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North Korean leader expresses hope that Moscow will defeat ‘neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory’ in Ukraine. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid homage to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a New Year’s message extolling deepening ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, state media has reported. In a letter to mark the New Year, Kim extended his greetings to his “dearest friend and comrade” Putin, the Russian people and Russian military personnel, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday. Kim wished Putin “greater success in his responsible and heavy state leadership activities and the Russian people prosperity, wellbeing...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with US President-elect Donald Trump on ending the war and had no conditions for starting talks with the Ukrainian authorities, News.az reports citing Reuters. -snip- Putin, fielding questions on state TV during his annual question and answer session with Russians, told a reporter for a US news channel that he was ready to meet Trump, whom he said he had not spoken to for years. Asked if he'd do anything differently, he said he should have sent troops into Ukraine sooner than...

The tyrant managed to avoid several looming questions on Assad's ouster and the deaths of North Korean troops. A CHILDISH Vladimir Putin has offered out the US to a bizarre "missile duel" involving his Orshenik rockets during his annual strange call-in. The Russian dictator lived up to his typical boastful nature as he rambled on about Donald Trump and even claimed Russia hasn't lost in Syria despite the embarrassing rebel siege on his pal Assad. -snip- The weird address saw Putin try to flex his muscles towards the West as he spoke on his self-proclaimed unbeatable Oreshnik missile. Western scepticism...

If I had the opportunity to go back in time, knowing what I know now, I would reconsider the decision regarding the "special operation" in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual press conference, APA's Moscow correspondent reports. that this was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his annual press conference. He emphasized that preparation was needed before launching the "special operation": "But we began the operations without any special preparation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday suggested a missile 'duel' with the United States that would show how Russia's new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile could defeat any US missile defense system. Addressing Western skepticism about the Oreshnik, Putin suggested that both sides select a designated target to be protected by US missiles. "We're ready for such an experiment," Putin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has commented on U.S. President Joe Biden pardoning his son, Hunter Biden, APA's Moscow correspondent reports. During a year-end press conference, Putin said he does not criticize Biden for pardoning his son. "Biden pardoned his son, even though he had said he wouldn't. When discussing Biden, one must consider that he is a politician. The important question is which trait of his dominates—politics or humanity. It seems humanity prevails in Biden. I wouldn’t criticize him for that," the Russian leader emphasized. Putin compared Hunter Biden's pardon to Stalin's decision not to exchange his captured son.

Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to provide a specific timeline for when Ukrainian forces might be expelled from Russia's Kursk region during a news conference on Thursday, in response to a question from a resident who asked for clarity on the situation in the border area. Putin responded by saying: "I cannot and do not even want to name a specific date when they will be knocked out. There is a battle going on now, such serious battles. We will definitely knock them out. Sorry, I cannot name a specific date. I imagine there are plans, and they will be...

Vladimir Putin bizarrely suggested that Russian eating habits were to blame for rising food prices. His comments came in response to questions about the economy during a marathon press conference broadcast live on state TV. -snip- In an attempt to answer his own question about how to address food inflation, he noted that consumption of some goods had risen beyond supplies. As an example he pointed to meat consumption, saying Russians were eating "significantly" more than the global average. -snip- Putin also appeared to target Russian farmers, blaming a lack of milk production for rising butter costs. -snip- Russia's central...

An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has implied that Moscow cannot push Ukraine out of Kursk by the end of the year, despite Putin previously setting a deadline to kick them out by October. Russia's Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, said that all the tasks set by the country's leadership for the military in 2024 have been completed, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. He was speaking during a briefing for the military. As Ukrainian forces remain in Kursk, it is possible that driving them out was not a...

The Moscow Exchange dropped by 1.7% to 2,424 points as of 1400 GMT, marking its lowest level in 20 months, because of ongoing geopolitical tensions in Russia and uncertainty surrounding the Russian Central Bank’s monetary policy decisions. Tensions between Russia and Western countries, along with sanctions, continue to weigh heavily on the nation’s markets as E.U. imposed new sanctions on Russia following the U.S. While the Russian Central Bank’s tight monetary policies have yet to yield results in combating inflation, uncertainties regarding decisions to be made during the bank’s December 20 meeting have negatively impacted financial indicators. -snip- On Oct....

