Russia's budget deficit has widened to a record 5.9 trillion rubles, or 2.5% of GDP, despite soaring oil revenues due to the war in the Middle East. The reason for the rapid expansion of the “hole” in the budget is the abnormal increase in expenses while the growth in oil and gas revenues does not cover this. A way out of the situation may be to reduce budget spending, experts say. Details.

A few hours before the Victory Parade on Red Square, Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. It will differ from the Russian one in terms of timing - instead of May 8-9, it will take place on May 9-11. Vladimir Putin, who spoke an hour earlier, did not say a word about the violation of the truce declared by the Kremlin, although even the day before the Russian Ministry of Defense promised an “adequate response” if the Ukrainian strikes continued. Details .

The Federal Air Transport Agency announced the resumption of operations at 13 airports in southern Russia, which were closed in the morning after a Ukrainian drone hit the air navigation office in Rostov-on-Don. The first plane has already taken off from the airport in Mineralnye Vody. However, judging by the airports’ online displays, there is no talk of resuming full-fledged air services yet. Details.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday recommended lifting restrictions on athletes from Belarus, but this decision does not apply to Russians. The committee did not give a specific reason for the decision to postpone the return of Russian athletes.

In Moscow, in the Kitay-Gorod area and on Ilyinka Street, a group of photographers was detained during the dress rehearsal of the Victory Parade on May 7, two interlocutors in the photography community told the Agency and a source in law enforcement confirmed it. The arrest, according to them, occurred while trying to film the cordon. Details . According to the Agency’s interlocutors, the detainees were taken to the Kitay-Gorod police department and released after identification.

Hungary expelled the 36-year-old third secretary of the Russian embassy in Budapest, Artur Sushkov, from the country, VSquare writes, citing sources in the country’s government. Hungarian authorities discovered that he used diplomatic cover to work for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. Details . Sushkov left Hungary on May 4 with his wife, writes VSquare.

Russian airports are faced with a repeat of the collapse of the first day of the war A Ukrainian drone strike on an air navigation office in Rostov-on-Don led to the shutdown of operations at 13 airports in southern Russia. They may be closed until May 12th. The problem also affected the capital’s airports, where, according to...

The state-run VTsIOM and the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), which works with the Kremlin, published reports that they would not publish political ratings this Friday. Both social services cited the weekend as the reason, although Friday is a working day. Details . FOM was the first to announce the refusal to publish the weekly survey. “There will be no publication on May 8 due to the holidays,” the social service website says . FOM promised to publish the data on May 15.

In the center of Kursk it is planned to erect a monument to the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, said the regional governor Alexander Khinshtein. The initiative belongs to Gennady Dyumin - the father of Alexei Dyumin, Secretary of the State Council, assistant to the president, and in the past - his personal security guard. Details . Khinshtein explained the installation of the monument by the fact that Kursk residents consider Brezhnev their fellow countryman.

Ukrainian drones fell near the new railway station and in the area of ​​the main military base in Grozny At least two explosions occurred in Grozny, according to videos published on Telegram channels. According to the opposition Chechen telegram channel NIYSO and Ukrainian… pic.twitter.com/UU3LnHJqU3 — Agency News (@agents_media) May 8, 2026 At least two explosions occurred in Grozny, according to videos published on Telegram channels.

Ukraine did not comply with the truce declared by Moscow The Russian Defense Ministry said the military had shot down 264 drones since midnight, when the Russian-imposed truce was supposed to begin. Vladimir Zelensky, in turn, said that Russia continued... pic.twitter.com/N3DI3PmGru — Agency News (@agents_media) May 8, 2026 The Russian Defense Ministry said the military had shot down 264 drones since midnight, when the Russian-imposed truce was supposed to begin.

Instead of starting to refuse Russian gas, Europe increased its purchases in April. Deliveries from the Yamal LNG plant to the EU rose 17% this month compared with April 2025, according to Kpler data analyzed by German environmental NGO Urgewald. The same increase (by 17%) was observed in the first four months. In absolute figures, supplies increased from 5.7 million tons to 6.7 million tons. This is the EU's record LNG purchases from this project since its opening in 2017. Details.