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Russia's defence ministry said an explosion at a Russian military airbase in Crimea on Tuesday had been caused by a detonation of aviation ammunition, and that there had been no casualties, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. It said there had been no attack, and no military equipment had been damaged.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a cabinet meeting on Monday with senior officials, amid concerns about Ukraine's High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the United States that Western officials claim hamper Moscow's war efforts. The rocket systems first arrived in Ukraine in June from the U.S and have been seen as crucial to helping Kyiv's forces repel the Russian military. The Russian state-backed TASS news agency reported on Monday that Putin will hold the cabinet meeting via videoconference on Monday, with the main topics being the development of air transport and aircraft manufacturing. Deputy Prime Minister and Trade...

Vladimir Putin has lost at least 60 colonels in the war in Ukraine, it was revealed today. Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Moskvichev, 45, was buried with full military honours. A paratrooper, it took Russia three months to retrieve his body from the war zone and conduct his funeral, it was revealed. He was the 60th known colonel to have died in the bloody war, which has seen a crushing toll of high-ranking officers in Putin's forces, including at least 11 generals. The revelation of his death came as Putin declared he had hardly begun his military campaign in Ukraine. 'We haven't...

A 'gesture of goodwill': That was how the Kremlin tried to play off its retreat from Ukraine's Snake Island on Thursday, after commanders gave up hope of holding the strategic spit of land under withering artillery fire. It is the same phrase that Putin's lackeys used to try and cover up their ignominious retreat from Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy back in early April, as the first phase of their war in Ukraine spectacularly failed. But those are far from the only battlefield blunders to have left Russia's red army red-faced: From an early defeat trying to take Hostomel airfield to...

Russia was poised to default on its foreign debt for the first time since 1918, pushed into delinquency not for lack of money but because of punishing Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Russia was likely to miss payments on two foreign-currency bonds late Sunday, according to holders of the bonds who had yet to see funds deposited. The day marks the elapse of a 30-day grace period since the country was due to pay the equivalent of $100 million in dollars and euros to bondholders.

The newest car model unveiled by Russia's biggest auto manufacturer earlier this month is generating buzz, but not necessarily for the right reasons. The buzz about AvtoVAZ's Lada Granta Classic -- priced to sell at 678,300 rubles ($12,500) -- is about what it doesn't have: No airbags. No antilock brakes. No electronic stability system. No pretensioners to make the seat belts work properly. No GPS. An engine that complies with emissions standards from 26 years ago. The reason for all this? Western sanctions, imposed to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, that have disrupted imports and roiled supply chains...

A senior official in the Russian-installed administration of Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region was killed in an apparent assassination on Friday, the deputy head of the administration told Reuters. Dmitry Savluchenko, head of the families, youth, and sports department of the Kherson Military-Civilian Administration, was killed in a bomb blast. Russia's TASS news agency said there were two burnt-out cars in a courtyard of Kherson, the regional capital where the blast took place, and that the windows of one four-storey house had been shattered. An adviser to the Ukrainian governor of Kherson told Ukraine's public news network Suspilne that the assassination...

LONDON (Reuters) -Russia warned NATO member Lithuania on Monday that unless the transit of goods to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea was swiftly restored then Moscow would take undisclosed measures to defend its national interests. With east-west relations at a half-century low over Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Vilnius banned the transit of goods sanctioned by the European Union through Lithuanian territory to and from the exclave, citing EU sanction rules. Russia's foreign ministry summoned Lithuania's top envoy in Moscow to deliver a protest while the Kremlin said the situation was beyond serious. "The situation is more...

Ukrainian forces attacked drilling platforms in the Black Sea owned by a Crimean oil and gas company, the pro-Russian head of the annexed peninsula said on Monday, giving no details of what weapons were used. Three people were wounded and a search was under way for seven workers from the Chernomorneftegaz energy company, Sergei Askyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, said in a post on Telegram. Crimean officials said work on three drilling platforms had been suspended after the hit, with fires reported. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the reports. Ukraine's military declined to comment. Russian-backed officials seized Chernomorneftegaz...

The Russian army is suffering high casualties in the war against Ukraine and Vladimir Putin badly needs fresh troops. He wants to avoid a general mobilization, so the military is relying on other methods. -snip- The hidden mobilization has been particularly intense in Buryatia. The army has been using the messenger service Viber to send attractive offers, which include generous salaries, social benefits and a healthy pension – the complete package. "They have called everyone I know: Don’t you want to participate in the special operation?" reports one woman from the region who asked to remain anonymous. "As if it...

