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Doubts about Vladimir Putin’s health have been re-ignited today as leaked Pentagon documents claim the Russian dictator is undergoing chemotherapy for a cancer diagnosis. Top secret intelligence papers were published online last week in what may become the worst breach of US intelligence in American living memory. -snip- Embarrassed US authorities are desperately trying to locate the source of the leaked information, but the 100 pages of sensitive information offer an incredible insight into intimate details about the Russian president’s state of health. Running in parallel to this are even more incendiary rumours about a suspected plot from within Putin’s...

An appalling video emerged Tuesday showing what appears to be a Russian soldier savagely beheading a Ukrainian prisoner of war with a knife, leading Kyiv to compare Vladimir Putin’s regime to ISIS. The footage, which has been circulating on pro-Russian Telegram channels, shows an apparent Russian serviceman slicing into the neck of a captive wearing a yellow armband associated with Ukrainian forces. The unidentified victim is still alive at the start of the decapitation and is heard begging: “It hurts, stop.” The executioner’s comrades cheer him on in the background, urging him to “f—ing cut it, break the spine! What,...

This morning, immediately after sleep, Russian President Vladimir Putin complained to doctors about visual impairment, numbness of the tongue, partial loss of sensitivity of the right arm and leg, and severe headache. Additional doctors involved in the president's treatment were called. Putin was provided with first aid, now he is undergoing a medical examination.

Major Russian media now reporting Bakhmut in Russian handsBakhmut was the basic lynchpin of the entire ukie defensive system in the East.

The Russian ruble tumbled on Friday to the lowest levels against the dollar and euro since April 2022 in the face of a foreign currency crunch in Moscow and the sale of Western businesses in Russia. -snip- The rouble is the third-worst performer among global currencies so far this year, behind only the Egyptian pound and the Argentine peso, Reuters calculations show.

Ukraine has been urged to give up Crimea by the Brazilian President. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested on Thursday that Ukraine cede the Black Sea peninsula to Russia to end the war, adding his Ukrainian counterpart "cannot want everything". -snip- Though vague, Brazil's Lula has put forward a proposal to mediate the conflict with a group of countries. He is due to present his proposal to Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week. In March, China also presented its own peace plan, which was flatly rejected by Ukraine and the West. Lula's international affairs adviser Celso Amorim met...

The head of Russia's private Wagner militia said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces were not abandoning the city of Bakhmut but that, even if they did, he would need more support from the regular military before trying to advance further. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had on Wednesday raised the prospect of a withdrawal from the city, saying Kyiv would take the "corresponding" decisions if its forces risked being encircled by Russian troops. Wagner forces are leading the battle for the city, which has become the bloodiest of the 13-month war, and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said its capture would open...

A Russian commander who presided over attacks in Ukraine that led thousands of men to slaughter has been dismissed from his post, Western officials have claimed. General Rustam Muradov had led Russia's Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) for almost a year, having taken up the role after his predecessor's attempt to assault Kyiv in the first weeks of the war. Muradov, a close ally of Russia's military chief Valery Gerasimov, earlier this year launched an attack on the mining town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donetsk region. His tactic, a frontal assault in broad daylight, ended in utter disaster. Survivors...

Senior official says Kyiv does not exclude liberation of occupied peninsula by military means. Kyiv is willing to discuss the future of Crimea with Moscow if its forces reach the border of the Russian-occupied peninsula, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the Financial Times. The comments by Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office, are the most explicit statement of Ukraine’s interest in negotiations since it cut off peace talks with the Kremlin last April. “If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with...

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow on Wednesday for two days of talks, but in their opening public remarks both men steered clear of the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week the two leaders would discuss Lukashenko's call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Last month Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "I must say that we have done a lot as a result of our joint work in all areas," Putin told Lukashenko in comments broadcast by state television.

Chinese Ambassador to the European Union, Fu Cong, has confirmed that China will not recognize the Ukrainian territories taken over by Russia during its military operation in Ukraine. “China does not recognize Crimea as Russian, as well as other territories of Ukraine that became part of the Russian Federation,” he emphasized. According to Cong, the statement about “boundless friendship” between China and Russia is merely a “rhetorical device, nothing more.” Recently, Chinese leader Xi Jinping traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss issues of shared concern, including the Ukraine-Russia war. Cong underscored that China “does...

