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Gazprom, the energy giant at the heart of Russia's economy, has announced it is selling property in Moscow, one week after posting record losses linked to restricted supplies to Europe linked to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The company said on Wednesday that the properties include office and non-residential buildings, a car parking lot in the capital, and the Imperial Park Hotel and spa sanatorium and resort complex in Rogozino village, just outside of Moscow. "Gazprom is engaged in a fire sale. They had their worst year in decades, and their production has fallen precipitously, down to what it was...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed replacing his defence minister and long-term ally, Sergei Shoigu, more than two years into the Ukraine war, the upper house of parliament said on Sunday. Putin proposed Andrei Belousov, former deputy prime minister, as the new defence minister.

Vladimir Putin wore thick make-up with his eyebrows darkened and used cheek filler when he was sworn in for a fifth term, says a security expert. -snip- Prof Anthony Glees, from the University of Buckingham, told The Mirror that Putin was “heavily made up” for the event including user filler. It comes with the Russian leader having typically tried to give a macho image of himself whether it is riding shirtless on horseback or doing judo. “The doors open and Putin ambles in, greeted by an adoring audience. He is followed by a goose-stepping presidential guard of in uniforms,” said...

Natalia Kruglova last spoke to her husband, Pvt. Ivan Petrov, on Sept. 29. The Russian army conscript told Kruglova he had been ordered back to the front lines in southeastern Ukraine. Then he disappeared. Kruglova wrote to her husband’s commanding officers, the Defense Ministry and even military prosecutors in search of news, but to no avail. Weeks later, the army declared Petrov missing but offered no explanation of what had happened to him. “It’s as if no one owes you anything, no one cares,” Kruglova, 45, said in an interview from her home in the Russian far eastern city of...

An ailing warlord pal of Vladimir Putin appeared to be in a bad state when he turned up at the Russian dictator’s inauguration in Moscow today (May 7). The bloated Chechen maniac Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, struggled to walk up the steps into the Kremlin for the ceremony, and then had difficulty getting his coat off. The dad-of-15 needed help from his ally Adam Delimkhanov, 54, a Russian MP, and an aide to sort himself out. It was the first public sighting of Putin lackey Kadyrov in Moscow since reports emerged last month that he was terminally ill, suffering from “pancreatic...

All five Central Asian presidents are scheduled to attend a parade on Red Square on May 9 to commemorate the end of World War II in Europe in 1945, while the majority of the world's leaders continue to condemn Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022. Yury Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, on May 7 said Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhammedov will attend the event in the Russian capital’s Red Square. Ushakov added that President Miguel Diaz-Canel of...

American actor Steven Seagal has made a surprise appearance in Russia for Vladimir Putin's fifth inauguration ceremony. The Hollywood star arrived at the Kremlin in Moscow for Tuesday's event in a long black robe, wearing his trademark glasses and famous beard. -snip- Seagal, who received his Russian citizenship in 2017, first bonded with the Putin over a shared love of martial arts and the pair have formed a bromance over the years. Last year, the The Under Siege and Hard to Kill actor described himself as "one million percent Russian" after receiving an Order of Friendship medal from Putin for...

Steven Seagal made a surprise appearance at Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremony today. The Hollywood actor, who previously hailed himself "one million per cent" Russian arrived in Moscow for president-elect's Kremlin event taking place today (May 7). Putin begins his fifth term as Russian president today after nearly a quarter-century in office. -snip- Seagal pledged his allegiance to Russia at an event held by International Movement of Russians in Moscow in March last year. During the event, the 'Above The Law' star accused the US of spending "billions of dollars on disinformation, lies" which was an attempt to "try to discredit,...

Vladimir Putin has been sworn in for his fifth term as Russia's president in front of dignitaries, celebrities and friends, including US actor Steven Seagal and a biker gang leader known as 'The Surgeon'. -snip- Also in attendance was Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, a crony of Putin's who has been the subject of claims that he is terminally ill in recent weeks. The Head of the Chechen Republic appeared to struggle up the stairs into the hall as he arrived flanked by his aides, who helped him to pull off his jacket when they reached the top.

