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President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday acknowledged Russia’s mounting potato shortage, driven by underwhelming crop yields that have led to record-breaking price increases. “Yesterday [Monday], I met with representatives from various business sectors, including agriculture. It turns out that we don’t have enough potatoes,” Putin said during a televised meeting. “I spoke with [Belarusian President] Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko. He said, ‘We’ve already sold everything to Russia’.” The previous day, Lukashenko’s press office joked that Belarus had already planted additional potatoes. Belarusians have reportedly been complaining for months about the poor quality and limited supply of potatoes in stores. In April, authorities...

Vladimir Putin’s helicopter was forced to shoot down drones while the Russian president was aboard, a Moscow official said on Sunday. Air defence commander Maj Gen Yuri Dashkin told state television that Putin’s aircraft was involved in an “air defence battle” after finding itself in the middle of an “unprecedented Ukrainian drone assault”. The incident was said to have happened last week when the Russian leader was on a tour of the Kursk region, part of which Ukraine previously occupied. “During the period when the president was working in the Kursk region, the enemy launched an unprecedented attack with unmanned...

NATO scrambled its war planes today in self defence amid Vladimir Putin’s heaviest strikes on Ukraine in months, leading to multiple civilian deaths including three children. Russia was also hit hard with Ukrainian strikes, leading to the Kremlin’s air defences firing in panic - but missing - an Airbus A320-251N packed with its own tourists from Turkish resort Bodrum, according to reports. At least 10 Russian government aircraft used for high-ranking state and military officials fled Moscow flying east. It was not immediately clear if the exodus was a drill for an emergency evacuation or the real thing amid an...

The price of potatoes in Russia has soared by 52% since the start of the year, according to new figures. Imports have failed to offset the poor harvest last year, which saw the total potato crop decline by 12%, according to Reuters. Heavy rain and a frosty spring this year has hit potato farmers, made worse by the fact the area of the country seeded for the crop was reduced after the bumper 2023 harvest which drove down prices. According to Kommersant daily data, potatoes have tripled in price in the supermarkets compared to 2024, reaching a record high of...

Ukrainia's military intelligence agency said that Russia was planning to conduct a "training and combat" launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile late on Sunday to intimidate Ukraine and the West. The GUR agency said in a statement on the Telegram app that the launch was ordered to be implemented from Russia's Sverdlovsk region, adding that the flight range for the missile was more than 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles).

Vladimir Putin’s chief delegate at peace talks with Ukraine is a historian who once claimed that Russians have an extra chromosome due to their superiority. -snip- Mr Medinsky also earned widespread ridicule after arguing that Russians were particularly heroic and able to survive hardship because they “have one extra chromosome”. While it is likely that he was trying to speak figuratively, the assertion, made in 2012, prompted scorn even within Russia, with critics pointing out that having an extra chromosome is associated less with genetic superiority than with conditions such as Down’s syndrome.

Russia's supply of cheap oil is running out, another major blow for Vladimir Putin as he continues to grapple with a growing economic crisis. Businesses and consumers across the country are reeling under the effects of spiralling inflation and high interest rates. In April, the Central Bank confirmed it would keep the key interest rate at 21% for the foreseeable future, much to the bitter disappointment of the Kremlin and business leaders. Many firms are fighting to stay afloat, as they attempt to pay back bank loans originally secured during more favourable economic times. -snip- Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov...

Putin could reject his own offer to Zelensky. UKRAINE is now piling the pressure on Russia as Vladimir Putin stays silent on his own offer to meet for peace talks on Thursday. Moscow's bungle has seen Volodymyr Zelenksy take up Vlad's offer to for a face-to-face meet in Istanbul for long-awaited negotiations between the two leaders. But the Kremlin has gone deathly silent as Putin weighs rejecting the offer he sent to the Ukrainians. Zelensky has filled the dead air and now said he will definitely go to Istanbul - but will only meet with his counterpart Putin and not...

Ukraine launched a devastating drone attack on Russia overnight as Vladimir Putin prepares to welcome foreign leaders to celebrate VE Day. The strikes hit Moscow and surrounding Russian regions ahead of a large military parade in the capital on Friday, May 9, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 in Europe. One target hit by Ukrainian drones was Kubinka military airfield in the west of the city, from which aircraft will launch in a scheduled Red Square flypast. The airfield holds Russian MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter jets as well as Putin’s aerobatic team and is often used for...

Russia's oil price in roubles has fallen to a two-year low below the 4,000 rouble per barrel mark and some 40% lower than planned in the federal budget, data showed, piling pressure on the Kremlin, already saddled with a burgeoning budget deficit. -snip- According to Reuters calculations, the average price of Russia's mix of Urals and ESPO blends dipped on May 2 to $48.92 per barrel, or 3,987 roubles, which is more than 40% below the 6,726 roubles the government had originally planned for this year. That's the lowest since May 2023, according to Reuters data. It is also still...

