Six Militants Killed in Special Operation in Russia’s Ingushetia Region

Russian policemen control the area near a damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged drone attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
Russian policemen control the area near a damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged drone attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
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Six Militants Killed in Special Operation in Russia’s Ingushetia Region

Russian policemen control the area near a damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged drone attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
Russian policemen control the area near a damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged drone attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 02 March 2024. (EPA)

Russian security forces killed six alleged militants in a special operation in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, TASS news agency reported on Sunday, citing local law enforcement agencies.

On Saturday, authorities introduced counter-terrorism emergency powers in the town of Karabulak after the alleged militants had opened fire on law enforcement forces in a residential building.

"The special operation has ended. The counter-terrorism operation regime is still in place," a law enforcement source told TASS.

Identities of the alleged militants were being established, RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing a source.

Ingushetia, the smallest region in Russia, is wedged between North Ossetia and Chechnya. It has a population of about half a million people.

For almost a decade until 2017, Russian security forces were battling an armed insurgency conducted by an array of extremist militant groups in Ingushetia as well as in Dagestan and Chechnya.



Lavrov, Rubio Discuss Removal of ‘Barriers’ Set by Previous US Administration, Russia Says

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Sudanese counterpart addresses a press conference during a meeting in Moscow, on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Sudanese counterpart addresses a press conference during a meeting in Moscow, on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
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Lavrov, Rubio Discuss Removal of ‘Barriers’ Set by Previous US Administration, Russia Says

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Sudanese counterpart addresses a press conference during a meeting in Moscow, on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Sudanese counterpart addresses a press conference during a meeting in Moscow, on February 12, 2025. (AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the situation in Ukraine on Saturday, as well as the removal of "unilateral barriers" set by the previous US administration, Moscow said.

US and Russian officials are to start talks in the coming days on ending Moscow's war in Ukraine after US President Donald Trump shocked European allies by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin and declaring an immediate start to the talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Kyiv would not engage with Russia before consulting with strategic partners.

Lavrov and Rubio, in a call initiated by the US, agreed to maintain contacts to resolve problems in bilateral relations, "in the interests of removing the unilateral barriers to mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment cooperation inherited from the previous administration," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear what barriers were discussed.

The US under then-President Joe Biden and Kyiv's allies around the world imposed waves of sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine three years ago, aimed at weakening the Russian economy and limiting the Kremlin's war efforts.

The US State Department said Rubio reaffirmed in the call Trump's commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

"In addition, they discussed the opportunity to potentially work together on a number of other bilateral issues," it said in a statement, without providing further detail.

Russia said Lavrov and Rubio "expressed their mutual willingness to interact on pressing international issues, including the settlement around Ukraine, the situation around Palestine and in general in the Middle East in general".

They agreed to work on restoring "mutually respectful interstate dialogue" in line with the tone set by the presidents, the ministry said.

Trump and Putin spoke for over an hour on Wednesday, the first known direct contact between US and Russian presidents since Putin had a call with Biden shortly before ordering tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

The Russian foreign ministry said Lavrov and Rubio also discussed how to quickly improve "the conditions for the functioning of Russian diplomatic missions" in the US.

Experts will meet soon "to agree on specific steps to mutually remove obstacles to the work of Russian and US missions abroad," the ministry said.