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Russia plans to raise value-added tax (VAT) to help finance its war on Ukraine, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. Under the draft 2026 budget proposal, the VAT rate would increase to 22% from the current 20%. The government said it would continue to meet all social policy commitments, but listed defence, security and support for soldiers and their families as "strategic priorities." Military and security spending already accounts for about 40% of total government expenditure in the 2025 budget, according to government estimates. Large state orders for the defence industry and hefty payments to soldiers and their families have...

If you read the latest Trump Truth (that is what he calls his posts on Truth Social) that is posted above, you will come to the reasonable conclusion that Trump has either changed his position on the war in Ukraine and accepted the delusional beliefs of General Kellogg or he is engaged in some massive sarcasm. Well, based on what happened subsequently at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), it looks like Trump was doing sarcasm. Following Trump’s meeting with Zelensky, France, Germany, the UK, and Ukraine proposed a resolution to the UNSC that called for an immediate ceasefire in...

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is deliberately slowing its economic growth in order to suppress inflation. "As for the decline from more than 4% GDP growth: this is not a decline, it is a deliberate action. It is a slowdown in growth in exchange for curbing inflation and maintaining macroeconomic stability," Putin said during a televised meeting with top lawmakers. A graph published in Russian central bank's report earlier in September showed two consecutive quarters of gross domestic product (GDP) decline in quarter-on-quarter terms, aligning with the common definition of a technical recession.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the number of Russian servicemen currently in the war zone in Ukraine, APA's Moscow bureau reports. He noted at a meeting with the leaders of the State Duma factions that more than 700,000 Russian servicemen are currently on the line of contact.

The attack comes as Russia suffers fuel shortages following Ukrainian attacks that have cut 20 percent of Russia's oil refining capacity. Ukraine struck several Russian oil facilities overnight Friday, including one if its largest refineries and an oil depot, worsening the country’s crippling fuel shortages. Ukrainian drones targeted facilities including Russia's largest Rosneft refinery in Ryazan and an oil depot in occupied Luhansk Oblast, according to Ukraine's chief drone warfare commander Robert Brovdi. Images of the attack on social media that appeared to show a massive fireball erupting immediately after the strike.

Ukraine has started making a new cruise missile said to be capable of carrying a 1,000 kg warhead with a range of 1,800 miles, according to its defense minister. Denys Shmyhal, who was appointed as defense minister in July, said at a public event on Monday that serial production of the missile, dubbed the Flamingo, had begun. The minister declined to discuss the missile further, saying that more details would be disclosed "when the right time comes." But his announcement comes a day after other sources in Ukraine reported on its specifications. Efrem Lukatsky, an Associated Press photographer, published an...

Ukraine has now attacked for the third time a Russian oil pipeline that supplies multiple European nations. The attacks angered President Donald Trump after he received a note from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.The Ukrainians hit the Druzhba (“Friendship”) II oil pipeline, which stretches for about 2,500 miles. The latest attack struck the Unecha oil pumping station in Russia on Thursday night. The Soviet-era conduit is considered among the longest in the world. The pipeline delivers Russian oil through Ukraine before heading to Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, according to reports. Druzhba I supplied Germany and Poland, but that...

Watch our live coverage of President Trump's historic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage Alaska, with RAV White House correspondent, Brian Glenn.

"It is impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine," Vladimir Zelensky said OSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Ukraine will not recognize the decision taken at the Russia-US summit in Alaska without its participation, Vladimir Zelensky said. "It is impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine, and no one will recognize that. That’s why this conversation may be important for their [Russia-US] bilateral track, but they cannot decide anything on Ukraine without us. I hope the US president understands that and takes into account," the head of the Kiev regime said at a forum. On August 8, Trump announced that he was...

Ukraine is very close to obtaining its own ballistic missiles, Defense Minister Denis Shmygal said in his first interview since taking the position of Defense Minister, BBC Ukraine reported on 30 July. Denys Shmyhal was appointed Ukraine’s Minister of Defense on 17 July 2025, following his resignation as Prime Minister during a major government reshuffle. His appointment aimed to boost domestic arms production and improve defense management amid ongoing war with Russia. “Ukraine’s president has already announced that Ukraine will have its own ballistics. We are very close to this. That’s basically all I can say publicly on this matter,”...

