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Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Monday that his "young family members" are fluent Mandarin Chinese speakers. "Some of my family members, the little ones, speak Chinese too—they speak it fluently," Putin told students at a secondary school in Kyzyl, the capital of the Republic of Tuva, about 2,800 miles east of Moscow. The school offers instruction in both Russian and Tuvan languages, according to the Kremlin. -snip- Putin did not specify which of his family members speak Mandarin Chinese, the world's second most widely spoken language with 1.1 billion speakers. He mentioned the importance of learning this language from...

The strike on a depot in Kamensky district comes amid an ongoing blaze at an oil storage facility in Proletarsk city. A Ukrainian drone attack has set an oil depot in Russia’s southern region of Rostov alight, the authorities said. On Wednesday, regional Governor Vasily Golubev confirmed the overnight strike, saying on the Telegram messaging app that firefighters were extinguishing the blaze at the depot in Rostov’s Kamensky district, with no casualties reported. Russia’s Ministry of Defence earlier said air defence units destroyed four drones over the region overnight, without mentioning the attack on the oil depot. Three tanks were...

RUSSIA has deployed some 30,000 troops to the new frontline in Kursk as Vladimir Putin desperately tries to fend off Ukraine's forces. Mad Vlad also appears to have called in reinforcements from ally Belarus as their tanks branded with telltale "B" signs mass on the Ukrainian border in an echo of the "Z" used by Russia. Ukraine is holding strong onto 100 towns and settlements inside Kursk after first invading Russia on August 6, more than three weeks ago. Zelensky's forces have also attacked border checkpoints in the Belgorod region, attempting to push into another one of Putin's cities. A...

THIS is the shocking moment Vladimir Putin lost another of his Su-25 planes as it was shot down over Ukraine in the latest humiliating blunder to Russia. The attack aircraft was downed as it was striking Ukrainian positions around Kramatorsk, defenders claimed. Anti-aircraft gunners of the 28th separate mechanised brigade took down the latest Su-25 scalp with a man portable air defence missile, they said. The plane - estimated in £8million by Ukrainian outlet Babel - was low flying and operating with another similar aircraft.

During his visit to Chechnya on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stopped at the Prophet Isa mosque in Grozny and posed for photos while holding, and kissing, a gold-leaf copy of the Quran. Putin was flanked by his hand-picked Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, and top Chechen Muslim cleric Mufti Saah Mezhiev during his Quran smooch. The Grand Mufti ceremonially read a verse from the Quran, translated into Russian for Putin. The Prophet Isa mosque, constructed in 2020, is a huge and expensive structure that can accommodate 5,000 worshipers at once. “Prophet Isa” is Islam’s version of Jesus Christ, who ranks...

Vladimir Putin has sought to shift blame for Ukraine's surprise incursion into the Kursk region, as evidence emerged that his country's handling of the offensive was damaging the Russian leader's image. At a virtual meeting held by Putin Thursday on the situation in Russia's Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, which border Ukraine, the president told regional officials that the "security issues" in Kursk "are problems that are the responsibility of the security agencies." -snip- "I hope that, as was reported today, interaction between local and regional authorities, the government, and security agencies has been established, and this will also play...

Ukraine has seized more Russian territory in two weeks than Russia has seized in Ukraine all year. Reinforcements sent by Moscow failed to stop a Ukrainian surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region during its second week, creating a dilemma for the Kremlin – to further tap Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine by diverting more battalions to defend Russia, or to throw new conscripts into the war. Moscow has so far kept regular recruits into the armed forces on rotation at home, sending only contract soldiers to the bloody battlefields of Ukraine. But the Kursk offensive has changed that delicate political...

A clip has emerged online showing Russian warlord Vladimir Putin kissing a copy of the Quran during his visit to Chechnya this week, as Ukraine continues its shock cross-border incursion. Putin also met with Chechnya leader and attack dog Ramzan Kadyrov, with whom he visited the newly constructed "Prophet Jesus" mosque in the capital, Grozny. There the Kremlin leader was presented with a gold-encrusted copy of the Holy Quran, before planting a kiss on it for the cameras.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov have inspected Chechen troops and volunteers preparing to fight in Ukraine in Putin’s first visit to the North Caucasus region since 2011. -snip- “As long as we have men like you, we are absolutely, absolutely invincible,” Putin told soldiers at the Russian Special Forces University, a training school in Chechnya’s Gudermes, according to a transcript on the Kremlin’s website. “It is one thing to shoot at a shooting range here, and another thing to put your life and health at risk. But you have an inner need to defend the Fatherland...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday made an unscheduled trip to Chechnya, a mainly Muslim republic within the Russian Federation, his first visit in nearly 13 years, as Ukraine's stunning cross-border incursion into western Russia entered its third week. Putin was greeted by Chechnya’s self-styled strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov

Vladimir Putin's forces have been caught red handed going on a looting spree in their own country amid the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk. The Russian 'defenders' took advantage of the chaos caused by the stunning cross-border incursion launched by Kyiv's forces almost two weeks ago to steal goods from a mobile phone shop. A quartet of Moscow's soldiers are seen helping themselves in a MegaFon store in frontline town of Glushkovo in shocking security footage. At least three of the four are thought to be from the elite Chechen assault force Akhmat, which was partially responsible for defending the border...

