LONDON (Reuters) -In a show of strength two months into its assault on Ukraine, Russia test-launched a new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile which President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday would make Moscow's enemies stop and think.
Russia's nuclear forces will start taking delivery of the new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile this year once testing is complete, Tass quoted the head of the Roscosmos space agency as saying on Wednesday.
Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 17.62% as of April 15, its highest since early 2002 and up from 17.49% a week earlier, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, as the volatile rouble sent prices soaring amid Western sanctions.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in a phone call on Wednesday that the outcome of talks with Ukraine completely depended on Kyiv's readiness to take into account Russia's demands.
(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that "illegal" restrictions on Russian companies by Western states ran counter to World Trade Organization rules and told his government to update Russia's strategy in the WTO by June 1.
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Nine tankers carrying Russian-origin crude and fuel oil have discharged in the United States in April, likely the last ones to deliver before a wind-down set by Washington expires this week, customs and tanker tracking data showed.
Russian households withdrew foreign currency worth $9.8 billion from their accounts in March and banks cut new corporate lending by around one third, the central bank said on Wednesday, as western sanctions over events in Ukraine spooked consumers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and jailed Russian Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny both voiced support for French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of an election that pits Macron against Russia-friendly far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
Russia's lower house of parliament has approved a draft bill that would ban Russian banks from sharing "banking secrets" with foreigners, the State Duma said in a statement on Wednesday, in the latest move to protect the country's financial sector.
The Russian defence ministry has proposed that relatives of soldiers killed in Ukraine should have to apply to military rather than civilian authorities for compensation payments, imposing an extra level of secrecy around its war losses.