.
"A comprehensive scheme is currently being developed to ensure that everyone receives **** istance. The details of these measures will be announced in the coming days," Kim said.
She ‌said the company was rapidly restructuring its logistics network and redistributing goods across various logistics facilities to maintain delivery times and inventory turnover despite the disruption.

#wildberries

By Phil Stewart
July 29 (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander for the Middle East has warned troops that cellphone videos shared online can help Iran target American bases, and sources told Reuters some deployed personnel could soon be ordered to surrender their phones.
Any crackdown on mobile communications would add a new dimension to the conflict for the thousands of ‌U.S. troops in the region, many of whom still rely on phones to periodically message loved ones and **** ure them they are well.
Admiral Brad Cooper, in a previously unreported letter, said ‌Iran was benefiting from being able to see the success or failure of its strikes in near real-time by searching news reports or online posts by journalists referencing "reactions, photos, and footage from the cellphones of our troops."
"The direct, unavoidable cost of this open-source intelligence could be measured in the lives of American service members and civilian residents in targeted Gulf countries," Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, wrote in his July 28 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

#troops #american #online #phil

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean authorities ordered civilians to evacuate on Tuesday after a suspected white phosphorus leak at a U.S. military base near the capital, Seoul.
Officials in the city of Pyeongtaek urged nearby residents to move to a safe location and avoid skin exposure after the leak at the Osan Air Base was detected at around 5 p.m. The alert was lifted several hours later following the completion of decontamination work, according to text messages sent out by the city.
The U.S. 51st Fighter Wing said it established a 300-meter cordon around the base "out of an abundance of caution" after experts conducting a routine inspection identified white phosphorus crystallization that left residue inside a munitions crate.
An explosive ordnance disposal unit was deployed and response plans were immediately activated to ensure the munitions remained fully contained, it said in a statement.
The cordon was lifted after emergency response personnel mitigated the situation, allowing the base to return to normal operations, it said. There were "no injuries resulting from this situation and no risk to personnel on or off installation."

#seoul #phosphorus

Interested in Archer Aviation Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better.
Archer Aviation and Anduril unveiled Thunder, a hybrid-electric autonomous rotorcraft aimed at defense applications.
The defense pivot could give Archer a second path beyond the slower regulatory timeline for civilian air taxis.
Archer still faces heavy cash burn, certification risk and a long commercialization runway despite its strong liquidity position.
The civilian electric vertical takeoff and landing market remains trapped in a regulatory holding pattern. Developing a functional urban air-taxi network requires deep consumer adoption, local infrastructure overhauls, and grueling Federal Aviation Administration approvals.

#here

SOFIA, July 20 (Reuters) - Bulgaria, a NATO and EU member, will seek parliamentary approval on Monday ‌for up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft to ‌be stationed at a military airport, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said, after a move to place such planes at a civilian airport triggered controversy.
The government will ask parliament to approve a request by Washington to station tanker planes at ‌the Bezmer military facility ⁠to support the U.S. military's operations in the Middle East, Radev told an annual ⁠conference of Bulgarian Ambassadors in Sofia.
A move earlier this year to station the aircraft, used mainly for airborne refuelling of other aircraft, at a civilian airport in the capital ‌Sofia without prior parliamentary approval, sparked controversy and the planes left last month.
"The problem was that the military planes were based at a civilian airport in close proximity to Sofia. That is why we proposed to our ‌allies to occupy military airfields," Radev said.
The Bezmer military base is about 260 km (160 miles) southeast of Sofia.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States conducted a new round of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, hitting around a northwestern city believed to be home to underground missile bases. Iran responded by launching an attack targeting Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, and Kuwait.
The latest attacks again showed how, step by step, the U.S. and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month's interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.
Meanwhile, benchmark Brent crude rose Monday above $90 a barrel, further fueling a global energy crisis sparked by the conflict. An average gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. also rose to $4, a key metric for Americans that puts more pressure on their wallets ahead of midterm elections this fall.
The U.S. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the "controlled detonation" of a downed Iranian drone.
"We hit them very hard again tonight," U.S. President Donald Trump said. "And we did that in honor of the" soldiers killed, he said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States announced another death of a service member as it launched more airstrikes at Iran on Sunday in response to the killing of U.S. troops, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel.
Step by step, the U.S. and Iran have returned closer to all-out war as last month's interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.
The U.S. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the "controlled detonation" of a downed Iranian drone.
Earlier, the military said its strikes targeted Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to retaliate for Friday's killing of troops in Jordan. One service member was missing after that attack, and the military's new statement said "unidentified remains" were found Sunday and were being examined. Since the war began, 17 U.S. service members have been killed.
The renewed exchanges of fire, now in their second week, have seen the U.S. target bridges, water desalination plants and electrical facilities in Iran. Tehran has hit U.S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East.

