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RT correspondent Roman Kosarev, who is on the ground in Donetsk to report on the evacuation, has also confirmed that he heard the explosion. Images from the scene show a completely destroyed car in the parking lot about 100 meters or so outside the seat of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, with significant damage to other vehicles nearby. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Ukraine to sit down and negotiate with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine on Friday, citing escalating tensions in the region and calling once more for the implementation of the Minsk peace agreement. In a news...

A Russian fighter jet zoomed within just 10 feet of a U.S. Navy spy plane over the Black Sea on Wednesday, the latest in a string of daring maneuvers involving Russian aircraft and the U.S. military, a defense official with knowledge of the incident told Fox News. The Russian Su-27 Flanker jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft used primarily for anti-submarine warfare while on routine patrol in international airspace, defense officials said. The Russian defense ministry accused the Navy plane of flying with its transponder—which emits an identifying signal—turned off. A U.S. defense official...

Russia continued ramp up its dangerous cat-and-mouse game with the United States as one of its MiG-31 warplanes flew within 50 feet of an American surveillance jet in Northeast Asia, The Washington Free Beacon reports. The nerve-rattling incident occurred just one week after a Russian Su-27 flew within 50 feet of an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in an "unsafe and unprofessional manner," the Pentagon said. Russia’s latest act of aggression occurred on April 21 as a U.S. Navy P-8 Maritime Patrol reconnaissance aircraft flew on a routine mission in international airspace.

A senior Russian Foreign Ministry official says that Moscow has a responsibility to protect ethnic Russian citizens of other countries, "regardless of where they live," and that "we will do everything possible to defend the rights and interests" of ethnic Russian minorities in the neighboring Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The comments came from Anatoly Makarov, the director of the Foreign Ministry's Department for Interaction with Compatriots Abroad. He was speaking to the Russian outlet RuBaltic, as translated by Paul Goble. "We are carrying out a line so that Russian compatriots regardless of where they live are guaranteed...

The Russian nuclear submarines, which previously were noticed not so far from the US East Coast, have now approached Canada. Canadian Air Force began to monitor their navigation, the nation’s Defense Minister Peter McKay said. The submarines are staying in international waters and do not violate any agreements, RBC news agency said. "The submarines have not done anything threatening," Dan Dugas, spokesman for Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay, told AFP. "They're in international waters" in the North Atlantic, he said. "They're allowed to be there. But our job is to ensure that our coastal perimeter and waters are respected." Pentagon...