Russia has begun using its new T-14 Armata battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions ‘but they have not yet participated in direct assault operations,’ the RIA state news agency reported on Tuesday, quoting a source close the matter. RIA said that the tanks have been fitted with extra protection on their flanks and crews have undergone ‘combat coordination’ at training grounds... 

Russia is moving closer to a nuclear conflict with the United States due to Washington’s support for Ukraine, Moscow has warned. Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry’s head of nuclear non-proliferation, told TASS news agency that Washington is escalating the risks through its conduct with the Kremlin – the latest in a series of threats from top Russian officials. He said risks... 

Demand for potency pills in Russia has soared due to stress linked to Vladimir Putin’s war, a new study suggests. Spending on drugs to combat erectile dysfunction rose 75 per cent year on year, according to the Centre for the Development of Advanced Technologies in Moscow. The hike in July to September last year was 19 per cent up on the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2023 this increased... 

The Kremlin has passed a new bill to strengthen its hold on Russian residents and make it easier to summon conscripts for the army with a new law, in a bid to bolster its military forces. The bill was unanimously approved by 391 Russian deputies, with no absentees or votes against it. The new law requires conscripts to show up for recruitment after being notified in person and digitally, to make a... 

Vladimir Putin is receiving treatment for cancer and his top generals are looking to ‘throw’ the war in Ukraine as he does, according to a rumour contained in a leaked American intelligence document. In what appears to be the gravest leak of US secrets in years, the documents – which leaked last week and have prompted a national security investigation in the US – are understood... 

Finland terminated over 70 years of military neutrality on Tuesday by joining NATO, thereby significantly expanding the alliance’s border with Russia. The move dealt a major blow to Russian President Putin, who has been accused of escalating the risk of a significant conflict by the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu. Shoigu, in a meeting with the country’s armed forces leaders, asserted... 

In the complex quagmire of the Ukraine conflict, Vladimir Putin finds himself ensnared in a “no-win situation,” according to James Olson, former director of counterintelligence at the CIA. The seasoned intelligence veteran believes that the war will persist unless the Russian president meets a grim fate – either being killed or ousted, rendering him a “dead man walking.”... 

Russia’s Wagner group is reportedly now turning its focus to Africa after suffering heavy losses in Ukraine amid the mercenary group boss’ fall-out with Vladimir Putin. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the group, has been in a long-running dispute with the Kremlin, particularly with defence minister Sergei Shoigu. He has accused Shoigu of blocking the supply of ammunition and personnel to... 

Arresting Vladimir Putin would be a declaration of war, Russia has warned, after the International Criminal Court issued an international arrest warrant for him. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council and former president, said should Germany – or any other nation – arrest the despot, it would trigger a nuclear strike on the offending country. Medvedev... 

An overnight attack destroyed a shipment of Russian cruise missiles on the occupied Crimean Peninsula, Kyiv’s military agency has claimed. Footage posted to social channels showed a large fireball lighting up the sky above the town of Dzhankoi in what was reportedly an attack by drones on a train transporting Russian Kalibr missiles to Vladimir Putin’s fleet in the Black Sea. Ukraine’s... 

China’s President Xi Jinping told a grinning Vladimir Putin ‘change is coming’ in an ominous parting message as he departed Moscow on Tuesday evening following talks with his Russian counterpart. ‘Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years. And we are driving this change together,’ Xi told Putin via his interpreter – words sure to set alarm bells ringing... 

Furious Vladimir Putin has condemned the International Criminal Court’s ‘outrageous’ decision to issue an arrest warrant for him over war crimes in Ukraine, that one expert said could hasten his removal as Russia’s leader. The ICC on Friday called for Putin’s arrest and accused the despot of committing war crimes by abducting Ukrainian children from their homes and deporting... 

Horrifying footage shows the moment flesh-melting ‘thermite rain’ bombs descend on a town in eastern Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to employ brutal tactics to cling on to meagre gains. It comes as Russian troops continue to suffer heavy losses in the bitter fight for Bakhmut, with yesterday reportedly the deadliest day for Putin’s army so far. The Ukrainian army... 

Yevgeny Prigozhin and his faction allegedly harbor ambitions to oust Vladimir Putin from power, aiming to pave the way for Prigozhin’s own leadership bid in Moscow, according to insights from a Russia expert. Prigozhin, known for leading the Wagner Group, a private military entity assisting the Russian military in Ukraine, has not only contributed to operations in Bakhmut but has also, notably,... 

Hidden from ordinary Russians, Vladimir Putin and his gymnast lover Alina Kabaeva live like a tsar and tsarina with their children, a new investigation claims. The report by the Proekt independent media group reveals their secret life at a forest palace in Valdai, where Kabaeva had her own luxury ‘wooden mansion’, 250 miles north-west of Moscow. The children are ‘underage’...