Leader of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has requested to be relieved of his duties, he told Chechnya Today news agency, APA’s Russia bureau reports citing lenta.ru. Kadyrov made the remarks in response to circulating rumors about his possible resignation. “I myself am asking to be relieved of my duties. Someone else will have their own initiative, their own vision. I hope that my request will be supported,” Kadyrov said. The Chechen leader did not specify who he had specifically addressed regarding his dismissal.

President Donald Trump on Monday said he held a "productive" call with Turkish President Recep Erdogan on a range of topics, including the war between Russia and Ukraine. Trump shared details of the call in a post on his TRUTH Social platform. "I just had a very good and productive telephone conversation with the President of Turkey, Recep Erdoğan, concerning many subjects, including the War with Russia/Ukraine, all things Syria, Gaza, and more," Trump wrote. The president added that he is looking forward to working with Erdogan to end the "ridiculous, but deadly" Russia-Ukraine war.

Ukraine said it hit a drone command unit in the Kursk region, amid reports of fresh attempts to cross into Russia. Sunday's attack on the unit was located near the Russian village of Tyotkino, according to the Ukrainian general staff. Multiple Russian military bloggers also reported that Ukrainian forces had attempted to cross into the village, posting images - as yet unverified by the BBC - of vehicles breaking through tank traps on the border. The reports come after Moscow claimed in April to have regained control of the entire region, nine months after a Ukrainian forces launched a surprise...

Russia has reported that it repelled a drone attack on Moscow as the capital city prepares to host a major military parade with foreign leaders in attendance. Russia’s air defence systems intercepted “four drones flying towards Moscow”, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday. The attack appears intended to unsettle Moscow’s preparations for events marking the end of the Great Patriotic War, commonly known as World War II elsewhere, on May 9. -snip- The Kremlin has branded Putin’s declaration of a three-day unilateral ceasefire a humanitarian gesture. Military operations will be paused during the truce, according to Russian authorities, as world...

"The Victory Day parade will not be held in Sevastopol," said Governor of the city of federal importance Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev, APA’s Russia bureau reports. According to him, the decision was made due to security concerns.

DICTATOR Vladimir Putin has showed off his private chapel and his favourite drink in a bizarre tour of his Kremlin apartment. The Russian tyrant gave the public a glimpse into his home in an interview marking the 25th anniversary of his first inauguration as president. The bizarre footage shows Putin giving his favourite interviewer, Pavel Zarubin, a tour of the apartment while answering his questions. When asked about his grandchildren from daughters Maria, 39, and Katerina, 37, Putin says they occasionally visit him unexpectedly in his austere apartment. He said: “They can, they can. “But still everyone understands that I...

An unmanned Ukrainian sea drone shot down a Russian SU-30 fighter jet near the port of Novorossiysk - home to the Kremlin's Black Sea Fleet. The downing of the £38 million jet was carried out by Group 13 on May 2, a special unit within Ukraine's military intelligence. The sea drone was reported to be equipped with a R-73 air-to-air missile, which struck the jet in midair. The SU-30 crashed into the sea. Reports suggest that the crew were able to eject from the stricken jet and were later picked up by a civilian cargo ship. In a statement confirming...

Russian military-affiliated sources have acknowledged the loss of a combat jet following a Ukrainian sea drone attack near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar reported the incident late Friday, writing, “Unfortunately, the enemy attack did not go unanswered. Yesterday evening, a Su-30 naval aviation fighter was hit 50 kilometers west of Novorossiysk by a drone boat carrying an R-73 surface-to-air missile.” While official channels in Moscow have not released a formal statement, additional details were provided by Russian propagandist Ilya Tumanov, who runs the well-known Fighterbomber aviation blog. According to Tumanov, the aircraft crew ejected...

THE brutal torture prison where sick Putin's pawns mutilated a Ukrainian journalist has been revealed. -snip- Upon arrival many receive a “welcoming” procedure known as “reception”, where guards punch, kick and beat them relentlessly with batons. The chief medic of a Ukrainian marine brigade who arrived at the prison in 2022, Volodymyr Labuzov, said: “This is a sacred ritual for them. "Blindfolded, with your hands tied and your head bowed low, you are ordered to walk, and every dog standing there considers it necessary to hit you with something.” But Labuzov said this was just the start of a string...

SICK Putin has returned the disfigured body of a tortured Ukrainian journalist - after Russian pawns removed her brain and eyes. Award-winning reporter Viktoria Roschyna, 27, was brutally beaten to a pulp in occupied Ukraine where she was being held as a prisoner of war. Vile Vlad's troops sent a body bag to Ukraine, marking the corpse as an "unidentified male". But DNA testing confirmed the emaciated body - with her head shaved and a neck bone broken - was Roshchyna's. Ukrainian authorities confirmed there were "numerous signs of torture and cruel treatment". Investigators also found burn marks on her...