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Vladimir Putin underwent 'successful' cancer surgery last week and is recovering, it has been claimed in just the latest rumour about the Russian leader's health. The 69-year-old underwent an unknown procedure late last Monday following advice from medics that treatment was 'essential', according to Telegram channel General SVR which claims to be getting information from inside the Kremlin. Putin's condition was said to have worsened briefly on Friday night before improving, the social media account said, while adding that doctors have advised he avoid taking part in meetings for several more days while he recovers. General SVR said last week...

A Russian columnist recently appeared on television and gave a damning assessment of the situation in Ukraine from Russia's perspective. Mikhail Kodaryonok was on a Russian-state-owned television channel Monday as part of a panel where he discussed the situation in Ukraine and the rather dire circumstances in which Russia finds itself. -snip- Khodaryonok continued on and painted an even grimmer situation for Russia. He talked about the vast supply of arms that are soon likely to be available to the Ukrainians. "But the situation from the overall strategic position is that the Ukrainian armed forces are able to arm a...

Vladimir Putin told the President of Finland he is making a 'mistake' by joining NATO as it faces 'no security threats' in a phone call this morning. And in a speech on the 80th day of the war in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: 'The collective West has announced a total hybrid war on us. -snip- A senior Putin ally threatened to fire nuclear weapons at Britain, claiming it would take just three minutes. Finland, whose President today called Putin to reveal his plans to join NATO, would be wiped out in seconds, Duma defence committee deputy chairman...

Russia's top commander General Valery Gerasimov has been suspended, a top adviser to the Ukrainian president has claimed, while a clutch of other officers have been sacked or arrested amid a rumoured purge of top brass. Oleksiy Arestovych, a veteran of military intelligence and one of President Zelensky's inner circle, claimed late Wednesday that Gerasimov - the chief of staff of the Russian army - has been suspended as Putin looks for senior commanders to blame over his blundering invasion of Ukraine. Arestovych, speaking to dissident Russian lawyer and politician Mark Feygin on YouTube last night, said: 'According to preliminary...

This is the audacious moment a Russian tank is obliterated just outside Mariupol, with its turret shooting up hundreds of feet into the air. Amazing video shot by Chinese state TV channel Phoenix shows the sudden blast in eastern Ukraine, which saw the Russian tank wiped out instantaneously.

Ukraine has driven Russian troops back to their own border near Kharkiv and now threatens supply lines into Donbas as Putin's army suffers another humiliating loss. Commanders said late Tuesday they had recaptured four small towns to the north of Ukraine's second-largest city, with reports overnight suggesting they had pushed to within three miles of the Russian border. If confirmed, it would put the city of Vovchans'k - a key supply hub linking Russia's Belgorod to its frontlines in Donbas - within artillery range, threatening to cut supply lines and hamper Putin's efforts to take the region. Meanwhile, Ukraine's gas...

VLADIMIR Putin was noted to be looking "puffy" and struggling to move "like he used to" in a rare outing to mark Victory Day in Moscow. Vladimir Putin has sparked speculation about his health after political analysis began to notice changes in his appearance since he resumed public duty following the Coronavirus pandemic. Russia's leader effectively disappeared from the public eye during the health crisis and only recently began to be pictured once again surrounded by his aides, albeit keeping them at a distance. Lord Dannatt noted Putin appeared rather "puffy" and struggling to move "freely" as he walked around...

Vladimir Putin appeared to walk with a limp and sat with a blanket over his lap during Victory Day commemorations in Moscow today, raising fresh doubts over his health. -snip- at several points - including as he left a speaking podium and went to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider to lay a wreath - Putin appeared to be walking with a heavy step, as if trying to disguise a limp. And, during the parade itself, he was seen sitting with a heavy blanket across his knees despite geriatric war veterans being sat around him with their laps uncovered.

Russian kindergarten children dressed up in a variety of pro-Russian military outfits ahead of the country's Victory Day parade, a video on social media has shown. Leading the group of pupils was one young boy dressed as a Russian tank with a white 'Z' symbol emblazoned on the front - a common feature of Moscow's military vehicles currently involved in fighting in Ukraine. The boy was shown in military uniform and a leather helmet while a Russian flag flew on the camouflaged cardboard tank fashioned around him. Other children were shown dressed as fighter jets, soldiers and army medics. At...

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that a number of Russian generals and leading figures were "turning in on themselves" as they seek to avoid becoming fall guys for Putin's stuttering invasion. Russian generals are reportedly “turning in on themselves” as the war in Ukraine continues to go not to plan in an effort to escape Putin’s wrath. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that Putin’s senior military brass were scrambling to dodge blame for the stuttering invasion. He said they were blaming one another for the “disaster” of the war so far, and lived in terror of being purged if the...

