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Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has slammed Russia's 'weak' attacks on Ukraine in the latest show of high profile dissent from one of Vladimir Putin's biggest cheerleaders. The colonel general ordered Kremlin troops to 'wipe out Ukrainian cities off the face of the earth' in a chilling video message on Telegram. The head of the Chechen Republic said Russia should respond with fire and fury to the surge in counterattacks on its border regions. His dire threats come as Moscow doubled down on its warning that Kyiv is preparing to use a 'dirty bomb', amid fears the Kremlin could stage a...

'Progressive' Democrats have been slammed for penning an open letter to Joe Biden calling on him to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine with Vladimir Putin. Thirty left-wing politicians - among them Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar - wrote to Biden on Monday saying that 'direct talks with Russia' to 'seek a rapid end to the conflict' should be his 'top priority'.

A group of liberal Democrats in the US Congress is pressing president Joe Biden to pursue direct talks with Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin, opening a new front of pressure on his Ukraine strategy as his administration tries to maintain domestic support for Kyiv. -snip- Talks with Moscow have the potential “to reduce harm and support Ukraine in achieving a peaceful settlement”, according to the letter, which was signed by lawmakers including Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley — a group of liberal congresswomen known as “the Squad”.

Vladimir Putin's relatives are concerned about coughing fits, constant nausea and a lack of appetite, it is claimed, after the Russian leader allegedly underwent a medical examination over the weekend. His circle is worried that his 'thinness and persistent cough' is becoming noticeable and will be seen by the elites in Russia as a 'sign of the leader's rapidly deteriorating health', according to Telegram channel General SVR, which has long claimed he is suffering from cancer despite the Kremlin insistence he is in good health. Despite appearing considerably bloated and puffy in the face, the Russian president has lost 18lbs...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been seen in a recent video with what appear to be IV track marks on the back of his hand, reigniting rumors that he is battling cancer. Eagle-eyed viewers watching a propaganda video that was released by Russia’s Ministry of Defense last week spotted a suspicious mark on Putin’s right hand as he was grasping a soldier’s arm while visiting a boot camp in the Ryazan region.

Mystery surrounds Russian nuclear tests that were expected to take this week and never materialised, amid claims they are being 'disrupted' from within. Moscow typically carries out large-scale atomic drills dubbed 'Grom' at this time of year and in recent days had issued a number of airspace alerts over its usual testing grounds - heavily suggesting they would be going ahead. But the US says it has received no alert from Moscow about any upcoming tests and there has been no official word from the Kremlin explaining their absence, with the air alerts due to expire Saturday. That has led...

The new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine acknowledged on Tuesday that his troops were under broad pressure and faced hard choices, as the Russian-appointed governor of occupied Kherson province announced a partial evacuation. "The situation in the area of the 'Special Military Operation' can be described as tense," Sergei Surovikin, an air force general named this month to command Russia's invasion forces, told the state-owned Rossiya 24 television news channel. -snip- Russian forces in Kherson have been driven back by 20-30 km (13-20 miles) in the last few weeks and are at risk of being pinned against the right...

The defence ministry in Minsk on Sunday said just under 9,000 Russian troops would be stationed in Belarus as part of a "regional grouping" of forces to protect its borders. "The first troop trains with Russian servicemen who are part of the (regional grouping) began to arrive in Belarus," Valeriy Revenko, head of the defence ministry's international military cooperation department, wrote on Twitter. "The relocation will take several days. "The total number will be a little less than 9,000 people."

Vladimir Putin was given a stern dressing down by the president of Tajikistan in another indicator that the Russian dictator has lost respect and influence in his own backyard. Fellow longstanding dictator Emomali Rahmon, ruler of the Central Asian state of 9 million since 1994, seized upon Putin's woes back home and in Ukraine to give him a piece of his mind and tell him how he really feels during a summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana. A glum and awkward looking Putin slouched back in his chair and took the seven minute tirade as a host of Central...

At least 11 people were killed and 15 more wounded at a Russian military training ground on Saturday when two attackers opened fire on a group of volunteers who wished to fight in Ukraine, RIA news agency said. The deadly incident is just the latest in a series of high-profile setbacks for Moscow's forces since the Feb. 24 invasion. RIA, citing the defence ministry, said the two assailants had been shot dead after the attack in the southwestern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. It said they were nationals from a former Soviet republic but did not give any details. "During...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there is no need for more massive strikes on Ukraine, days after the heaviest bombardment of the country since the war began. He said most designated targets of the strikes had been hit, adding that it was not his aim to destroy Ukraine. Moscow's goal of mobilising 300,000 men would be met within two weeks, he said. Mr Putin's words come as Russian forces seem stalled and Ukraine advances, almost eight months since the invasion. Speaking to journalists after a summit with regional leaders in Kazakhstan's capital Astana, the Russian leader said that the...

The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's Kherson region appealed to residents on Thursday to evacuate amid fighting between Russian and advancing Ukrainian forces. In a video statement on the Telegram app, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed head of the Kherson administration, also publicly asked for Moscow's help in transporting civilians into Russia.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that "Ukraine has the momentum" in the war with Russia and the Western defence alliance would stand with Kyiv as long as it takes. "While Russia is increasingly resorting to horrific and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure, President Putin is failing in Ukraine," Stoltenberg told a news conference on the eve of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.

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...

Key figures including Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin are using military defeats to undermine defence chief Sergei Shoigu. Friends, rivals and enemies took their seats in the Grand Kremlin Palace as Vladimir Putin gathered the country’s elite to formalise Russia’s illegal annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine. The ceremony was meant to portray strength and unity, but within 24 hours had been overshadowed by Russia’s failures on the battlefield. These losses, which continued into this week on the southern and eastern fronts in Ukraine, have led to a major, unprecedented rupture within the ruling class as the Kremlin seeks scapegoats...

Footage has emerged of a Russian propagandist being brutally arrested for speaking out against high-ranking Russian officials. Affiliates and members of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group have repeatedly criticised the Russian Armed Forces and its leaders on Telegram. Alexey Slobodenyuk, the head of media for a Russian mercenary group fighting in Ukraine, was pulled from his car by a special branch of the National Guard of Russia known for their unwavering loyalty to Vladimir Putin. Slobodenyuk has been accused of attacking defence minister Sergei Shoigu online, claiming that Russia’s current failings in Ukraine were in part due to organisational failures....