VLADIMIR Putin has purged his top general over a mass loss of troops in Ukraine as Russia's losses are now said to be as high as 50,000. Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov, 60, was ditched for the devastating “mass casualties” among Putin's elite paratroopers, it has been alleged. The speculation comes as a Russian source is said to have suggested the country’s overall losses in Ukraine are close to 50,000 - significantly higher than most other estimates.

Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, has reported that the Russians have withdrawn the remaining Buryat troops from Sievierodonetsk because they are significantly weaker than the Ukrainian troops. Quote: "They’re dropping like flies. The Ruscists have withdrawn the remaining Buryats from Sievierodonetsk because they can’t withstand the fights with the Ukrainian defenders.

Vladimir Putin was today hit by the death of Russia’s 11th general in his bloody war with Ukraine. Major-General Roman Kutuzov was the chief of staff of the 29th Combined Arms Army, according to reports. His vehicle was ambushed by Ukrainians and he died in a fight in Donbas, say sources. His death is the 11th general, but the first such high ranking army officer in more than a month. In addition, at least 49 colonels have been killed in the war with Ukraine. The latest was Lt-Col Zaur Dimayev, deputy commander of the 4th battalion of the Akhmat Kadyrov...

Hundreds of Russian soldiers have escaped the fighting in Ukraine or refused to take part during the early stages of the war, according to military decrees viewed by The Wall Street Journal as well as accused soldiers and lawyers defending them. Military analysts and Ukrainian officials say there have been many more. Russia’s army stumbled badly early in its invasion of Ukraine and suffered thousands of casualties and the loss of an estimated quarter of its deployed military hardware, a senior Pentagon official said in April. Desertions and insubordination among soldiers, Interior Ministry troops and members of the National Guard...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired five generals and one police colonel, according to a report from Moscow-based media group RBC, amid the country's military failures in Ukraine. -snip- RBC reported on Wednesday that it had obtained a copy of Putin's decree and listed the names and positions of the individuals who were reportedly dismissed from their posts. Those fired included Major General of Police Vasily Kukushkin, who was head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Vladimir region; Major General Alexander Laas, deputy head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for...

Two more Russian colonels have been killed in Russia’s war in Ukraine - including the country’s 'best paratroop commander'. Lieutenant colonel Alexander Dosyagayev, 34, was a commander of an airborne assault battalion of the 104th paratrooper regiment. Troops from his 104th air assault regiment were reportedly in Bucha, the scene of alleged rape and torture atrocities committed by Vladimir Putin’s forces earlier in the war. His battalion based in Pskov had been recognised as the best in Russia in its extensive combat training and military discipline.

Russia's armed forces have begun deploying sixty-year-old tanks to the southeastern regions of Ukraine, raising questions over the extent of Putin's losses after three months of bitter fighting and countless strategic blunders. A long line of T-62 tanks, which began production as early as 1961, was photographed at a train station in Ukraine's southeastern city of Melitopol on Wednesday, just days after footage emerged of the aged armour being pulled out of storage across the border.

A trip to the mall in Russia is a different experience today than it was just a few short months ago. “When I had my first child, there was all this choice. Mothercare, Zara, you name it,” said Evgenia Marsheva, a 33-year-old architect. But when she went shopping in Moscow this month for her newborn, many of those large retail brands had been shuttered. “Now, I can only find very cheap or extremely expensive Russian products. I was brought up with tales of the limited choices that my parents had during the Soviet Union. I never thought that would come...

The head of Russian state-backed TV network RT said 'things will end badly for all of humanity' if Russia doesn't win a military victory against Ukraine, hinting at a nuclear strike should the country lose the war. Russia's state-backed media has become infamous for its anti-Ukrainian rants since the war broke out in February 24. But the latest outburst was from RT's Margarita Simonyan, who studied in the US and told Russian viewers they should rejoice the fact that their children will never receive a western education. 'They all believe that we will lose and the west will win. They...

Russian losses in Ukraine over the first three months are likely to have already surpassed those of the Soviet-Afghan war which lasted nine years, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. The Soviet Union's losses are estimated to be around 15,000 killed in the Afghan war, with an additional 35,478 wounded and 311 missing. 'The Russian public has, in the past, proven sensitive to casualties suffered during wars of choice,' said the UK government ministry, which did not name the exact figure. 'As casualties suffered in Ukraine continue to rise they will become more apparent, and public dissatisfaction with the...