By Daphne Psaledakis and Olena Harmash
WASHINGTON/KYIV, July 10 (Reuters) - Four U.S. senators said on Friday that they had reached agreement with the Trump administration to move forward with updated legislation on Russia sanctions.
"We ‌are proud to announce that we have reached an agreement with the Trump Administration to move our updated ‌Russia sanctions legislation forward. We are very pleased with this significant progress and expect to roll out the legislation very soon," Senators Richard Blumenthal, Lindsey Graham, Jeanne Shaheen and Roger Wicker said in a statement.
"As Russia intensifies its slaughter of civilians, it is imperative that the legislative and executive branches work together to create tools to exact a heavy price on those who buy Russian oil and natural gas, fueling the Putin war machine," the statement said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request ‌for comment.

An Iranian official warned that the Islamic Republic will deliver a "hard slap" while another blatantly threatened the U.S. that "if you strike, you'll get hit," according to automatic translations from the two men's Persian-language posts on X.
Ebrahim Rezaei, whose profile on the social media platform indicates that he is a representative in Iran's Parliament and the spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, wrote in a post on X, "The martyred Khamenei taught us not to fear America and showed that 'falsehood will perish.' Await the hard slap from the Iranians."
The speaker of Iran's Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned, "America still hasn't learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you'll get hit. Don't flail around pointlessly, or you'll sink even deeper: the Strait of Hormuz will only open with 'Iranian arrangements,' not American threats."
Both of the men issued their posts on Wednesday after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced more strikes against Iran.
"At the direction of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway," CENTCOM had noted in a post on X.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has "concrete evidence" linking leaders of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to recent war crimes in the Sudanese region of Darfur, the ICC's deputy chief prosecutor says.
Nazhat Shameem Khan told the BBC the ICC had reached a "breakthrough" in its investigation into the massacres of civilians in the cities of el-Fasher and el-Geneina.
"It may take time for justice to develop, to be brought to the court, but we will get there," Khan said, adding that RSF leaders have also been linked to crimes against humanity.
The siege and takeover of el-Fasher marked one of the bloodiest episodes in the ongoing war between the RSF and Sudan's army.
More than 6,000 people were killed in el-Fasher as the RSF seized the city in October last year, the United Nations says, while the paramilitary group is accused of carrying out a similar massacre in el-Geneina.

By Julia Symmes Cobb
LA GUAIRA, VENEZUELA, July 4 (Reuters) - Juan Zapata had just eaten dinner in his fifth-floor apartment overlooking the Caribbean and was about to take a shower when he was thrown across the room by the force of the twin earthquakes that ripped across Venezuela's coast 10 days ago.
He spent two days and seven ‌hours trapped in the rubble, wedged between two pieces of rebar, before civilian rescuers pulled him out.
"When they were rescuing me I said, 'I'm on the fifth floor' and they ‌told me, 'no, you're in the lower basement.' I couldn't believe what had happened to me," Zapata said, as he stood next to his cot in a field hospital in La Guaira state run by disaster relief group Samaritan's Purse.
Zapata was initially treated at the public hospital in La Guaira, the site hardest hit by the quakes, and came to the field hospital after visiting his building, Costa Brava, and finding it destroyed.

