Europe

MOSCOW, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Tuesday denied a report that President Vladimir Putin was ill, and laughed off persistent rumours that he used body doubles to cover for him in public appearances.

"Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about an unsourced report by a Russian Telegram channel, picked up by some Western media, that the president had suffered a serious health episode on Sunday evening.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Tuesday that recent Ukrainian attacks have denied the Russian fleet safe bases and secure maritime corridors in the western part of the Black Sea, as Kyiv’s troops look to squeeze the Kremlin’s occupying forces out of the Crimean Peninsula.

Crimea provides rear support for Moscow’s battlefield efforts further west and has been a frequent target for Ukrainian forces during the war since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: The European Union’s sanctions urge against Russia continues, though the previous experience shows that restrictions do not work, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: The Kremlin endorses US President Joe Biden’s statement that the world is in need of a new order, but Moscow does not agree that such an order can be built under the auspices of Washington alone, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media.

"We absolutely agree with Mr. Biden. This is a rare occasion when we absolutely agree with what he said. Indeed, the world is in need of a new order, [but one] based on entirely different principles [than what the US promotes]," he said.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: Russian forces destroyed command posts of two Ukrainian regiments and inflicted damage on enemy manpower and military hardware in more than 150 areas over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"Operational/tactical and army aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groupings of forces inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army’s personnel and military equipment in 153 areas," the ministry said in a statement.

ZURICH, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Switzerland moved rightwards in an election on Sunday, giving the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) more seats in parliament as concerns about rising immigration outweighed those about the environment, final results showed on Monday.

While the change is unlikely to alter the make up of the country's governing Federal Council consisting of seven members from four different parties - including two from the SVP - analysts said it pointed to a shift in the political climate.

LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The explosion at a hospital in Gaza City was most likely caused by a missile fired from within Gaza, and not by a rocket from Israel, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday.

"The British government judges that the explosion was likely caused by a missile, or part of one, that was launched from within Gaza towards Israel," Sunak told parliament.

"The misreporting of this incident had a negative effect in the region, including on a vital U.S. diplomatic effort and on tensions here at home."

BERLIN, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The star of Germany's left-most parliamentary party has quit to set up her own populist formation, based on scepticism on both green issues and on support for Ukraine, that polls suggest could capture up to 20% of the vote.

Sahra Wagenknecht, who grew up in East Germany as the daughter of a German mother and an absent Iranian father, told reporters on Monday she would aim to win over disgruntled voters of left and right.

MOSCOW, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The number of Russians who say their salary does not cover basic spending has jumped by 20 percentage points in two years to almost half, a survey by recruiter Headhunter showed, as Moscow diverts record fiscal resources to funding its war in Ukraine.

The findings, from an October survey of almost 5,000 people, put Russia's economic woes in sharp focus and could give the authorities a headache in the run-up to March's presidential election, in which President Vladimir Putin is likely to extend his more than two decades in power.

VILNIUS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Estonia has contacted Chinese authorities as part of its investigation into how two Baltic Sea telecom cables were severed, the Estonian foreign ministry said on Monday.

Early on Oct. 8, a gas pipeline and a telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea were broken, in what Finnish investigators say may have been deliberate sabotage.