Incredible footage captures the moment two Ukrainian fighter jets bombed the Russian-occupied Snake Island. Footage released on Saturday shows Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 Flankers striking facilities during a high speed bombing of Snake Island, which was seized by Russian forces earlier this year. A Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 drone captured two Su-27s flying low over the island from the south, before dropping multiple bombs and infrared countermeasure flares, TheDrive.com reported. The southern approach to the island was a strategic measure from Ukrainian forces because Russian defenders on the island would most likely be focused on looking north and west toward the...

Vladimir Putin suffered another grievous blow ahead of his Victory Day military extravaganza in Moscow tomorrow with the death of his 39th colonel in his bloody war in Ukraine. Lt-Col Fezul Bichikaev, 36, was a high-flying elite soldier who died on a secret intelligence mission. The father-of-three is being portrayed as a hero who was killed near Kharkiv 'with a machine gun in his hands covering his subordinates', according to reports in Russia. A radio signal announced 'the commander is wounded' after a bullet pierced an artery, but he reportedly ordered his men: 'It's a scratch! Keep working! Work!' 'Thanks...

Terrifying video footage captured the moment the Ukrainian Bayraktar-TB2 drone annihilated the Russian Mi-8 transport helicopter on Snake Island. In the chilling black and white footage, human figures can be seen leaving the helicopter moments before it was blown up. The video was published by the Operational Command South. They said: "We cannot stop doing this. "We are driving the enemy out of every piece of our land, even from a small island, from the sea, and even from the air." Meanwhile, another Ukrainian drone took out a Russian landing ship near Snake Island which had been supplying Vladimir Putin's...

President Vladimir Putin will send a "doomsday" warning to the West when he leads celebrations on Monday marking the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, brandishing Russia's vast firepower while its forces fight on in Ukraine. Defiant in the face of deep Western isolation since he ordered the invasion of Russia's neighbour, Putin will speak on Red Square before a parade of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles. A fly-past over St Basil's Cathedral will include supersonic fighters, Tu-160 strategic bombers and, for the first time since 2010, the Il-80 "doomsday" command plane, which would...

A prominent Russian state TV host has warned that opponents of Russia's war in Ukraine will face harsh punishments including 'concentration camps and sterilisation'. Karen Shakhnazarov, a pro-Putin filmmaker, said any 'opponents to the letter Z' - the symbol of Russia's invasion - will face 'no mercy'. 'The opponents of the letter Z must understand that if they are counting on mercy, no, there will be no mercy for them,' Shakhnazarov, who leads the state-backed Mosfilm film studio, said on the state-owned Russian television channel Russia 1. 'It's all become very serious. In this case, it means concentration camps, re-education...

A ninth Russian general was reportedly killed in a Ukrainian artillery strike near Kharkiv. Major General Anton Simonov, 55, died during the attack on a Russian army command past in northern Ukraine, President Zelensky adviser Alexey Arestovych said yesterday. -snip- Simonov would be the ninth and youngest Russian general killed so far in the latest blow to Putin's disastrous invasion of Ukraine. He was seen as the Russian military's leading electronic warfare specialist.

Russia has been forced to merge and redeploy depleted and disparate units from failed advances in northeast Ukraine, a British military update said on Saturday. 'Shortcomings in Russian tactical coordination remain. A lack of unit-level skills and inconsistent air support have left Russia unable to fully leverage its combat mass, despite localised improvements,' the military tweeted. -snip- Ukraine continues to carry out attacks behind Russian lines to cut off vital supply routes, with a fuel dump in the Donetsk region catching fire today. Kyiv has not acknowledged carrying out any of the attacks - which have also hit railway bridges...

Hunter Biden once met with a controversial Russian oligarch who’s been sanctioned by the UK over the deadly invasion of Ukraine — but hasn’t faced any punishment from the US. An itinerary for a three-day visit to the US by billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov shows a breakfast scheduled with President Biden’s son at the swank Ritz-Carlton hotel near Central Park from 9 to 10 a.m. on March 14, 2012, investigative journalist Vicky Ward revealed on her Substack account Wednesday. -snip- Online reports, including one cited in a secret US government cable posted online by Wikileaks, have said he is married to...

VLADIMIR Putin appeared confused and out of breath as he wheezed his way through his latest speech, threatening the West with nuclear weapons. The Russian president seemed to struggle to catch his breath and paused several times during the address to politicians, stumbling over his words and looking exhausted. At one stage, he appears breathless and stuttering, while on two other occasions, he seems to take quick gasps for air.

Ukrainian military officials have pictured and revealed names of Russian soldiers dubbed the 'Despicable Ten' who they accuse of carrying out war crimes in Bucha. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence released the names and faces of the men, stating: 'Ten Russian butchers from the 64th brigade have been identified and named suspects responsible for committing the Bucha massacre. 'This unit [has] been awarded for its atrocities, and returned to the battlefield. Justice for war criminals is inevitable.' Horrific images of dozens of bodies in civilian clothes lying in the streets, some with their hands tied behind their backs, in Bucha...