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The boss of the feared Russian Wagner mercenary group has called for the Russian defence minister's son-in-law to be raped or 'given the sledgehammer'. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin threatened to have his men bring defence minister Sergei Shoigu's son-in-law Alexey Stolyarov, 33, to him so he could be trained to go and fight in Ukraine. Prigozhin said the fitness influencer could be 'raped' or face the notorious 'sledgehammer' execution that Wagner has used to kill defectors, as the bitter rift between Vladimir Putin's top military cronies spirals out of control. The Wagner chief, like General Shoigu, is a close Putin...

Russians are being offered free food to attend a major Vladimir Putin rally in Moscow on Wednesday, according to reports. The mass rally at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow was announced by the Kremlin earlier this month, and it's being held a day after the Russian president's much delayed state-of-the-nation address in the capital. Putin is expected to make an appearance at the rally, which is set to feature performances from pop stars and rock groups. The Telegram channel of the independent Russian publication Sirena shared images of a Google Forms sheet created by a Russian volunteer organization called Mega...

Vladimir Putin may be upset to discover that his hotly anticipated state-of-the-nation address delivered this morning in central Moscow was not quite as impactful as he would have hoped. Almost one year to the day of his invasion of Ukraine, the despot took to the stage in Moscow before both of Russia's houses of Parliament and a sea of military commanders, where he launched a marathon tirade against the West. He spoke with passion and venom, but even the cream of the Kremlin crop couldn't help but show signs of fatigue as top officials were seen yawning amid their president's...

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner group, on Tuesday accused the Russian defence minister and the chief of the general staff of depriving his fighters of munitions and trying to destroy Wagner - actions he said were equivalent to treason. A onetime catering entrepreneur who once shunned the public spotlight, Prigozhin has assumed an more public role since the start of the war in Ukraine a year ago, with his Wagner Group spearheading Russia's months-long battle for the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region. "There is simply direct opposition going on," Prigozhin said in a voice message posted on...

China is considering giving Russia weapons and ammunition for the Ukraine war, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. Mr Blinken told CBS News that Chinese companies were already providing "non-lethal support" to Russia - and new information suggested Beijing could provide "lethal support". This escalation would mean "serious consequences" for China, he warned. China has denied reports that Moscow has requested military equipment. Chinese President Xi Jinping is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is yet to condemn Russia's invasion - but he has sought to remain neutral in the conflict and has called for peace....

Ramzan Kadyrov, the ally of President Vladimir Putin who leads Chechnya, said on Sunday that he one day planned to set up his own private military company in the style of Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner Group of mercenaries. -snip- "We can say confidently that Wagner has shown its mettle in military terms and drawn a line under discussions about whether or not such private military companies are needed," said Kadyrov, who has led the Chechen Republic since 2007. "When my service to the state is completed, I seriously plan to compete with our dear brother Yevgeny Prigozhin and create a private...

Vladimir Putin hosted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at his own residence near Moscow for a meeting. However, the Russian leader's odd and fidgeting body language sparked a swirl of speculation about his health. President Putin can be seen uneasily moving his legs throughout the entire duration of the public conversation with President Lukashenko. -snip- Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, tweeted a clip of the moment: "Putin's feet during his meeting with Lukashenko. Is this Morse code?" Tendar, which regularly monitors the conflict in Ukraine, added: "Putin’s continuing problem to control his legs and...

Russia could encircle the war-ravaged city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region by March or April, according to a new assessment by Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, which has been leading an offensive alongside Russian troops against the city since July. In video interviews with Russian media published late on February 15, Prigozhin, who has been sidelined by the Kremlin in recent weeks, appeared to shift expectations on the potential capture of Bakhmut. Prigozhin blasted Russia's "monstrous military bureaucracy" for its failure to seize the city before the end of last year, and warned that Russia should not...

On Friday, the president of the aggressor country Vladimir Putin will meet with illegitimate President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, and the conversation will be profound in nature. Source: Russian state-owned news outlet RIA Novosti and BelTA, Belarusian state-run news agency Quote from Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of Russian President: "As for the preparations for the meeting between the two presidents, Putin and Lukashenko, tomorrow – yes, I can confirm that such a meeting is being prepared." Details: Peskov states that the meeting will take place in Novo-Ogaryovo, and "the conversation will be thorough." Lukashenko...

