Russia Urges US, UK to Restrain Ukraine after Attacks on Bombers

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Russia Urges US, UK to Restrain Ukraine after Attacks on Bombers

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Moscow said on Wednesday that military options were "on the table" for its response to Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia and accused the West of being involved in them, Reuters reported.

Russia also urged the United States and Britain to restrain Kyiv after the attacks, which Ukrainian officials have lauded as showing Kyiv can still fight back after more than three years of war.

British and US officials have said they had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's attacks on Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers at military bases over the weekend.

Ukraine also tried to blow up a rail and road link with Crimea on Tuesday, and Russia says Kyiv blew up a highway bridge over a passenger train late on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war "going way up" after the attacks on the nuclear-capable bombers. A week earlier, Trump rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin over a fierce aerial attack on Ukraine.

"We urge London and Washington to react in such a way as to stop further escalation," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who oversees relations with the US and arms control, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

"All options are on the table," Ryabkov said, when asked what Russia's response to Ukraine's attacks would be. "This is a question for our military."

Russia and the US together hold about 88% of all nuclear weapons.

Asked whether Russia thought the West was involved in the recent attacks, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the West supplied weapons, gave target coordinates, refused to condemn such attacks and actively incited them.

"These are several areas that prove the fact of the involvement, both direct and indirect, and the guilt of the West for the terrorist attacks that are taking place against civilians and civilian infrastructure facilities by the Kyiv regime," Zakharova said.

Kyiv has not commented on the bridge attacks. Each side has accused the other of carrying out acts of terrorism during the conflict and each blames the other for a lack of progress at peace talks.

Trump was not informed in advance of Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. A British government official said the government was not informed ahead of time.



Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
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Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)

Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent leaders of US pro-Palestinian campus protests, sued the Trump administration Thursday for $20 million over his arrest and detention by immigration agents.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, had been in custody following his arrest in March.

The 30-year-old was freed from a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana last month, hours after a judge ordered his release on bail.

"The administration carried out its illegal plan to arrest, detain, and deport Mr. Khalil 'in a manner calculated to terrorize him and his family,' the claim says," according to the Center for Constitutional Rights which is backing Khalil.

Khalil suffered "severe emotional distress, economic hardship (and) damage to his reputation," the claim adds.

The Columbia University graduate was a figurehead of student protests against US ally Israel's war in Gaza, and the Trump administration labeled him a national security threat.

Khalil called the lawsuit a "first step towards accountability."

"Nothing can restore the 104 days stolen from me. The trauma, the separation from my wife, the birth of my first child that I was forced to miss," he said in the statement.

"There must be accountability for political retaliation and abuse of power."

Khalil has previously shared his "horrendous" experience in detention, where he "shared a dorm with over 70 men, absolutely no privacy, lights on all the time."

President Donald Trump's government has justified pushing for Khalil's deportation by saying his continued presence in the United States could carry "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."

Khalil's detention came amid Trump's campaign against top US universities in recent months, with the president facing off against Columbia, Harvard and other schools over foreign student enrollment while cutting federal grants and threatening to strip accreditation.

Beyond his legal case, Khalil's team has expressed fear he could face threats out of detention.

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