The strike on the Kirishi refinery, in Russia’s northwestern Leningrad region, follows weeks of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure that Kyiv says fuels Moscow’s war effort.

Ukraine is struggling to defend itself against the growing number of attack drones that Moscow has started using in its onslaughts.

The US president has repeatedly threatened tougher measures against Moscow, but has so far failed to take action.

The United States has stated at a UN Security Council meeting that Moscow had violated international law and the UN Charter when Russian drones entered Polish airspace. Source: Reuters Details: Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea stressed that Washington will "defend every inch of NATO territory" and it stands by its allies in the face of "these alarming airspace violations".

The quake briefly triggered tsunami alerts at nearby coastlines, less than two months after a larger earthquake sent tsunami waves across the Pacific.

They are intended to showcase close defense ties between Moscow and Minsk, as well as Russia’s military might as it fights its 3½-year-old war in neighboring Ukraine.

President Donald Trump appeared to back off a promise to sanction Russia for its refusal to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine on Saturday, announcing stringent new conditions on his own allies before he will take action.

Russia-Ukraine peace talks are “more on pause” than they are active, the Kremlin said Friday, in an acknowledgement that confirms what Ukraine has been warning for months – negotiations are faltering despite a push from US President Donald Trump.

Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and her deputy Alexei Zabotkin addressed a news conference on Friday after the central bank cut its key rate to 17% from 18%.

Crew members aboard the Admiral Golovko, a frigate with the Northern Fleet, fired a Zircon missile at a sea target in the Barents Sea, Russia's government said on Sunday. The Admiral Golovko has been known to carry Zircon missiles for several years.