Russia bans use of motorcycles in Crimea, saying they sound like drones
Crimea has banned the use of motorised vehicles such as scooters, quad bikes and motorcycles at nighttime, saying they sound like drone attacks, Moscow-installed authorities said.
Sergei Aksyonov, the peninsula’s Russian-installed governor, said the ban, which he called a temporary measure to guard military and other important facilities, would be in place between 8pm and 6am from Wednesday onwards.
“The moped noise hampers the work of defence systems. Their engines sound similar (to drones),” Oleg Kryuchkov, Aksyonov’s advisor, said separately on Telegram on Tuesday.
“The enemy is recruiting your children for nighttime rides.”
The ban in Crimea, a popular summer tourist destination for Russians, does not apply to cars or larger vehicles.
Ukraine has recently intensified drone attacks on Crimea, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, targeting the peninsula’s supply routes and triggering a fuel crisis, as the holiday season starts.
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 07:27
Watch: Zelensky and Trump’s ‘very good’ meeting at G7 boosts hopes for peaceZelensky and Trump’s ‘very good’ meeting at G7 boosts hopes for peace
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 07:00
Kremlin says Putin did not discuss meeting Zelensky in latest call with Trump
Russian president Vladimir Putin did not discuss the possibility of a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky during his latest phone call with US president Donald Trump, said Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.
“No one has approached us with such a proposal,” Ushakov told reporters.
Trump said he spoke separately to Putin and Zelensky on Sunday.
Zelensky said on Monday that he had offered to meet Putin at a G7 summit in France this week, or even in the United States, for talks to end the war that is well into its fifth year.
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 06:47
EU prepares trade relief for Armenia after Russian import bans – report
The European Union is preparing emergency trade relief for Armenia to help offset Russian import restrictions, the Financial Times reported today, citing people briefed on the plans.
The European Commission is drawing up “autonomous trade measures” that would lower tariffs on Armenian food and agricultural exports, the report said.
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 06:25
European diplomats praise Zelensky’s ‘psychological’ move on Trump at the G7
Volodymyr Zelensky appears to have got the tone right as he presented evidence to Donald Trump of the war’s impact on his country, which officials say moved the US president.
Two European diplomats said that, during the meeting, Zelensky showed Trump images of the aftermath of a Russian strike on Monday on Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra monastery.
Trump expressed disapproval of the strike, one of the European diplomats said, while the other said that it had been “psychologically” a good move by Zelensky to show the images.
European diplomats said the tone of the meeting had been constructive.
(AFP/Getty)
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 06:22
Watch: Starmer ‘ramps up pressure’ on Russia with new sanctionsStarmer ‘ramps up pressure’ on Russia with new shadow fleet sanctions package
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 05:46
Russian artist who mocked Vladimir Putin shot dead in Poland
The 44-year-old exiled critic Robert Kuzovkov, also known as Semyon Skrepetsky, was killed in the city of Biala Podlaska, around 25 miles from the Belarusian border, on Monday morning.
Authorities said he was shot five times, including to his head, chest and back, in a car park near the Belarusian consulate.
Polish prosecutors said he was approached by a lone gunman and killed at close range. The gunman is said to have shot the artist twice before Kuzovkov fell to the ground, with three more shots as he lay on the ground.
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 05:01
Trump fails to promise new sanctions on Russia
President Trump has been non-committal on imposing further US sanctions on Moscow, as European leaders want, diplomats say.
Mr Trump said Washington was now in a position to let Russian oil waivers lapse after an interim accord to end the Iran war soothed markets, but he did not mention broader punitive measures.
European leaders want to convince him that previous US positions on the possible terms of a deal were overly favourable towards Moscow, particularly now that Ukraine’s drone incursions into Russia have improved its fortunes.
Jane Dalton17 June 2026 05:00
Trump’s ‘very good’ meeting with Zelensky leaves G7 leaders optimistic
US president Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine after a “very good” meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, in comments that sparked cautious optimism among G7 leaders that a peace deal could be struck.
Trump, who arrived at the summit brandishing a preliminary deal to end his war with Iran, said he would do what he could do to end the conflict in Ukraine, but there were few details of any concrete steps to raise the pressure on Moscow.
“Look, Russia should make a deal,” Trump told reporters, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on both sides.
“I’m gonna do whatever I can,” he said, leaving the G7 leaders in an upbeat mood.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump’s statement that Russia should end the war was cause for cheer.
“I found him to be very cooperative, and I also saw him listening very attentively,” Merz told reporters.
“And in that respect, once again, it gives me a certain degree of optimism that we here, as Europeans and as Americans, are now doing everything we can, together, to end the war.”
“The tide is turning for Ukraine,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen posted on X.
“Russia’s fatigue is openly showing. That’s the time to double down on our support.”
(Ukraine President’s Office)
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 04:53
Drones attack Russia’s Black Sea city of Novorossiysk
Russia’s Black Sea city of Novorossiysk, a major export port, is under drone attack, mayor Andrei Kravchenko said on Telegram this morning.
He said that the drone alert sirens were switched on, without providing further details.
Novorossiysk has been coming under repeated attacks in recent months as Ukraine looks to damage Russia’s infrastructure and war economy.
Arpan Rai17 June 2026 04:37