Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg has threatened Vladimir Putin with ‘severe consequences’ if he used nuclear weapons on Ukraine. Fears are growing that Russia is seeking to escalate the conflict as its invasion falters. It comes as Kremlin-installed authorities in four Ukrainian regions under its control claimed victory in annexation votes yesterday, with Moscow warning it could use nukes to... 

Japan on Tuesday demanded Russia apologise for detaining a diplomat over alleged espionage, denying the charge and accusing Moscow of blindfolding and pinning the man down in ‘unbelievable acts’. Motoki Tatsunori, a Japanese diplomat based in the eastern city of Vladivostok, was deemed ‘persona non grata over illegal intelligence activities’, top government spokesman Hirokazu... 

Vladimir Putin announced a “partial” mobilisation on September 21 with 300,000 reservists to be called up – but reports said up to one million people could be enlisted. Russian soldiers have reportedly been sent to war with “rusty and mouldy” weapons. After Vladimir Putin announced a “partial” mobilisation earlier in September, thousands of Russians have been drafted into... 

Russian troops have been deployed near the border with Georgia today even as the Kremlin tries to stamp out rumors that Putin is about to introduce martial law and ban people from leaving in order to avoid being conscripted into the army. Many are fleeing to Finland as well, about 17,000 already fled to Finland. Russia is getting empty… its citizens are fleeing. Soon there will be only Putin... 

Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has repeated threats that Russia would be prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend annexed Ukrainian territories. Russia’s top diplomat was addressing the UN General Assembly and the world’s media in New York yesterday, amid condemnation of referendums being held in four eastern Ukrainian regions aimed at annexing territory it has taken by... 

President Joe Biden declared on Friday that the US will “never recognize” the referendums that took place in the Donbass republics and two regions of Ukraine that are under Russian control. Washington and its allies will seek to impose “severe economic costs” on Moscow over the referendums, he added. The joining Russia referendums, which began on Friday, were called “a... 

Starting last month Ukrainian lawmakers began seeking to implement severe consequences for those participating in Russia-sponsored referendums in occupied territories of Ukraine. For example, a law is being pushed through parliament which criminalizes obtaining a Russian passport in temporarily occupied territories, Ukrainian sources reported last week, according to Yahoo News. Proposed possible punishments... 

Dictator buddies Putin and Rouhani Iran is believed to be providing Moscow with hundreds of drones following extraordinary losses suffered by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. So-called “suicide drones” have been used by both sides to devastating effect. Ukraine’s air force claimed to have shot down four Iranian suicide drones in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine. Suicide... 

Fears are growing that Putin may close the borders to fighting aged men in Russia who try to flee from his new demands to mobilise 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine. British journalist Steve Rosenberg has been discussing the speculation surrounding the mass exodus of people fleeing Russia to escape being called into battle in Ukraine. Mr Rosenberg discussed Putin’s call for men with military experience... 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to call up one million Russian soldiers to fight in the war in Ukraine, a Russian newspaper has claimed. The report comes after military analysts identified a classified paragraph in Putin’s “partial-mobilisation” decree. In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday, the Russian President announced a partial-mobilisation of troops... 

A wife from Tyumen in Siberia said: ‘I will not let my husband go. I’ll break his both legs. His duty is to raise his children.’ The authorities issued a a special warning issued to potential recruits that they face legal sanctions if they self-harm by breaking arms or legs to avoid the call-up. Photos and videos have also emerged of airports crowded with young men and heavy traffic... 

In a Tuesday interview with Politico, Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain, declared that Russia is not just at war with Ukraine but also with the whole European Union. He continued by saying that Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine is failing and has only served to fortify the bloc. The Spanish prime said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was using “energy as a war instrument”... 

Madman Vladimir Putin today issued a chilling new threat to use nuclear weapons against the West, telling world leaders to back off Ukraine while warning: ‘I’m not bluffing’. The desperate despot also ordered the mobilisation of 300,000 military reserves – a first in Russia since the Second World War – and gave the go-ahead for referendums to be held in occupied areas... 

Putin should have nuked the Queen’s funeral while world leaders were all in one place, one of the Kremlin’s most-prominent propagandists has declared. This is exactly the same things you would hear from rogue states like Iran. What is the difference between Russia and Iran at this point? Olga Skabeyeva, dubbed Putin’s ‘Iron Doll’, made the ghoulish suggestion last night... 

The humiliating relocation comes as Ukraine steps up is long range strike capabilities in its fightback against Russia. Vladimir Putin has been delivered another blow after some of Russia’s Black Sea fleet submarines were forced to retreat. Russia’s Navy has relocated some of its submarines from the port of Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk in Krasnodor Krai, southern Russia, according...