Tanks and columns of troops are massing in Moscow ahead of Russia's annual Victory Day - timed this year to coincide with Vladimir Putin's latest presidential inauguration after another election victory denounced as a 'sham'. The despot is set for another six years in the Kremlin after emphatically and unsurprisingly winning March's presidential poll, with his new term formally beginning on Tuesday. -snip- Last year's Victory Day parade featured just a single tank, a Second World War-era T-34.

Vladimir Putin's hopes of a swift victory in Ukraine have been dealt a major blow after a key weapon is proving to be a major flop -snip- Yet one area where Ukraine's military appears to hold the upper hand over their bitter foes is in drone warfare. In a recent Telegram post, a pro-Kremlin military blogger described the fighting round the eastern town of Chasiv Yar, where fierce battles are raging The blogger, whose moniker is "Two Majors", said Putin's army was handicapped by the poor performance of their first-person view (FPV) drones. He said that most of the Russian...

Vladimir Putin has had to cancel multiple Victory Day parades over ‘security risks’. -snip- Celebrated every year on May 9, the Victory Parade will take place online in some regions, Elena Tsunaeva, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labour, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs, announced. Portraits of veterans will be placed on public transport instead of the procession. Heads of multiple Russian regions and occupied Crimea, for example, announced that events will be scaled back or not happening at all, despite it being the most solemn day in the Russian calendar. Victory parades and fireworks have...

UFOs and their pilots might not be 'extra-terrestrials' from a distant planet at all, but 'spiritual entities' who have inhabited Earth for as long as humanity itself. At least, that's the 'supernatural' theory Fox News vet and one-time MSNBC host Tucker Carlson put forward this week on comedian Joe Rogan's podcast 'There's a ton of evidence that they're under the ocean and under the ground,' Carlson told Rogan's listeners during the show's usual, sprawling, three-hour-long chat format, adding: 'They've been here for a long time.' -snip- 'They're from here and they've been here for thousands of years,' Carlson said, 'whatever...

"You can't go anywhere at all, not even to Uzbekistan or Belarus for the May holidays," said one source. -snip- Russia is making overseas travel harder for some officials due to fears that foreign powers may try to gain access to state secrets during the worst crisis in relations with the West for more than 60 years, nine sources told Reuters. The Federal Security Service (FSB) is putting pressure on employees across government ministries not to leave Russia at all, even to visit so-called 'friendly' countries that have not imposed sanctions against Moscow, the sources said. Foreign travel was highly...

Tucker Carlson defended on Monday his decision not to question Russian President Vladimir Putin about allegations that the Kremlin has ordered assassinations of political dissidents. "Every leader kills people. Some kill more than others," the former Fox News host said. His comments came during a discussion at the World Government Summit in Dubai that touched upon his interview last week with the Russian leader. The interview, taped on February 6 and aired two nights later, has made international headlines for numerous statements made by Putin, including his supposed rationale for invading Ukraine. During the Dubai summit, Egyptian journalist Emad el-Din...

Russian police have put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania's culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list, according to the Russian Interior Ministry's database. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kallas was wanted for the "desecration of historical memory". Russian state agency TASS said the Baltic officials were accused of "destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers", acts that are punishable by a 5-year prison term under the Russian criminal code. -snip- Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "This is only the beginning." "Crimes against the memory of the world's liberators from Nazism and fascism must...

This is the moment Vladimir Putin warns that Ukraine 'has no future' while sipping champagne at a Kremlin awards ceremony for troops as fears are growing that Western support for Kyiv is fading. In footage posted to X, the Russian president assured attendees Russia's defence plans were 'working more and more competently', with the country's arms industry allegedly producing 'several times more'. He claimed that meanwhile Ukraine was running out of weapons. 'They don't have their own foundations,' Putin added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin bizarrely refused to stand within 70ft of Britain's new ambassador to Moscow at a diplomatic ceremony yesterday - blaming 'sanitary reasons'. In awkward scenes that resembled the height of the Covid pandemic, Putin insisted on keeping a huge distance between himself and other diplomats at the Kremlin event which saw him accept the diplomatic credentials of several new ambassadors to Russia, including Britain's new man in Moscow Nigel Casey.