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While a hardline ally 'holds the Kremlin reins', opposition source claims Public appearances by Vladimir Putin were reportedly staged to mask absence Old footage was used in video appearances for several meetings, it was alleged Nikolai Patrushev - a former FSB chief - is now in virtual control of the Kremlin Public appearances by Vladimir Putin were 'staged' last week to mask an absence from duties, raising new speculation about his health, an opposition source claimed. Old footage was used in video appearances for several meetings, it was alleged. Trusted aide Nikolai Patrushev - a former FSB chief - is...

A Ukrainian 'traitor' appointed mayor by Russia has been 'blown up' and left with serious injuries, it has been claimed. Andriy Shevchyk has been hospitalised with injuries of "varying severity", reports suggest. The door to the entrance of the home of the self-proclaimed head of the people’s administration was struck in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar. The explosion took place this morning, with the major said to have been hurt. He was immediately rushed to hospital and remains under medical care. Adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko tweeted about the blast. He posted: "Traitor mayor...

VLADIMIR PUTIN faced further humiliation after Russian missile strikes on Odesa succeeded in only destroying a public toilet. The Black Sea port plays a vital role in Ukraine's overall economy and is currently under a Russian naval blockade. The city is a key strategic target for the Russians and has been subjected to heavy bombardment. However, Russian commanders appeared to get their targets confused, after wiping out a beach toilet in the city instead. The destruction of the public bathroom was confirmed in a statement issued by Ukraine's southern operational command. They said: "Another missile strike with the use of...

Some years ago, I lived on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, one of the wide, radial roads that leads into central Moscow — and the favoured route of President Vladimir Putin’s motorcade to the Kremlin. Putin never liked travelling in helicopters so the 18-vehicle extravaganza, including outriders, an ambulance and a string of gleaming, black limousines with tinted glass, was a familiar sight. Around 45 minutes before it passed, the road would be sealed — and I mean sealed. A security man was stationed in the doorway of my apartment building preventing residents from leaving. The Russian president has always been security conscious,...

The battlefield commanders who have survived the fighting in Ukraine so far now face suspensions and firing as Putin takes greater control of decision-making in the flagging war. Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost faith in his top general and has fired other senior commanders for their high-profile and embarrassing failures on the battlefield in Ukraine, British intelligence believes. U.K. military intelligence reports Tuesday morning that the Kremlin has fired Lt. Gen. Serhiy Kisel, commander of the elite 1st Guards Tank Army, for failing to capture Kharkiv. International attention has focused on the strategically critical northeastern Ukrainian city in recent...

New footage of Vladimir Putin bizarrely twisting his foot and seemingly struggling with jerky leg movements has further stoked rumours the Russian President may be experiencing a sharp decline in health. The clip, taken yesterday as Putin met with his counterpart from Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, showed the Russian leader's left foot repeatedly raising and lowering as his knee collapsed inward. Putin later adjusted his position in the chair and settled his foot firmly on the ground as he spoke with Rahmon about the development of relations between Russia and Tajikistan, but his leg appeared to go on twitching. The strange...

President helping determine movement of Russian soldiers, say sources, as head of UK armed forces says Ukraine is winning. Vladimir Putin has become so personally involved in the Ukraine war that he is making operational and tactical decisions “at the level of a colonel or brigadier”, according to western military sources. The Russian president is helping determine the movement of forces in the Donbas, they added, where last week the invaders suffered a bloody defeat as they tried on multiple occasions to cross a strategic river in the east of Ukraine. The sources added that Putin is still working closely...

Russian state television has said Moscow may deploy tactical nuclear weapons to its European borders if Finland and Sweden allow military bases on their territory after joining NATO. Sweden's Social Democrats yesterday said they had dropped their opposition to NATO membership only hours after Finland confirmed its intention to join the alliance. Pundits on Russian state TV responded: 'Their official reason is fear. But they'll have more fear in Nato. When Nato bases appear in Sweden & Finland, Russia will have no choice but to neutralise the imbalance & new threat by deploying tactical nuclear weapons.' Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman...

Anatoly Antonov said America is secretly giving Putin terms of negotiation He implied some inside the Kremlin are ready to give up the fight in Ukraine The senior diplomat stressed he was not among those willing to capitulate His comments come as Russia fails to make significant progress in Ukraine The Russian ambassador to the US has sensationally hinted at a split in the Kremlin hierarchy over Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Speaking on Russian state TV, envoy Anatoly Antonov said America is secretly giving the Kremlin the terms of negotiations to halt the brutal fighting. This comes amid a...

Admiral Igor Osipov 'not been seen alive' since Moskva sinking, say Kyiv sources Suspicions are growing that Vladimir Putin's Black Fleet chief was on warship Osipov, 49, was conspicuously absent from the Red Square Victory Day parade Mystery is growing over the fate of Vladimir Putin's Black Fleet chief, Admiral Igor Osipov, who has 'not been seen alive' since the sinking of the Moskva warship one month ago. There are now suspicions that the commander was on board the vessel when it was hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles, say Kyiv sources. Initially Ukraine claimed that the admiral was detained amid...

