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Vladimir Putin has mysteriously disappeared from public view as his regime issued apocalyptic World War Three nuclear threats over the use of long-range Western missiles by Ukraine against Russian territory. It is unclear if during the past 12 days of high international tension the Kremlin dictator has been holed up in a hi-tech bunker, unwell, underwent another round of plastic surgery, took a secret holiday or simply chose to remain out of sight. Yet Putin, 72, has not been definitively seen since an appearance at the Valdai Forum in Sochi on November 7 when he congratulated a "courageous" Donald Trump...

Inflationary expectations among Russian households for the year ahead stood at 13.4% in November, unchanged from October, while inflationary pressure remained high, the central bank said on Monday. The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 21% last month, the highest level in more than 20 years, citing high inflation and elevated inflationary expectations as the main reasons for the move. -snip- The central bank board will convene for the next rate-setting meeting on Dec. 20, with the officials saying that a further tightening of monetary policy was possible.

Fierce fighting has raged in the region over the past week, claiming the lives of hundreds of Russian soldiers. Ukrainian forces wiped put a Russian assault group trying to cross a river in Kursk in a brutal attack. -snip- Putin's army sustained heavy losses after attempting to storm the river Psel on Monday. The attack ended in unmitigated disaster for the Russians, as the unit was wiped out during a ferocious artillery barrage. Images shot by a Ukrainian drone show Russian soldiers crossing the river in rubber dinghies. As they reach the shore, they have no time to dig in...

Ukraine could develop a rudimentary nuclear bomb within months if Donald Trump withdraws US military assistance, according to a briefing paper prepared for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. The country would quickly be able to build a basic device from plutonium with a similar technology to the “Fat Man” bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, the report states. “Creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later,” the document reads. With no time to build and run the large facilities required to enrich...

Russia's president Vladimir Putin has denied reports that Donald Trump had spoken to him in recent days, adding that he had no concrete plans yet to speak to him. -snip- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has denied this call took place. 'This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it's just false information,' he said. 'There was no conversation.' 'This is the most obvious example of the quality of the information that is being published now, sometimes even in fairly reputable publications,' Peskov said. Asked if Putin had plans for any contacts with Trump, Peskov said: 'There are no concrete plans...

Russia is facing a "butter armageddon" as prices for the staple food product continue to rise sharply. By the end of October, prices for dairy products in Russia had risen by an astonishing 25.7% compared to December 2023. The steep hike in cost has led to a spate of thefts from shops around the country, forcing management to keep the product under lock and key. Images have circulated on social media, showing butter locked in fridges and signs telling customers to contact staff if they want to buy some. A CCTV video posted online also allegedly shows a Russian man...

Ukrainian forces foiled a massive Russian armoured assault in the Donetsk region, inflicting heavy casualties and loss of equipment. The ferocious battle took place near Vyymka in the Bakhmut district on the Siversk sector of the front and involved Ukraine's 10th Mountain Assault Brigade. The Russian assault group comprised over 120 soldiers and 22 armoured vehicles, including tanks. They were spotted by aerial reconnaissance and came under sustained and heavy artillery fire and drone attacks. Video images of the battle show Russian armoured vehicles being targeted and destroyed by kamikaze drones. As Putin's troops abandon their vehicles, a second wave...

Russia is importing butter from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkiye, in response to soaring butter prices, which have been attributed to rising demand for ice cream and cheese. The agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced that deliveries from the UAE began on October 18, marking the first shipments of butter from that country to Russia. Higher production costs, coupled with increased consumer interest in ice cream and cheese, have significantly impacted butter prices, according to dairy producers. Artyom Belov, chief of the national dairy producer association Soyuzmoloko, told a local news outlet that these product segments are major factors contributing...

President Vladimir Putin says that Russia’s war economy is well balanced to supply both guns and butter, but the price of butter itself is now soaring as surging inflation distorts parts of the economy. The price of a block of butter has risen by 25.7% since December, according to the state statistics service. Reuters reporters found shopping bills showed the price of a pack of “Brest-Litovsk” high-grade butter in Moscow has risen by 34% since the start of the year to 239.96 roubles ($2.47). “The Armageddon with butter is escalating; we wouldn’t be surprised if butter repeats last year’s situation...

Amid shortages of basic groceries in Russia as a result of its war in Ukraine, instances of petty thefts of essential items have been reported online, with butter emerging as one of the targeted products. -snip- The shortages in the country stem from a combination of supply chain disruptions, Western sanctions, and declining domestic production. As reported by state-owned news outlet Moskow 24, large butter-making enterprises have begun to reduce production and suspend shipments of their products to retail chains. One production company cited 46 percent cumulative inflation for eight months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023,...