The Kremlin will not invite reporters from countries that Russia has deemed “unfriendly” to President Vladimir Putin’s address to the Federal Assembly next week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 15 that only media representing "friendly" countries will be accredited to the February 21 event. -snip- More than 60 countries, including the United States, EU member states, Britain, Canada, and Japan, have been declared "unfriendly" by Russia for imposing or supporting sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian ruble struck its weakest mark since late April on Tuesday, hurt by lower foreign currency revenue inflows from hydrocarbon exports and a continued recovery in imports as companies build new supply chains. -snip- The Russian government has been selling 8.9 billion rubles ($120.8 million) of foreign currency per day to plug a budget deficit that has soared because of lower oil and gas revenues. Expectations for weaker energy revenue were also weighing on the Russian currency after the central bank cut its Urals oil price forecast on Friday. The bank dropped its projected average price for the rest...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday he had ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near Ukraine in response to what he said was a clear threat to Belarus from Kyiv and its backers in the West. The remarks from Lukashenko, who has held power in Belarus since 1994, indicate a potential further escalation of the war in Ukraine, possibly with a combined Russian-Belarus joint force in the north of Ukraine. "Strikes on the territory of Belarus are not just being discussed in Ukraine today, but are also being planned," Lukashenko said at a meeting on security, without providing...

Blown up russian equipment, fire, Ukrainian troops after fierce battle,... and in walks a Ukrainian girl with a Kalashnikov, no helmet, no bullet proof vest, sunglasses, who is fighting with the battalion.

Ukrainian forces in Kyiv have destroyed a column of Russian vehicles in the city's northwest after surviving a 'brutal' night of shelling. Volunteers, among them the former Miss Ukraine Anastasiia Lenna, have taken up arms to fight off Vladimir Putin's army, with 'long queues' of citizens waiting to be issued weapons at recruitment centres in Kyiv. -snip- Lenna, who won the Miss Ukraine competition in 2015, posted an image of herself on Instagram as she announced she had joined the country's resistance against Russian troops. Lenna, who usually works as a public relations manager in Turkey, posted the image alongside...

A leading Ukrainian presidential aide claimed this morning that the explosion which damaged a key bridge in Crimea may have been ordered by one of Vladimir Putin's warring commanders. The 12 mile crossing over the Kerch strait links Crimea to the Russian mainland and is a major artery for Putin's forces that control most of southern Ukraine's Kherson region and for the Russian naval port of Sevastopol. It was damaged in an explosion early Saturday morning which saw chunks of the bridge fall into the sea and a large fire break out. The incident prompted gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials...

Breaking: The Kerch Bridge, which connects occupied Crimea to Russia, is on fire.

Russian troops have been deployed near the border with Georgia today even as the Kremlin tries to stamp out rumours that Putin is about to introduce martial law and ban people from leaving in order to avoid being conscripted into the army. Footage geolocated to the small town of Chmi, on the main highway from Russia into Georgia's South Ossetia region, shows at least six soldiers sitting on top of an armoured vehicle passing a queue of cars in the direction of the crossing. Troops arrived to set up a checkpoint, sources told the Russia's RBC network, with the FSB...

Russia's parliament on Tuesday approved a bill to toughen punishments for a host of crimes such as desertion, damage to military property and insubordination if they are committed during military mobilisation or combat situations. The bill, passed in its second and third readings on Tuesday by the lower house of parliament, the Duma, comes amid debate inside Russia about a possible mobilisation

Humiliation for Putin's troops is continuing as they begin to abandon the major city of Melitopol in the face of Kyiv's lightning counter-offensive. The city's pre-occupation mayor said that Russian troops were pulling out of the area in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region. Mayor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram that Russian troops were heading towards Moscow-annexed Crimea. He said columns of military equipment were reported at a checkpoint in Chonhar, a village marking the boundary between the Crimean peninsula and the Ukrainian mainland.

Raging Russian nationalists called on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure victory in the Ukraine war after troops were forced to retreat amid a series of strong Ukrainian counterattacks. Ukraine's troops on Saturday stormed east out of second city Kharkiv, smashing through Russian lines and liberating huge swathes of territory, including the key strategic city of Izyum along with several key transport and logistics hubs supporting Putin's men in the Donbas. The news prompted Chechen leader and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov to publish an 11-minute-long rant on the Telegram messaging app, declaring that 'changes must...