Vladimir Putin told the President of Finland he is making a 'mistake' by joining NATO as it faces 'no security threats' in a phone call this morning. And in a speech on the 80th day of the war in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: 'The collective West has announced a total hybrid war on us. -snip- A senior Putin ally threatened to fire nuclear weapons at Britain, claiming it would take just three minutes. Finland, whose President today called Putin to reveal his plans to join NATO, would be wiped out in seconds, Duma defence committee deputy chairman...

Russia's top commander General Valery Gerasimov has been suspended, a top adviser to the Ukrainian president has claimed, while a clutch of other officers have been sacked or arrested amid a rumoured purge of top brass. Oleksiy Arestovych, a veteran of military intelligence and one of President Zelensky's inner circle, claimed late Wednesday that Gerasimov - the chief of staff of the Russian army - has been suspended as Putin looks for senior commanders to blame over his blundering invasion of Ukraine. Arestovych, speaking to dissident Russian lawyer and politician Mark Feygin on YouTube last night, said: 'According to preliminary...

as Donbas offensive stalls and Kyiv's troops counter-attack Russia was attempting to cross the Donets river at Bilohorivka to surround the city of Lysychansk, in Donbas But Ukrainian engineer claims to have successfully guessed where they would try to cross and laid a trap Sound of tugboats putting temporary bridge in place triggered a massive artillery and airstrike barrage Satellite images show bridge was destroyed along with dozens of Russian vehicles, inflicting heavy casualties Russia has suffered yet another battlefield humiliation after Ukraine successfully thwarted its attempt to cross a river in Donbas, destroying dozens of vehicles and inflicting heavy...

This is the audacious moment a Russian tank is obliterated just outside Mariupol, with its turret shooting up hundreds of feet into the air. Amazing video shot by Chinese state TV channel Phoenix shows the sudden blast in eastern Ukraine, which saw the Russian tank wiped out instantaneously.

This war is one that Russia cannot win in any meaningful sense. Putin's foreign military successes around the world after 2008 were all achieved by using small units of elite forces, mercenaries and local militia groups alongside Russian air power. This gave Moscow considerable leverage at low cost during interventions in Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria, Libya, Mali and twice in Ukraine during 2014, first in illegally annexing Crimea and then in creating self-declared Russian statelets in Luhansk and Donetsk. In every case, Russia moved swiftly and ruthlessly in ways the western world was unable to counter except through graduated sanctions regimes...

VLADIMIR Putin was noted to be looking "puffy" and struggling to move "like he used to" in a rare outing to mark Victory Day in Moscow. Vladimir Putin has sparked speculation about his health after political analysis began to notice changes in his appearance since he resumed public duty following the Coronavirus pandemic. Russia's leader effectively disappeared from the public eye during the health crisis and only recently began to be pictured once again surrounded by his aides, albeit keeping them at a distance. Lord Dannatt noted Putin appeared rather "puffy" and struggling to move "freely" as he walked around...

A prominent oligarch told friends that Putin's 'psychiatric health is bad' He and other billionaires are fearful over the leader's next moves in Ukraine Investigative journalist Christo Grozev said oligarchs believe Putin has cancer An oligarch close to Vladimir Putin has warned friends that his 'psychiatric health is bad' and there is a 'very real' threat he could use nuclear weapons. The prominent billionaire has told associates that the Kremlin leader's 'psychiatric health is bad indeed, and 'stories about him going bonkers are not a joke'. He and others with huge business empires closely tied to Putin, 69, are fearful...

Vladimir Putin appeared to walk with a limp and sat with a blanket over his lap during Victory Day commemorations in Moscow today, raising fresh doubts over his health. -snip- at several points - including as he left a speaking podium and went to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider to lay a wreath - Putin appeared to be walking with a heavy step, as if trying to disguise a limp. And, during the parade itself, he was seen sitting with a heavy blanket across his knees despite geriatric war veterans being sat around him with their laps uncovered.

VLADIMIR PUTIN has suffered another bitter humiliation this week after a retired colonel admitted on live state TV that Russia is struggling to replenish its monumental losses in Ukraine and that even a mass mobilisation would not help. A retired Russian colonel, Mikhail Khodaryonok, has told Russian state TV viewers that the country's military cannot compete with Ukraine's equipment from NATO. In a stark admission on the tightly-controlled propaganda channel Russia-1, Mr Khodaryonok dismantled the idea that a mass mobilisation call-up would bolster Russia's war efforts in Ukraine. This comes amid growing speculation that President Vladimir Putin will announce a...

Incredible footage captures the moment two Ukrainian fighter jets bombed the Russian-occupied Snake Island. Footage released on Saturday shows Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 Flankers striking facilities during a high speed bombing of Snake Island, which was seized by Russian forces earlier this year. A Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 drone captured two Su-27s flying low over the island from the south, before dropping multiple bombs and infrared countermeasure flares, TheDrive.com reported. The southern approach to the island was a strategic measure from Ukrainian forces because Russian defenders on the island would most likely be focused on looking north and west toward the...