In Moscow, the Orthodox came to the Holy Lake in the Kosino-Ukhtomsky district with the intention of preventing the construction of a mosque. According to the project, the religious building should become the largest in Europe. Local residents are adamantly against the project, as the lake is a holy place for Orthodox believers, Bloknot reports. The townspeople are in no way against the mosque, they are only asking to move the building to another place. The appeal was signed by several thousand people. “We will be here until we hear the decision that there will be no mosque here,” the...

Ramzan Kadyrov has expressed his outrage at the unfolding events in Moscow, where hundreds of people have come to a popular rally against the possible construction of a mosque. According to him, the Russian land must be defended on a daily basis, and Muslims are also involved in this difficult task. “If all these participants of the rally wholeheartedly have the idea of ​​​​defending Russian land, then go into the trenches with a machine gun,” Ramzan Kadyrov wrote in his Telegram channel.

The Russian ruble tumbled to its weakest against the dollar in almost a year on Tuesday, edging closer to the 80 mark, hampered by a seasonal drop in foreign currency supply from exporters, in spite of this week’s jump in oil prices. -snip- Although higher oil prices usually boost the ruble, reduced FX supply is hurting the Russian currency. Month-end tax payments that usually see exporters convert foreign exchange revenues into rubles were due last week. The ruble has been on a steadily weakening trend all year, under external pressure since a Western price cap on Russia’s oil sales came...

The Muslims in Moscow are planning to construct a huge new mosque on the shores of the Holy Lake. It is planned to be built large enough to fit more than 60,000 Muslims during prayer time. The initial blueprints show a size 4 times larger than Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. This has upset many local Orthodox Christians, who live and have lived near the shores of the Holy Lake for many generations. They do not agree with the majority migrant population of Moscow’s Muslims purchasing vast amounts of property nearby, building up the area and turning it into the...

Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov suggested that opponents of the construction of a mosque in the Kosino-Ukhtomsky district in eastern Moscow go “to the trenches with a machine gun”. About this Kadyrov writing in your telegram channel. Previously, the possible construction of a mosque had provoked protests from local residents and a discussion on social networks. “If all these participants of the meeting wholeheartedly and wholeheartedly have the idea of ​​​​defending Russian land, then advance into the trenches with a machine gun! Take a machine gun, push back the Muslim who is fighting for you today in the Russian Donbass, and...

Russia has warned it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures" to address what it called security threats created by Finland's (NATO) membership. https://www.euronews.com/2023/04/04/russia-warns-of-retaliatory-measures-over-finlands-nato-membership By Euronews with AP • Updated: 04/04/2023 - 16:08 Russia has warned it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures" to address what it called security threats created by Finland's membership. It had already warned that it would bolster defences along its border with NATO if the alliance deploys any additional troops or equipment to its new member. The move is a strategic and political blow to President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s...

Russian forces in Ukraine have failed to meet a key deadline for progress in eastern Ukraine ahead of a long-touted counteroffensive from Kyiv, according to a new assessment. Moscow did not manage to "achieve the Kremlin's goals" of exerting control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions by March 31, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said on Saturday. The two regions, which collectively make up the Donbas, saw fighting between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists break out in 2014. They have seen many of the heaviest clashes since the start of the all-out war in February...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that he had intensified talks with Russia about deploying tactical nuclear weapons in his country, alleging there were plans to invade Belarus from neighboring Poland. Speaking at an annual address to lawmakers and government officials, Lukashenko said Moscow’s plans to station nuclear arms in Belarus would help “safeguard” the country, which he said was under threat from the West. “Take my word for it, I have never deceived you. They are preparing to invade Belarus, to destroy our country,” he told the audience.

Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit Turkey next month for the inauguration of the Russian-built Akkuyu nuclear power plant, Anadolu Agency reports, quoting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Putin may attend the April 27 event online or in person, Erdogan says. If he does travel to Turkey, it would mark a rare trip abroad for the Russian leader since the start of the Ukraine war.