Vladimir Putin has admitted that sanctions on Russia and worker shortages have contributed to economic turbulence in the country. The Russian president made the comments days after Russia's Central Bank raised its key interest rate to a record 21 percent—higher than the emergency 20 percent level introduced in the aftermath of Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine when facing Western sanctions and isolation from the global financial system. -snip- Russia's economic growth has been fueled by record levels of military spending but a lack of workers exacerbated by troop losses in Ukraine and a brain drain of those avoiding the draft,...

The school has trained 47,000 troops deployed to Ukraine. A Chechen military training school came under drone attack on Tuesday, the region’s strongman leader announced. The Russian Special Forces University, located in the town of Gudermes, was struck in the morning and set ablaze, Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram.

Butter blocks enclosed in plastic boxes with "security chips" - these images are now common in Russian shops. Recently, butter imports have drastically fallen, and product prices have soared. This, in turn, has led Russians to start stealing instead of buying. For years, Russia was at the forefront of the world's largest food import markets, particularly leading in butter and cheese imports. Until 2022, butter arrived in Russia from all over the world. However, since the invasion of Ukraine, the situation has changed. Consequences of the invasion of Ukraine In 2022, Russia ranked 19th worldwide for butter imports. Over the...

A longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has predicted that the majority of Russian companies could go bankrupt due to the increasingly high interest rate. - snip- Chemezov criticized the Russian central bank's elevated key interest rate, which, following his comments, was raised by an additional two percentage points on Friday to a record 21 percent. "There is no 20 percent profitability anywhere. Maybe in the drug trade, but even the sale of weapons does not bring such a profit," he said. Chemezov said that the high key interest rate drives up borrowing costs for businesses, which hurts their...

Any decision to send North Korean troops to Russia would be in line with international law, Pyongyang has said amid reports that its soldiers could reach the front lines of the war in Ukraine as early as this weekend. This is a developing story.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday did not deny US claims that North Korea had sent troops to Russia but said that it was up to Moscow how to run its mutual defense clause with Pyongyang and accused the West of escalating the Ukraine war. Asked by a reporter about satellite imagery showing North Korean troop movements, Putin said: "Images are a serious thing. If there are images, then they reflect something." -snip- The Kremlin chief specifically mentioned Article 4 of the Russian partnership deal with North Korea that deals with mutual defense. "There is article 4. We have never doubted...

-snip- Belarus has played a part in Russia’s war. In February 2022 Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, partly, from Belarusian territory. Why did the country’s leader allow the Kremlin to do that? “How do you know I gave permission for Belarusian territory to be used?” Lukashenko asks me. “Because Belarusian territory was used [for the invasion].” “There were exercises going on involving several thousand Russian soldiers. Putin started withdrawing these troops from where they were in southern Belarus, down a road, along the border with Ukraine. "At one point he redirected some of these troops to Kyiv. I’m...

Vladimir Putin is regretful over the war in Ukraine, according to the latest claim by one of his closest allies, as US defence officials warned North Korean troops will become 'legitimate targets' if they are seen to fight alongside Russian forces. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivered a wide-ranging interview with the BBC and state-owned broadcaster BelTA this week in which he was asked whether his Russian counterpart had regrets over launching his so-called 'special military operation' in Ukraine. -snip- 'Both sides suffer heavy losses... Does Putin regret it or not? Of course he regrets. He's a living man.' -snip- Ukraine's...

Some 2,000 North Korean soldiers have completed training in Russia and are being sent to its Western regions near the border with Ukraine, Japan's Kyodo News said on Thursday. The troops traveling by train are likely bound for the Kursk region, where an advance team of about 10 officers has established a base of operations to receive North Korean ground forces, reported Kyodo, citing Ukrainian military intelligence. Russia has been fighting off a Ukrainian incursion into Kursk, which borders Ukraine's Sumy region, since August.

Opposition calls for non-recognition of vote set to extend Lukashenko’s 30-year rule. Belarus plans to hold a presidential vote, in which incumbent Alexander Lukashenko is likely to secure a seventh straight term, on January 26. The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the date in Minsk on Wednesday. Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Russia who has been accused of manipulating previous elections and stamping out political opposition, has tightened his grip on dissent since Moscow launched its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022. The CEC said in a statement on social media that parliament had approved the date of the...