The strikes occurred in a strategic maritime corridor, raising concerns about energy security and navigational safety.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow on Nov. 28, praising the European leader for a "balanced" stance on the war in Ukraine. The two leaders are meeting to discuss energy cooperation and peace talks on Ukraine amid a new U.

Widescale Russian attack on Ukraine kills six, injures dozens, as Kyiv seeks US support for a resolution to the war.

Russia's central bank said on Thursday that central banks in emerging markets were buying gold to diversify their international reserves due to an attempt by the G7 to use billions of dollars of frozen Russian assets.

European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice

The trip to Moscow is the second since last year for Orbán, who is widely considered Putin’s closest partner among all EU leaders. Hungary is one of only a few EU countries to continue importing large quantities of Russian fossil fuels, and Orbán has strongly opposed efforts by the bloc to wean its 27 member nations off Russian energy supplies.

"If this is true, then we have a major problem, Houston," wrote Estonian lawmaker Marko Mihkelson, in response to the report.

North Korea has made Russian a required language for students beginning in the fourth grade – as Moscow’s ties with the hermit kingdom have been growing since its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia will make no big concessions on a peace plan for Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday, after a leaked recording of a call involving U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff showed he had advised Moscow on how to pitch to Donald Trump.