"The suitcase was found to contain an American Colt Commander, .45 caliber with three empty magazines," Russian officials said.

The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is once again in the news, after a senior U.S. military commander on July 17 issued a stark warning to the Kremlin that NATO forces could take control of it "in a timeframe that is unheard of.

The Russian customs agency said it detained a dual U.S.-Russian citizen at an airport in Moscow after she was found with a gun and a bank check for $138,000.

In the last two months, dozens of Russian regions have been hit by cellphone connectivity outages. Officials say such disruptions are needed to foil Ukrainian drone attacks.

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the "blackmail" of Washington's new sanctions ultimatum.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused "neocolonial" Western powers of modern "robbery and looting" in the pursuit of rare earth metals to gain an advantage in the artificial intelligence race.

The US and Ukraine are discussing a “mega deal” for Washington to purchase battle-tested drones from eastern Europe in exchange for American heavy weaponry.

India has found itself at the centre of a growing geopolitical clash, as fresh EU sanctions targeting a Russian-linked refinery in Gujarat spark concerns over energy autonomy and rising global pressure.