A Russian military plane has crashed in annexed Crimea, killing six crew and 23 passengers on board.

France's president says a political scholar from the country who was serving a three-year sentence in Russia and facing new charges of espionage has been freed in a prisoner swap with France.

A court in the Russian capital has handed a 15-day sentence to a U.S. citizen on charges of disorderly conduct.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted on Friday of espionage charges in an unusually rapid trial in the country’s highly politicized legal system.

Russian officials persist in saying Ukraine and the West had a role in last week’s deadly Moscow concert hall attack despite vehement denials of involvement by Kyiv and a claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.

Russia’s top investigative agency on Saturday said the suspect in a car bombing that injured a prominent pro-Kremlin novelist and killed his driver has admitted acting at the behest of Ukraine’s special services.

A plane carrying 28 people has crashed, apparently as it came in for a landing in bad weather in Russia’s Far East.