FOOTAGE from Syria shows hordes of Vladimir Putin's troops fleeing the country in military trucks after a decade of bloodshed. And satellite pics from a Russian airbase on the west coast reveals how Vlad's men have been forced to take apart their attack helicopters and air defence units before leaving hot on Assad's tail.

The Kremlin has appointed Lieutenant General Andrei Ivanayev as commander of the Vostok Battalion group of forces, which is leading the assault in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, according to state affiliated media. The popular Ukrainian military Telegram channel Country Politics, which has more than 290,000 followers, reported Ivanayev's appointment on Friday suggesting it was tied to a visit by Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov to the region. Over the past year, Russian forces have made grueling but steady advances in the Donbas, which President Putin formally annexed as part of Russia in September 2022 though his troops only partially control...

Vladimir Putin has been alerted that Russian military personnel and equipment are now "stranded" in Syria following the dramatic downfall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. The dictator escaped Damascus over the weekend and was flown to Moscow at Putin's personal request. However, Anastasia Kashevarova, a Russian blogger known for her criticism of her country's military leadership - but not Putin himself - warned the President about the precarious situation left behind. In a post on Telegram, she detailed: "Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow, and our military is stuck and blocked in Syria, Libya, Africa." She added: "Our bases have been completely...

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has said that more than a dozen Russian nuclear weapons have been moved to his country. On Tuesday in post on his Telegram account, he said "I brought nuclear warheads here. Not a few dozen of them." He continued, "Many people write: 'Oh, it's a joke, no one brought anything in.' They did. And the fact that they ... say that it's a joke means they missed it. They didn't even notice how we brought them in."

Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Alexander Khinshtein acting governor of southern Kursk region on Thursday, saying "crisis management" was needed in the area, which has been partly occupied by Ukrainian forces since August. Putin was shown in a clip posted on the Kremlin website offering the post to Khinshtein, a journalist and veteran member of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. "I would like to offer you the position of acting governor of Kursk region, as at this time crisis management is needed there, in view of the situation occurring there," Putin told Khinstein.

Vladimir Putin has been branded a "psychopath" as he was seen in a video asking Russian soldiers who have lost their legs in the war with Ukraine whether they are "used to their new condition". -snip- In the footage, Putin is all smiles among the amputee soldiers, even asking one, "Are you used to your new condition? " The soldier responds affirmatively, answering "Yes sir, already new victories, achievements." In the chilling footage another mentions how some have been adapting for two years, still chasing victories and new goals. Putin nods approvingly, saying, "That's a very good thing. It's very...

Vladimir Putin is facing an economic crisis on multiple fronts as the rouble collapses and inflation soars. The head of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, looks set to compound Moscow's economic misery further as she warns that inflation is continuing to rise. She warned on Wednesday that interest rates may have to be hiked further but added that the decision is “not predetermined.” Ms Nabiullina said: “We have indicated that the Central Bank is open to the possibility of raising the rate, but I want to emphasise that this is not predetermined. "Yes, there is a new pro-inflationary factor,...

The Ukrainian president is still set on joining Nato, but Trump's team seems to have ruled that out. MORE details of Donald Trump’s clever plan to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine have emerged. Trump's top team has hatched a carrot and stick plan to force the warring leaders to the discussion table and bring peace to the region when he enters office in January. The clever scheme uses America’s military support for Ukraine as a double-edged sword to encourage Zelensky and threaten panicky Putin. If the Russian war-mongerer kept snatching land and refused to join peace...

The future U.S. President Donald Trump’s special representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has issued a direct response to Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev, who dismissed Trump’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine, suggesting President Vladimir Putin would “tell it to go to hell.” In an interview aired on Fox News, Kellogg was adamant in his rebuttal to Malofeyev’s remarks, stating, “Better get back in your box and better understand President Trump, because clearly you don’t and you clearly do not understand the United States of America.”

A new ballistic missile fired by Russia at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last week carried multiple warheads but no explosives, and caused limited damage, two senior Ukrainian government sources said. -snip- One of the sources said the missile was carrying dummy warheads and described the damage caused as "quite small". The second source said: "In this case, (the missile) was without explosives...There were no types of explosions like we expected. There was something, but it was not huge." -snip- U.S. officials have said Russia probably possesses only a handful of these missiles, which Western experts say appears to have...