Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that Russia had no plans to attack NATO or Europe but, if the West escalated the Ukraine war any further, then Moscow should respond and, if necessary,

Dmitry Medvedev says Russia needs to be ready to respond, potentially with pre-emptive strikes, if the West escalated its involvement in the Ukraine war.

Russian authorities already block access to thousands of websites accused of hosting "extremist" content. The latest proposed legislation threatens fines of up to 5,000 rubles ($64) on anyone found to have deliberately searched for or gained access to material listed as extremist by the justice ministry.

India is confident of meeting its oil needs from alternative sources if Russian supplies are hit by secondary sanctions, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday.

A Russian official says American Daniel Martindale has been rewarded with citizenship for spying on Ukraine, "by decree of our President Vladimir Putin."

Two Russian agents were killed by Ukrainian security forces Sunday following reports that the Russian operatives assassinated Ukrainian Colonel Ivan Voronych.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more bodies of their war dead, a Kremlin aide said on Thursday, part of an agreement struck at the second round of peace talks in Istanbul in June.

Donald Trump has said Volodymyr Zelensky should not target Moscow after reportedly privately discussing strikes on the Russian capital with the Ukrainian leader."No, he shouldn't target Moscow," Mr Trump told reporters yesterday on the South Lawn of the White House when asked if Mr Zelensky should attack the Russian capital.