President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that the U.S. has agreed to sell arms to NATO just moments after he said Russian President Vladimir Putin has 50 days to secure a peace deal with Ukraine or face "100%" tariffs. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Trump called him on Thursday to confirm he wanted to enter into a deal with NATO allies to sell them arms for aid to Ukraine. Trump said billions of dollars worth of U.S. arms would be purchased from allies like Germany, Finland and Denmark that will be "quickly distributed" to Ukraine. "This is really big," Rutte...

Vladimir Putin has lost four warplanes worth £37 million each despite stepping up their defences after Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb. A pair of Su-34 fighters were destroyed and two more damaged after an attack on on Marinovka military airfield in Volgograd. Ukraine used long range drones to fly more than 200 miles to inflict the latest £148 million blow to Putin’s aerial firepower. It came less than a month after Russia supposedly tightened its military air base security after 40-plus strategic bombers and spy planes were hit in Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb. Russia responded by hitting Ukrainian civilians with a strike on...

Russian TV presenters have urged Vladimir Putin to consider dropping nuclear bombs on a NATO country to "solve" the world's problems "at once". In a chilling diatribe hawkish presenter Vladimir Solovyov raged that Russia should move nuclear weapons into Iran, under Kremlin control, and even attack NATO member Poland with an atomic weapon. Speaking on Russian state TV, Solovyov said Russian should use tactical weapons against Ukraine and "just in case, also drop one into Poland", adding: "No one will say a word. They will impose sanctions, so what?". Under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) it...

Ukraine has achieved a breakthrough in its domestic missile program. A new Ukrainian ballistic missile has completed a combat test, striking a Russian command post nearly 300 kilometers from the launch site, military analyst and director of the Center for Army, Conversion, and Disarmament Studies Valentyn Badrak revealed. The missile’s development began in May 2022, with a successful test already conducted in the summer of 2024. According to Badrak, the system is now entering serial production, Badrak stated in a recent interview with Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform on June 10. “I don’t know how many missiles we can expect per...

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva noted that "Europe, which held a middle-ground position for some time, finally sided with Washington and now is spending billions to rearm itself"PARIS, June 3. /TASS/. Former US President Joe Biden, while in office, said he wanted Russia to be destroyed, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde. Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, the Brazilian leader said that at first he had condemned Russia’s special military operation. He stressed however that "Western countries also bear part of responsibility." "Joe Biden, whom I talked to about...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the surprise drone operation over the weekend against Russia was a success that will "continue" if Moscow doesn't halt its offensive. Zelenskyy addressed reporters following the next round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul on Monday, intended to end Russia's 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor. The talks came just one day after Ukraine launched an audacious drone attack on Russia's strategic bomber fleet. Asked by ABC News' Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz on whether the attacks changed the dynamics of the war or at the negotiating table -- and...

An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response. Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault - which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes - as "Russia's Pearl Harbor" in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War. The Ukrainian operation - which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks - also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed...

Vladimir Putin's forces are massing next to Russia's border with Ukraine's Sumy oblast, it has been reported, following evacuations from the region and a threat that Moscow has identified further territorial targets in its full-scale invasion. Sumy governor Oleh Hryhorov said thousands had been evacuated from the region on Ukraine's northeast border and next to the Kharkiv oblast, according to the Kyiv Independent. On the other side of the frontier Russian troops numbers are said to be increasing. It comes Putin is trying to justify the renewal of Russian plans to seize Sumy City—16 miles from the border—and illegally annex...

The Embassy in Kyiv says it has received information concerning a potentially significant air attack that may occur at any time over the next several days. Developing.

Let's Be Honest Russian Military SUCKS - Here's the Proof... The Military Show 1.63M subscribers 307,691 views #militarydevelopments #themilitaryshow #militaryanalysis Russia’s military was once feared—but Ukraine exposed the truth. From rusted tanks and fake armor to outdated tactics and corruption, the Russian war machine is crumbling in real time. In this video, we break down how one of the "world’s strongest" armies became a global embarrassment.