The Russian ruble extended a recent slump Thursday, declining 17% against the U.S. dollar in 48 hours to reach its lowest level since late May.  

The ruble hit 64.5 against the greenback during morning trading on the Moscow Exchange as the Russian authorities apparently intervened in currency markets to stop the ruble from strengthening and energy

A court in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok sentenced a dozen North Korean fishermen to long sentences for attacking Russian coast guards in a clash in the Sea of Japan in 2019.

Twelve fishermen from the closed state were handed sentences from four to 13 years in prison. 

The court found them guilty of attacking border guards who tried to

Moscow will not discuss swapping basketball star Brittney Griner in a potential exchange with the United States until her formal conviction on drug smuggling charges, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkovsaid Thursday.

Ryabkov told reporters that were currently “no nominal, formal or procedural grounds to take any further steps” regarding

Ukrainians held prisoner by Russian and pro-Moscow forces have accused their captors of torture in a series of interviews.

Paramedic Yuliia Paievska, widely known by her nickname Taira, was captured in mid-March while assisting civilians wounded in an airstrike on a theater in the port city of Mariupol. The city fell to Russian forces in May. 

Paievs