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Russia is preparing to hold "sham" referendums in occupied Ukrainian territories within a matter of days or weeks, the US warned on Wednesday. Moscow has instructed officials to begin preparations in areas that have fallen under its control during its war on Ukraine, including Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhia, parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. The first referenda could be announced as soon as this week's end, he added, noting the US and international community will not view any such elections as legitimate. "We expect Russia to try to manipulate the results of these referenda...

An ailing Vladimir Putin is flailing over his war strategy, torn between using nuclear weapons and accepting defeat and handing back Ukrainian regions invaded by his forces, a Telegram channel claims. Amid fresh concerns over his health, his security officials have bluntly told the warmonger president that he has run out of 'good' options. This comes as the death toll in the Russian armed forces plus separatist fighters and pro-Putin private armies has reached almost 65,000, said General SVR Telegram channel, an opposition source offering 'insider' information which the Kremlin is 'seeking to shut down'. There is 'despondency' among Putin’s...

Russia has lost yet another command post to a Ukrainian rocket strike after a headquarters in Donbas was blown up Thursday, officials have claimed. Video from the occupied city of Lysychansk uploaded to Telegram and taken by Chechen special forces appeared to capture the moment the rockets struck on Wednesday afternoon, sending plumes of smoke into the air. More footage then documented the aftermath, with a Russian flag shown fluttering limply over a courtyard strewn with rubble as men in military fatigues milled about. Serhiy Haidai, the regional governor, said Ukraine had struck the base - which had been set...

RUSSIAN officials shut down a key bridge to Crimea and fled over fears of an attack, according to Ukrainian reports. The Crimean Bridge, which is also known as the Kerch Bridge, links the Russian mainland to the peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014. Some Russians dubbed the road and rail structure "Putin's bridge" as it was designed to link Crimea to Russia’s transport network. Tensions are running high in Crimea which has been the target of a number of attacks in recent weeks with air and military bases targeted. Ukrainian TV channel 24 claimed yesterday (August 16) that Moscow had...

VLADIMIR Putin has been forced to pull back his jets and helicopters from Crimea after a massive blitz on Russian military bases - as humiliating video shows mutinying soldiers refusing to fight. Ukrainian intelligence sources claim some 24 fighter jets and bombers along with 14 choppers retreated deeper into the Black Sea peninsula - or back to mainland Russia. The dramatic withdrawal follows the heavy bombardment of Putin's military bases on the Russian-occupied peninsula over the last nine days from Ukrainian special forces. A devastating series of explosions at an air base last week destroyed 20 jets and caused £1bn...