Charles Maynes
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Ukraine and Russia are blaming each other for the downing of a Russian military transport plane this week, which Russia says had 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war aboard. All aboard were killed.
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The Russian defense ministry said two missiles were fired from Ukrainian territory at the IL-76 military transport aircraft. It said 65 Ukrainian POWs were on board, headed for a prisoner swap.
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In Russia, ballet fans brave sub-zero temperatures for a chance to see The Nutcracker at Moscow's famed Bolshoi Theatre.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin resumed his traditional year-end press conference, after canceling last year, when Russia was doing badly on the battlefield. He combined it with a call-in program.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a call-in question-and-answer session for the first time since he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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Lawyers of jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny say they have not been able to confirm his whereabouts for several days, raising concern among his allies for his health and safety.
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A young woman who placed anti-war messages in a Saint Petersburg, Russia, supermarket has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
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Bootleg screenings of the movie Barbie are a hit in Moscow's theaters — demonstrating the enduring allure of American popular culture despite Russia's isolation from the West.
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A shaky cease-fire in the South Caucasus appears to be holding. The ex-Soviet republic of Azberbaijan says it has reestablished control over the breakaway ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Separatist leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh said that after "a lack of concrete actions" by international parties, their forces had few options to ensure civilians' safety.