Rumours of Vladimir Putin body doubles have been circulating for a while and now speculation is rife about the Russian president again. Putin visited Baku, Azerbaijan, between August 18 and 19 to discuss Armenian settlement with the President of Azerbaijan. But some people have noticed there is a problem with Putin’s face in comparison to a meeting he held with the Russian security council just a few days prior. This includes Anton Herashchenko, a former advisor to Ukraine’s government, who is convinced Putin appeared as a body double in Baku. He posted: ‘Putin in Baku looks different from Putin at...

Vladimir Putin is feeling the stress from Russia's invasion of Ukraine - as he is seen wringing his hands in a meeting with his top officials after Volodymyr Zelenskyy's troops bit back and made a counter-incursion into the country. The dictator, 71, was in a security council session on the crisis he faces due to Ukraine's dramatic invasion of the border areas of Kursk region. His very public hand-wringing and fidgeting came as he was told earlier this week about how Russia had lost territory to Kyiv troops and - at the time - more than two dozen settlements, a...

THIS is the moment Vladimir Putin's $40 million nuclear-capable Tu-22 bomber jet crashed in Siberia today in a humiliating blow to the despot. The valuable Russian aircraft came down in a fiery blaze after takeoff, marking another embarrassment for Vlad as Ukraine continues its successful invasion of Russia. Witnesses said the Tu-22M3 nuclear bomber - planes used by Putin as a key part of his nuclear arsenal - broke apart in the sky before crashing amid fierce explosions. Dramatic footage showed the moment an enormous fireball filled the sky as the aircraft came down. The crew of four ejected safely...

Putin has appointed his ex-bodyguard, who is considered a likely successor for the Russian leader, as an 'angel of vengeance' tasked with trying to reclaim the territory seized by Ukraine. Former bodyguard Alexei Dyumin, who once single-handedly scared off a bear from the president's mountain residence, will lead the charge on 'Operation Revenge' to reclaim the 386 square miles of Russian soil now under Ukrainian control. Dyumin, 51, grew up in the Kursk region, where a state of emergency was implemented almost immediately after thousands of Kyiv's troops surged across the border and began seizing territory. Putin has now chosen...

UKRAINE has blitzed Putin's forces with massive kamikaze drone and missile strikes overnight as Zelensky has vowed to go "even deeper" into Russia. Some 117 drones targeted at least nine regions across Russia, also hitting two crucial airfields in Mad Vlad's territory. One of them includes the Savasleyka military base in the Nizhny Novgorod, home to lethal hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and MiG-31K aircraft used to bomb Ukraine. An aircraft-type drone was seen in the sky ahead of the strike with a total of ten “arrivals” reported. A video from ASTRA media outlet suggests that there was a direct hit. Footage...

Russian President Vladimir Putin was told Monday that Ukraine currently controls 28 settlements in the Kursk region, as Russia expanded its evacuations amid Kyiv's ongoing cross-border offensive. The Russian state-run news agency, RIA Novosti reported on its Telegram channel that Putin had a meeting with top Russian security officials where he was notified by the acting Kursk governor that "the situation in the region is difficult" and noted that Ukraine currently controls 28 settlements in the region. Video footage from RIA Novosti showed Putin reacting angrily and interrupting the acting governor during the meeting.

President Vladimir Putin announced a compensation plan for citizens in the Russian region that came under attack by Ukraine. Russians "who need it" will be eligible for a one-time payout of 10,000 rubles, Putin said during a video call with Kursk's acting governor, Alexey Smirnov, per the Kyiv Post's translation. That shakes out at about $115. "Other damage will also need to be assessed," Putin said. Around 3,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk, the western Russian border region attacked by Ukrainian forces this week, officials have said. Speaking to Putin, Smirnov said that extra trains were scheduled to take...

Residents who have been displaced by the ongoing fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast will be paid 10,000 rubles ($115) each as compensation, President Vladimir Putin said on Aug. 8. In a video conference with Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor of the oblast, Putin said that it would a be one-time payment to "citizens who need it." He added that "other damage will also need to be assessed."

Ukraine has reportedly captured hundreds of Russian soldiers in a further major blow to Vladimir Putin's army. -snip- New video images posted by Ukraine's army appear to show Russian prisoners of war captured during the incursion. The prisoners include troops from Russia’s 225th Assault Brigade, as well as FSB border guards. One captured Russian identified himself as 22-year-old Danil Kolesnikov from the Belgorod region. In a video clip of his interrogation, the soldier said he served in the 488th regiment on the border in the Kursk-Sudzha area. He was captured early on after Ukrainian troops crossed into Russia on Tuesday....