Sir Harry Edward Kane.
Now, doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?
According to a report (as captured by iMiaSanMia), Harry Kane might receive a knighthood for his incredible exploits for England on the biggest stages. The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion in UK Parliament calling for Harry Kane to be awarded a knighthood, which is the highest widely awarded civilian honour for service to the sport in the United Kingdom, held by greats such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton.
And yes, if Kane receives it, he would become “Sir Harry Edward Kane”.
The report details that “The motion, put forward by Liberal Democrat MP, Layla Moran, notes the pride that Kane has brought the country – now surpassing the legendary Pelé in total World Cup goals scored. Moran is urging MPs from every party to get behind the campaign, and for the Government and the Palace to get the sword ready for ‘Sir Harry’”.

The most famous person in the world is marrying her match made in Americana heaven, threatening to upstage the 250th birthday of the United States and unifying the extremes of straight culture: pop girlies and bros. At least, that's what we think.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are, according to anonymous sources and various permit records dug up by nosy journalists, expected to be united in holy matrimony on the weekend of July 4 in New York City. It's shaping up to be the greatest low-stakes gossip event of all time. Taylor's nuptial choices will be endlessly dissected and criticized on a massive scale and surely influence civilian weddings for years to come. It's possible that there will be so many celebrities in attendance that it will be "bigger than the Met Gala," Page Six alleges.
Before heading to the beach or the barbecue, brush up on what's sure to be the focus of every morsel of small talk for the week ahead. Here's what we know for sure, what we kind of know and probably shouldn't, and what we really don't know but are guessing anyway.
At this point, we're almost certain, because of gossipy guests, those aforementioned permits and a few cheeky hints from NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, that Taylor and Travis will be having a celebration during the weekend of July 4 at Madison Square Garden. If it is all a ruse, it would be one of pop culture's greatest pranks of all time. ABC reports that the first event of the weekend is Thursday around 6 p.m. for about 100 people. A second event supposedly begins Friday afternoon and could carry on late into the night with up to 1,000 people.
We know Taylor loves throwing Independence Day parties, New York City and security, so this all tracks. MSG, an arena best known for sporting events and concerts, is iconic, but tragically windowless and drab to look at. It's kind of like getting married in Cold War Europe: More brutalist than romantic, but love persists. Surely the woman responsible for the Eras tour has the budget to build a lovely stage, but many observers still seem skeptical. She'll just need to clean up before Bon Jovi performs on July 7.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles and drones killed at least 12 civilians and injured 40 others in Ukraine on Monday in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as "horrific attacks."
Since Russia launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, its forces have conducted bombing in an effort to destroy Ukraine's infrastructure and sap morale. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the U.N.
A Russian missile targeting infrastructure struck the central city of Dnipro, killing six people and wounding 29, Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said. Russian drones also hit a passenger minibus in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing three and wounding six, including a child, Zelenskyy said on social media.
Russian drones also killed a 69-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man in the northeastern Sumy region, National Police said. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a daytime Russian strike killed one person and wounded five others in the northeastern city.
Other deadly attacks occurred in at least six other regions of Ukraine, authorities said. No further details were immediately available.

Rescue efforts are continuing for a third day after two deadly back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening
At least 920 people have been killed and more than 3,360 are injured, according to the latest official figures
An update from acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez on Friday put the number of trapped people at 172
But tens of thousands of people are reported missing on a civilian-led rescue database
The UN's aid chief tells the BBC that today is "crucial" for relief efforts as international rescue teams arrive in the country

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said Tuesday its forces struck a railway bridge, a power plant and other key infrastructure targets in Crimea as Kyiv's military seeks to isolate the vital Russian-held peninsula in the latest stage of the 4-year-old war.
The drone attacks added to the woes on the Black Sea peninsula, where Russian authorities have had to suspend gasoline sales to civilians as Ukraine has intensified its recent campaign to disrupt supply lines and the electrical grid at the height of the summer tourist season.
The peninsula was seized by force and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Ukraine's increasing use of long-range strikes has highlighted its ability to inflict painful damage on Russia and put added pressure on the Kremlin while Moscow's advances recently have ground to a near halt, Western ****** ysts and officials say.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last week that his forces are "isolating Crimea with drones."
"It looks like in the nearest time, Crimea will become an island. This could lead to some very unexpected consequences for Russians," Fedorov said on a blogger's YouTube channel.

