The Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit in Moscow seeking 18.2 trillion rubles ($229 billion) from Euroclear, the state-run Tass news service reported Monday.

Russian anti-Kremlin feminist punk band and art collective 'Pussy Riot' was designated an extremist organisation by a Moscow court on Monday, banning its activities inside Russia as part of a wider crackdown on dissenting voices.

Russia’s Central Bank says it has filed a lawsuit against Belgian financial institution Euroclear. That's the Brussels-based clearing house that holds most of Moscow’s frozen assets in Europe.

Russia said on Monday that it had captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, in claims that Kyiv has yet to confirm or deny.

Ukraine has used long-range drones to attack Russian oil platforms as it expands its strikes on the country's energy sector.

Moscow pounded Ukrainian power infrastructure with drone and missile strikes on Saturday and Kyiv launched a deadly strike of its own on southwestern Russia, a day before talks involving senior European and U.S. officials aimed at ending the war were set to resume.

A court found the soldiers guilty of beating Russell Bentley, 64, to death in April 2024, after they mistook him for a U.S. spy.

A 10-year-old student was fatally stabbed by a fellow pupil at a school in Gorki-2, a village near Moscow. Russian authorities said the attacker, a 15-year-old, injured a security guard and used pepper spray before stabbing the younger child,

Despite Russia's previous support for Assad, Russian influence in Syria not only endures thanks to energy ties but has expanded and formalized.

By Lili Bayer, Julia Payne and Anna Hirtenstein BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The European Union adopted fresh sanctions against Russian oil interests on Monday, targeting traders Murtaza Lakhani and Etibar Eyyub for helping Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions on crude exports that help to fund Russia's war in Ukraine.