Germany charged that a heavily loaded tanker adrift off its northern coast Friday was part of the "shadow fleet" Moscow uses to avoid sanctions on its oil exports. In response, Russia has relied on tankers with opaque ownership or without proper insurance to continue lucrative oil exports.

An oil tanker believed to be part of Russia’s efforts to evade sanctions went adrift and had to be towed by a German tugboat Friday in what Germany's foreign minister called a danger to security and tourism in the Baltic Sea.

Mystery still surrounds the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines linking Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea in the fall of 2022, while an undersea cable linking Sweden to Estonia was damaged in October 2023. A gas pipeline connecting Estonia to Finland was also damaged in the same month, later blamed on a Chinese ship dragging its anchor.

The US has committed over US$63.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia's invasion. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Ukraine's leader says partners sending ground troops would help "force Russia into peace," as America's European allies ponder Trump's next move.

Three men have been charged with spying on U.S. military bases for Russia and plotting attacks on American personnel in retaliation for Western support of Ukraine, German prosecutors said.

The UK and other Nato member states are sending 30,000 FPV drones to Ukraine in a boost to European security and to help the war-hit country to fight Russian aggression. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

Russia’s Defense Ministry is claiming that its troops in eastern Ukraine have captured the town of Kurakhove after a monthslong battle

Finnish officials say Russia's "shadow fleet" is sabotaging vital undersa internet cables.

As Angela Merkel, the longtime former chancellor of Germany, said in November 2024, the looming second Trump presidency “is a challenge to the world, especially for multilateralism.”

Germany has struggled with rising prices due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The German figures come one day before the eurozone will release its December inflation numbers.