Former India captain Rohit Sharma has added another prestigious honour to his decorated career after being awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian awards, for his immense contribution to cricket.

President Droupadi Murmu presented the Padma Awards 2026 during the second Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday. Rohit's recognition comes after a career that has seen him establish himself as one of India's most successful batters and captains across formats.

The Mumbai-born cricketer played a key role in Indian cricket's recent successes, leading the national side to the ICC T20 World Cup ***** le in Barbados in 2024 before guiding them to Champions Trophy glory in Dubai the following year. Those triumphs further strengthened his standing among India's most accomplished leaders.

Rohit's ODI record remains among the finest in world cricket. Across 285 matches, he has amassed 11,720 runs at an average of 48.83 and a strike rate of 92.97. His achievements in the format include the world-record individual score of 264 and an unprecedented three double centuries, milestones that continue to define his legacy.

In Test cricket, Rohit made his debut in 2013 and represented India in 67 matches. He scored 4,301 runs, including 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries, with a career-best 212 against South Africa in 2019. He brought down the curtain on his Test career in May 2025.

The veteran batter also enjoyed a distinguished T20I journey. Having debuted in the format in 2007, he finished his international T20 career with 4,231 runs from 159 appearances. Rohit became the first men's cricketer to play more than 150 T20Is and remains one of the format's most influential figures.

His T20I career ended on the perfect note when India lifted the 2024 T20 World Cup. Having already been part of the squad that won the inaugural edition in 2007, Rohit became one of the rare players to win the tournament both as a player and later as captain. Shortly after the ***** le triumph, he announced his retirement from T20 internationals.

With his exits from T20Is and Tests, Rohit now continues to represent India only in ODI cricket.

The Padma Awards 2026 ceremony saw President Murmu confer 65 honours during the second phase of the investiture proceedings. The list included two Padma Vibhushan awards, seven Padma Bhushan awards and 56 Padma Shri recipients. Earlier, 66 Padma Awards were presented during the first Civil Investiture Ceremony held on May 26.

For Rohit, the Padma Shri serves as another landmark recognition of a career filled with records, trophies and unforgettable moments in Indian cricket.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Iran would have developed a nuclear weapon and used it on Israel were it not for the two recent wars. There is no public evidence for that ***** sment, which runs counter to those of the U.N. nuclear watchdog and U.S. intelligence agencies.
For decades, Netanyahu has made dire predictions about Iran's disputed nuclear program, most famously at the United Nations with visual aids. The rhetoric has escalated since the U.S. and Iran reached an interim peace deal this month, and as Netanyahu faces elections later this year.
Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, even as it has enriched uranium to near-weapons-grade levels far higher than those required for civilian use. The United States and others say Iran's nuclear program had a military component until 2003.
Even before the two wars set back its nuclear program, Iran was months or years away from developing a usable atomic weapon, and there's no evidence it had chosen to pursue one. Israel is widely believed to have its own nuclear weapons.
Here's a closer look.

Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea suspended civilian gasoline sales Sunday as Ukraine ramped up attacks on fuel supplies on the Black Sea peninsula.
Gov. Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head o Crimea, said that overnight Ukrainian strikes killed four people and wounded 28 others. He did not specify the target of the attack.
He later wrote on social media that local gas stations would halt all sales to non-state companies and individuals for an undefined period.
"Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea," Aksyonov said. "I ask everyone to remain calm and to only trust official sources of information."
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted fuel supplies to Crimea in recent weeks, triggering the worst energy crisis in the region since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

June 19 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that a week should be enough for Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to remove equipment from his country used by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine, adding a threat of Ukrainian action if ‌Lukashenko did not do so.
Zelenskiy said signal relay stations were located in two Belarusian regions bordering Ukraine that were used by Russian ‌forces to help with steering during attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Reuters could not verify his claims independently.
"What's the point of saying he (Lukashenko) doesn't want to be in the war? Let him remove this equipment, let him switch it off. I think a week will be enough for him to do that," Zelenskiy told a news conference in Kyiv.
"If he doesn't do it, we'll do it," he said, without elaborating.
Zelenskiy also alluded to Belarus's oil refining industry, saying it had become a major supplier for Moscow and that Lukashenko could put a stop to it.

MILAN, June 18 (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors investigating accusations of "sniper tourism" in 1990s Sarajevo do not currently have enough evidence to seek a trial for any suspects, a source with direct ‌knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
Milan prosecutors have placed five people under investigation over ‌allegations that Italians and other foreigners paid to shoot at civilians during the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo, the source said.
The investigation began last year after journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni filed a legal complaint over claims that wealthy foreigners travelled to Bosnia to take part in shooting excursions during the war in the former Yugoslav republic.
The source said the five suspects included a Milan aristocrat who, according to testimony gathered by Gavazzeni, allegedly boasted at a dinner ‌with former schoolmates that he had gone ⁠to Sarajevo to shoot people.
The source said prosecutors currently had only circumstantial elements and no firm proof. "Very frankly, at this moment the prosecutors could never ask for ⁠any of the suspects to be sent to trial," the source said.

MOSCOW, June 15 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday that it did not strike the historic ‌Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv in an ‌overnight attack on military factories in the Ukrainian capital and that a U.S.-made Patriot air defence missile had damaged the religious site.
The UNESCO World Heritage monastery caught fire overnight on Monday in the heaviest Russian air attack ‌on the Ukrainian ⁠capital in two weeks. Moscow said its attack had targeted and struck drone manufacturing ⁠facilities, while Ukraine and many Western countries accused Russia of striking the monastery.
Russia's Defence Ministry said that the Patriot missile which it said had damaged the monastery ‌could have misfired because it said Western countries had provided Kyiv with arms whose shelf life had expired.
"The armed forces of the Russian Federation do not plan or carry out strikes against civilian infrastructure," ‌the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
"According to confirmed reports, the complex of buildings at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was ‌struck by a missile from the American Patriot air defence system. One possible reason for the malfunction of this system could be that Western countries supplied ‌the Kyiv regime with missiles that had expired," it said.

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles into Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities killing at least 16 civilians and wounding more than 100 others. Apartment buildings across the country have been reduced to rubble, leaving many residents trapped.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Kyiv on Sunday launched new strikes overnight on Russian energy sites. It has also denied Moscow’s claims that a Ukrainian drone struck the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian drones struck the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia, causing a large-scale fire. It claimed the refinery has been supplying Moscow’s war effort.
The refinery belongs to Russia’s state oil enterprise, Rosneft. Local Russian Gov. Roman Busargin said Ukrainian drones had damaged civilian infrastructure, but did not give details. Astra, an independent Russian news channel, said an oil refinery was on fire in the city of Saratov.
Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil and gas facilities in recent months, arguing the energy sector funds and directly fuels Moscow’s more than four-year invasion.
“Tonight, our soldiers applied Ukraine’s long-range sanctions against an oil refinery in Saratov, Russia — approximately 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the front line. A significant achievement,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media on Sunday.

Trump agrees to two-week Iran ceasefire, drops threat to destroy 'whole civilization'

By Steve Holland, Parisa Hafezi, Enas Alashray and Ahmed Tolba
WASHINGTON/DUBAI/CAIRO, April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday, less than two hours before his deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face devastating attacks on its civilian infrastructure.
Trump's announcement on social media represented an abrupt turnaround from earlier in the day, ‌when he issued an extraordinary warning that "a whole civilization will die tonight