Latest news about Russia and the war in Ukraine

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Wednesday rejected US claims that Russia had fired an anti-satellite weapon.

Ryabkov said Moscow was against using weapons in orbit, the TASS and Interfax news agencies reported.

Ryabkov said Russia still adheres to the quantitative limits on nuclear weapons set out within the New START Treaty between Moscow and Washington.

The timing of Russia's non-strategic nuclear weapons exercises, which began on Tuesday, isn’t any coincidence and will definitely be closely watched by Ukraine and the West.

The exercises come at a time when Russia has repeatedly warned Kiev's Western allies against direct involvement within the war in Ukraine, including the possible use of ground troops.

Non-strategic or tactical nuclear weapons are designed to be used on the battlefield and might obliterate specific targets equivalent to military bases or training centers. Although they’re less devastating than strategic nuclear weapons that may wipe out entire cities, their use in recent exercises has made Russia's intentions clear: the exercises are intended to send a warning to Russia's adversaries.

When announcing the exercises in early May, the Russian Defense Ministry made a direct reference to the exercises “Provocative statements and threats by individual Western officials against the Russian Federation.”

Russia was particularly dissatisfied with French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that he wouldn’t rule out using French ground troops in Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also caused an uproar when he said Ukraine was free to make your mind up whether to make use of long-range missiles against targets inside Russia.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to intervene more directly within the war, equivalent to by helping to intercept Russian missiles. The Kremlin accused Zelensky of “hysteria” and said Kiev’s request was on account of “unfavorable conditions” for Ukraine on the battlefield.

Russia launched a satellite last week that U.S. intelligence agencies consider is a weapon able to inspecting and attacking other satellites, the U.S. Space Command said Tuesday, because the Russian spacecraft tracked a U.S. spy satellite in orbit.

Russia's Soyuz rocket lifted off May 16 from its launch site in Plesetsk, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow, and placed a minimum of nine satellites into low-Earth orbit, including COSMOS 2576, a kind of Russian military “inspector” spacecraft, about which U.S. officials said have long been convicted of reckless space behavior.

“We have observed nominal activity and believe it is likely a counterspace weapon, likely capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit,” a USSPACECOM spokesman said in a press release to Reuters.

“Russia has deployed this new counterspace weapon in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite.”

COSMOS 2576 was just like previously deployed counterspace payloads from 2019 and 2022, the statement added, referring to previous Russian tactics to station satellites near sensitive US spy satellites.

According to a U.S. official aware of the intelligence, U.S. intelligence agencies had been anticipating the launch of COSMOS 2576 and had briefed their allies on their assessment of the satellite before it was deployed in space. The launch also included the deployment of civilian satellites in various orbits.

Russian armed forces began the primary phase of coaching on Tuesday to “prepare and use non-strategic nuclear weapons,” the Defense Ministry said in a press release post on Telegram.

“As part of this phase, the personnel of the missile formations of the Southern Military District carry out combat training tasks to obtain special ammunition for the Iskander operational-tactical missile system, equip launchers with them and secretly advance to the designated position area in preparation for missile launches,” the post says.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the exercises earlier this month to discourage Western military involvement in Ukraine, he said.

The former commander of Russia's 58th Army, who last yr criticized the treatment of military personnel on the battlefield, was arrested on suspicion of large-scale fraud, the TASS news agency reported reported Tuesday.

Major General Ivan Popov was sentenced to 2 months in prison by the country's military court, TASS reported. Popov's lawyer said he has appealed the prison sentence, Reuters reported.

“The former commander of the 58th Guards Combined Army, Ivan Ivanovich Popov, was arrested on suspicion of fraud,” the agency's interlocutor said, in response to TASS.

Last July, Popov said he was dismissed after a four-minute audio message emerged by which he outlined major deficiencies in Russia's defenses, saying that they had led to quite a few casualties amongst his troops on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's recent call for more Western aid and involvement within the conflict was on account of Ukraine's “extremely unfavorable” situation on the battlefield.

“Various representatives of the Kiev regime and Zelensky himself have made many statements in recent days, sometimes even descending into hysteria. This is due to the extremely unfavorable position of the Kiev regime forces on the front lines,” Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in comments translated by NBC News.

“This is also due to the rather difficult situation in which the Ukrainian military finds itself, despite all the promised assistance. Supplies are not as regular as hoped. And most importantly, there is a growing understanding that even if this rhythm of military supplies is restored, this will not allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to change the dynamics at the fronts. This understanding is growing and does not add confidence or balanced judgment to the representatives of the Kiev regime,” he added.[supplies-arenotasregularashopedforAndmostimportantlythereisagrowingunderstandingthatevenifthisrhythmofmilitarysuppliesisrestoredthiswillstillnotallowtheUkrainianArmedForcestochangethedynamicsatthefrontsThisunderstandingisgrowinganditdoesnotaddconfidenceorbalancedjudgmenttotheKievregimerepresentatives”headded[supplies-arenotasregularashopedforAndmostimportantlythereisagrowingunderstandingthatevenifthisrhythmofmilitarysuppliesisrestoredthiswillstillnotallowtheUkrainianArmedForcestochangethedynamicsatthefrontsThisunderstandingisgrowinganditdoesnotaddconfidenceorbalancedjudgmenttotheKievregimerepresentatives”headded

Peskov's comments got here after Zelensky told Reuters on Monday that he was trying to have interaction Ukraine's partners more directly, asking them to assist intercept Russian missiles and for Ukraine to stop using Western weapons against Russian military equipment on the border and against targets inside Russian territory.

However, he said he understood that they were wary of antagonizing Russia. “It’s a question of will,” Zelensky told the news agency. “But everyone says a word that sounds the same in every language: everyone is afraid of an escalation.”

Zelensky told Reuters the situation on the front had stabilized over the past week. However, he acknowledged that Ukrainian forces were in a tougher situation after Russia launched a brand new offensive within the northeast.

Finland called on the European Union to assist prevent what it describes as “instrumentalised” or “armed” migration on the border with Russia.

Finland has closed its borders with Russia in recent months, accusing the country of deliberately sending undocumented asylum seekers to the border to destabilize the brand new NATO member. Moscow denies the accusation.

The Finnish government presented this on Tuesday a proposal to Parliament for a brand new border security law This would allow border officials to forestall migrants seen as “instruments of influence” from entering Russia.

“It is the government's duty to ensure the security of the borders, Finland and Finns in all situations,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said at a news conference, Reuters reported.

“Unfortunately, EU legislation does not yet provide us with effective tools to address the problem. I hope that our work will pave the way for solutions at the European level,” he added.