Russia suspends the right of free passage for foreign ships in three areas of the Black Sea for six months. The restrictions will take effect on the evening of Thursday, April 24, reported the Russian newspaper Kommersant with a reference to the bulletin issued by the Office of Navigation and Oceanography of the Russian Defense Ministry.

From 21:00 on 24 April to 21:00 on October 31, Russia suspends the right of free passage through the waters of the Russian Federation "for foreign warships …

Kyiv has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to mediate talks with Moscow, said Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk on the i24NEWS TV channel.

According to the diplomat, this decision was made because Netanyahu is in good relations with both the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I am glad to report that the Prime Minister did not say no. He said that he would try to do everything in his power. We are glad that Mr. …

At least 400,000 residents of the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are not under Kyiv’s control, have received Russian passports, said Ukrainian Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Olekii Reznikov in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda.

"The statistics are constantly changing, the Russians say one thing, we check, find another. But there are at least 400,000, it is true," Reznikov said.

Back in December, he said that there are 300,000 Ukrainians …

Russia and Belarus intend to expand cooperation in the defense field. "There are acute questions that need to be strengthened, including security, including defense in our union state," self-proclaimed Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

According to Lukashenko, Moscow and Minsk will draw through their cooperation lines which no one should cross, and will adequately answer to those who do not understand that in this …

Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to Ukrainian President’s offer to meet in the Donbas.

According to Putin, the leadership of Ukraine "has made a lot of steps that destroy Russian-Ukrainian relations."

"This concerns a number of problems in bilateral relations, it concerns the attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church and its destruction, the attempt to destroy it. This applies to the Russian language and Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine, and Russian citizens who live in …

Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger, during a speech by Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď and Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, announced the expulsion of three Russian diplomats,  reported TA 3.

Heger noted that before making the decision to expel Russian diplomats, the Slovak government carefully studied the information of the special services of Slovakia. The Prime Minister specified that the Slovak Republic is interested in building relations with Russia based on mutual respect.

"At the same time, …

The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Prague was going to reduce the number of employees of the Russian Embassy in Prague to match the size of the Czech diplomatic mission in Moscow, said the Ministry’s representatives at a press conference.

Twenty-two Russian diplomats and 48 embassy staff will be expelled from the Czech Republic. Thus, the number of the Russian diplomatic mission will be equal to the Czech: 5 diplomats and 9 administrative personnel.

The decision was taken by …

Between April 19 and April 21, three heavy transport aircraft of the U.S. Air Force, Great Britain and Canada delivered military cargo to Ukraine, reported Interfax-Ukraine with reference to the data of Western air traffic observers.

A military transport aircraft C-130J Hercules arrived from Stuttgart, where the headquarters of the U.S. European Command is located. A RAF Bae 146-200 delivered military cargo from the UK. Another heavy cargo plane  C-17 Globemaster III of the Canadian Air Force …